Monthly Archives: July 2010

Real Weddings | Liverpool, UK

Posted on July 22, 2010 by Alison in Real Jewish Weddings

When it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be. Ben and Victoria met when they were teenagers through the same youth group. As it occurs in most love stories, the two lost touch until four years ago when they went to synagogue for a Jewish festival, started chatting, and the spark was relit… then smoked, sizzled, and flamed. It was true love like a fairytale… or a Shakespeare comedy minus the cross dressing (the Bard did love the gender swap trick)… or, as the mop-headed Fab Four said, “all you need is love.” This was the British invasion… of loooooove.

Ben surprised Victoria with a weekend in Bath (for you non-Englanders, Ben surprised Victoria with a weekend in the charming hot springs town, not a visit with Rubber Ducky). He whisked her away to be pampered at an outdoor rooftop spa, with a beautiful moon shining above them. The other shining thing? Ben’s grandma’s wedding ring in his pocket. In his swim trunks! So Ben’s a romantic, and a risk taker! Eventually, he stunned Victoria with the ring and proposed.

This bring us to enjoying Victoria and Ben’s romantic Real Wedding. The traditional Jewish ceremony honored their families, faith, and values. The reception was festive and glamorous, but that’s what you get when you party in a neo-classical building that was built for the purpose of providing the people of Liverpool a venue at which to attend concerts and festivals. Victoria and Ben never wiped the smiles off their faces and it’s very clear that their wedding day was, indeed, pure satisfaction.

Mazel tov, Victoria and Ben!

Ceremony Venue – Princes Road Synagogue
Reception Venue – Liverpool at St George’s Hall
Photographer – Segerius Bruce Photography
Catering – Marco’s Catering
Floral Design – Fishlocks
Entertainment – Creation
Wedding Gown – Maggie Soterro
Hair – Amy Goodman
Makeup – Charlotte Carter

liverpool-london-uk-jewish-wedding

Three’s Company

Posted on July 21, 2010 by Alison in Featured, Jewish Traditions

One of the main differences between a traditional Jewish wedding and a non-Jewish wedding is the wedding processional. A Jewish wedding needs a little wider of an aisle to accommodate the bride and groom as they walk down the aisle… with their parents.

It is a Jewish custom that both the mothers and fathers of the bride and the groom walk their children down the aisle. Naturally, if a parent is deceased or if there is a step-parent situation unique to the wedding occasion, that’s a different story and one to discuss with your partner and rabbi.

We love this beautiful tradition, as a child is still a child, even on his or her wedding day. Together, the parents raised the child to become an adult who is now taking on the mitzvah of marriage. It’s so nice that the groom doesn’t make the walk alone down the aisle; his parents showed him the way to be a man and on his wedding day, they show him the way to meet his bride under the chuppah. Likewise, the relationship between a mother and daughter is so unique and special, that it’s only fitting that the mother joins the father as they both link arms with their daughter in her wedding gown.

These are the tender moments that always send me to a waterfall of happy tears every time I attend a Jewish wedding. Here we’ll share with you some of these priceless, milestone moments. The photos give you a peek into this miraculous and lovely relationship between parents and their children. While I love looking at the the beautiful aura of the bride or the dashing and in-love groom, admiring the parents during one of their proudest moments gives me goosebumps! Grab a hankie!

Image courtesy of Kim Fox Photography

Image courtesy of eight20 photography

Image courtesy of Dahl Photography

Photo courtesy of Kim Fox Photography

Image courtesy of Sweet Monday Photography

Image courtesy of Jay Kelly Photography

Photo courtesy of Next Exit Photography

Image courtesy of eight20 photography

Image courtesy of Sweet Monday Photography

Image courtesy of Next Exit Photography

Image courtesy of David Michael Photography

Image courtesy of Sweet Monday Photography

Image courtesy of Dahl Photography

Image courtesy of Sweet Monday Photography

Image courtesy of Next Exit Photography

Real Weddings | Phoenix, AZ

Posted on July 20, 2010 by Alison in Real Jewish Weddings

We love when a couple expresses themselves through their wedding details. There’s no better to way to personalize the best day of your life! Including favorite colors, hobbies, foods, or even experiences guarantees that the wedding belongs to the bride and groom and the guests feel like they’ve learned a little something along the way, too.

Katie and Justin’s wedding colors were inspired by their vintage baby blue bicycle and a yellow floral arrangement. Due to the Sunday morning wedding, Katie and Justin’s concept for the wedding was a charming garden party. Men wore sport coats; women wore sun dresses. They used vintage accents whenever possible, like mason jars as glasses, eclectic second-hand silverware, and lace napkin rings. Katie and Justin named the tables after different bicycles. The kids table even had a special name — training wheels! Cute! This theme made Katie and Justin’s old blue cruiser (aka Big Blue) a welcome addition to the decor.

The intimate wedding was created on a budget! It can be achieved! Katie and Justin’s biggest challenge was the expense of having a wedding during an economic recession. A tight budget meant attention to detail. They purchased a cake for $70 from a local restaurant that they decorated with extra flowers (for free) from the florist. Katie’s dress was chosen based on the minimal amount of alterations necessary. They purchased, not rented, their silverware from Goodwill for a total of 35 sets for almost $10. Katie and Justin now have a mixture of “vintage” silverware that can be used for parties or family get-togethers in the future. The groom’s attire was also carefully planned and purchased, not rented, so it could be worn again.

Jewish traditions. Garden chic. Personal details. Tight budget. Katie and Justin specifically chose these elements and succeeded in planning the wedding of their dreams.

Mazel tov Katie and Justin!

Venue – Private Residence, Arizona
Photographer – Simply Knot Photography
Florist – Petal Pusher
Wedding Dress – Venus Bridals
Bakery – Le Grande Orange Cafe
Rentals – Y-Knot Party Rentals

phoenix-arizona-jewish-wedding

The Gift of Lev

Posted on July 19, 2010 by Alison in Jewish Traditions

A bride has a lot to think about during the wedding planning process, and one of the more difficult ideas to swirl around is choosing a gift for her groom. It’s certainly not mandatory, but many couples decide they’d like to present each other with a wedding day present. In future posts, we’ll talk about options for many kinds of gifts, but did you know that there’s a traditional gift from the bride to the groom?

It’s a wedding custom that a bride gives a tallit to her soon-to-be husband just before the ceremony. The tallit, or prayer shawl, symbolizes that the man is off the market or spoken for. It serves as a sort of right of passage, which is also why many young men receive a tallit when they become a bar mitzvah. The wedding day tallit marks a new milestone in the man’s life as he takes on a new purpose as husband.

As with many Jewish traditions, there is a Torah-associated reason for the tallit gift. In Deuteronomy, the commandment for a man to wear tassels (the tallit) precedes the portion that begins, “When a man takes a wife…” The tallit and the ring that the groom wears are also related on the same level. Just as the wedding ring is a cyclical representation of never ending love, so is a tallit as it is wrapped around the groom as a reminder of spirituality and devotion to his bride.

I don’t profess to be good at math or numbers, but there’s also a “ah ha!” connection between the tallit’s tassels and love. This is a number game that even I can wrap my head around. Get this: On a tallit, there are eight strings in a tassel. There are four tassels on a tallit. A flashback to 3rd grade math and a simple computation will tell you that there is a total of 32 strings. Now, in Judaism, numbers have meaningful significance, usually symbolizing concepts or notions. The number 32 happens to be the numerical value of “lev” which means heart. Therefore, when a husband wears a tallit, he is absolutely wrapped in his wife’s love. Now if that isn’t an interesting yet romantic reason to gift a tallit to a groom, I don’t know what is.

Even if your groom doesn’t intend to wear a tallit every day, this wedding gift will always have special significance when it is taken out to be worn on future Shabbats and high holidays you spend together as husband and wife. Those occasions will be just a little sweeter as you look at the tallit and think back to your happiest day.

Friday Favorites | Go Meshugena for Matzah

Posted on July 16, 2010 by Alison in Friday Favorites

It’s summer and it’s hot! Most Jewish recipes bring memories of cold nights, or colds in general. Matzah ball soup, mom’s brisket, even noodle kugel does not exactly say summer lovin’.

Well, we Yentas have the solution! There’s something about matzah. There is something even greater about matzah when its fried up with eggs and butter.

The perfect brunch time meal, in my opinion, is matzah brie, the name for fried matzah. It’s the reason to keep boxes upon boxes of this simple and delicious unleavened bread on backup even though Passover isn’t even around the corner. I have been known to find boxes of matzah in the linen closet hidden by my hubby Eric, because the stuff really comes in handy for an anytime-snack.

Fried matzah is easy, filling, and the perfect meal to eat outside on a nice hot summer day. And, it’s fried. Tell me something that isn’t good when it’s fried! I dare you!

Here is a great recipe for two!

Matzah Brie (Fried Matzah)

Ingredients
3 matzahs – broken in half
2 large eggs
1/2 cup milk
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon butter for frying

Directions
Break up and soak the matzahs in cold water for about 3 minutes and drain.

In a large bowl, mix matzahs with beaten eggs, milk and salt.

Fry on both sides until brown like you might with French toast.

We add garlic powder, salt and pepper but fried matzah is great topped with honey, syrup, or cinnamon and sugar if you have a sweet tooth.

Serve this yummy Matzah Brie on a Thomas Paul Flourish Melamine Plate sold on ModernTribe.com