Monthly Archives: July 2010

Real Weddings | Beverly Hills, CA

Posted on July 15, 2010 by Alison in Real Jewish Weddings

The mother of the bride and the mother of the groom are patting themselves on the back for this Real Wedding! Jason’s mom and Runya’s mom went to high school together and kept in touch over the years. Runya’s mom would send Jason’s family yearly holiday cards which had photos of her along with her family, hoping to catch his eye and to perhaps make a nice Jewish match (download the Fiddler on the Roof song on your iPod!).

Jason and Runya were at USC at the same time, both with significant others, and except of a few close calls, they never crossed paths on campus. In 2004, just four years after Runya graduated (five years for Jason), she and Jason finally connected through a mutual friend. Soon, Jason and Runya were inseparable! Just a few years later, at Casa Del Mar Hotel in Santa Monica, Jason orchestrated a special marriage proposal which culminated with a surprise…a lobby packed with all their family and friends to help them celebrate their engagement!

Runya and Jason created a ceremony that not only encompassed Jewish tradition but also included their love of music, humor and family heirlooms. Rabbi Miller who officiated at their wedding was the same Rabbi who married Runya’s parents, who blessed Runya as a baby as she was given her Hebrew name, and was a part of her Bat Mitzvah. Under the chuppah they were wrapped in Runya’s maternal grandpa’s tallit, and they knew he was smiling down on them. Jason’s maternal grandpa gave them special kiddish cups to use at the ceremony and to help them start a new tradition and pass them down from generation to generation. The couple was also grateful to have Runya’s very close friend and sorority big sister, who moonlights as a cantor, sing the beautiful blessings.

The bride girlishly giggled her way through the ceremony, and the groom’s smile warmed the already-beautiful spring evening. Then, 300-something close family and friends began celebrating! The damask cupcake tower stood tall as the guests entered the ballroom, and the dancing never stopped which was exactly what the bride and groom wanted! Runya was having such a fabulous time out on the dance floor that at the stroke of midnight, she forgot that she was still wearing her 4-inch Stewart Weitzman heels — 10 hours in heels, oy vey!!

Mazel tov, Runya and Jason!

Venue and Catering – Beverly Hills Hotel
Wedding Coordination and Design – Ariel Yve Design
Photography – Dahl Photographers
Flowers – Fiore Designs
Wedding Gown – Kenneth Pool
Veil Designer and Bridal Salon – R-Mine Bridal
Lighting – Barker Décor Services
Cupcakes – Vanilla Bakeshop
Videography – James Reid, Manifest Media
Reception Entertainment – West Coast Music
Ceremony and Cocktail Entertainment – Keith Chagall
Bridal Party’s Makeup – Latoya Daniels
Bride’s Makeup – Michele Stewart
Hair – Vicky Garcia
Bridesmaids Gowns – Vera Wang and Badgley Mischka
Groom’s Tuxedo – Hickey Freeman
Groomsmen Tuxedos – Men’s Wearhouse
Honeymoon – Grand Wailea, Maui and Princess Mediterranean Cruise

beverly-hills-hotel-jewish-wedding

Don’t Go to Jail for a Crime Against Your Veil

Posted on July 14, 2010 by Alison in Inside Scoop, Jewish Traditions, Planning

On Monday, we talked about the bedeken and the symbolism behind the bride’s veil.

So now we are dedicating a whole other post to veils, making mention of tips, styles, and photo must-haves!

Camo is a No No
If you choose to wear a detailed wedding gown that sparkles with beading or has serious texture like lace, consider wearing a veil that doesn’t clash or hide those elements. What a shame it would be to select your dream dress and then cover it up with a veil that hides jewels or fancy buttons. An elbow-length veil will still serve its purpose but then also not upstage your dress.

Caw! Caw! Wear a Birdcage
For serious drama or a vintage look, the birdcage veil is a classic. If you want a more traditional veil for your ceremony, you could always model a birdcage piece for photos or the reception. It’s a super-chic look that many brides love, but think they can’t pull off!! Just make sure your dress is in the same category of style. A very full and conservative gown might not mesh (haha, get it?) well with a birdcage veil, so go with a dress that’s sleek or sexy or vintage.

Image courtesy of Holladay Photo

Can’t We All Just Get Along?
Don’t let your dress fight with your veil. Instead, they should complement each other! If your dress has beading or pretty, sparkly doodads on it, then your veil should lean toward the plain side. If your dress provides simple beauty without jewels or lots of lacy additions, then your veil can have elaborate extras. But if you combine both, the veil and the dress will end up in a one-upping competition and you’ll lose the splendor altogether. This goes for your jewelry, too. The more detailed your veil is, the softer and simpler your jewelry must be. All three elements should definitely play well together, and not against each other. There is definitely such thing as too much of a good… bling.

Color Me Bride
Make sure to color coordinate! While you don’t want your dress and veil details to be too matchy-matchy, you definitely have to make sure your colors are! If you are wearing an ivory dress, it would be no bueno to wear a diamond white veil. Many bridal salons will offer you swatch samples to compare and be sure that both items match. There is no wrong color — it’s up to you to decide what works for your style and skin tone — but you definitely want to be sure that the color is consistent for both beauties.

Veil Types
You’d think that a drapey piece of mesh would be a no-brainer shopping experience. Wrong! If you’ve just started shopping for a veil, you’ll start to hear lots of body part-centric lingo that you didn’t know could describe a wedding day accessory. Basically, many veils are described by the body part they reach. There’s shoulder length, elbow length, fingertip length, knee length, and floor length (not a body part, but toe-length just sounds weird). Then, there’s church lingo that describes two other varieties of veils and let’s face it, Hebrew school didn’t prepare you for that kind of information. Chapel length veils extend to the floor, about seven feet from the top/head piece. A cathedral length veil trails anywhere from one to three yards behind the dress. The most formal style of veil is the cathedral length.

Bride, Groom… and Veil Photos?
You and your beloved will be taking a day’s worth of photos together. From posed shots to candid snaps, the two of you will get total paparazzi treatment and it’s your big opportunity to be fierce! Your veil can be a character in your photos, too! From romantic to playful, make sure to include your veil in your happy day. You’ll be happy you did… from head to toe. Here are some camera must haves to run by your photographer.

Image courtesy of eight20 photography

Image courtesy of Meghan Aileen Photography

Image courtesy of Jessica Claire

Image courtesy of Brian Dorsey Studios

Image courtesy of Jennifer Bowen Photography

Real Weddings | Austin, TX

Posted on July 13, 2010 by Alison in Real Jewish Weddings

Here’s a wedding filled with love the size of Texas. Lori and Allan are both Austin transplants. While they have lots of friends in town, all of their family and several of Lori’s close friends live out of state. Because so many guests were from out of town, it was important to Lori and Allan that they give their guests a taste of Austin. The wedding blended many elements that Lori and Allan appreciate about living in Austin and being Jewish. A sunny November day was the perfect backdrop for the wedding held at the Barr Mansion, the nation’s only certified organic event facility. Lori and Allan chose several vegetarian and vegan options for their guests who keep kosher and there were local wines for guests to drink. The DJ played music featuring many local Austin musicians, including Lori and Allan’s first dance song, “Heavenly Day” by Austin favorite, Patty Griffin. Wherever possible local, sustainable and recyclable products were used for the wedding.

Since many of their guests were not Jewish, they created a program to explain the religious components of the wedding. Allan’s sister is a cantor in Washington D.C., and she performed the ceremony along with their Rabbi. They drank wine from the kiddish cup Allan received at his Bar Mitzvah. Lori and Allan’s ketubah featured the tree of life, an important symbol to them and they were married under a chuppah that Allan’s maternal grandparents made. Allan made the chuppah poles from bamboo that grows behind their synagogue. To honor her mother, who passed away several years ago, Lori was married using her mother’s wedding ring and they asked a jeweler to replicate the ring for Lori’s own wedding band. For the bedeken, Lori’s veil was made by a dear friend using a Sephardic Jewish mantilla. And, after their yichud, Allan’s groomsmen all blew shofars to announce the new couple. Cool touch created by the couple! The groomsmen all played in the UT Longhorn Band while in college and took the shofar blowing to new, ear splitting heights.

Mazel tov, Lori and Allan!

Venue – Barr Mansion
Photographer – Vignette Photography
Florist – Barr Mansion
Catering and Cake – Barr Mansion
Entertainment – Byrne Rock
Yarmulkes – Mazel Tops
Ketubah – Ketubah.com
Dress and Bridesmaids Dresses – Alfred Angelo
Tux Rentals – Al’s Formal Wear
Wedding Bands –Ambercrombie Gems and Precious Metals
Makeup and Hair – Sarah Hathaway

austin,-texas-jewish-wedding

Friday Favorites | Finding Love Online

Posted on July 9, 2010 by Alison in Friday Favorites, JDate, JMag

One of our favorite things is hearing proposal stories! Hearing about how one of the most important questions that one could ever ask another makes us so giddy and happy! Whether it’s super romantic, adventurously public, or as big of a production as a Broadway show, we love learning about how couples agree to take the plunge!

But before a couple gets engaged, they have to meet, right? And how-we-met stories gets us even more excited! Sometimes people have known each other their whole lives through friends or families. Other times, college romance blossoms between English 101 and a fraternity party. And then there’s always the meeting in the workplace or at the bar. But with the easy access of the Internet and the mobility of technology, so many couples are meeting on dating websites.

There used to be this weird stigma that meeting online was a huge no-no or super embarrassing. Now, it seems to be common practice and has provided many great success stories starting with the simpe tender.com login click. We love the idea of online dating because it gives individuals control of creating their perfect spouse. Want a guy who has at least a bachelor’s degree? Check the box! Want a girl who likes pets? Check the box! Want a guy who is taller than 5’4” and enjoys spending time at the gym? Check the box! It’s like a build-your-own-burger bar… but for partners! Technology has gotten us so far in life and civilization. Why not let it take you as far as the chuppah?

Today, Jewish singles want to find other Jewish singles and that’s why our Friday Favorites is JDate ^®. The easy-to-use site allows Jewish singles to connect and take dating to the next level. Specifically looking for a Jewish partner enables discussion about loud, theatrical families, or kugel recipes, or even summer camp connections. There’s just a familiarity and a comfort in knowing that your potential husband or wife understands how to say funny Yiddish words or that deli sandwiches ~~never~~ shouldn’t contain mayonnaise. Dating with the aid of JDate ^® helps bring Jewish people together in an effort to continue the faith and the heritage.

It’s amazing to think how many people you know have chosen the chosen ones through the convenience and help of JDate ^®. Share with us! Tell us if you are a success story! Tell us if you know others who have married through JDate ^®.

If you are a success story, we invite you to submit your information so that JDate ^® can acknowledge you as you help inspire others who are looking for love. Who knows, you could end up on a billboard in Times Square just like Yenta Alison!

Image Courtesy of Eight20 Photography

We’d love to hear your stories and how this website has brought two people who go together like rye on bread.

As we close out this monumental week in Yenta Land, we want to thank our readers and vendors for their support, and acknowledge our new partner, JDate ^®. We are excited to begin this journey as we contribute stories to their online magazine, JMag ^®.

Our Friday Favorites is dedicated to YOU! Happy Friday to our favorite people: our readers, our vendors, and our friends over at JDate ^®!

Real Weddings | Camarillo, CA

Posted on July 8, 2010 by Alison in Real Jewish Weddings

Boy meets girl. Boy teases girl. Girl resents boy. Same boy and girl get married almost 20 years later. This is the story of Stephanie and Jeremiah, who met in middle school. They had tons of mutual friends, and when they first met it was a love/hate relationship. Jeremiah lived to torment Stephanie, and even now after the wedding day, not much has changed between these two fun-loving, silly, and adventurous people.

But before there was marriage, there was a blossoming friendship between Stephanie and Jeremiah and their families. The deal was sealed when they reconnected at Jeremiah’s brother’s Bar Mitzvah. Nothing creates sparks more than glowsticks and a few rounds of Pepsi-7up (do kids still play those games at Bar Mitzvahs?) After dating for two years, Jeremiah popped the question the night before Stephanie’s 26th birthday. Jeremiah recruited the help of Stephanie’s sister, and the plan was set. They tricked Steph into thinking that Jeremy bought Steph a pair of UGGs for her birthday, so when she went to open the big box Jeremy said, “Why are you opening that box? I thought you wanted this box…” and he removed a small box from his pocket and got down on both knees as he asked Steph to be his wife. The Yentas love a trickster who diverts a bride’s attention just as he’s about to propose. Slick.

Steph and Jeremiah shared a beautiful wedding at Spanish Hills Country Club with classy touches and Jewish traditions that personalized the entire day. It was just so… Jeremiphanie. That’s their Hollywood name-fusion alias, if we do say so ourselves.

Mazel tov, Stephanie and Jeremiah!

Venue – Spanish Hills Country Club
Photographer – Steve Sherman Photo
Videographer – Reel Life Pictures
Entertainment –Word of Mouth
Florist – Commerce Flowers
Make-up – Makeup the Bride, Heather Coopersmith
Hair – Katie Garcia
Dresses (bride, bridesmaid, flowergirl, and veil) – Karoza Design
Wedding favors – “Stop in the Name of Love” Wine Stoppers
Groom’s and Groomsmen Suits – Hollywood Suit Outlet
Invitations – Paper Pushers
Ketubah – New World Wedding by Rachel Deitsch
Cake – A Sweet Design
Save the dates – MagnetStreet
Shoes for Bride and Bridesmaids – Steve Madden
Honeymoon – Costco Travel
Paper for Programs and Escort Cards – Paper Source, made by Steph and Jeremiah