Monthly Archives: July 2010

Put the Pizzazz In Your Mezuzah

Posted on July 7, 2010 by Alison in Jewish Traditions

As you begin to build your life together as a married couple, consider installing a new mezuzah on the doors of your home.

A mezuzah is a piece of parchment inscribed with specified Hebrew verses from the Torah (Deuteronomy 6:4-9 and 11:13-21). Included is the Shema prayer: “Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is One.” The parchment is typically protected inside a cover or case that’s usually decorative.

It is actually a mitzvah to affix a mezuzah to the doorframe of a Jewish home. Some households believe it is Jewish law to affix a mezuzah on every doorway in the home (except for doorways leading to spaces that are too small for actual rooms (bathrooms, closets, etc.). Other households believe it’s only necessary to place a mezuzah on the front doorway. Depending on your affiliation, you and your rabbi may decide what works best for you. The parchment created and prepared by a scribe who has had years of careful training, and the verses are written in black indelible ink with a special quill pen. Then, the parchment is rolled into a thin tube-like piece and placed inside the exterior case.

Since your wedding day is a symbol of a new life and new start, it just seems fitting that you and your new partner should enjoy another mitzvah and milestone moment as you start a new family circle. The mezuzah can be plain or artistic. Either way, it should be an expression of you as a couple, customizing your home with warmth, health, and happiness.

Here are cool mezuzahs that may be inspiring:

Mezuzah by Etsy seller Meravelous

Mezuzah by Etsy seller PolyAndClayed

Mezuzah by Etsy seller renarossner

Mezuzah by Etsy seller rkisuf

Mezuzah by Etsy seller Minjean

A PERFECT MATCH!

Posted on July 6, 2010 by Alison in JDate, JMag

We are so excited to announce a new marriage!

The happy couple made their partnership official last week and are currently honeymooning… on the Internet.

Mazel tov to The Wedding Yentas and JDate ^® on their brand new partnership!!

We are kvelling from head to toe to be partnering with JDate‘s ^® online, open-access lifestyle magazine, JMag ^®. The Wedding Yentas will be contributing articles to the magazine and educating its readers about Jewish wedding traditions, ideas to ponder, and ways to incorporate Jewish culture in a modern wedding for a mainstream couple. This is super exciting because Yenta Alison has a strong connection to JDate ^® as she and her husband, Bryan, happen to be a match made by the famous and successful dating site! Alison is always telling her single friends to try JDate ^® because “shopping” for a Jewish partner has never been easier!

We love JMag ^® and the articles it publishes. Readers can read about such lifestyle topics as dating, keeping kosher, recipes, travel bits, JDate ^® success stories, social graces, and interviews from some pretty noteworthy characters from the Jewish and pop culture worlds. And now, The Wedding Yentas will be added to the mix, as we do what we do best: gush about Jewish weddings!

The theoretical glass has been broken and now The Wedding Yentas and JDate’s JMag ^® will leave the chuppah and begin a new life together! What a perfect match this is!

Real Weddings | Westlake Village, CA

Posted on July 6, 2010 by Alison in Real Jewish Weddings

They were high school sweethearts. Well, Hebrew High School sweethearts. Jessica and David met while attending Los Angeles Hebrew High School four years before they ever started dating. They were inseparable friends at Hebrew High, but nothing more until the summer of 1998 when they were both finally single. David’s senior year of high school flew by, and he went to college in Claremont, California. Jessica went to college in the Bay Area. Therefore, during the next four years, Southwest Airlines became their relationship enabler, their love fairy, their go-to airline; the airline known for the heart in its logo helped Jessica and David maintain long distance love. A handful of years went by and April 2006 rolled around. They went to Santa Barbara for the weekend where David proposed among the tide pools on the shoreline and their first-class love story came full circle.

We love Jewish weddings that have deep roots in tradition, family, and love. It’s obvious that Jessica and David aren’t lacking any love from family and friends; Guests came from all over the world, including England, Israel, and South Africa to share the wedding day with them. Jessica’s ceremony ring was her grandmother’s ring. Her cousin had used it 10 years prior for her wedding, and David “bought” it from Jessica’s cousin before their wedding. Also, about 15 years before their wedding, Jessica’s family attended the wedding of their officiant, Rabbi Shlomo. What great life cycle events to enjoy with each other! The kiddush cup that the couple used came from Israel and was an engagement gift from Jessica’s parents. It’s from Hazorfim, which makes BEAUTIFUL silver items. While Jessica and David created a very spiritual and traditional Jewish ceremony, they included a special touch we think is really cool. David walked around Jessica once to complete a circle in order to symbolize equality in their marriage. This gives a new spin to the bride circling the groom. After the ceremony, there was a magnificent reception. Jessica, David and all of their guests had no need to go to the gym for weeks after the wedding; they danced their tushies off with a 45 minute horah! Whew! Everyone was exhausted after that. That’s a sign of a hard-core party!

This gorgeous couple enjoyed a beautiful wedding day and we are so excited to showcase their special day!

Mazel tov, Jessica and David!

Venue – Four Seasons Westlake Village
Photographer – David Michael Photography
Entertainment – Evening Entertainment
Jewelry – Los Angeles Diamond Factory
Florist – Asiel Design
Bakery – Milk and Honey
Decorative Cake – The Cake Studio
Make-up – Aileen Kendall
Hair – James Kendall
Kiddush Cup – Hazorfim
Ketubah – Ketubah.com

four-seasons-westlake-village-jewish-wedding

Make Fireworks at Your Wedding

Posted on July 5, 2010 by Alison in Inside Scoop, Jewish Traditions, Planning

We’re still celebrating America’s birthday, so we’ve prepared a July 4th themed wedding because you can never have enough USA love!

The United States has two beautiful oceans. From Atlantic to Pacific, J. Crew bridesmaid dresses look great on every bridesmaid! We love this getup thanks to the bow and the ocean blue hue!

Silk taffeta bow monde dress from J. Crew

This necklace screams chic Jewish bride-to-be and would be great for pre-wedding celebrating at a rehearsal dinner! Birds are the “it” icon in fashion right now, the flower adds hip femininity, and the colors pay homage to patriotic spirit!

Nautical Escape necklace from Etsy seller RachelleD

Celebrate America from head…

Vintage Inspired Rose Hairpins from Etsy seller LarqueByjason

to toe!

Image courtesy of Eleise Theuer Photography

Your first home together is your chuppah, so in honor of our country, you could create a floral decor that’s inspired by America’s colors. This chuppah created by Sprout Flowers incorporates red and purple florals along the frames. The rings of flowers not only look cool, but symbolize the continuing and never ending love of marriage. This is a great example of a modern and clean chuppah that also complements the overall style of the wedding.

Image courtesy of Sprout Flowers

Your table scape can be a breathtaking sea of red, white and blue that looks modern and elegant at the same time! Consider red flowers with blue and white accents. Go with powder or aqua blues to pair with the red. This table scape by Martha Stewart is really fresh and playful!

Red flowers in a white urn, with a lacy aqua and white mat. Add candles for extra sparkle!

For a little celebratory explosion, you can mark the start of your marriage by breaking blue and red glass under the chuppah! Save the glass from the pouch and put it inside a mezuzah or a frame. Many Judaica shops sell these commemorative items.

Breaking the glass image courtesy of Luster Studios.

Even the guys can enjoy the patriotic theme of your wedding day! Consider these super cool cufflinks for dads, groomsmen, and of course, the groom himself. Clockwise, the goods are: Patriotic Lego Tile from Etsy seller Cufflinks, Captain America Vintage Image Cuff Links from Etsy seller blinkphoto, Uncle Sam 4th of July from Etsy seller wmdean, and American Baseball Cufflinks from Etsy seller qacreate. We Want YOU to love these cufflinks!

Lego, Captain America, Uncle Sam, and leather baseball cufflinks all make great fits for the men of your wedding!

We can’t think of any other way that screams “Go America!” more than sparklers! Create a magical grand exit with sparklers provided for your guests! We love the go-to wedding sparklers company called, quite appropriately, Sparkle. They offer a variety of sparklers lengths and a thorough information guide with tips and facts about their products. We love that they showcase creative ideas for displaying sparklers; they really are the epitome of character and fun! On the most magical night of your life, you totally deserve to exit in a sparkly, big way!

Images courtesy of Sparkle

Friday Favorites | It’s In The Cards

Posted on July 2, 2010 by Alison in Friday Favorites

Happy Friday from The Wedding Yentas! Read on to see how you can have a free experience with one of our favorite things!

A bride typically handles a lot of correspondence before and after the wedding.

Engagement announcements.
Website announcements.
Save the Date announcements.
Thank you cards for engagement party gifts.
Thank you cards for bridal shower gifts.
Thank you cards for wedding gifts.

That’s a lot of envelope licking and stamp purchasing.

Most people hate that part of the wedding experience and wish that a card and announcement fairy could do all the work for them.

Well, the Yentas don’t know of any wedding fairies (except for us, of course. Hardy har har), but we do love a resource that could make your life so. much. easier.

So, for today’s Friday Favorites, we are bursting with joy to talk about Send Out Cards, a company that allows you to create cards or announcements or even invitations, using your own words, fonts, decor, photos and more! Aaaaaaaand, you can have the envelopes addressed and sent in the mail with postage… without ever picking up a pen or leaving your desk chair.

Your hand usually gives you the death stare of pain after writing a bunch of thank you notes. Save yourself the cramp and the ink and do it all on the computer through this cutting edge digital resource. It’s really easy to customize your cards! We love the idea of taking a picture of the KitchenAid Mixer you received from Bubbie Estelle and then including it on the cover of your card. She’ll plotz with sentimentality that you personalized your thank you card to her! Or, in your thank you note to cousins Morty and Ruth, include your favorite photo of you and your groom from the wedding day since they weren’t able to make it out from Flah-ri-dah. The world is really your kosher oyster.

Here are some awesome examples of cards and invitations you can make!

We like the idea of a Save the Date postcard:

Have total control over your wedding invitations:

Impress your family and friends with panoramic fold thank you notes!

You can continue to create cards for change of address notifications, birthday wishes, special events and um, ya know, after being married a bit, baby announcements!

Okay, so recap: Send Out Cards allows you to make totally customizable cards and paper goods for your wedding and other special occasions. Your wallet will like this resource too; instead of buying an expensive box of boring cards at the mega store, keep in mind that cards are only $0.93 each and customized postcards would be only $0.62, so this should work with your budget for sure!

And just for being reader of The Wedding Yentas, Send Out Cards is offering you FREE cards to make! Just click here and when you get to the page, click on the number 2 at the top of the page to get started!