Author Archives: Alison

Fab Creations by Bliss Extraordinary Floral

Posted on July 7, 2011 by Alison in Featured

Bliss Extraordinary Floral, located in the painted deserts of Sedona, Arizona, doesn’t just build flowery accessories for weddings. No, no. They seriously create masterpieces that are dreamlike and rich in detail. Amy Mills, owner and talented designer, knows a thing or two about flowers, but also has the eye for going the extra mile to work with a bride on executing her vision. Take note, Arizona ladies: working with Bliss is truly, well, bliss!

Let’s take a tour of her work that proves my point because I promise I’m not a liar!

Remember last week’s post about the hottest trend of including peacock elements? Bliss Extraordinary Floral does an extraordinary job with this scheme. The photos are by Leeann Marie Photography who beautifully captured the bridesmaids’ small rose bouquet with a touch of peacock feathers; and tables that held extra large milk jar vases, filled with white hydrangea, purple stock, purple alstromeria, Bells of Ireland, Akita roses and of course lots of feathers.

Something else Bliss does well is perfectly-stated simplicity. Amy knows not to mess with natural beauty. When it comes to sunflowers, they’re about as naturally beautiful as flowers come. So when a bride wants a sunflower-heavy wedding, a good floral designer knows to let the big yellow blooms speak for themselves. And boy do they! Summer and fall brides, take note! Photos by Melissa Dunstan Photography.

For ultimate bridal softness, take a snoop at this wedding! I’m not sure how she does it, but Amy can use the most powdery colored florals and still create a palette that pops with chic colors. This design screams “bridal!!!!!” but with a tenderness and plushness that makes me want to trade in my mattress for a bed of these flowers. The pomanders were whimsical and the centerpieces consisted of David Austin roses, Equidorian roses, carnations, sweet peas and hypericum in moss covered urns that graced the tables. And her wrought iron tree chuppah marries natural beauty with modern flair. It’s sturdy and traditional, but emits a new and fresh style. Photos are by Heather Kadar Photography.

Glass For Your Wedding Day

Posted on July 6, 2011 by Alison in Inside Scoop, Jewish Traditions

By now, you know all about the crowd-favorite tradition of breaking the glass, but do you know what your groom is actually breaking? Yes, he needs glass, but what kind and where do you get it and can you do anything with it after it’s broken?

Yentas readers, you asked for it and now you’re getting it: Today you’ll learn about what glass to use, where to get it, and how you can use it to commemorate your wedding day!

So, a lot of people say that you should use a wine glass. Sure, you can, but they’re not that easy to break. In fact, how many times have you, um, enjoyed a little too much wine from your glass, acquired a case of butter fingers, and dropped the glass? Hopefully it’s not a regular occurrence, but you might find that a fallen wine glass that reaches the floor may not even break, and if it does, the stem will probably just snap off the bulb. But that crunchety-crunch of glass will not emit from the fall, so a stomp probably won’t accomplish it either. Look, I’m no physicist — ha! Far from it! Please, I’m a nerdy Jewish writer! — but something tells me that a wine glass is just not the item you want to place under your groom’s foot. Plus, a wine glass is big, it can roll away, and it’s a wine glass!!! Surely, you have better things to do with it… like drink from it.

Well then, what can you use? You can purchase glass that’s hollowed out and sized perfectly for the hyped-up stomp. Many Judaica stores sell these blown-out glass pieces intended for this tradition. ModernTribe, BFFs of The Wedding Yentas, sells this variety of glass and it’s a great way to go! Plus, they’re pretty!

Pick the color of glass you want your groom to smash and make sure your coordinator or venue manager picks it up for you to take home for after your wedding. You can use the smashed glass to include in your home or Jewish custom items. For example, you can insert your smashed glass shards into a mezuzah or Shabbat candlestick holders. What a beautiful way to bring some of your wedding day love back into your home and serve a reminder for why we smash the glass in the first place (one of the reasons: love is fragile; treat it with care).

For some extra crunch, take sandwich baggie and stick a used lightbulb in there and shove it in the bag that has the decorative glass. It’ll give your groom’s stomp an extra crunch. You could probably use a lightbulb or two alone, but then if you had lifelong dreams to include your smash glass in your Judaica, then that won’t work because there’s really nothing that pretty about a dead, smashed lightbulb. So supplementing your colorful glass with a lightbulb gives you some enhanced noise for additional ruach (spirit), making for a heartier “mazel tov” that your guests will enjoy shouting!

Take it a step further and include a Mazel Tov Stone in your glass smashing! A Mazel Tov Stone is a beautiful piece to add to this rich tradition. The artists work with you to completely customize your slab of Jerusalem limestone that can have your names, wedding date, and other details inscribed. Placing a Mazel Tov Stone under the glass guarantees the glass will break (ohmygosh, how embarrassing if it doesn’t, right?) no matter where you two are standing. Beach wedding on the sand? Garden wedding in the grass? Mazel Tov Stone saves your day… and your stomp.

You and your groom should now be equipped to purchase decorative glass, select a piece of Judaica in which to keep the glass, and include a personalized element that can assist his stomp that you two can keep as a memento from your wedding day. Get smashed with your wine glass on game night with friends, and instead, on your wedding day, smash glass that will evoke the prettiest and loudest “mazel tov!” from all of your friends and family!

Real Weddings | Westlake Village, CA

Posted on July 5, 2011 by Alison in Real Jewish Weddings

Nicole knew it was truly love at first sight when she met her Superman.

Sparks flew immediately when she met Dennis, her new JDate match. He was HOT! “Did I really just meet this guy on Jdate?” He looked like John Travolta from his “Grease” days. The plan was to just meet for coffee, but coffee soon turned into breakfast, and breakfast turned into an afternoon hike, and finally, at the end of the day, Nicole knew she’d just finished her first date with her future husband.

They spent Halloween together and Dennis dressed as Nicole’s favorite hero, Superman, which also happens to be the metaphor she’d always used for her true love and b’shert, whoever he’d be. In the same weekend, they enjoyed a Jason Mraz concert where they shared their first kiss! And Mraz’s song, “I’m Yours” would also be the tune they danced to at their wedding.

Nicole and Dennis were engaged six months later, followed by a wedding six months after that, and they now have a beautiful baby girl and another on the way!

Mazel tov, Nicole and Dennis!

Venue- Westlake Village Inn
Photography- Photography by Charise
Cake- Edie’s Pastries Pastries by Edie, Inc.com
Jeweler- Zamir & Company Diamonds
Entertainment / Music- Pini Cohen
Dress- Jenny Packham
Hair Stylist- Barry Reitman
Makeup Artist- Makeup By RonAnn
Officiant- Rabbi Joshua Hoffman of Valley Beth Shalom in Encino, CA
Yarmulkes- SkullCap.com
Ketubah- Gallery Judaica

real-jewish-weddings-|-westlake-village,-ca

GOTTA HAVE IT: Peacock Wedding

Posted on June 30, 2011 by Alison in Gotta Have It, Inspiration Boards

Maybe it’s the jewel tones or the fun flamboyance of the style, but peacock-themed accessories and accents are super hot right now in the wedding scene. And you know what? Yentas approve!

Artists and merchants on etsy offer a bevy of regal-looking and bird-inspired pieces that will add the right amount of pizazz from the peacock.

So whether it’s hair accessories, bridesmaid gifts, or the groom’s boutonniere, there’s always something to peacock-ify!

peacock-weddings

Peacock Feather Headband: LittleBitsChic

Luxury Indigo Blue Cocktail Dress: yystudio

Bridesmaid Clutches: UpStyle

Snazzy Peacock Tutu Dress: TutuGlamourous

Peacock Blue Glass Earrings: PoetryJewelry

Vibrant Turquoise Ring Pillow: RawStudio

Royal Peacock Mini Guestbook: Scroll

Peacock Teal Shoes: Parisxox

Peacock Boutonniere: Rationale

Peacock Perfection Garter: plainNfancy

Jewish Wedding Traditions Rapid Fire

Posted on June 29, 2011 by Alison in Jewish Traditions

It’s so easy to get caught up in the details of the reception and the expectations you may have for the big day, that it’s common for modern Jewish brides to forget some of the details and customs of a Jewish wedding.

We all know the big ones: we can identify the chuppah, the bride and groom sign a ketubah, there’s the whole stepping-on-the-glass thing, and when it’s time to party, people toss us around in chairs. Yes, those big moments are just par for the Jewish course.

But there are other rituals and facts you may not know about. The Wedding Yentas isn’t going to go into immense detail on each one, but it might be important for you to graze on this information and take in this food for thought (yes, I am a Jewish girl and I use a lot of food metaphors in my writing) as you mull over the kinds of traditions you may want to include in your Jewish wedding.

So here, a little buffet (there I go again) of tid bits that you may or may not know about:

During the week before the wedding, it is customary for the groom and bride not to see each other, even during the day.
From a few days prior, until a week after the wedding, the couple are considered royalty and are, therefore, not to be seen in public without a personal escort.
Since on the day of one’s wedding G-d forgives the bride and groom of all their previous transgressions, it is seen as a private Yom Kippur for the couple.
Jewish weddings may be held anywhere – there are no religious limitations on the location of the wedding ceremony.
Traditionally, a bride will go to the mikvah, a purifying bath, on the evening before her wedding in order to begin her married life in a purified state.
It is a custom that the groom wears a kittel (white garment) under the chuppah. Therefore, he does not wear a kittel on the Yom Kippur following his marriage. On the following Yom Kippur he begins wearing a kittel.
Knots on the groom’s garments (e.g. tie, shoelaces, etc.) are to be untied.
The groom should not have money, silver articles, gold, precious stones, etc. in his pockets at the time of marriage.
Two sisters may have their weddings in the same week, but not on the same day.
Mothers of the bride and groom break a plate! Breaking a plate symbolizes the seriousness of the couples’ intentions towards one another. A smashed plate cannot easily be made whole again; just so, an engaged couple cannot easily renege on their promise to be married.
In recent times, friends of relatives of the bride will often decorate a plate for this ceremony, knowing full well it will soon be broken into little pieces. The shards are distributed to the bride’s single friends as good-luck pieces.

What traditions do you think you’ll include in your ceremony? Are you observing customs prior to the actual wedding day? Is there anything you’d like to know more about? Share below or visit The Wedding Yentas on Facebook to get the dialogue going.