Category Archives: Featured

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

It’s Easy Being – And Partying! – Green

Posted on June 23, 2010 by Alison in Featured, From the Expert, Green Week, Inside Scoop, Planning

For today’s Green Week feature, we went straight to the source to get information about having a GREEN DJ performing all your music and party needs! We’re happy to introduce Randy Lehrman from Real Genius Entertainment!

Hybrid vehicles. Reusable shopping bags. And now Green DJs? Don’t you have enough on your plate thinking about your flower arrangements and whether or not your groom can pick out a tuxedo that doesn’t give your mom an 80s flashback?

Of course you do. But GREEN is in for a reason. It’s not just about your entertainment being environmentally conscious, but being environmentally smart. I’ve been in the business nearly 20 years as a Mobile DJ, Party Host, and event planner, and I can tell you that planning a green wedding should be in the back of your mind somewhere because it’s important.

Power Up Your Circuit Knowledge
Being supportive of the environment is obviously motivated by thinking of our children and our future (cue Whitney Houston’s “The Greatest Love of All”), but what if I told you it’s pretty important for your event, too? You don’t have to be Thomas Edison to know there is only a certain amount of energy in every wall outlet (or circuit). No matter how many of those surge protectors your hubby will use in the garage to connect his drill set and saw, there is still only a certain amount of juice available (electricity in the wall). It’s the same principle at your event. Each circuit usually consists of 20 amps, and when you’ve sucked the wall dry, your caterer will end up running to flip the switch after your dad has flipped his lid.

Lighten Up!
Lights at your party are key! Most DJs specialize in two kinds of lighting — dance floor lighting and architectural lighting. Dance floor lighting is self explanatory; it’s where the party is, so you want it to be as festive and colorful as possible without it looking like a local Yankee Doodles restaurant. Architectural lighting consists of uplighting (making your walls colorful), pin spotting (mini spotlights specifically focused on your centerpieces for that extra pop), and gobos (projections of designs, pictures, or your names on the walls or dance floor). All of these lighting details really spice up a room and make the difference, creating something wonderful.

But these things take lots and lots of power. So much sometimes, that they might blow a circuit at your party! What a buzz kill! Luckily, since I’m a GREEN DJ, I never have that problem. Almost everything we run is all LED technology. The newest, the latest, the greatest, and most importantly, the least power-consuming technology for lighting. Here’s a quick example: I can do 24 LED uplights, 15 LED pin spots, light the entire dance floor, add my whole DJ system, and I can run around 15 amps with plenty to spare. The other guys who don’t practice Green DJing use so much power that they take up more than one circuit, running the risk of blowing the whole thing, which would really be a bummer for your photographer, videographer, montage projection, etc. since they won’t have use of the local power in the room.

Get Wired to Hire a Green DJ
Simply by using less, you get more. You get more assurance your party runs smoothly, more peace of mind that if your guests accidentally touch an uplight with their foot they won’t scream out in pain (LED lighting is cool to the touch), and the confidence in knowing that you don’t have to run so much A/C to account for all the hot lights the DJ is running. A Green DJ is just one more element that creates a wedding event that looks and sounds the way you want…AMAZING!

When you meet with your DJ, make sure that an interest to care for the environment is a priority! You are now powered with the knowledge! Enjoy dancing your hora, knowing that there’s enough power in the room for the best man’s speech!

Randy Lehrman is the owner of Real Genius Entertainment, a special events company that specializes in Jewish life cycle events, making every event unique and different while paying close attention to detail and a high level of personal service. With 20 years of experience, Randy uses his personality to drive the party. He also will help you with lighting design, music selections, room layout, and making your wedding exactly how you want it. Located in West Hills, CA (818) 346-3482

Featured | We’re Jazzed About JMag!

Posted on May 31, 2010 by Alison in Featured

Last week, The Wedding Yentas felt major love as we were featured twice on two different web sites. We were so excited to share the thumbs up that Cha Cha Bella gave us on their blog! And then Yenta Alison and her husband were featured on JDate’s online magazine called JMag!

They were asked to write their “mazel tov” story since Alison and Bryan met on JDate, the modern online Jewish matchmaker! A little tip of the hat went out to The Wedding Yentas site. If you’re new here and found us through JMag, welcome! We are so happy to have you join our little mispucha.

If you are a JDate Success Story, you should definitely submit a blurb! JDate is always looking for couples to feature in their little brag book and they toss in a gift if you get published! Plus, why not spread the JDate joy and share your story with other individuals who are looking for love in the right place?!

We hope that current or alumni JDaters find our little corner of the Internet helpful, fun, and exciting. Thank you, JDate, for finding us and becoming our new friends. After all, JDate and The Wedding Yentas go together like charoset and matzot… bagels and lox… apples and honey… mazel and tov.

Featured | Cha Cha Bella

Posted on May 27, 2010 by Alison in Featured

We love getting recognition from other bloggers across the huge scope of the internet. We love hearing from brides how valuable the information on our site is to them and their wedding planning. We love hearing that we are filling a much needed area of expertise. But what we love most is being featured!! We have been featured twice this week on two incredible blogs.

Cha Cha Bella is one of those blogs. They are on a mission to bring sparkle back to women around the world. They offer a variety of rings, jewelry, and gifts to make any bride sparkle on her big day!

Suzanne, the blogger for Cha Cha Bella contacted Alison about doing a feature on Jewish Weddings and needed the expertise of The Yentas. We are always more than happy to help and shmooze away.

Make sure to check out our feature on Cha Cha’s blog, and if you need any special gifts for yourself, bridesmaids, or mothers make sure they are a definite stop on your shopping list!