Category Archives: Inside Scoop

Happy Birthday Yenta Nicky!

Posted on May 24, 2010 by Alison in Inside Scoop

It’s only appropriate that we wish Yenta Nicky a happy, happy birthday!

And to all other May 24th birthdays, a happy day to you, as well!

Today, 11 Sivan 5770, you should read the portion from the Torah, Numbers 8:1-12:16.

Wait, WHAAAAAAAAAT!! How do I know this? I’m a Yenta, not a Rabbi!

I just found the coolest web site, so if you need to include a Hebrew date in your wedding program or invitation, and you only happen to know our Roman calendar that we follow in the USA, you don’t have to wait for the red sea to part to find out. Check this out!

Chabard.org’s Lifecycles section offers a Hebrew date calculator and even tells you what Torah portion to study and anything Jewishy that happened on that day.

Nicky, as your past client turned friend turned co-creator of The Wedding Yentas AND friend, I just want to wish you a very happy birthday! You are a wonderful person and everyone who knows you is lucky and changed because of your caring and happy personality. You’re a fabulous wife, a loving doggie mommy, a talented photographer, a sweet baker, and one-of-a-kind friend! On behalf of our readers and friends, I wish you a happy birthday and Yentastic year ahead!!

Look at Little Nicky in her blue and white dress with pinafore! What a doll!

This is a big week for both of the Yentas! Nicky’s birthday is Monday the 24th and Alison’s 2-year wedding anniversary is Tuesday the 25th! In honor of a fun and important week, we are offering a Big Week Special to vendors who are interested in becoming members of our directory! Contact us at info@theweddingyentas.com to find out more about our Big Week Special rates and join the Big Week party!

Winner Announced!!

Posted on May 24, 2010 by Alison in Friday Favorites, Inside Scoop

Congrats to JESSICA, our winner of 20 custom notecards created JUST for her by the ever-so-talented, Queen of Clean, Kari Beard of Simply SugarB!

We know that you’ll love your notecards, Jessica, and the lucky recipients of your cards will gush over Kari’s work!

We wish you a hearty mazel tov on your upcoming wedding, and we also want to thank your soon-to-be husband for his service to our country!

Thank you to all of you who submitted comments and entered to win our sweepstakes! We will definitely have more for you to win in the future, so keep on visiting The Wedding Yentas to see what else we have in store for you!

Friday Favorites | Getting Personal On Paper

Posted on May 21, 2010 by Alison in Friday Favorites, Inside Scoop, Planning

The Wedding Yentas are excited to offer another sweepstakes in today’s Friday Favorites! Read below for your chance to win!

Okay, it’s time to get personal.

I’m not going to ask you questions about lady things or demand information about your upbringing. What I’m doing is telling you to get personal… about your wedding stationery.

From invitations to thank you cards, the paper goods of your wedding should reflect the style of your wedding and the personalities of you and your husband, individually and as a couple. Bringing a graphic designer into your mix of wedding vendors will allow you to really make your wedding yours. The chicken you serve at your wedding may be delicious, but the next weekend’s bride and groom may order the same entree. The chair covers you select may complement your wedding colors perfectly, but last week, they were on the seats used for the Smith wedding. Why not select an element of your wedding to really, truly reflect your individual… “ness.” Your playfulness? Your Jewishness? Your classiness?

Who can help you execute your “ness?” Behind Door #1, we have our favorite, ahem, Friday Favorite, graphic designer extraordinaire, Kari Beard of Simply SugarB. We love her work and want to make sure you all get a chance to see her style that any modern, Jewish bride would admire. She was recently featured in Brooklyn Bride and it’s a cool, behind-the-scenes look of a graphic designer’s studio.

Kari is based out of Washington, D.C. and thanks to the glory of modern day technology, if your wedding is taking place in the Motherland, Simply SugarB will be able to make sure everything is perfect for your big day in Tel Aviv. And Kari is a fellow member of the tribe, so she understands the importance of designing any Jewish elements or fonts you may want to include in your paper suite.

Simply SugarB also has a knack for creating chic and modern paper elements. We also happen to love monograms. Incorporating a monogram or logo into your wedding day personalizes the theme and style of your ceremony and reception. My wedding logo and monogram were on our ceremony programs, wedding favors, dinner menus, and out of town bags. It helped set the tone for the style our guests could expect of our day. And hey, if anyone celebrated too much and couldn’t remember whose wedding they were at, the A&B logo would help jog their memories! We love how this invitation includes a monogram at the top!

Today’s day and age calls for personalization even on the Internet. Kari can do web design for your wedding web site so all of your friends and families can stay on top of the details of your big day. There are sites that offer cookie-cutter templates, but do I really need to refer to my chicken dinner analogy again? Having a web site designed just for you is special and you can really bask in your Internet glow.

We love wedding monograms and logos so much, that we want to give away a set to a lucky winner!! To enter, leave a comment explaining the style of your wedding. Do your best to share your vision for the day: Is it formal and elegant? Is it casual and playful? Is it dark and sexy? There’s no wrong answer! Your style reflects you, and after all, we love getting to know our readers.

Comment and enter to win a set of monogrammed cards that you can use as thank you notes for your wedding-related occasions! Comments will be accepted through Sunday at 11:59 p.m. and the winner will be announced on Monday! Good luck!

Visit Kari!
Designs for weddings: www.simplysugarb.com
Designs for print and web: www.sugarbstudio.com

Battle of the Bands

Posted on May 17, 2010 by Alison in Inside Scoop, Jewish Traditions, Planning

He liked it so he went and put a ring on it. Mazel tov.

Now that the engagement ring is taking up coveted finger real estate, it’s time to tackle one of the items on your To Do list: purchasing wedding bands. Naturally, this is a fun and important activity, and most brides daydream about adding some extra bling to the fourth digit or complementing the glory of the engagement ring.

Hold your horses! Don’t rush off to the jewelry store yet! There are some traditions that you may want to know about first so you know how to plan the big ring exchange on your wedding day.

According to tradition, you should probably swap out this

for this.

I can hear your whining from here: “But Yentaaaaaaas! I’ve always wanted an intricate, pave-set, 2 carat, eternity diamond wedding band in white gold!!” Wipe the worry from your little punims. I have a solution, but first a little story, just like all good Yentas tell.

Jewish law says that a marriage becomes official when the groom gives his bride something valuable and that’s typically a ring. The rabbis say that it should be made of plain gold, with no blemishes, ornaments, or breaks in the ring. The continuity of the ring promotes the hope for an everlasting marriage and the lack of ornaments (read: diamonds. Yes, diamonds) signifies the simple beauty that comes from marriage.

During the wedding ceremony, the groom declares to the bride, “Behold, you are betrothed unto me with this ring, according to the law of Moses and Israel.” Don’t worry. The rabbi will cue the lines. No memorization necessary. Jewish law requires that only the groom gives a ring to the bride, but many modern couples choose to exchange rings.

Okay, now brace yourselves. This may be news to you. Raise both your hands. Put your left hand down. Your wedding ring finger is now your right pointer finger, according to Jewish tradition. While Christianity says the left finger is closest to the heart, the Talmud says that it’s the right forefinger that is closest to the heart. The next time a priest and a rabbi are in a bar, they can duke that one out.

So now you know the details of the ring’s appearance and important fingers according to Jewish law. But, wait, let me guess: you’re a modern bride and you already bought your icy wedding band and you’ve perfectly manicured your left fourth finger. Borrow a solid gold band from a family member or friend and use it in the ceremony. Have your best man (who, most likely, was already carrying the ceremony rings) hold onto the “real life” wedding band and you can slip that on after the ceremony so you can party in it. I actually borrowed my grandma’s solid gold band to use in our ceremony and it served double duty as my something borrowed (and I suppose my something old?). It was special looking out at her during the ceremony, knowing I was carrying on a Jewish tradition, using her family heirloom.

The beautiful custom that takes place during the ceremony is meaningful and important. It’s great to honor this tradition, but it’s also reasonable to live your modern, American Jewish life. After all, what happens in the chuppah, stays in the chuppah.

FLEXFLOP Winner Announced!

Posted on May 17, 2010 by Alison in Friday Favorites, Inside Scoop

Mazel tov to HANNAH for winning a pair of FLEXFLOPs!

We picked our winner at random and we’re happy to report that she no longer has to worry about nights out in Europe barefoot. Here’s what Hannah had to say:

Summer of 2005…studying abroad in Rome, Italy. Imagine heels trying to walk on cobblestone streets and uneven pavement…yeah, not happening. Ditching the heels to save my toes was a nightly thing and walking barefoot equaled hours of scrubbing the dirty Rome streets (and who knows what else) off my feet!

Thank you to all of you who commented! We love doing these enter-to-win posts and you can be sure you’ll see more cool things to fall in love with in the future! We love you all for your support! Keep it up! We just want to pinch your little cheeks, just like the Yentas we are.

Now, go get yourself a pair of FLEXFLOPs and never worry about ruining your feet again!