Category Archives: Real Jewish Weddings

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

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

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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

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Real Weddings | Washington, DC

Posted on June 29, 2010 by Alison in Real Jewish Weddings

Some couples learn how to turn up the spice as they bond. But this Real Weddings couple started with the spice right away. You see, D’Alizza and Lonny met in a Miami salsa-dancing club. Both of them were competitive salsa dancers, and D’Alizza noticed Lonny’s amazing moves. They danced their way into each other’s hearts and got engaged. D’Alizza, who is Dominican, also fell in love with Judaism, and had an Orthodox conversion to become an observant Jew. She was really excited to showcase her Orthodox wedding to her friends and family, and to share how vibrant and rich Dominican culture is to her religious community. D’Alizza is one of the most expressive, excited brides we’ve ever seen. She was literally jumping up and down with joy after coming off of the bimah.

Cool fact: The photographer, Kelly Prizel, is also a convert to Judaism from Catholicism, which naturally bonded D’Alizza and Kelly immediately. Kelly says, “I’ve never seen such a beautiful Jewish bride and never been so convinced that two people were each other’s beshert.”

D’Alizza and Lonny got married at Sixth & I Historic Synagogue, an amazing non-denominational Jewish space in Washington, DC. D’Alizza and Lonny were instantly attracted to it because of its history and also its incredible early 20th century Sephardic architecture. Their Orthodox community from Woodside Synagogue in Silver Spring helped them plan and execute the wedding. It was truly a communal affair.

We love this story and the happiness that explodes from each photograph!

Mazel tov, D’Alizza and Lonny!

Venue – 6th & I Historic Synagogue
Photographer – Kelly Prizel
Officiant –Rabbi Barry Freundel
Florist – Sidra Forman Flowers
Makeup – Ana Merces

washington-dc-jewish-wedding

Real Weddings | Tarzana, California

Posted on June 24, 2010 by Alison in Real Jewish Weddings

This wedding was absolutely breathtaking, while still utilizing the green bag of tricks to be eco-friendly! Paola of Just Chic Events created a thorough and warm event that honored Jewish traditions and also saluted our planet.

Since there were no cut flowers, the centerpieces were florals that could be replanted. The bride wanted to make sure that whatever was used for centerpieces could be easily added to her her mom’s garden the following week. The only cut flowers were her own personal bouquet and even those were florals that the florist had used at an event the night prior. The petals that lined the aisle were also from roses used at a previous night’s event.

The bride borrowed the veil from one of her sisters. Not only was the veil considered her “something borrowed,” but borrowing it minimized the impact that the wedding had on the environment. This is a nice way to honor a family member or friend!

The bride and her entourage enjoyed getting pampered at a green nail salon before the wedding! Talk about beauty AND brains! What a great way to spruce up your tips AND Mother Earth.

Since it was a daytime April wedding and the food had to stay out of the sun, canopies made out of burlap, an eco-friendly material, shaded the food stations. Guests selected their meals from gourmet stations instead of being served at a sit-down lunch in order to avoid unnecessary waste. Since people served themselves, there was less food thrown out. Stations included an amazing interactive salad bar and a grilled cheese bar — yum! Guests also enjoyed shots of tomato soup because, really, what could be better with grilled cheese?! And the gelato! Mmmm, gelato! A gelato bar should make any guest plotz with excitement! The food and cake were organic, and the ingredients were fresh and locally grown.

Classy details even went into napkin decor! They were tied with a piece of eco-friendly raffia. Table numbers were recycled from a past event that the bride’s mother had held at her house. Wedding favors were from Tree In A Box, offering the gift — and mitzvah! — of planting a tree to help the environment. The boxes were personalized and looked super cute!

Many of the vendors are not actually “green-only” vendors, but worked with the couple to make sure that everything they produced was eco-friendly. This just goes to show that you don’t have to do extra work to find “green-only” vendors. Just explain your vision to your dream team and build a wedding together that is is a symbol of you and the ideals in which you believe!

Venue – Private Home, Tarzana
Coordination – Just Chic Events
Photographer – Mi Belle Inc.
Entertainment – DeBois Entertainment
Floral Design – Flowers and Design by Gina
Makeup – Blushing Bridal Makeup
Hair Stylist – Howard Kurtz Salon
Catering – Cornucopia Caterers
Officiant – Rabbi Paul Kipnes
Ketubah – Modern Ketubah
Bakery – Doan’s Bakery
Harpist – HarpWorld
Rentals – A Rental Connection
Favors – Tree In A Box
Bridal Manicures – Soak Nails

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