Friday Favorites | A Feast of Thanks

Yesterday’s Thanksgiving holiday was wonderful. Nicky is in Texas with her husband and his family after arriving safely from a multi-day road trip. Alison stayed in the area with her own family and husband’s family in a combined Thanksgiving celebration where there’s a singing and guitar marathon after dessert. Overall, both Yentas enjoyed a holiday full of family, love, and of course, food! No wonder we like weddings so much; weddings typically also include lots of family, love, and food!

As we take this Thanksgiving time to reflect, we want to share what the Yentas are most thankful for:

Each other! The Yentas make a great team who need each other to survive.

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Our readers! You keep coming and coming, and we love that you’re enjoying this site!

Our vendors! We’re so happy to provide a place for you to call home so that we can feature your great work and give you a place to show off your talents in our directory and within the site’s integration.

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Our photographers! We are so lucky to have worked with many photography companies who trust us to showcase their work in a way that will not only help their own business exposure, but help other brides in need of a little inspiration. Photographers are true artists capturing real life on the canvas of their cameras.

Our Facebook fans! Our numbers continue to grow. You like us! You really like us! Thank you for being part of the grass roots efforts to promote The Wedding Yentas!

Our dogs! Charlie and Princeton keep our laps warm and our faces licked as we work long days and into the nights to create content and develop new ideas, tethered to our computers. They also provide us laughs we need when they “let” us dress them up in ridiculous outfits (like submarines or Italian waiters).

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JDate! We’ve developed a great partnership with the folks at JDate and hope to help their newly engaged successes as they begin to plan their weddings. Mazel tov! We’re also thrilled to be featured on JDate’s open access lifestyle magazine, JMag, and we’re thankful to be part of the JFamily.

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Beautiful weddings! Who isn’t thankful for eye candy?!?! We love getting wonderful submissions that allows us a glimpse into a couple’s special day and the countless hours of thoughts and ideas that went into the details of their wedding.

Jewish geography! We’ve connected with so many readers and vendors thanks to the big-but-small Jewish community nation-wide.

Our husbands! They are not only our support system in life, but they are our tech support as well. This site wouldn’t exist without Eric and Bryan. Kisses!

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Real Weddings | Berkeley, CA

With Thanksgiving here today and the Autumn season in full force, it seems only natural we feature a Real Wedding that includes warm fall colors and a heated romance to match!

Ken and Jennifer’s wedding was an exact representation of who they are as people, from the eco-friendly DIY terrarium centerpieces to the delicious vegetarian meal. The beautiful Jewish ceremony kept the day seeded in tradition, but offbeat elements like Jennifer’s brown custom-made dress ensured the wedding was one-of-a-kind. Additional DIY elements besides the centerpieces included the bride’s bouquet and groom’s boutonniere, which was hand-crafted by Jennifer the morning of the wedding! Also, “thank you” tags attached to gifted shawls and the ceremony programs. Love and appreciation flowed!

Mazel tov, Jennifer and Ken!

Venue- Brazilian Room
Photographer – Heidi Ryder Photography
Caterer – Serves You Right Catering
Cake Designer – Indie Cakes
Invitations – Paper Source
Bride’s Dress – Stitch Song
Groom’s Suit – Banana Republic
Heirlooms – Naked Peggies
Ketubah – Painted by Michael Sacramento (a friend of the couple)
Rosewood Rings – Minter & Richter Designs

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Happy Thanksgiving!!

We would just like to take a moment to thank all of our readers, vendors, friends, and family for your support! We never thought The Wedding Yentas would grow so big and so quickly and we owe it all to you! We hope you all have an incredibly wonderful Thanksgiving day tomorrow. We will be featuring a gorgeous fall-themed Berkeley wedding, so stop by and check out the Yentas in between bites of turkey and stuffing!! We hear that surfing the Internet burns calories. Swear.

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Real Weddings | Boardman, OH

It’s the age-old story of “when it’s right, you’ll know.” Rob and Becky both attended the same high school and were friends with the same people, but weren’t in each others’ circles. But a little twist of fate brought them together and they became close through mutual friends.

Sometime between their reacquaintance and their wedding day, there was a proposal and the wedding planning madness began.

Becky and Rob planned a simple, traditional Jewish wedding. The bridal party matched, carrying over Becky’s terra cotta theme, while white accented the rest of the wedding theme. The rabbi asked Becky and Rob to write paragraphs describing each other and told them to leave the paragraphs as a surprise for the wedding day and incorporate them in his sermon. This is a personal touch that many rabbis like to include in their ceremonies and we encourage you to do some pre-wedding soul searching and air it out under the chuppah. It’s an emotional moment to hear the words out loud and leaves a long-lasting impression.

Mazel tov, Becky and Rob!

Ceremony Venue – Congregation Rodef Sholom
Reception Venue – The Embassy
Photographer – Lisa Nikole Photography
Ketubah – MP Artworks
Jeweler – Komara Jewelers
Bakery – Sweets by Sue
Transportation – FAB Limo

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Dressing Up Your Table

As a bride, you make many decisions. Most of them thinking about details for the wedding day. But registry items are for after the wedding! And during this Thanksgiving week, it’s a given that food, food, and more food will be on the brain. So why not think about how you’re going to serve your food? We want to share some pieces with you that will dress up your table for future Thanksgivings, leaving you thankful you have them in your collection.

Side dishes never looked lovelier in the Inside Out Bowls from Anthropologie. The Atom Art Bowls are perfect for dessert. We’re thinkin’ ice cream. Mmmm.

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Also from Anthropologie, pieces from the Verdant Acres collection allows you to add a splash of color to your table! The watercolor-like colors and floral designs add a vintage and delicate feel to your table’s feast. Not too casual, not too formal. Juuuuust right.

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In the mood for less color, more simple? You can still serve in style. Anthropologie carries the Fleur de Lys Dinnerware collection and it is delicious even without food on top! The pieces have a certain femininity without being too girly, and the unique shapes and details add personality to your run-of-the-mill white china. This variation on that theme is welcome and purty!

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It’s common knowledge that Bloomingdale’s is known for classy sophistication, so if you are going for a more traditional look on your table, we think Villeroy & Boch’s White Lace series fits the bill precisely! With a black and white color scheme, a simple pattern, and classic figures, this dinnerware will allow the feast you serve to really shine in the spotlight.

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But your loot from Bloomies can still have modern lines and colors! While the folks behind the Big Brown Bag know how to keep timeless traditions alive, they also sell funky tableware with a grown-up twist. Drinking wine? Add some bold colors and drink it in glass bulbs. The William Yeoward Country Fanny Goblets add the right amount of shades to your spread. Mix and match or go with a theme. Either way, your guests will ask you to keep pouring!

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Macy’s won’t let you serve food with your bare hands, so they have these whimsical serving pieces! Simply Designz Serveware features 2 glass-beaded servers and we think they’re so unique! Light colors adorn the pieces and you have options to match your whole table. Here, we spotlight clear and amethyst. And if you accidentally drop some salad from the bowl to your plate, at least you did it in style.

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Any way you slice it, you’re sure to have a lovely Thanksgiving holiday this year and for years to come. All you need is love… and food, and family, and friends! Enjoy your feast and the way you serve it. And after you digest and you find yourself hungry again, think about what you’d like to add to your registry so that you have items you and your partner can love as you grow old together. Who knows? You could be serving your grandchildren on these very dishes!