We love it when a couple makes their Jewish wedding 100% truly THEM. And that’s exactly what Leah, a project manager, and Alex, a lab tech and soon-to-be nursing student, did in their literary-themed backyard wedding, which celebrated the pair’s love of reading, family, and of course their beloved cats!
Their wonderful wedding planner, Luba Gankin from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Primavera Dreams, helped them pull all these strands together to make one ultra-memorable day. We can’t get enough of all the fun details like centerpieces made of old books and escort card bookmarks made of recycled book pages – plus the super colorful chuppah canopy, made from a piece of traditional Egyptian wedding tent cloth the bride brought back with her after spending three years living in Egypt! Photographer Alex Gordias captured it all so beautifully.
Oh, and did we mention that the bride – who looked lovely in her wedding dress from BHLDN – baked the wedding cake (for 150 guests) herself?!
Now over to the couple…
How we met
Leah and Alex, the bride and the groom: The bride and groom first met 16 years ago at age 15 when they were competitive Latin ballroom dancers in high school! The groom claims he had a crush on the bride at the time.
Fast forward 14 years, and the groom moved in with one of the bride’s closest friends completely by chance. When the bride came to visit her friend, she was surprised to find Alex there but impressed with the excellent job he’d done growing up. And the rest is history! True to their roots, the bride and groom performed a sensual tango to Leonard Cohen’s ‘Dance Me To The End of Love’.
Backyard Wedding
The couple got married at the bride’s parents’ family home in Falmouth, MA. They chose the location because they wanted to keep coming back to where this special day took place, and start a tradition of holding special family events there.
A Literary Wedding
The bride and groom are both avid readers, so they had a literary themed wedding. The centerpieces were stacks of old books, with the top one opened and the pages fanned out. The escort cards were bookmarks that the bride made out of recycled book pages, with pressed flower petals from a bouquet her father had given her mother the previous March for their 32nd wedding anniversary. The tables had names of authors instead of numbers and were printed on laminated recycled book pages. The couple used a wonderful wedding planner, Luba Gankin from Primavera Dreams who was very supportive of the theme and details.
Book-Themed Invitations
Going deeper with the literary theme, the save-the-dates were old library cards with the dates of the couple’s first date, proposal, and wedding. The invitation was designed to look like an old book cover and the bride hand-trimmed them to give a 3D effect. The RSVP card with the website looked like lined notebook paper. The envelope was made out of brown kraft paper and inked in white, and each envelope was hand stamped with a hot wax seal that had the couple’s initials.
Hair + Makeup
The bride really wanted a classic Slavic look, and so she chose a thick braid wrapped around her head with a few stray curls and tiny baby’s breath flowers woven in. She wanted a natural makeup look that didn’t hide her freckles, and a pop of color on her lips to go with the fuchsia shoes. She lucked out! Her photographer’s wife is a very gifted stylist and did the bride’s look as well as both moms! She is incredibly talented.
A BHLDN Dress
The wedding dress was from BHLDN, a short sleeve A-line ivory slip with a layer of sheer flowery lace and a slit directly in the middle. The bride has always admired the designer’s boho style. She found the dress online and it reminded her of her favorite book, Pride and Prejudice. It was the first dress she tried on.
Family Jewelry
The bride knew she wanted to honor the women who came before her in the smallest details of the day, and specifically when it came to accessories. She wore her grandmother’s granite earrings the color of merlot. Her grandmother died when she was a child, but had worn those earrings for decades before. The bride had a custom three-strand ruby necklace made with a three-stone clasp that matched her antique engagement ring. The bride had a hip-length simple tulle veil with a blusher, which is traditional in a Jewish wedding. She wanted the veil to be simple so that the dress would really shine.
Sentimental Shoes
The bride wore her great aunt Lyela’s fuchsia suede heels, 2.5” high. Aunt Lyela had lived with the bride’s family for 4.5 years in Boston after moving there from Ukraine for cancer treatment. She died in 2003. She and the bride were frequently at odds because the bride had been a wild child, but everyone agreed that had Lyela been there that day, she would have been the happiest of all.
The handsome groom
The groom chose a deep blue textured Michael Kors light wool suit with a skinny burgundy tie and a white shirt from his favorite London designer, Charles Tyrwhitt. He had an oxblood belt and matching vintage style shoes. A month before the wedding, for his birthday, the bride gifted him cuff links with photos of the couple’s cats, Milad and Señor Pantalones, as well as collar stays with secret messages engraved on them. The bride also crocheted the groom’s kippah, and matching ones for all the groomsmen, ring bearers, her dad and her grandpa.
Bridesmaids – and a Bridesmate!
The bride had six bridesmaids, including one guy! She asked them to get dresses that they’d want to wear again in any shade of terracotta as long as they were floor length and a single color. She was floored by how beautifully this turned out! The male bridesmaid took his duties very seriously and had a custom suit made to match the girls.
An Egyptian Chuppah
The bride spent 3 years living in Egypt and brought back a piece of traditional Egyptian wedding tent cloth, which is festive and colorful, for the chuppah. The chuppah poles were originally made by the rabbi’s father for the rabbi’s wedding two years earlier, and he was happy to lend them to the couple.
Ceremony
The bride’s father is a singer in addition to many other things. He sang ‘Tumbalalaika’, a Yiddish song they’ve been singing together since the bride was a child, as she circled around the groom.
The couples’ favorite part of the ceremony was exchanging vows, because they hadn’t shared any details with each other beforehand. Everyone cried.
The rabbi was also wonderful. He and the bride were boyfriend and girlfriend in the 7th grade and have remained close friends since. He announced as much to the audience and high-fived the groom saying “he’d won” while the rabbi’s beautiful (and pregnant!) wife in the audience laughed and looked on.
A Personal Ketubah
The ketubah was a custom hand-cut paper design of an apartment window overlooking the city of Boston. Near the window stands the bride’s father’s piano with sheet music for the couple’s first song. The bride’s grandmother’s accordion leans against the piano, and the couple’s two cats are draped over the top of the piano observing life go peacefully by.
Our music choice
We had a lot of fun with the music! The groom walked out to ‘This Magic Moment’ by The Drifters, his favorite song from the movie ‘The Sandlot’ when a little boy tricks a pretty lifeguard into kissing him by pretending to need CPR. The two eventually got married.
The groomsmen walked out to ‘Damn It Feels Good to be a Gangster’ (the clean version!) and the bridesmaids walked out to ‘I Say A Little Prayer’ by Dionne Warwick. All 8 flower girls and ringbearers piled out to ‘All I Want is You’ by Barry Louise Parker.
Finally, the bride walked out with her parents to the cello version of ‘Despacito’ performed by 2Cellos – an unusual choice, but you should hear it! The recessional was to the theme song of the TV show “The Office,” one of the couple’s favorite shows. The night before the wedding, the couple watched all the wedding episodes from “The Office”.
Simple Flowers
The couple kept the flowers very relaxed because the theme of the wedding was books! They ordered bouquets and boutonnieres of baby’s breath and Italian ruscus from Whole Foods – an unexpected place, but they nailed it!
Photographer
We are obsessed with our photographer, Alex Gordias. Our wedding planner, Luba Gankin from Primavera Dreams, connected us with him and we hit it off immediately. After he did our stunning engagement photos, we knew we were in good hands for the wedding as well!
Cake Baked by the Bride
The bride made the wedding cake for 150 guests. She decided a year in advance that if there was going to be any cake at the wedding, she was the one to make it. Everyone called her crazy… and they were wrong! After three practice rounds, her semi-naked vanilla buttermilk cake with homemade raspberry jam, homemade lemon curd, and homemade mascarpone frosting sported fresh berries and mint leaves, three tiers, and a black cake topper with a hugging couple flanked by two kitties demanding attention.
Russian Food
The catering was family-style Russian food from Igor Catering, complete with pickled fish, 15 appetizers, lots of potatoes, cabbage, and mayonnaise…you get the drift! The list of food barely fit on the menu! The bride remembers some American guests complimenting her on the delicious dinner… not realizing that only appetizers had been served! Everyone was well fed and came back to enjoy leftovers the next day.
Entertainment
Our wedding planner, Luba Gankin from Primavera Dreams, referred us to an incredible DJ, Arslan Khaydarov, who delivered an epic evening. With state-of-the-art equipment, Arslan dazzled during the cocktail hour by playing the saxophone while guests enjoyed appetizers and the photobooth. Together with his wife Malika, they got the crowd riled up with a mix of live performances of classical Russian songs and 2000s pop, as well as mixing in modern music. They were nothing short of incredible!
Favours
There weren’t significant favors other than the handmade bookmarks that doubled as escort cards.
However, since the couple’s hashtag was #putZaltontheBerger (the groom’s last name is Zaltsma and the bride was Goldberger), the photobooth was a bright pink screen with alternating hamburgers and salt shakers. The props were cardboard cutouts of the couples’ cats in a nod to the bride’s social media account, @peopleholdingmycats. Many cats were held that day!
Bride’s speech
The bride did make a speech, first highlighting the guests that traveled the furthest to be there (South Africa, Hawaii, Israel, Dubai) and then toasting her parents by sharing 7 life lessons they taught her, including “Be nice to your brother.”
Father Daughter Dance
The bride and her 72-year-old father also secretly practiced a lively interpretive swing dance that showcased how their relationship had evolved since the bride was born to the tune of ‘Tu Vuo’ Fa’ L’Americano’ by Renato Carosone. The audience was shocked!
Honeymoon in Hawaii
We were very generously gifted a Hawaii honeymoon, so we’re going to hit 3 islands over two weeks in the late spring of 2020!
Leah & Alex’s little white book
Photography – Alex Gordias
Wedding planner – Primavera Dreams {offers $350 discount on any package and a bottle of Champagne to to all members of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club}
Bride’s dress – BHLDN
Groom’s attire – Michael Kors and Charles Tyrwhitt
Hair + Makeup – Vera Gordeeva
Flowers – Whole Foods
Catering – Igor Catering
DJ – Arslan Khaydarov
