This is one seriously glam wedding. Between the luxe setting and that chuppah — an absolute vision in white roses and hydrangeas – we’re seriously sold on this couple’s Jewish luxe wedding style, so beautifully captured by photographer Pat Robinson and videographer Live Picture Studios.
With such grand surroundings, it would have been easy for Sofia, an anesthesiologist, and Mitch, an internal medicine physician, to leave it at that — but they went the extra mile with so many fun details like a cigar roller, fun coaster place cards that guests took home as favors, and, best of all, wedding programs that doubled as confetti envelopes for the couple’s grand exit!
The front listed the standard names and order of service, and the back had some helpful info about Jewish traditions to make sure everyone could follow along, and the semi-translucent envelopes were stuffed with bright, colorful confetti — such a fun and unexpected touch!
Sofia and Mitch had a super fun dance party, too, thanks to their reception band, Brooklyn Sound from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Hank Lane. For their first dance, the band played an acoustic version of Rihanna’s We Found Love, the couple’s song because they “we found love in a hopeless place”: the ICU, where they met during training.
We’ll let Sofia, who looked stunning in her glam custom gown from CT Bridal Couture (with a detachable overskirt to provide that wow factor for the ceremony, without causing any trouble on the dance floor)…
How We Met
Sofia, the bride: We met in training while working in the intensive care unit together.
Black Tie Glamor
We were married at The Grove in Cedar Grove, New Jersey. We picked this venue because we wanted to have a glamorous black tie wedding and The Grove is consistently ranked the number one venue in New Jersey (the bride’s home state), so we knew that they could deliver.
Bringing the Outdoors In
Since the venue was very glamorous I decided to go more modern minimalist with the decor. I stuck to neutral greenery and white flowers for the florals so that we don’t have too much going on in the room.
We both like greenery and gardening, so I wanted to bring some elements of the outdoors even though the venue was indoors. I had the menus and signs all printed with eucalyptus flowers and used lots of greenery and branches in the centerpieces.
I also made sure to utilize our monogram in elements throughout the decor. As a result our monogram was on the menu, programs, cocktail napkins, welcome bags, photobooth backdrop, and as custom labels on the hand rolled cigars.
What ‘Smashing The Glass’ Did For Us
I liked that Smashing The Glass catered specifically to Jewish weddings and showed details related to Jewish weddings such as kippot, chuppah designs, and ketubahs. Not all wedding websites show those details, and it gave me some good ideas.
Modern Minimalist Invitations
Our invitation design was modern and minimalist to go with the overall theme of the event.
Hair + Makeup
I wanted my makeup to be simple but glamorous, and my MUA Natalie did a perfect job. I felt like I still looked like myself, just the prettiest version there is. We added some glitter to the eyes because I absolutely love to sparkle (if you couldn’t tell by my outfit).
For my hair, I knew that I wanted it down but out of my face because it can get messy after a full day of activities and then dancing. I also wanted something sort of sleek but felt that totally straight hair isn’t exactly me because I am a Jersey girl after all and I love volume – so the Hollywood waves were perfect.
A custom dress
The dress was custom made by CT Bridal Couture. I always knew that I didn’t want a bustle on my dress because I’ve seen so many of my friends that had their bustles ripped out. But I still did want a WOW factor with my skirt, so I decided to get an overskirt.
I knew exactly what I wanted from the start but despite a lot of shopping around I couldn’t find it, so I decided to have it made. Nelya was amazing, she spent a whole day shopping for fabric with my mom and me in the garment district. It was quite a nerve-wrecking process but in the end the dress came out amazing.
Nelya really had an eye for what fits my body and how to best emphasize my best features. In the end, it was the perfect dress for me. I got my wow factor for the pictures and ceremony but was able to enjoy myself for the party without worrying about a bustle or train.
Minimal Accessories
Since my dress was very glitzy I decided to keep my jewlery to a minimum. My earrings were ear crawlers from Bloomingdales and my headpiece was from Bridal Style Boutique. I knew I wanted a headpiece but didn’t want to feel like it was too much with the dress so I went for a more abstract, thinner piece that looked similar to the vines on my dress.
Jimmy Choos
My shoes were Jimmy Choo. They were stilleto heels with “buttons” on the front that you can pop off and mix and match. I really wanted something different and these were PERFECT. They were a mix of gold and silver on a stilleto heel but somehow very comfortable.
The handsome groom
Mitch wore a Ted Baker tuxedo in navy blue with black lapels. We had a very large bridal party and I wanted him to stand out from the groomsmen but also wanted to get a tuxedo that he could wear again. This one was perfect, it fit him like a glove and the color really flowed so the blue was not overwhelming.
His shoes were Floresheim. Cufflinks were custom monogram cufflinks from Etsy that we got for all of the groomsmen, and a floral pocket square. I wanted to bring some funk into the usual black and white tuxedo so that’s why we had floral pocket squares.
Bridesmaids in Morganite
We had a very large bridal party, 10 bridesmaids and 10 groomsmen. The bridesmaids wore Watters gowns in morganite. I let the girls pick their own style because they all had such different body shapes and not everyone looks good in the same dress, but I tried to encourage them to pick a sleek cut so match my modern minimalist glam look that I was going for.
White Florals for the Chuppah
I wanted a very floral chuppah with lots of greenery, but the outdoor space itself was very green so we went with white roses and hydrangeas so that it would stand out in the space.
Smashing The Glass
For our “glass smashing” I wanted something really memorable because it’s become such a big thing in Jewish weddings and I know a lot of our friends just broke lightbulbs that they never saw again.
I found a woman on Etsy who sends you a glass that you break, then send back to her, and she makes custom frames or mezzuzahs out of it. We went with the frame because we had been gifted several mezzuzahs during our engagement period.
Paradise Flower Shop did all the florals for the wedding.
All You Need Is Love
Our first dance was an acoustic version of Rihanna’s We Found Love. Mitch and I met while in our medical training working the ICU and I always said that it was our song because “we found love in a hopeless place.”
Mitch wanted a more classic choice for the processional so we went with Canon in D Major. For the recessional we did All You Need Is Love by the Beatles because it was upbeat and we wanted a fun exit since we did the confetti toss in the end.
Ceremony and cocktail hour musicians: Stellar Strings.
Reception band: Brooklyn Sound from Hank Lane.
Hydrangeas and Roses
The bouquets were a mix of roses, hydrangeas, and eucalyptus. I just wanted neutral colors for the florals because the room was very grand and I didn’t want the floral arrangement to be overwhelming. We went with hydrangeas and roses because they have nice large blooms and looked clean and modern but were also in season.
I wanted elements of the outdoors brought into the ceremony so we added a lot of eucalyptus and branches to both the centerpieces and bouquets.
Photographer
Pat Robinson did our photos. I kinda went down a rabbit hole when looking for a photographer because I know that in the end the day is such a whirlwind and the only thing we will have left years from now is the photos. We skyped with Pat and just vibed with him right away unlike several of the other photographers we met with. He understood what look I was going for and he wasn’t too formal or stuffy himself, which was great. You can really tell that Pat has an eye for these sort of things between our engagement photos and our wedding photos.
Videographer
Live Picture Studios did our wedding video. I know several people that have used them and they have worked with The Grove a lot so I knew that they would know what to expect and what where the best shots would be.
Cake!
The cake had a map on it because we love to travel. My bridal shower theme was actually traveling and I thought having a map of the world on the cake would be a fun way to bring some personality in. It was vanilla with raspberry filling. All of the catering was done by our venue, The Grove, but the cake was from Calandra’s Bakery, which works with The Grove often.
A photo booth and bottle dancers
Everyone always has a great time with a photobooth, and it’s a fun favor for people to take home. We also got a USB with all the pictures from the photobooth, which I LOVE because it gives us a whole other set of pictures to remember the night.
We also had bottle dancers – this was a complete surprise to everyone except my mom who booked them on the sly. She saw the “ringers” that were in the first episode on the Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and totally loved it so she started doing some research. None of us knew that she had booked them and we were all taken aback. They performed a dance with bottles and then hyped up the crowd for the hora. I loved it and it definitely brought a Jewish cultural aspect to our wedding, which was awesome because we had many guests that had never been to a Jewish wedding before.
Cigar roller
My dad always wanted to have one, and Mitch surprised him by booking the cigar roller. He had a table set up with a cigar rolling demonstration and then people were able to take hand rolled cigars home that had our custom monogram on them.
Coaster Place Cards
We had acrylic coasters with each guest’s first name on them in rose gold vinyl that we packaged in boxes and used as the place cards for double duty. I really liked this idea because a lot of time people forget their favors and it can be wasted money, but if it’s personalized people are much more likely to grab it at the end of the night. We had a lot of our guests report back that they love their coasters and use them all the time
We had custom dessert favor boxes for people to take home treats from the viennese table.
Confetti Programs
The wedding programs were envelopes that I stuffed with confetti for our grand confetti exit. The front had all the usual information and the back had some cheeky explanations about Jewish traditions we included in the wedding. Reagan also did our custom menus and our signature drink signs.
I really wanted our monogram everywhere so I also ordered custom napkins with the monogram in rose gold.
Oftentimes at weddings I find that the tables are really crowded, between the table numbers, centerpiece and all the dinnerware, so I decided to pare it down by having rose gold decal numbers that we used as stickers on the vases of the centerpieces. This was one less thing on the table and freed up some space.
I really like how clean and modern acrylic looks so our money box, cake topper, and dress hangers were all made of acrylic. The money box also had rose gold decals on it to match the rest of the items and the favors.
A Minimoon and a Honeymoon
We first did a mini moon in Cape Cod at the Wequasset Resort, which was absolutely unbelieveable. The staff was phenomenal and everyone went above and beyond when they heard it was our mini moon.
We both love to travel and have done a lot of trips since we started dating so we knew we wanted to go somewhere exciting on our honeymoon. Since we both get pretty antsy just laying around, a simple beach getaway was not in the cards for us. We decided to do a safari in Tanzania followed by a few beach days in Zanzibar in February.
Advice to couples currently planning their wedding
I definitely think that it’s important to get all of your vendors settled early on and think about what small details you want and try to take care of those as soon as you can. The last few weeks before the wedding can get very busy and overwhelming and the last thing you want to do is be up two nights before the wedding stuffing 250 envelopes with confetti (thankfully I did this in advance).
Also make a schedule for the day and give it to EVERYONE involved in the day so that you’re all on the same page.
Sofia & Mitchell’s little white book
Photography – Pat Robinson
Videography – Live Picture Studios
Venue – The Grove
Bride’s dress – CT Bridal Couture
Bride’s shoes – Jimmy Choo
Groom’s attire – Ted Baker, Floresheim, Etsy and Gianni Feraud
Hair + Makeup – Natalia Akuratava and Makeup by Natalie Sky
Flowers – Paradise Flower Shop
Cake – Calandra’s Bakery
Invitatation – Karen’s Invitation
Ketubah – Danny Azoulay purchased at Shalom House
Kippahs – Yarmulka
Band – Hank Lane
Bottle Dancers – Bottle Dance
Photobooth – Step It Up Events
Cigars – Maximum Cigars
Favor boxes – To Go Favors
Hangers and cake topper – Z Create Design
Money box – Save The Date Design
Monogram – Kels Joy Creative
Stationery – Southpaw and Co and Kb Paper Co
Frame – Enny Mosaic
Honeymoon – Wequasset Resort
