We love a good theme wedding – and Rena and Alexander’s was doubly great, having not just one theme but two! While their venue, Smoke Tree Stables in Palm Springs (where the groom worked for over a decade), lent itself to a Western theme, they also opted to add in circus elements by hiring a stilt walker and face painter and setting up games like horseshoe and cornhole.
Rena and Alexander worked with Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Rabbi Leah Richman to craft a custom ketubah involving elements from her Desert Oasis Sunrise Ketubah with desert animals, such as the mule deer, big horn sheep, and California Rosy Boa snake. She also added hedgehog cactuses with blooms of deep magenta in the foreground, and in the background the San Jacinto mountains, beneath which the Smoke Tree Stables are nestled.
We love that the duo opted for an egalitarian Kabbalat Panim, where both bride and groom were surrounded by their loved ones, in separate ceremonies, to share stories and memories. Don’t miss it all in the wonderful photos by Kathleen Geiberger Art.
Now over to the bride…
How We Met
Rena, the bride: We met on Bumble—one success story amid myriad tribulations. Alex was nervous to get on the phone, since he is often quiet when meeting someone new. However, Rena immediately put him at ease sharing stories of backpacking in places like Catalina, the Green Mountains, and her favorite pastime—finding hard-to-reach natural hot springs. For their first date, Alex drove four hours from Palm Springs—where he worked as a horse wrangler at Smoke Tree Stables—to Anaheim to meet at the Hidden House Coffee shop.
They talked for hours and decided on a second date: a moonlight hike in the Cleveland National Forest. They hiked Upper Hot Springs Canyon to Falls Trail under the full moon. Rena didn’t think to bring food, which turned out to be a good thing, as Alex had packed a charcuterie board and four types of wine since he didn’t know her preference.
From that moonlit picnic at the waterfall, Alex knew he wanted to marry Rena. From then on, he drove four hours for many more dates while Rena finished her postdoctoral position at the University of California, Irvine.
Venue
Our wedding ceremony took place at the picturesque Smoke Tree Stables. Alex started working there at 17 and continued through college for over a decade. The Stables’ owners, KC and Stacey Johnson, warmly welcomed Alex from the beginning, treating him like family.
The Johnson’s Sephardic heritage holds special significance for Rena, whose family has been active in the Sephardic community of Los Angeles for decades. Their hosting of our union beautifully symbolized the blending of our lives and the deep, supportive relationships that have enriched them.
Theme + Planner
The venue, being a horse stable, naturally lent itself to a Western theme. However, Rena added elements of a circus by hiring a stilt walker and face painter. Their wedding planner and day-of-coordinator, Hayley French of The Events Department, nurtured this blend by setting up games like horseshoe and cornhole.
Inspired, Hayley added black lights to the string lights hung about the stable and placed coloring tables for the children, which glowed beneath them. Felicia Le Que, the face painter, used black light face paints to create unique, colorful designs for all the guests.
The couple let the desert guide the other thematic elements, incorporating desert spring colors—blues, greens, yellows, and purples—for the tableware. White ceramic succulent planters decorated with blue thistle, billy balls, and red and orange hypericum adorned the tables.
Invitation
We used invitations and website design from Minted, which we chose because it features independent designers. Both were created by Adelyn T. on Minted.com
Hair + Makeup
Rena’s sister, Silvi Goldstein, did makeup and cousin Nicole Minkoff did Rena’s hair in the tack room at the Stables.
Dress
Rena’s two sisters, Alix and Silvi Goldstein, were instrumental in finding the one—a dress that captured Rena’s colorful, bohemian nature. Marivel, with Flutter Dress, customized her “Spice” velvet dress and crochet bodice to be suitable for cool weather.
Accessories
Rena wore jewelry handcrafted by metalsmith Lucia Pearl. Other elements of the outfit included Billy Pull On Boot from the Fyre Company, and a blush broad brimmed hat purchased at Meyer the Hatter in New Orleans. Alex wore a bolo tie that once belonged to the bride’s grandfather, Robert Goldstein.
Ceremony & Chuppah
With the help of loved ones—including “Master Chuppah Builder” Mark Wolfe, Brian Johnson, and John Baker—Alexander built the chuppah. They used pine timber: 4×4 for the post, 2×4 for the upper structure, and a fence lattice piece on top. Mary Crass from JENSEN’S, added two wildflower sprays, incorporating solidaster, blue thistle, and orange ranunculas with loose and airy baby’s breath on the front posts.
One of our favorite moments of the day was the Kabbalat Panim, when our families gathered separately to share stories and memories. In Jewish tradition, the bride (Kallah) and groom (Chatan) are likened to to royalty. We incorporated an egalitarian Kabbalat Panim, where both Rena and Alex were surrounded by their invited guests in separate ceremonies. The Kabbalat Panim took place during the cocktail reception, with Jalapeno Margaritas, Manhattans, and Old Fashions served.
Guests of the bride and groom found their respective sides, and gathered around the couple to tell stories, memories, and songs in honor of the nuptials. Another special moment happened by chance. As the ceremony began, we realized the chuppah was built just slightly too tall to place the bride’s father’s tallit atop the lattice. Our family members—Alex’s three sisters and Rena’s brother—held the tallit overhead instead. Though unplanned, the addition of family so close beneath the chuppah bound the couple’s families to each other.
Ketubah
In keeping with the desert bohemian theme, we found Rabbi Leah Richman, a talented Israeli artist, to craft a custom ketubah that involved elements from her Desert Oasis Sunrise Ketubah featured on Etsy with desert animals, such as the mule deer, big horn sheep, and California Rosy Boa snake. Richman also painted hedgehog cactuses with blooms of deep magenta in the foreground and in the background the San Jacinto mountains, beneath which the Smoke Tree Stables are nestled.
Our music choice
For the processional, our DJ, Zephyr, of ‘The Art of Sound’, played Aaron Copeland’s 4 Dance Episodes from Rodeo III. Saturday Night Waltz and 4 Dance Episodes from Rodeo IV. Hoe down during the recessional. Our grand entrance song was ‘We Get High’ by Ashe and for our last song Zephyr played ‘This Will be Our Year’ by the Zombies.
Flowers
Our florist was JENSEN’S, and the flowers were a gift from the bride’s grandmother, Carol Alcalay. The round dining tables had six 12” round planters in white ceramic with blue thistle, billy balls, and orange and red hypericum. On the long tables were white ceramic cubes with succulent planters decorated with blue thistle, billy balls and red/orange hypericum. Rena’s girlfriends decorated the bar and food tables with bunches of baby’s breath.
Photographer and videographer
Our photography and videography were coordinated by Kate Geiberger of Kathleen Geiberger Art. Kate came highly recommended by our onsite management and event coordination, “The Events Department.” We are so happy with our choice as Kate was incredibly warm and excited for us, and felt the western theme immediately as she is herself a lover of horses. She captured wonderful moments of Alex with his buddy, also named Alex, a black and white painted quarter horse Tennessee Walker Mix.
Food and dessert station
We had appetizers: mini chicken tinga, artichoke dip, fresh vegetable cascade, black bean taquitos, ceviche with tortilla chips; taco bar buffet dinner, coffee and hot chocolate station and smores station for dessert by Randy at Catering by Westwood. Our bar was with Amit at Mint Bar Service.
Wedding List alternative
We did not have a registry because we moved to Germany shortly after the ceremony for Rena’s job, where she now works as a postdoctoral researcher at the Technical University of Munich. Instead, we asked guests to consider a cash gift to us for our future dream ranch or to a charity.
We recommended two possible charities: “Save a Child’s Heart,” which offers medical care and life saving surgeries for West Bank Palestinians and “Impact Your World”, which gathers and vets organization that are on the ground responding to humanitarian efforts in the Israel-Gaza conflict.
Extra Details
Each guest was gifted with uniquely styled Talavera 4X4 Tile Coasters, which were signed by Rena and Alex with the date and location of the ceremony. The tiles were made by MEDEACC, Mexican Decorative Accessories in Laredo, Texas and purchased on Etsy. Many incredible toasts were given, and one that stood out was given by Rena’s siblings: Alix, Silvi, and Ruben Goldstein. Not only did they share many fond memories, but they choreographed a song-and-dance to “Sisters” by Rosemary Clooney.
Here are their lyrics: Siblings, Siblings
There were never such devoted siblings ~ Never had to have a chaperon, no sir ~ We’re here to keep our eye on her ~ Caring, sharing ~ Every little thing that we are wearing ~ When a certain arrived from the valley ~ We were happy that Rena lived in Cali ~ All kinds of weather ~ We stick together ~ The same in the rain or sun ~ Four different faces ~ But in tight places ~ We think and we act as one ~ Those who’ve seen us ~ Know that not a thing can come between us ~ Many fights have tried to split us up but nothing can ~ Lord, Honor the mister ~ Who dares to marry my sister ~ And Lord, we love the sister who is getting married to the mister.
Honeymoon
Since we knew that we were moving to Munich, we took a very short honeymoon in the San Bernadino Mountains. With our dog, Kora, we backpacked out of the Mojave Desert up into the San Bernardino Mountains to a hot spring. We camped for two nights before packing out to catch a flight.
Advice to couples currently planning their wedding
Rena and Alex had very few expectations about everything would come together and instead relied on the creativity of the professionals around them to bring magic to the venue. This meant giving creative freedom to Hayley French, our coordinator, to decide what was possible within our vision of a family-friendly atmosphere. Felicia Le Que, our talented face painter and stilt walker, had complete artistic freedom over the painted designs.
Our florist, Mary Jensen of JENSEN’S, was simply given the “desert theme” and from there created the stunning wildflower sprays that adorned the chuppah. Weddings are a collaborative event between creative professionals, family, and the couple. Keep in sight that this day is not only about the couple under the chuppah. It is, most importantly, a way to thank the community that brought them together—a community that now gathers again to witness and celebrate this new phase of life.
RENA & ALEXANDER’S LITTLE WHITE BOOK
Photography – Kathleen Geiberger Art
Ketubah – Rabbi Leah Richman
Venue – Smoke Tree Stables
Wedding Planner – Hayley French, The Events Department
Bride’s dress – Flutter Dress
Bride’s boots – Fyre Company
Bride’s accessories – Lucia Pearl, Meyer the Hatter
Flowers – JENSEN’S
Catering – Randy at Catering by Westwood.
Bar – Amit at Mint Bar Service
Stationery/Invitation – Minted
Face Painter – Felicia Le Que
Smash The Glass Pouch – Smashing The Glass Etsy Shop {or join Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club and get one for free!}
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