It’s always extra special when we get to feature the Jewish wedding of one of our beloved Brides Club members – especially when it’s as gorgeous as Faith and Jordan’s! We so loved having Faith in the group and following along her wedding planning journey, and we’re touched to hear her say that “Brides Club gave me support through challenging periods with transparency and warmth, to which I’ll always be grateful for.”
Faith and Jordan both love autumn and the deep jewel-toned hues associated with the season, so it was a no-brainer to take advantage of the season with an outdoor chuppah at Baltimore’s 1840s Plaza.
And what a chuppah it was: as a gift to the couple, the groom’s parents built the chuppah out of Crepe Myrtle trees from Jordan’s late paternal grandfather’s property, and draped it with white linen and family heirloom tallitot – don’t miss it in the wonderful photojournalistic images by Jessi Vaughn Photography and trailer by Anchor Pictures.
During her engagement, Faith won a competition right here on STG to win personalized English and Hebrew monograms courtesy of the talented Jewish wedding monogram artist Elise Lerner of Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Monograms by Elise Lerner, and Faith and Jordan incorporated their monograms throughout the big day. In Faith’s words, “Elise combined our drastically different tastes and crafted two gorgeous monograms that we adore! The English iconography was used for all our signage, programs and favors (homemade mulling spice sachets), and the Hebrew design was printed on the lining of each kippah. We also used the English design on our thank you notes, and plan on interchanging both on personal stationary for years to come!”
Before we turn you over to Faith, we have to mention that Faith sadly had to plan her big day without her beloved father by her side. Incorporating his memory into the wedding was a top priority for both her and Jordan, and they found some wonderful ways to honor him on this bittersweet day.
How We Met
Faith, the bride: I’m an opera singer from DC, and he’s a molecular biologist from Ellicott City, Maryland… but as he’d say, “The system works!” We’ve known each other for thirteen years thanks to NFTY-MAR (North American Federation of Temple Youth, Mid-Atlantic Region, aka regional high school youth group). Our relationship evolved over the course of seven years before we started dating, and we celebrated five years together just eight days shy of the wedding!
1840s Plaza
We chose 1840s Plaza in Baltimore after doing a thorough search throughout the Mid-Atlantic. In the hopes of having an outdoor ceremony, we fell in love with its gorgeous, romantic courtyard. The indoor space has three levels, each outfitted with charming and individualized decor that allowed us to use mostly subtle embellishments.
An Autumn Wedding
Autumn is both mine and Jordan’s favorite season due to the foliage, family traditions I grew up with, and the seasonal food. Due to those factors, we knew we wanted to get married at that time of year, and based our color scheme off those typical annual hues, but in darker, jewel-toned shades to better coordinate with our favorite colors (dark purple and teal with burgundy to bridge the two).
To help us finalize remaining logistics the month-of and run the show on the big day, we hired the fabulous Stephanie Riordan, owner of Sunflower Weddings LLC. In addition to being half-Jewish herself, Stephanie’s sweet demeanor was never lost amidst her punctilious and thoughtful efforts!
What ‘Smashing The Glass Brides Club’ Did For Us
My gateway to Brides Club was through Smashing Life, and both groups were helpful throughout the planning process. However, in Brides Club specifically, I was able to ask rather niche questions in which the answers weren’t easily attainable by other means. Additionally, having the perspective of Jewish nearlyweds and brides that had walked down the aisle more recently than others I know was tremendously valuable, and at times, comforting.
Ultimately, Brides Club gave me support through challenging periods with transparency and warmth, to which I’ll always be grateful for. As for vendors, with the exception of Elise Lerner – a Brides Club official vendor – almost all of the others we hired were local to the DC and Baltimore areas.
Invitation + Custom Monogram
We used Minted to design our website and the matching printed invitation suite. For all printed goods at the wedding itself, we incorporated special elements that we feel truly elevated the aesthetic: personalized English and Hebrew monograms courtesy of the talented Elise Lerner of Monograms by Elise Lerner!
Eight months before the wedding, I entered and won a free raffle – courtesy of none other than the amazing Karen Cinnamon – to work with Elise, a Jewish wedding monogram artist! After a 40-minute Zoom call and some back and forth, Elise combined our drastically different tastes and crafted two gorgeous monograms that we adore! The English iconography was used for all our signage, programs and favors (homemade mulling spice sachets), and the Hebrew design was printed on the lining of each kippah. We also used the English design on our thank you notes, and plan on interchanging both on personal stationary for years to come!
A Sottero and Midgley Dress
I got my dress from Curvaceous Couture Bridal Collection, one of the US’s first plus-size bridal salons! Owner Yukia Walker and her top-notch staff go out of their way to make you feel singular. They also encouraged me to go for design elements I never thought possible for my figure, but were ultimately amazing. The CCBC team even was able to rebuild my discontinued, off-the rack Sottero and Midgley gown that was twelve sizes too big to fit me perfectly by hand!
Accessories
Everything but the veil came from Etsy! The custom covering came courtesy of Curvaceous Couture Bridal Collection, which was constructed from two identical Maggie Sottero veils to make a cathedral length piece with a Mantilla-style blusher.
Bridesmaids
We chose to have a wedding party to honor our family of choice, in which they all did their best to be there from near and far. While sadly one of my bridesmaids had to withdraw at the last minute due to an emergency, we were very lucky that one of Jordan’s groomsmen safely made it from Israel to join us.
As for the bridesmaids dresses, I had my sister – the maid of honor – in my favorite shade of purple, and then the other four split between teal and burgundy. I also bought gold-toned shawls to coordinate with our bountiful palate, and am glad I did because it was an unexpectedly chilly afternoon!
Ceremony & Chuppah
All of the festivities were FULL of personal touches, and the main event was no exception. Being a musician, having live music throughout the day was extremely important to me. Jordan and I were lucky enough to have two mentors of mine perform together as people filed into the courtyard, and for the ceremony itself. Additionally, one of Jordan’s childhood rabbis and my childhood cantor officiated under our “surprise” chuppah.
As a gift, my in-laws built the chuppah out of Crepe Myrtle trees from Jordan’s late paternal grandfather’s property, and draped it with white linen and family heirloom tallitot. We didn’t see it until a week before the wedding, knowing that something was in store but not aware of just how meaningful it’d be!
Ketubah
Our ketubah was a customized design by Melody Molayem after we fell in love with her work on Etsy. Collaborating and communicating with her was a pleasure, and she did a tremendous job crafting our ketubah.
Our music choice
Having a band for the reception was one of my “three non-negotiables.” Because we made strategic budgeting choices in other areas, we were able to splurge a bit on entertainment and it was worth it! We hired the Bachelor Boys Band, who kept the dance floor filled all night long. They also helped facilitate our lengthy hora, and even let one of my cousins join them at the mic for one of my favorite songs!
Flowers
The outstanding Jennifer McGlaughlin – Floral Expressions by Jen (also the mother-in-law of one of Jordan’s groomsmen) was our florist. She creates gorgeous work for a fraction of the industry standard, particularly for the DC area. Because of that, she’s extremely popular! From beginning to end, she loved our vision and helped bring it to life, including incorporating lilies – my favorite – into meaningful places (i.e. my bouquet, the memorial bundle for my dad, and our sweetheart table). My bouquet also had snapdragons, ranunculus, roses and eucalyptus, among other things.
The bridesmaids carried petite versions of my bouquet, the groomsmen and Jordan’s father wore matching bouts, and my mom and Jordan’s grandmothers all wore wrist corsages. Wherever there were flowers, they coordinated with my bouquet and our color scheme to be evocative of Fall!
Photographer and videographer
Even before solidifying the venue, we picked the phenomenally delightful Jessi Full of Jessi Vaughn Photography. We love her emphasized usage of outdoor elements and photojournalistic style to bring her subjects’ personalities to life. Jessi herself is warm, compassionate, tremendously respectful, and we ultimately gained a life-long friend out of working with her. Through Jessi, we found our equally superb husband and wife videographer team, Anchor Pictures.
Mason and Savannah Summers brought a lovely energy to the bridal suite and were equally as wonderful. All three have worked together numerous times before (including Jewish weddings) and knowing that they enjoy doing so gave us the utmost confidence that the images and video of our big day would be nothing short of stunning.
Food and cake
Great food was a mutual non-negotiable. When it came time to search for caterers, we luckily didn’t have to look far thanks to a wonderful, long-time friend of Jordan’s parents: Monroe Zeffert of Zeffert and Gold Catering. Each part of the day had a plethora of dishes we enjoy – particularly during cocktail hour – and with Zeffert and Gold it was easy to provide delicious options for any dietary need, including a dozen Glatt Kosher meals.
We even had four different dessert options (the cake, an ice cream bar, cheesecake served table side with toppings and a bananas foster station) and are still proud that no one left hungry. We also were able to feature a hard cider from a cidery Jordan and I love as our signature drink (where he almost proposed!) and it was perfectly autumnal. Ultimately, Monroe and the entire Zeffert and Gold team took wonderful care of us from start to finish.
Extra Details
My wonderful late father was many things in my life, including one of my best friends. Yet, never did I ever anticipate not having him with me on my eventual wedding day. One of the many reasons I love my husband is because he’s not only profoundly supportive of me, but abundantly so of my family. Together, we did as much as possible to honor and incorporate my dad throughout the festivities.
We had a chair with flowers on it between my mom and the chuppah, as well as my childhood cantor acknowledging him during the ceremony, a table in the ballroom with pictures and significant items, several dishes he loved incorporated throughout the day, and a photo charm on my bouquet. Though nothing would or will ever fill the gaping void of his absence, it was meaningful to attempt to integrate him into such a momentous simcha.
Wedding Registry
Originally, we had a couple of different options: Williams Sonoma for housewares, Etsy for Judaica, and two funds through the Knot (Future Home and Honeymoon). However, Williams Sonoma’s return policy isn’t terribly friendly; after struggling to return a duplicate item, we ultimately moved the rest of our homeware selections to Amazon, which made for a much smoother experience.
Honeymoon
This spring, we’re going on a grand 3.5 week European “tour” with stops in Portugal, Spain, Italy and Greece! We did all the planning ourselves and are excited to immerse ourselves in the food, history and culture of these places.
Advice to couples currently planning their wedding
Firstly, if your budget allows – regardless of the size of your wedding and who’s footing the bill – hire a coordinator and/or planner as soon as possible. Having someone whose primary objectives are to advocate for you and your partner, run interference and be the point of contact leading up to the wedding as well as throughout the big day itself was tremendously helpful. Secondly, hire vendors who treat you like friends. During our initial consultation with Jessi, I began the painful practice of sharing that my warm and profoundly impactful late father wouldn’t be present.
I wanted to be transparent with potential vendors about how his tragic passing perpetually impacts my family, and that as wonderful as the wedding day would be, it’d also be a difficult one… meaning that as far as documenting was concerned, we likely wouldn’t always want cameras in our faces. Jessi immediately gave the most heartfelt, gracious and kind response, opposed to treating us like a business transaction as other potential vendors had even without the proprietary information. I then instinctively knew that she was the one meant to capture our big day.
All of our vendors were the same way, particularly Stephanie, Mason and Savannah. Even in the bridal suite, all three camera-folk allowed me the grace to resonate in moments of sadness instead of glossing over them, and even hugged me as I cried. They went above and beyond for us, and ultimately made the day all the more special.
FAITH & JORDAN’S LITTLE WHITE BOOK
Photography – Jessi Vaughn Photography
Videography – Anchor Pictures
Monogram Artist – Monograms by Elise Lerner
Venue – 1840s Plaza
Bride’s dress – Sottero and Midgley found at Curvaceous Couture Bridal Collection
Bride’s accessories –Etsy
Flowers – Jennifer McGlaughlin – Floral Expressions by Jen
Band – Bachelor Boys Band
Catering – Zeffert and Gold Catering
Ketubah – Melody Molayem
Day Of Coordinator – Sunflower Weddings LLC
Stationery/Invitation – Minted
Smash The Glass Pouch – Smashing The Glass Etsy Shop {or join Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club and get one for free!}
If you’re a Jewish or Jew-ish bride-to-be, you’ll want to join Smashing The Glass’ Brides Club. Guided by the world’s number 1 Jewish wedding expert, Karen Cinnamon, Brides Club is the private community for Jewish and Jew-ish brides that removes wedstress and indecision and gives you what you need to plan with confidence during these uncertain times. Join our Brides Club here.
