We love a good DIY Jewish wedding – and today’s couple, along with their family and friends, did SUCH a wonderful job putting their personal spin on the day.
Lindsey, a data scientist, and Dylan, the co-owner of Bywater Brew Pub, a brewery and restaurant in New Orleans, knew from the start they wanted a relaxed, community-focused wedding where their loved ones could get away from it all for a couple days of laid-back bonding. With that in mind, they opted to wed at Sailfish Point Country Club in Florida, where Lindsey’s mom and stepfather live.
Many friends and relatives helped make the day the colorful, vibrant celebration of Lindsey and Dylan’s dreams, but a special shout out has to go to Lindsey’s mom, Hollie, and sister, Rocky. Hollie happens to be an amazing quilter, and a few days before the wedding she surprised the couple with a wonderful chuppah cover she’d secretly been working to assemble over the past year!
Unbeknownst to Lindsey and Dylan, Hollie had emailed all the guests inviting them to send a piece of fabric to be included in the chuppah cover. She invited those who could not send a piece of fabric to send her a quote or message by email that she then went on to embroider on fabric that she chose. She was even able to include some items from departed loved ones, including some photos printed on fabric.
Lindsey and Dylan were so thrilled to be able to get married beneath such a meaningful canopy – in Lindsey’s words, “we could feel the love and energy of several generations of family and friends.” How special is that?! Don’t miss it in the wonderful photos by Josh Hailey.
We’ll let Lindsey – who looked stunning in Stella York – take it from here…
How we Met
Lindsey, the bride: We met just a couple weeks after we both graduated from college when our mutual friend introduced us to each other at F&M’s, a staple college bar in New Orleans.
A Destination Wedding
We got married at Sailfish Point Country Club on South Hutchinson Island, Florida. We picked this venue because we wanted to have a destination wedding so our family and friends could all go on vacation together. Lindsey’s mom and stepfather live on the property so it was familiar to us but still a vacation spot to our guests.
Beachy Vibes
Our wedding was beachy, relaxed, and community-focused. It was important to us to involve our friends and family in planning and executing the weekend. We wanted a lot of bright colors and patterns to bring a bit of our funky home of New Orleans to the country club atmosphere. We also wanted to pay tribute to Lindsey’s hometown of Pittsburgh and the Jewish wedding traditions that are important to us.
Lindsey’s mom, Hollie, and sister, Rocky, spearheaded many DIY projects that brought our vision to life. For instance, Hollie, an amazing quilter, made our chuppah cover and dinner napkins of 8 different hand selected patterns for our dinner reception! Rocky handmade our seating cards, wedding programs, the logo for our gift bags, and more. Our wedding planner, Krystle Andrew, helped us blend all our ideas into one seamless weekend!
A Stella York Dress
I purchased my dress from Molle Bridals in West Palm Beach, Florida. It is a Stella York dress. I knew I wanted something comfortable, and I felt very much like myself once I tried it on!
Ceremony and Chuppah
Hollie emailed all our guests about a year before the wedding and invited them to send a piece of fabric for her to include in the chuppah cover. She even invited those who could not send a piece of fabric to send her a quote or message by email that she then went on to embroider on fabric that she chose. We were blessed to have items included from departed loved ones including some photos printed on fabric.
She presented the chuppah cover to us as a gift a few days before our wedding and it meant the world to us to get married beneath it where we could feel the love and energy of several generations of family and friends. One of our favorite parts of the ceremony was our best friend, Chris, marrying us. He spent countless hours interviewing our wedding party and family and then blended all of their stories, hopes, and advice together into one beautiful summary of our history and guidance for our future.
Favorite part of the ceremony – ocean breeze, being able to look out into the crowd and each see our bridesmaids/groomsmen. Our best friend married us.
Ketubah
Lindsey’s mother and stepfather gifted us our ketubah, which we picked together on Etsy. The shop that sold our ketubah is named KETUBAHLA.
Our Music Choice
Our new friend, John Bros, a Stuart local, played the ukulele for our processional and recessional. His music brought a friendly island energy to our ceremony. We hired Rhythm Band from Xentric Entertainment for our recession. They were great, and everyone loved the combination of having a DJ and live music!
Flowers
Sarah from Sarandipity Floral was amazingly creative and helpful in making the place feel full of flowers but not going over budget. She created stunning bouquets and worked with us on bloom choices to keep the look that we wanted, which was a combination of stemmy, local flowers and greenery of different heights and textures, with pops of color.
Several of our very talented friends arranged the flowers for the table decor for the wedding reception, using dozens of clear glass wine bottles that we upcycled from Bywater Brew Pub. Our “village” of family and friends used their creativity to help make it very personal and exactly what we wanted.
Photographer and videographer
Our dear friend from New Orleans, Josh Hailey, photographed our wedding. We would recommend Josh to anyone who is looking to add a fun, artistic spin to their wedding photography. Josh also connected us to his talented friend, Morelia, owner of Finding Light Photo. Morelia shot our videos for the day and we also highly recommend her!
Advice to other couples planning their wedding
Keep the little details fun or get rid Delegate! Build moments for the two of you into the day – those are the moments you’ll remember!
LINDSEY & DYLAN’S LITTLE WHITE BOOK
Photography – Josh Hailey
Videography – Finding Light Photo
Wedding planner – Krystle Andrew
Venue – Sailfish Point Country Club
Bride’s dress – Stella York found at Molle Bridals
Flowers – Sarandipity Floral
Band – Rhythm Band from Xentric Entertainment
Ketubah – KETUBAHLA
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.
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