The pair went for a classically elegant vibe for their big day at the Hilton Columbus Downtown, and they totally rocked it. Every detail from Julie’s strapless mermaid gown by Watters to their purple and white color scheme to their rousing hora was sheer perfection.
We’re especially enamored with the couple’s beautiful ketubah, which they found online at Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Ketubah.com. Though Julie and Jacob found lots of designs they liked among the fabulous selection, they eventually settled on a wonderful light blue and grey number by designer Enya Keshet.
The duo’s photographer, Tessa at Starling Studio, captured the day so exquisitely – read on for more of her vibrant pics, plus the rest of the details about this very special day.
How we Met
Julie, the bride: We met through a set-up by mutual friends. One of my colleagues is married to an old classmate of Jacob’s, and they noticed Jacob working out at the same gym as them. They asked us both if we were interested in meeting each other, and the rest is history!
A Columbus Wedding
We got married at the Hilton Columbus Downtown. We chose this venue because I always liked the idea of getting married in a hotel where out of town guests could stay and have a centralized location to see everyone who came to celebrate with you. The Hilton Columbus Downtown is right in the heart of Columbus with lots of great restaurants, bars, and shops nearby. It also had a large enough ballroom for the number of guests we invited.
Theme & Wedding Planner
Our wedding planner, Ashley Stephan, was the best! She started working with us 6 months out from our wedding and made the entire planning process so calm and easy. She gave her advice when we needed it but didn’t push us to do anything that was outside of our vision. She coordinated all of our vendors and gave us recommendations on anything we asked for. Our color scheme was purple, silver, and white and the wedding was black tie optional.
Invitations / stationery
Avant-Garde Impressions designed our invitations. We didn’t have anything specific in mind, but knew we wanted our invitations to look traditional and timeless. They were so easy to work with and printed all of our day-of material to match our invitations.
A Watters Dress
I got my dress from La Jeune Mariee in downtown Columbus. The designer was Watters. I knew I wanted a strapless dress with lace detailing and originally thought that I would want something more A-line. La Jeune Mariee had me to try on some A-line and mermaid style dresses, and I ended up really liking the mermaid style, which I wasn’t expecting!
I couldn’t say “yes” to the dress until I had my dad’s approval, because he has always been very opinionated about what he thinks looks “good”. I brought him back to the store with my mom and me a few days later and got his thumbs up!
Accessories & Shoes
I actually had two veils for my wedding. I wore my mom’s veil to the Ketubah signing and bought a new long veil from the same shop where I bought my dress to walk down the aisle. It was special to have my mom’s veil as my “something old” for such a special and meaningful part of the day.
My shoes were also very important because I needed a pair that had high heels (did I mention my husband is 6’8”!?) and that I could keep on all night long if I could. I found a pair from Badgley Mischka that were tall and had a chunky heel so they were easy to walk in. I was able to keep them on the entire night!
Bridesmaids in Plum
My bridesmaids wore plum colored dresses from Adrianna Papell. I gave them a few styles to choose from so each of them could pick a neckline/style that they liked. I liked the uniformity of the dresses while also having them be a little different from each other.
Ceremony and Chuppah
Our florist/designer, Dalay Ket put together and designed our chuppah. Jacob is 6’8″ so we wanted a chuppah that was extra tall! We wanted something traditional but soft. We had white drapery and large bouquets of flowers on the posts.
Ketubah
We didn’t have a specific Ketubah design in mind, but we scrolled through Ketubah.com and found many beautiful designs we liked. Jacob eventually chose the one we went with because the colors (light blues and greys) we thought would look nice in our house. The designer is Enya Keshet.
Music Choice & Entertainment
As soon as we got engaged, the first vendor I called was the Conspiracy Band. I had seen them play at many of my friends’ weddings and knew I wanted them at ours. Jacob and the rest of the bridal party walked down the aisle to ‘What a Wonderful World’ and I walked down to ‘A Million Dreams’ from The Greatest Showman. Our recessional song was ‘You Are the Best Thing’.
The best song of the night (in my opinion) was our first dance song, which was ‘Grow Old With You’ by Adam Sandler. I have been the biggest Adam Sandler fan since I was little, and always knew that ‘Grow Old With You’ would be my first dance song one day. Conspiracy kept the music from the song going at the end of our first dance and invited all of our guests to join us on the dance floor. It was one of my favorite parts of the night!
Flowers
Dalay Ket was our florist and she did a fabulous job bringing our vision to light! We knew we wanted lots of flowers mixed with some candles and loved the combination of purples, silver and white. Dalay designed three different types of centerpieces for the guests’ tables and a special table center for the head table.
Photographer and videographer
My mom was actually the one who found Tessa at Starling Studio and we could not have picked a more fabulous photographer! I immediately knew Tessa was an amazing choice when we spoke to her on the phone after we booked her and set up a time to take engagement photos. She is so creative and made us feel very comfortable in front of the camera.
Tessa felt like a friend we had known for years! It ended up raining on our wedding day, but Tessa came up with a backup plan immediately, so we were still able to take some pictures outside. Her pictures are GORGEOUS, and we love looking back on them! It is no wonder she continues to win Best Photographer for “Best of Columbus Weddings”!
We also had our videographer, Blue Skies, who we are so happy we hired! Julie (the videographer) was very energetic and captured so many special moments throughout the event. We love reliving our wedding day each time we watch it!
Food and Cake
Our catering was done in house at the Hilton Columbus Downtown. Our cake by Piece of Cake was beautifully designed and we even had our florist add some flowers on it to match the rest of the decor. We had three different flavor combinations so guests could choose from a variety of cake choices!
Honeymoon
We went on a “minimoon” the weekend after our wedding to Nemacolin, a resort hotel in Pennsylvania that was driving distance from Columbus (also the location of Matt James’s season of the Bachelor)! We then went on our bigger honeymoon to Hawaii a couple months later. We went to Maui, Kauai, and Oahu and had the best time! One of the highlights was taking a helicopter to fly over the entire island of Kauai. Hawaii is beautiful and the perfect mix of relaxation and adventure – everything you want for a honeymoon!
Advice to other couples planning their wedding
My biggest piece of advice to other couples planning their weddings is to stop throughout your wedding day to take it all in! It is true what they say that the day goes by SO fast. I kept turning to Jacob throughout the night complaining that it was getting too late and I wanted time to slow down! Remember to stop and look around at all of your favorite people in one room together having the best time!
JULIE & JACOB’S LITTLE WHITE BOOK
Photographer – Starling Studio
Ketubah – Ketubah.com {offers 10% discount to all members of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club}
Videographer – Blue Skies
Wedding Planner – Ashley Stephan
Dress – Watters found at La Jeune Mariee
Shoes – Badgley Mischka
Bridesmaids – Adrianna Papell
Groom’s suit – Alpha Suit
Florist – Dalay Ket
Band – Conspiracy Band
Cake – Piece of Cake
Stationery – Avant-Garde Impressions
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.
