We love it when couples add fun personal touches to their Jewish weddings – so naturally we got curious when we heard that Adina and Adam incorporated their shared love of Star Wars into their big day. While keeping the overall vibe classically elegant, the pair worked in fun, small touches: themed signature cocktails; Adam’s cufflinks and tie clip were shaped like the Millennium Falcon; the DJ even played some Star Wars music during cocktail hour!
And the couple’s gorgeous ketubah by Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor The Delicate Brush is so out-of-this-world beautiful, it looks like it came from a galaxy far, far away. Adina and Adam chose artist Rachelle’s Midnight Lagoon design, and they love having a ketubah that’s also a beautiful piece of artwork.
Even Adina’s wedding dress shopping experience kept the sci fi magic going: she found her uber-elegant WTOO by Watters at Lorien Bridal Boutique, a boutique catering to nerdy brides who want to live out their Disney princess/Harry Potter/Star Wars dreams – how fun is that?
You can tell from Jenina Simplicio Photography’s beautiful, natural photos that this day was truly filled with joy at every moment – we’ll turn you over to Adina for all the details…
How we Met
Adina, the bride: While the story of how we met isn’t that unusual for the 21st century, the fact that we didn’t meet until 2017 is! Both of us attended the same Jewish elementary school in Los Angeles, just two grades apart. Adam carpooled with my best friend Melissa to school for 6 years! Then in college, I met Adam’s sister Romy at a mutual friend’s birthday party and stayed friendly for years. When we came across each other’s profiles on J-Swipe on New Year’s Eve 2016 and saw we had mutual friends, I reached out to Melissa and Adam reached out to Romy to see if we should go on a date. 11 days later, we met up at a local bar and the rest is history!
Natural Beauty
We got married at the Sterling Hills Golf Club in Camarillo, CA, just 45 minutes north of Los Angeles. Since we both grew up in LA, we knew we wanted to get married relatively nearby so that our friends and family could easily attend. We also knew we wanted a beautiful outdoor ceremony, since LA in November is (usually) gorgeous. We stumbled across Sterling Hills and fell in love with its natural beauty, the all-inclusive packages offered, and their extremely attentive and helpful team members!
Theme
We decided on a classic fall color scheme: navy blue, white and silver. It ended up being a lovely complement to the greenery throughout the venue! As a fun touch, we are both big fans of Star Wars, so we incorporated small homages to the franchise: I created themed signature cocktails; Adam’s cufflinks and tie clip were shaped like the Millennium Falcon; and the DJ even played some Star Wars music during cocktail hour.
Invitations / stationery
I did! I’ve been starting to get more into graphic design, and thought what better way to get some fun practice, and make the wedding even more unique to us, than to design all of our signage! Everything from the save-the-dates and invitations, to the seating chart and cocktail menus were designed specifically by me.
Hair + Make-up
Adam always tells me that I look the best with my hair down and natural makeup, so I wanted to really emulate that but just a bit more glammed up! My makeup artist, Gina, has been shaping my eyebrows for me since my Bat Mitzvah, and also did my makeup for my prom, so I knew she had to be part of my big day. And my hairstylist, Gracie, has been styling my hair since I was 17 and there is literally no one else I would trust for the most important day of my life. They truly were my fairy godmothers that day, transforming me into a princess!
A WTOO by Watters Dress
I LOVE my dress! It is the Miles Gown from WTOO by Watters. I purchased my gown from the most AMAZING bridal shop in Glendale, CA, called Lorien Bridal Boutique. I’m not afraid to share that I am a big nerd—I’m obsessed with all things Disney, Harry Potter, Star Wars, you name it. Lorien is a boutique bridal salon that is geared towards nerdy brides. I tried on and selected my dress in their “Disney” section of the store. Huge shout out to Amanda, my fairy “gown” mother!
Before I went in to pick my dress, I knew that I wanted an A-line gown with minimal train and nothing strapless. Miles was the fifth gown I tried on and I immediately fell in love with the movement, airiness, and simplicity of it. I loved the off-the-shoulder sleeves, which added to the fall aesthetic I wanted. I decided to add on a floral belt with a few jewels just to add a small touch of sparkle. I could not imagine having felt more beautiful on my wedding day!
Accessories
My engagement ring is the most special thing to me. The diamond belonged to Adam’s grandmother, which she wore for over 60 years. When the time came for us to get engaged, Adam’s parents gifted him her ring and he had a setting customized for me! I then went and had a custom wedding band made to match it perfectly. Both of my rings were made at J.R.’s Diamonds and Jewelry, which my family have been shopping at for 20 years!
For my veil (also bought at Lorien Bridal Boutique), I went with a simple, floor-length veil with a ribbon trim. The length was so that I would have the feeling of a train without having to bustle my dress later! And of course I needed a blusher to fulfill my “Fiddler on the Roof” fantasies.
For the rest of my accessories, I kept it relatively minimal. My “something borrowed” were these gorgeous pearl earrings that were lent to me by my mom’s best friend and my mentor. I also had some pearl and crystal hairpins that were placed on the right side of my hair to just add a touch of elegance!
Shoes
As a 5’3” woman marrying a 5’8” man, I knew I didn’t have to go too high on my heels—nor did I want to! My mom found these 2 1/2” silver heels from Naturalizer that lasted me from the photos all the way through dinner! Afterwards, I changed into some silver bejeweled sandals and my feet were quite happy. What I love about both pairs of shoes is that I can (and have) wear them again for other special occasions!
The handsome groom
Adam went with a custom fitted charcoal grey suit, ivory tie to match my dress, and the Star Wars cufflinks and tie bar. He also has a very pronounced beard (which I LOVE), and he had it styled by a master barber the day before. He looked SO HANDSOME.
Bridesmaids
I had 2 Maids of Honor and 4 bridesmaids, so 6 in total. They each wore a Navy Blue dress from Birdy Grey, which allowed them to select the style that best suited them!
Ceremony
The ceremony was honestly the most incredible and special part of the day. Everything was about our family and brining our two families together. Ever since I was a little girl, it had always been my dream to married by my father, Cantor Keith Miller, and his childhood best friend, Rabbi Richard Camras (whom I lovingly call Uncle Richard). I was so fortunate enough to make this dream a reality on my wedding day.
When I reached the end of the aisle, it was time for the circling, and my father sang as Adam and I circled one another—me 3 times, Adam 3 times, and once together. All four of our parents stood under the chuppah with us as we became husband and wife. For the first cup of wine, we used a kiddush cup gifted to Adam for his Bar Mitzvah. During the exchange of rings, Adam placed a gold ring on my finger that belonged to my father’s grandmother Charlotte, which my father also placed on my mother’s finger during their wedding.
We decided to not write our own vows, and instead opted to each write a letter to our Rabbi about why we were excited to marry each other. Richard worked the best bits of each letter into his speech, and we both laughed and cried at how special the moment was. Adam almost kissed me then, which made everyone crack up. My father sang the Sheva Brachot, and I definitely almost cried. When it came time for the Priestly blessing, our mothers wrapped us in my father’s tallit.
The glass that Adam broke was a gift from my brother and his fiancée, which we are having made into a mezuzah for our home! It was the perfect ceremony for us.
Ketubah
Our ketubah was absolutely perfect! I stumbled across The Delicate Brush one day on Instagram and immediately fell in love with Rachelle’s designs! I had always loved the idea of a ketubah looking like a piece of artwork, and Rachelle’s designs definitely offered that. I knew I had to have one for our ketubah, and fortunately Adam loved her designs as well! We went with her Midnight Lagoon fine art print and added silver leaf (over gold leaf), which went perfectly with the theme of our wedding.
Chuppah
Rabbi Camras lent us his synagogue’s chuppah poles, and also let us use his tallit, which was very special. We didn’t want it to be too crowded under the chuppah by having people hold it up, so Adam actually found umbrella holders on Amazon that fit the poles perfectly! We then had our florist decorate the bottom with some greenery and a small flower accent in the top lefthand corner. Simple but elegant!
Our Music Choice
So this is a super special story! In November of 1989, a dear friend of my father’s, Cantor Meir Finkelstein, composed a special piece of music to the song ‘Ani Chavatzelet’ for my mother to walk down the aisle to at my parents’ wedding. I walked down to that same piece of music, played on the keyboard by another dear friend of my father’s, Ari Zev.
Our first dance was ‘Lover (First Dance Edition)’ by Taylor Swift. She holds a dear place in both of our hearts, and we both love the sentiment behind the lyrics in the song. We did some very light choreography to the first dance, and even had sparklers go off in the middle of the song!
Flowers
My middle name is Rose, and it’s also my favorite flower, so I knew I wanted white roses in my bouquet. Our florist also added blue thistles and eucalyptus leaves to tie everything together and match our color scheme. Our florist was the amazing Sweet Peas Flowers & Gifts in Ventura, CA! Kasey was a dream to work with and totally understood our vision.
Photographer and videographer
Our amazing photographer was Jenina Simplicio Marik – Jenina Simplicio Photography. She was a recommended vendor from our venue, and her light, natural photography style totally matched what we wanted for the day. We also used her for our engagement shoot, which are some of our most favorite pictures of us together! As a couple who don’t take ourselves too seriously, we wanted someone who got that vibe and captured the joy of our day, and Jenina completely understood the assignment!
Our videographer was named Koby Klinghoffer – KK Studios, and he was such a fun guy who again, understood our silliness and need to just enjoy the day! He created the most amazing highlight video for us.
Food and Cake
Catering was including by our venue, and it was really tasty! We decided to go with a fish and dairy meal to avoid any kashrut issues. Our favorites were the mac and cheese balls and the cheesy tortellini!
Our cake was made and designed by A Gift of Taste, another recommended vendor of our venue. All Adam wanted was chocolate, so we went with a chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream filling and chocolate ganache. The whole cake was covered in a vanilla buttercream with some light grey decorations. It was DELICIOUS and I wish we’d taken some home with us.
Entertainment
We went with the venue’s DJ, who was super fun and played all the songs we asked for! But our big fun was the photobooth, we have a ton of great mementos from there!
Extra details
I feel like everything mentioned already really just made the day about us and our family, and the perfect way to kickstart our lives together.
A couple fun mishaps, that now make hilarious stories!
- Minutes before our ketubah signing, one of the groomsmen almost spilled an entire glass of wine on my dress! I don’t know how he got wine before the ceremony, but the near-miss makes for a great moment that he will never live down.
- We’re fortunate to share our new anniversary with our Rabbi and his wife! So after we cut the cake, we invited them up to sing with us and have the first bite of cake. Carolyn, the wife, the proceeded to shove cake in my face (something I had specifically asked Adam not to do). Apparently at their wedding (November 14, 1992) my father shoved cake in Carolyn’s face, so this was some sort of payback. Made for a hilarious picture and a fun memory!
Honeymoon
Two days after the wedding, we jetted off to the Secrets Maroma Beach in Cancun, Mexico! It was the most incredible week, just being together and enjoying each other’s company. We knew that a bigger international trip wasn’t in the cards during Covid, and had heard amazing things about Cancun in particular. Would definitely recommend this all-inclusive resort—and would also recommend going on a relaxing honeymoon after planning a wedding!
Advice to couples currently planning their wedding
My biggest piece of advice is to remember that this is just the first day of your marriage, not the only one. You spend months and months planning the perfect day, and then it’s over in an instant, and then your marriage finally begins. Enjoy every second of the day, even if something goes “wrong.” No one is going to notice that the flowers are slightly askew or that they served the wrong appetizer during cocktail hour except for you. At the end of the day, you’re married to your best friend and the love of your life, and that’s really all that matters!
ADINA & ADAM’S LITTLE WHITE BOOK
Photography – Jenina Simplicio Photography
Videography – KK Studios
Ketubah – The Delicate Brush {offers 10% discount to all members of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club}
Venue – Sterling Hills by Wedgewood Weddings
Bride’s dress – WTOO by Watters found at Lorien Bridal Boutique
Bride’s shoes – Naturalizer
Bride’s accessories – Rings from J.R.’s Diamonds and Jewelry, Belt from Lorien Bridal Boutique
Bridesmaids – Birdy Grey
Hair + Makeup – Gracie Pinzon-Hernandez, Gina Affentrager
Flowers – Sweet Peas Flowers & Gifts
Cake – A Gift of Taste
Rabbi – Rabbi Richard Camras of Shomrei Torah Synagogue
Cantor – Cantor Keith Miller
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.
