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Home > An Aleena Lena Bride for a Rustic Chic Jewish Wedding at The Art Factory, Paterson, New Jersey, USA

An Aleena Lena Bride for a Rustic Chic Jewish Wedding at The Art Factory, Paterson, New Jersey, USA

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This is one cool wedding! Victoria, an investment banker, and Judah, a medical student, are a super stylish couple, and they planned one of the chicest urban-rustic Jewish weddings EVER at The Art Factory in Paterson, New Jersey.

We love how they leaned into the unique industrial-rustic vibes of their venue, picking green as their wedding color and using tons of greenery in their décor. The couple’s photographer, Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Alex Knight, captured it all so perfectly – in Victoria’s words,

Alex and his team are some of the best people we’ve gotten to work with – they are kind, funny and an all around good time. They were great at making us feel comfortable, hyping us up and capturing all of the little moments that we may have overlooked. They’re truly the best!

There’s so much more to say about this fabulous wedding – how fun is it that Victoria and Judah incorporated dancing under the chuppah between each of their sheva brachot?! – but we’ll let the bride take it from here…


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How We Met

Victoria, the bride and Judah, the groom: We met on Victoria’s first day of undergrad. We were both students in the joint program between JTS and Columbia University, Victoria a freshman and Judah a junior. Victoria came to school with her best friend, Sarah, who she made a pact with that they wouldn’t date in college – they were there to get their degrees! On their first day there, however, Sarah saw Judah and noted to Victoria that he looked like her type (he was wearing a kippah). We started talking, and the rest was history!

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A Unique Venue

We got married at The Art Factory – we wanted something with a unique, rustic feel with lots of space for the different ritual elements of a Jewish wedding. 

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Rustic Vibes

We wanted to go rustic with lots of green! Our wedding color was green and we used a lot of greenery in the decor, from the tables to the chuppah to the bridesmaids dresses.

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Hair + Makeup

I used Deena Couture for hair and Makeup by Dolly for makeup – they were truly so wonderful and supportive. They went out of their way to make me and my family and bridesmaids feel so beautiful!

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An Aleena Lena Dress

My dress was an Aleena Lena dress from A&Be Bridal. It was an organza, A line dress with long, puffy sleeves and a sweetheart neckline. As soon as I put it on, I felt beautiful, but also insanely comfortable. So many dresses I’d tried on were heavy, itchy or too tight and this one assured me I could dance all night and look good doing it! 

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Ceremony & Chuppah

The rabbi who did our wedding – Rabbi Hain – helped us go through the ceremony and make it special to us. He was Victoria’s chevruta in college and also happens to be married to Judah’s cousin (which she found out afterwards)! Eliana Stein Hain, Judah’s cousin and Rabbi Hain’s wife, read the ketubah and spoke under the chuppah. It was important to us to have female involvement in a traditional ceremony and we couldn’t have dreamt of a better person to be a part of our ceremony.

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My favorite part of the chuppah was the dancing. Between each of the sheva brachot, we sang and danced – it gave the chuppah a joyous feel. We decided on the design by matching it to the space – we wanted greenery and a rustic atmosphere. The Art Factory provided a beautiful birch base that we built on with flowers and greenery to provide the rustic element.

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Our music choice

We used Khroma for the band at our wedding – they were AMAZING! They played beautifully for the traditional dancing at the beginning, moved seamlessly into Israeli pop, and then eventually brought out their DJ who danced us into the night – it was incredible! We had everything from  group dances where everyone line danced (Victoria’s from Texas) to early 2000s pop hits (Club Can’t Handle Me!)

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Flowers

We used Bespoke Florals for our event. We ended up going with a mix of grass, vines and white flowers throughout the space to bring the outdoors in and contribute to the rustic / garden feeling we were going for.

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Photographer

We used Alex Knight! Alex and his team are some of the best people we’ve gotten to work with – they are kind, funny and an all around good time. They were great at making us feel comfortable, hyping us up and capturing all of the little moments that we may have overlooked. They’re truly the best!

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Extra Details

Our friends went above and beyond with shtick to make us laugh during the wedding. Judah has a smart car and they brought a Little Tykes car and drove it around, they brought games for us to play themed with our favorite sports teams and made hats that said things like “I wore this to Judah and Victoria’s wedding!” It was amazing.

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Advice to couples currently planning their wedding

Surround yourselves with people who support you and your decisions! It’s your day – best to be with people who’s main priority is that you enjoy it!

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VICTORIA & JUDAH’S LITTLE WHITE BOOK

Photography – Alex Knight {offers 10% discount to all members of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club}
Venue – The Art Factory
Bride’s dress – Aleena Lena found and fitted at A&Be Bridal
Hair + Makeup – Deena Couture, Makeup by Dolly
Flowers – Bespoke Florals
Band – Khroma
Catering – Prestige Caterers
Wedding Registry – Zola
Rabbi – Rabbi Hain
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.