An Autumn in the Adirondacks Jewel-Tone Jewish Wedding in Lake Placid, New York, USA

How we Met

Kelilah, the bride: We met while we were in grad school at Penn State in 2014; we are both Mechanical Engineers. We first met, unexpectantly, at a bus stop in October 2012. Apparently, Bobby wanted to meet me but had not had the opportunity previously, so he just began a conversation at the bus stop. After that brief chance meeting, our paths did not cross again until I joined the research lab he was working in, in January 2014. We are both relatively shy, so it took us a few months to really start talking about more than just research.

We are both involved with robotics and controls; his research is focused on autonomous vehicles, mine is focused on assistive and rehabilitative robotics, including designing a robotic wheelchair. Eventually, I asked him to join me for a trivia night I went to every Wednesday with a group of my friends. After that evening, we started spending more time together. By the end of July, we had our first “official” date. That December he told me he loved me at Penn State’s Arboretum; four years later he proposed to me in the same spot.

A Mountain Venue

We were married at the Whiteface Club and Resort in Lake Placid, New York. The ceremony was held outside on the shores of Lake Placid, with Whiteface Mountain as the backdrop across the lake.

I grew up in the Adirondack region and, since we lived close by, my siblings and I grew up skiing on Whiteface Mountain. It is a very special place that I wanted to share with Bobby and his family. State College, Pennsylvania is a long way from the Adirondacks, but whenever it was possible, Bobby would join me and my family to visit the area. Bobby’s family lives in Pennsylvania, not too far from State College, so we had many opportunities to visit and explore the places Bobby and his family hold dear.

Ultimately, we thought fall in the Adirondacks would be beautiful. We both love the season. The location at that time of year also offers plenty for guests to do and explore without snow on the ground. Despite torrential rain the day before, we managed to celebrate our ceremony outside, on the shoreline; the fall colors were spectacular. It sounds cliche, but it truly was a magical day for both of us to share with our families and dear friends. Now we both have a truly special tie to the location.

Autumn in the Adirondacks

We tried to incorporate the feel of ‘Autumn in the Adirondacks’ as much as possible throughout our wedding. Our color scheme incorporated our favorites: deep blues (Bobby’s favorite), deep greens (my favorite), as well as burgundies, and marigold to echo the bright fall foliage. The groomsmen wore navy suits, with navy and forest green paisley ties. With a nod to whimsy and the season, they also wore navy socks with miniature autumn leaves on them. The bride’s attendants wore long, forest green velvet, off-the-shoulder neckline dresses.

My mother was my fairy-tale wedding planner, she planned and organized my three sibling’s and my Bat/Bar Mitzvot, as well as my brother’s wedding. Detail oriented is an understatement! She made our day absolutely amazing!

Invitations / stationery

We designed each component of our “wedding suite” of invitations, RSVPS, maps, and programs ourselves. We wanted the look and feel of the Adirondacks to come through, so we designed a mountain lake scene reflecting our ceremony site. Luckily, Bobby is very adept with Adobe! Additionally, it was very important to both of us to create as little waste as possible, as well as to be sustainable.

So, when we found Botanical PaperWorks, located in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, we were thrilled! They use plantable seed paper for all of their products, therefore, our invitees could plant their invitations, leaving wildflowers instead of waste. We also created maps of the local area including images of iconic sites, areas and venues our guests could explore, adding the Whiteface ski resort, High Falls Gorge, the Olympic ski jumps, hiking, and the 1980 Olympic “Miracle On Ice” hockey arena, which is now part of the town’s Olympic Museum.

Hair + Make-up

I wanted to emphasize the natural beauty of my bridal party, mother, and mother-in-law. My sisters have long, beautiful, curly hair so I also really wanted to highlight their curls. One of my sisters is keen on Viking culture, and I wanted her to feel like a Viking princess with intricate, intertwining loose braids. One of my bridesmaids wanted finger waves, another bridesmaid had a floppy Mohawk with a partial undercut; she wanted a French braid to highlight the transition. Nicolette from Vignette and Vogue, our hair and make-up artist made it all happen. She had a quick and easy trick to create finger-waves, her braiding skills are simply amazing! Not everyone wanted full hair and make-up, she happily tailored her services to accommodate everyone.

I have a relatively short pixie cut, which I love, and wanted to be able to incorporate a single floral element that would work under my veil. Once again, Nicolette created a style that worked perfectly. I love how she completed my eye make-up; she high-lighted the greens and browns in my eyes and made them look gigantic. I felt like a fairy-tale princess! Nicolette helped each of us look our beautiful best, for each of our unique and individual styles.

Dress

I found my dress less than two weeks after Bobby proposed to me. It was close to New Year’s Eve, and one of the few times both of my sisters, my mom and I were all home together. It was important for me to have us all together, if possible, for this occasion. We went to Laura’s Bridal, our hometown’s local formal and bridal dress shop; the same place where my sisters and I all purchased our prom dresses. Honestly, I was not expecting to find “the dress” the first day I looked. I am terrible at making decisions. 

The first half-dozen I tried on looked like they were consuming me, and I felt like a little girl trying on someone else’s too-large dresses instead of a bride. My bridal consultant suggested I try on a dress that I had not chosen, and which I did not think I would like at all. I was imagining a lace ballgown, with lace sleeves and a low back. This dress was the opposite in almost every way. It was strapless, with a lace beaded bodice that extended to a fitted ivory satin skirt inset with lace gussets, creating a fit-and-flare silhouette. I tried it on and almost immediately I heard the “Say Yes to the Dress” collective response, ‘it’s perfect’ from the store. My mom and youngest sister got teary eyed, while my other sister gave me her special smile of approval.

Still, I was not convinced. Then our consultant showed us the back of the dress, sweeping lace with beaded buttons all the way down. Then she added a veil with matching beaded trim to the ensemble…and I knew! At that moment I felt like a bride. It was beautiful. I felt beautiful, and the back detail remains my absolute favorite part of the dress! One aspect of the dress I did not realize when I first tried it on was that the bodice was semi-sheer with removable panels for little ‘peekaboos’ between the beaded lace that added a little ‘something’ extra.

My seamstress, Ariana, fixed and finished my dress fitting nothing short of perfect. She created the perfect bustling for me, completed my veil and made sure my dress fit like a glove. On my wedding day I felt absolutely incredible!

Accessories

I purchased my veil from the same shop, the same day that I bought my wedding dress, Laura’s Bridal in Plattsburgh, New York. It is a finger-tip length veil with beaded trim that matches the beading on my dress. My mother and I found a wonderful seamstress in Boston, Massachusetts, who fitted my dress and modified my veil so I could have a long veil in the back and a blusher component that would extend past my waist in the front. Putting on the fitted dress and finished veil resulted in a scene similar to the one I experienced when I first tried my dress on, especially since my mom and youngest sister got teary eyed again, only this time I did too, with happy tears.

I have never been big on jewelry and I do not have pierced ears, but I knew I wanted a floral hair accessory. While scouring Pinterest for ideas, I came across a vintage photo of a woman wearing a flower hairpiece with ostrich feathers, just over her ear; instantly I knew that this was what I wanted. Unfortunately, I was not having much luck finding a similar hairpiece, so, my mom suggested we go to Claire’s. I have to say, I was not really impressed with her suggestion because I felt I had outgrown shopping at Claire’s. But I went along with her suggestion because at this point in my life I know my mom is usually right.

We ended up finding this cute flower headpiece with some glitter embellishments, just enough to catch the light. My mom, being the amazing mother and woman she is, sought out a store that carried the ‘correct’ ostrich plume and refurbished the headpiece to match my Pinterest inspiration to be exactly as I had envisioned.

For the bridal party, my sister found the most gorgeous ear cuffs on Etsy from Olga Delice. They have a jeweled flower at the center with leaves and vines that spread up and down the ear. The gold cuffs, with crystal and pearls, looked stunning with the green velvet the attendants wore.

Shoes

I am a huge shoe-person, with very small feet. The shoes I ultimately chose were the second pair I bought. The first pair were a vintage lace peep toe with a ribbon tie, but when I tried them on with the dress, they just did not quite mesh. I ultimately came across a pointy-toe 4-inch pump in the Badgley Mischka Collection with subtle scalloping at the collar, by the heel and crystal detailing along the collar, counter, vamp and toebox. The shoe itself was ivory satin, almost identical to the color of my dress, and with the crystal details the shoe perfectly complemented my dress!

The handsome groom

Although I got my dress two years before our wedding day, which included a year’s postponement due to the pandemic, Bobby got his tux just months before we were married. Much like my shoes, it was a two-step process. First, he purchased a navy three-piece suit at Men’s Wearhouse, with a chic paisley lining and vest back, which really did, and still does, look great on him. But I could tell he was not enamored with the suit. I wanted him to feel as happy with his suit as I was with my dress, and I wanted him to feel as handsome as he is wearing his suit on our wedding as I felt beautiful wearing my dress. One day, after my mom and I were getting our final dress fittings, we walked past a navy tux in the display window of Ludlow’s. We immediately thought of Bobby.  

It took a little encouragement to get him to consider purchasing another suit, but we left it at ‘let’s just take a peek’ if it doesn’t look appealing, then fine, no harm done. Ultimately, he saw it, liked it, tried it on and lit up! It was so perfect. I swooned before he even had the right sized dress shirt. So he chose to buy the tux and have it tailored; did I say I swooned?

My mother bought him a pair of silver cufflinks with his initials on them as a special gift. He completed the look with navy socks that had miniature autumn leaves on them, for fun, the same socks he purchased for his groomsmen. For the ceremony, he wore an ivory bow tie, to complement my dress, and my Bat Mitzvah kippah, navy suede with a silver flower embossment, which not only looked lovely with his tux, but was also so precious for me and my family. He was the most handsome groom, and still is!

Wedding Party

We had 10 attendants in total, five for the groom and five for the bride, plus one flower girl. Four of the bridal attendants wore forest green velvet off-the-shoulder neckline gowns from BHLDN and one wore a custom-made perfectly matching velvet suit. We ordered the dresses in March 2020, and I am so glad we did because a month later the forest green was no longer available. I loved the drama and sophistication of the dresses, but they were also comfortable and very playful, the perfect embodiment of my bridal party. Most importantly, everyone who wore them loved their dresses! 

I say this because one member of my bridal party made their own forest green velvet suit. We both tried to find a suit that would blend well, I knew a perfect match would be a long shot, but that was fine with me. Then, on the day of the wedding, there they were wearing a gorgeous, perfectly matching velvet suit they made themselves! I was overwhelmed, no one would ever have known it was not planned from the beginning.

We wanted the bridal party to reflect the striking autumn colors of Lake Placid. Bobby wanted to blend but be distinctive from his groomsmen, wearing his favorite deep blue. I also wanted the style of my attendant’s outfits to reflect the style and tone of my dress, which was elegant, current and old-world at the same time. We were incredibly fortunate to find everything we needed to accomplish that look and more!

Ketubah

Bobby and I had a bit of a panic moment two months before the wedding when we realized we had not yet ordered our Ketubah. We knew we wanted to find a design that reflected our wedding venue/theme but had not quite agreed on a style. Bobby preferred watercolor, while I really had been hoping for a paper laser cut. I was on a bit of a manic search when I discovered Tallulah Ketubahs. All of the Ketubot were beautiful. One in particular stood out for us, it was a watercolor design based on the Adirondack mountains.

Unfortunately, the timeline was too tight to allow that particular Ketubah to be completed by the wedding date. Nevertheless, Rachel, the owner, took the time to show us which Ketubot would be able to be created in time. Then, we noticed one we had previously overlooked. It was a laser-cut design with a watercolor wash background of two love birds in the forest. It was absolutely perfect.

Rachel was fantastic to work with, she was incredibly kind and patient. She allowed us to write our own text in English and confirm that it was correctly translated into Hebrew. Despite the last-minute timing, Rachel made sure our Ketubah arrived ahead of schedule, which allowed us to get it framed without the glass for signing and display on our wedding day! We also have to thank her for sharing our wedding photos with Smashing the Glass. Our Ketubah will always be the most significant wall art in our home, not only for its beauty but also for the bond it defines between us.

Ceremony

My mother wrote and structured our entire ceremony to reflect what was most important to us as a couple. My brother and one of our family’s dear friends from my childhood synagogue served as our officiants. They served as bookends of married life, one married for 56 years, the other for two, and shared the wisdom that time had taught them. My brother read our Ketubah in English.

Each of our now combined family members read a portion of the Sheva Brachot; each blessing was read in Hebrew and, with a matching modern interpretation, in English. Bobby and I chose to share the circling portion of the ceremony. Upon arriving at the Chuppah, first I circled three times, then Bobby circled three times, then as a couple we circled together.

We also had decided to write our own vows, which while a bit nerve-wracking and anxiety provoking at first, was well worth the effort. This was absolutely our favorite part of the entire ceremony. At the end of Bobby’s vows, he mentioned the last thing my late Zayde said to him, which was that he wanted Bobby to take care of and support me. This caused an audible gasp from my entire family standing under the Chuppah and I do not think there was a single dry eye after that statement.

While stating my vows, I eased some of the sombre tone by accidentally saying, “All you do to me” instead of “All you have done for me”, which was greeted with audible laughter from everyone. We would not have changed a thing! Plus, Bobby smashed the glass on the first try, no misses – it was perfect!

Chuppah

At the Whiteface Club and Resort, the wedding site is on the shores of Lake Placid. The venue already has an arbor created from pine branches permanently installed at the site. We needed to determine what we would use to create our canopy. After some thoughtful consideration, we decided to use my father’s tallit for the Chuppah. Our florist decorated one corner of the arbor with a spectacular floral arrangement. It was so beautiful, as well as deeply meaningful for all of us.

Our Music Choice

We knew we wanted a string duet for the ceremony, and Brian from Lakeside Strings was amazing! We chose a set of non-traditional songs, including Mark O’Connor and Yo-Yo Ma’s ‘Appalachia Waltz’ and the Lord of the Rings ‘Concerning Hobbits’, simply because we really liked the melody, for the processional. Bobby and his parents walked down the aisle to a rendition of Ben Fold’s ‘The Luckiest’. My parents and I walked down the aisle to Pachelbel’s ‘Canon in D’, the same song to which my mother walked down the aisle at my parents’ wedding. We chose F.C.’s ‘Jig’for the recessional because it is happy, fun, and brought in some of Bobby’s Irish heritage!

We chose songs that would be special to our parents for both the father/daughter and mother/son dances. My father suggested Tom Petty’s ‘Wildflowers’ for our father/daughter dance – he and my entire family grew up listening to Tom Petty and as an entire family we once attended a Tom Petty concert. Bobby chose The Beatles ‘In My Life’ for his mother/son dance; his mother loves The Beatles, especially Paul McCartney, so it was really sweet. I also wanted to honor my mother and everything she has done for me, and for us, so I chose to do a mother/daughter dance to The Band Perry’s ‘Mother Like Mine’. The band played each of our family dances live, making them even more memorable.

Our first dance was to Turnover’s ‘Dizzy On the Comedown’. While we were dating in graduate school, Bobby once told me that this song reminded him of me because one of the lyrics says, “You’re like a ballerina, twirling round on your feet”, as I had done ballet for years. It was so sweet – it was our “first song” and we wanted to incorporate it into our wedding day! We even took dance lessons to choreograph our perfect dance with a little Rumba and a little swing!

Flowers

Our florist was Leah Gardener, she runs Black Sheep Gardens in Plattsburgh, New York and her floral work/design sense is exquisite! She just seems to intuitively know what flowers to bring together, how to combine and accent them with just the right touches to make the final product breath-taking and unforgettable. I am not really well versed in flower names, types, or knowing which season particular flowers bloom, but that did not matter at all. Leah created above and beyond what I had hoped for.

We wanted to incorporate autumn tones into the floral arrangements and bouquets including burgundies, golds, and marigold hues in the mix. First to highlight the leaves turning color all around us and also to set-off the deep forest velvet green of the bride’s attendants’ attire. There were some flowers I was hoping to include in my bouquet as well as the others. In particular, I wanted to include a variety of sunflowers, small and medium, golden, rust-colored, and burgundy. I also wanted greenery that gave a cascading, natural affect to the look. Other than that Leah worked her magic perfectly. 

Since the ceremony was held outside in a garden next to the water, the only other flowers at the ceremony, beside bouquets and boutonnieres, was a gorgeous arrangement attached to the Chuppah. Inside the hall, which was designed with birchbark wainscoting and a massive stone fireplace, each table had a low-profile arrangement secured inside birchbark containers. For the mantel Leah designed a large, exquisite, asymmetrical arrangement of draping greenery and flowers. We could not have imagined anything better; everything was truly, already beyond anything we had hoped for.

Photographer

We began our search for a photographer early on. Initially, we discovered a local photographer who produced unique, tailored photos for weddings, using deeper, more dramatic lighting and incorporating more of the natural surroundings into the scene. We soon learned they had already been booked for our date. So, we continued our search and found another local photographer, Britt Parr, owner of Parr Photo Co., whose work mirrored our ideas. My mother reached out to her and managed to get her on the phone. One conversation later and we were set. Britt met us and took us on a mountain hike with clothes changes in tow to help us create our first save the date photo. It was a blast, and she was amazing to work with.

Our relationship with her continued to grow, especially since, due to the pandemic, we needed to create a second save-the-date mailing. Although she relocated to Colorado, she remained committed to our event, and flew out to photograph it for us. The photos she created for us are amazing!! Especially those she set up for our first look; the lighting, the focus, the way she posed us and asked us to look at each other, the camera or away…they are all breath-taking. We are forever grateful for her patience, artistic talent and photographic skill. The photos she created are our permanent visual memory of our wedding day, our love and commitment to each other. They are a legacy for us and, hopefully, our future family.

Food and Cake

Our venue, Whiteface Club and Resort catered our meal and arranged for the baking/decorating of our cake.

Everything was perfectly plated and delicious! We were thrilled to learn that the chef made a point to use local, seasonal, edible flowers as garnish for every dish, it was so beautiful! We did have a few dietary restrictions, including vegan and gluten free needs, so we included entrees that met those restrictions for our guests. Everything prepared was dairy free. Instead of a cake with three tiers layered on top of each other, we chose to have each tier displayed separately, which allowed us to incorporate our guests’ dietary restrictions into the cake preparation.

Each tier was a different cake, dairy-free spiced, dairy-free chocolate, and vegan-gluten free chocolate. Since vegan-gluten free baking requires special skill and technique, our venue allowed us to bring that tier from Violette Bakers in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The spiced tier was our favorite. The frosting we chose was dairy-free cream cheese flavored and delicious. Although the cakes were labeled for service, some of our guests who were not gluten-free chose to sample that cake, giving it rave reviews and stating they really could not tell the difference.

We loved the way our cake was decorated, too. Kristen, our wedding assistant at Whiteface Club and Resort, was responsible for the beautiful presentation and decorations. We knew we wanted a naked-cake style frosting, we also found photos of a cake that was decorated using black mission figs, blueberries, and blackberries. We loved the look and shared the images with Kristen. Using log portions to elevate the tiers, she decorated the cake beautifully. Knowing our favorite cake was the spice cake, she even had a small tier prepared for us to freeze and enjoy for our first anniversary, hopefully we can wait that long!

Entertainment

My brother and my sister-in-law booked the Silver Arrow Band for their wedding in 2019. The band was a total hit, so Bobby and I agreed at their wedding that we would try to book the same band for our wedding. Since the musicians work regionally, not each member is available to play at every venue. Nevertheless, each and every one of them are spectacular musicians as are their vocalists. We could not be happier for the music they provided for us. We wanted to cover multiple music genres as well as songs that spanned the many generations represented by our guests. Everyone had a blast dancing, including the rousing horas everyone participated in!

Favors

Every guest received a small glass bottle in the shape of a maple leaf filled with syrup from Maple Mountain New York, LLC, a small, local maple sugar farm that we love. My mother calligraphied our names and our wedding date on labels that were specially knotted around each bottle. There are several maple sugar farms in our area so ‘real’ maple syrup is a staple. I introduced Bobby to ‘real’ maple syrup when we first started dating and he became an instant convert. Since we were getting married in the heart of the Adirondacks, and maple syrup country, we decided this was a fun way of honoring our sweet love in the sweet New Year!

Extra details

Looking back on our special day, we have a few extra special moments that really made the day perfect. One was the beauty of the entire family, ours and Bobby’s all participating in the Sheva Brachot during the ceremony. After the ceremony, Bobby and I got to spend our Yihud on a boat ride on Lake Placid. This was a particularly special and unique aspect of our wedding, it was a time to just take in our new married life together, surrounded by the beauty of the Adirondack mountains – while enjoying some cheese, champagne, and each other!

Following the Yihud, we were able to take a photo with all of our guests on the dock, which was so wonderful because we never really get a photo opportunity with all our extended family and friends, from near and far. At the reception, one of Bobby’s brothers, my sisters, and my father each wrote a speech for the two of us. The final speech was from Bobby to our families, and to me. There had been so much love during the day and these speeches each truly showed the love of our families and our new life together.

Honeymoon

We have not yet scheduled a honeymoon, but we chose to spend the week after our wedding in Lake Placid with our families, relaxing and sharing time together. Since we do not live close to each other, one of my sisters lives in Napa, CA, this was a special chance to share extended time together. The area is so beautiful and there are so many fun activities to experience at that time of year we thought it would be the best way to celebrate after our wedding day.

Advice to couples currently planning their wedding

While not everything may go exactly according to plan, we would suggest creating a timeline for the day and giving this to someone outside of the main wedding party – not the parents of the wedding couple, and not the bride and groom – this is where a wedding planner may be helpful – for when things do go off schedule!

And finally, everyone always tells you how fast the day is going to go by – and it does! – but we tried to find moments throughout the day to take in all that was happening, to take a minute to laugh and breathe, and just “be us”.

KELILAH & BOBBY’S LITTLE WHITE BOOK

Photography – Parr Photo Co
Ketubah – Tallulah Ketubahs {offers 10% discount to all members of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club}
Venue – Whiteface Club and Resort
Bride’s dress – Beloved by Casablanca Bridal found at Lauras Bridal
Bride’s shoes – Badgley Mischka from Nordstrom
Bride’s accessories – Claire’s
Groom’s attire – Ludlow’s, Etsy, Paul Malone
Bridesmaids – BHLDN, Olga Delice
Robes – Hayden Harlow PR
Hair + Makeup – Vignette and Vogue
Flowers – Black Sheep Gardens
Cellist – Lakeside Strings
Band – Silver Arrow Band
Catering –Whiteface Club Resort
Cake – through Whiteface Club Resort
Vegan and gluten-free cake – Violette Bakers
Stationery/Invitation – Botanical Paperworks

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