We cannot get enough of the love for Israel that shines through every single moment of today’s gorgeous Jewish wedding! Florida couple Shirley, an in-house attorney with a corporation that specializes in government contracting for emergency management, and Jared, a Florida lobbyist, planned to get married in Jerusalem on October 19, 2023.
After October 7, they knew they needed to pivot – and while the war required a change of venue, there was never any doubt that the “rescheduled wedding needed to be even bigger, even more Jewish, and even more Zionist-and-proud.” And though the location changed from Jerusalem’s Olmaya to Florida’s Aventura Turnberry Jewish Center, the theme of “Yerushalayim shel zahav” (Jerusalem of gold) remained.
Shirley and Jared made every planning decision with the aim of bringing Jerusalem to their guests, including a delicious Middle Eastern-inspired menu and olive branch décor – there was even a centerpiece olive tree, serving as both homage to Jerusalem and a symbol of peace. During the chuppah, the couple wrapped themselves in the flag of Israel while their rabbi sang Hatikvah, and Israeli flags and Magen Davids were all over the big day – don’t miss these wonderful touches of Jewish pride in the photos by The Light and Color and trailer by Senderey Videography.
For their ketubah, Shirley and Jared turned to Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Brit Colors, who handcrafted a stunning design inspired by the iconic doors of Olmaya, the duo’s original Jerusalem venue. Featuring embroidery and gold foil, it’s truly an exquisite piece of art.
There’s so much more to say about this very special, Jewish joy-packed day – read on for all the details in Shirley’s own words…
How We Met
Shirley, the bride: We met in law school in 2017, when I sat behind Jared in Wills and Trusts. We now realize how foretelling that was of us spending the rest of our lives together.
Change of Plans
I am half Israeli and dreamt of getting married in Israel since I was a little girl. We were supposed to be married in Jerusalem at Olmaya. Our ceremony was going to be on the adjoining Haas Promenade on October 19, 2023. We spent a year planning, had traveled to Jerusalem in June 2023, and had every single detail picked and ready to go, from the rehearsal party at the Mamila Hotel to a guided tour of the Old City.
Needless to say our dream wedding didn’t happen. October 7th was exactly one week before our scheduled flight to Israel for our wedding. We were devasted but knew that as Jews we needed to pivot. Our rescheduled wedding needed to be even bigger, even more Jewish, and even more Zionist-and-proud. There is no temple that we have ever set foot in that screams this more than the Aventura Turnberry Jewish Center, led by Rabbi Jonathan Berkun. The sanctuary literally has painted stained glass featuring the American and Israeli flag and everywhere you turn in the synagogue there are reminders of the strength and resilience of the Jewish people.
Bringing Jerusalem to Florida
In true Jewish spirit, our rescheduled wedding did not try to brush tragedy under the rug, instead we owned it as part of our story and incorporated Jerusalem and Israel into our wedding. Napkins and kippot that said Jerusalem, Israel, bearing our original wedding date we’re still used…although we needed to order more kippot for our wedding which doubled in size.
Our theme remained the same, “yerushalayim shel zahav” (Jerusalem of gold) after the iconic song, which was played by a string quartet as Shirley circled Jared 7 times under the chuppah.
Instead of our guests coming to Jerusalem, the goal was to bring Jerusalem to our guests. Our decor included candles, twinkle lights, soft white florals, greenery, olive branches and even a centerpiece olive tree serving as both homage to Jerusalem and a symbol of peace.
Our food was all middle eastern themed, couscous, Israeli salads, arak marinated fish, brisket, hummus, babaganoush, pita, all of the delicious flavors that make you think of Israeli cuisine. The desserts featured baklava, halva, pistachios, dried fruit, dates so you could feel you were in the Jerusalem Shuk.
Invitation
The first time around we went all out with Wynwood Letterpress, who used the iconic Olmaya doors traced on vellum to create a pop open sleeve to our gold edged and beveled invitations. There was a star of David gold wax seal holding the vellum doors closed.
For our Save the Dates, we had adorable coasters with the map of Israel and heart where Jerusalem is. As a nod to Jared’s job as a lobbyist the back of the coaster said “…AND IF YOU NEED HELP WITH YOUR PASSPORT JARED CAN CALL YOUR CONGRESSMAN.”
Above that there was a custom “Israel passport stamp” featuring our initials and the date we met as the stamp serial number, stars of David, and our original wedding date as the date of arrival. Wynwood Letterpress was so easy to work with and truly tried to help us capture and preview our wedding day. They were so gracious as to offer us discounted replacement invitations but with a 5 month pivot, we opted for Paperless Post on the redo.
Hair + Makeup
Tim Quinn, celebrity makeup artist and creator of Halo42 (try the eye oil) did my my flawless makeup. Danny Jelaca, who has been featured on the Real Housewives of Miami (yes, I am a big fan of all things Real Housewives) did my hair in a chignon that was definitely wind resistant but probably not flame resistant–that thing did not move–with gentle whisps of hair framing my face.
An Ines Di Santo Dress
Every Miami girl knows about the iconic Chic Parisien store in Coral Gables. It’s even where my mother in law, Beth Rosenstein, got her dress 35 years before me. It was very l’dor v’dor. As one of the Vice Presidents for Bloomingdales, she has a keen eye for fashion and made sure my dress fittings went just right. Overseeing the intricate 10 button bustle to hold up the heavy embroidered and oh-so-long train and even having the seamstress add embroidery to my train loop cut from the same lace fabric.
Momma Rosenstein made sure my dress was perfect and that I could still dance the night away in it. The dress was by Ines Di Santo and my tiara was custom adorned with blue stones as my “something blue.” At the time, the dress felt fit for Jerusalem, elegant, form-fitting, with removable sleeves allowing me to transition from a more modest look under the chuppah.
Shoes
My shoes were Roger Vivier and I could wear them all day! I now know why the Queen of England chose Roger Vivier for her coronation.
Ceremony & Chuppah
We paid honor and tribute to Israel during our ceremony when we were wrapped in the flag of Israel and Rabbi Berkun sang Hatikvah while playing his guitar. As we walked back up the aisle as husband and wife, Rabbi Berkun held up the Israeli flag for a very iconic exit from the santuary. Our kiddush cup was a gift we received from Israel and our chuppah featured Jared’s blue talit from his bar mitzvah.
Ketubah
Our ketubah was the same one intended for our Jerusalem wedding but amended for our new date and location. It was handmade by Brit Colors featuring embroidery and gold foil and the intricate design was was inspired by the iconic doors of Olmaya, our original wedding venue.
Our music choice
The thing about having to reschedule a wedding is that you get a redo on the things you missed the first time around. We didn’t even realize we’d want a live band and originally hired a DJ. But in between our cancelled Jerusalem wedding and our rescheduled wedding we attended a wedding that had the the most amazing live band: South Florida’s Heatwave Band.
Heat Wave was so accommodating, offering to learn any song we wanted. There was no ask too big. They even learned a song in Portuguese for Shirley’s mother-daughter dance, a nod to Shirley’s Brazilian heritage.
The band performed all of our favorite songs and everyone and we mean EVERYONE danced the night away. The only complaint we’ve heard so far about our wedding is that our dance floor was too small–we take it as a compliment.
As for entertainment, we had the Amazing Bottle Dancers put on a show. Which started with a bit of a skit when they interrupted Shirley and Jared during their speeches. Everyone was so surprised and awed by a trio of orthodox looking bottle dancers doing jumps and splits to klezmer music.
Flowers
Petal Productions created a whimsical atmosphere featuring olive branches and delicate florals arranged in an untamed manner, featuring white delicate blooms like peonies, roses, and asters, with a couple of calla lilies, which are both Shirley and Jared’s mothers’ favorite flower.
Photographer and videographer
Our photographer was The Light and Color, who also hiked up a mountain in Maine to photograph our engagement. Senderey Videography was heavily recommended by our wedding planner and did not disappoint.
Since our wedding venue was solely indoors, we did an editorial style photo shoot, just the two of us, at the oceanfront Vizcaya Museum and Gardens. The property features fossilized coral which is a type of limestone, allowing us to channel the limestone backdrop of Jerusalem.
The property features the ruins of a stone barge that looks like a shipwreck, which gave us the feeling of antiquity. At times it felt like we were in Caesarea, the ancient roman city on Israel’s Mediterranean coast, whose ruins include an amphitheater and hippodrome that still exist today.
Cake
Our cake was by Rockstar Pastries, who in addition to being a world-class pastry chef is also Jared’s cousin. Since the cake had to be certified kosher it was a faux cake. Don’t tell on us, but, we did have one slice of cake for our cake cutting…was at least kosher style and we threw away the fork after.
Advice to couples currently planning their wedding
Embrace the pivot. You can plan a wedding but you can’t plan life. As two lawyers this was the hardest pill to swallow. We’re two type A personalities, we want to control everything and mitigate risk.
Ironically enough, Shirley, whose day-to-day involves risk management for a national corporation, even tried to have the Jerusalem wedding insured, only to learn that any insurer who offers event coverage will not insure events in the middle east…we now totally understand why.
Our advice: Insure if you can and make sure you have favorable force majeure/Act of God/Act of War provisions in all of your contracts. Take it from us and thousands of “covid couples” it can happen to anyone.
SHIRLEY & JARED’S LITTLE WHITE BOOK
Photography – The Light and Color
Videography – Senderey Videography
Ketubah – Brit Colors {offers 10% discount to all members of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club}
Venue – Aventura Turnberry Jewish Center
Wedding planner – Anna Kipnis Best of Ultimate Events
Bride’s dress – Ines Di Santo found and fitted at Chic Parisien
Bride’s shoes – Roger Vivier
Hair + Makeup – Danny Jelaca, Tim Quinn
Flowers – Petal Productions
Band – Heatwave Band
Entertainment – Amazing Bottle Dancers
Cake – Rockstar Pastries
Stationery/Invitation – Wynwood Letterpress
Rabbi – Rabbi Berkun
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.
