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Real Jewish Brides: Dawn’s Engagement Session

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Question: How do you get a Canadian man in his 20’s excited about taking engagement photos?
Answer: Rent out a hockey rink, of course!!

Aside from solidifying our venue, my favorite wedding planning activity, by far, has been our engagement photo shoot. It was a day full of pampering, romancing, laughing, and even ice skating! Harley has never been a huge fan of the traditional engagement photo idea, so I had to get a little creative in order for him to be as excited about the ordeal as I was…that’s where hockey comes in!

Harley and I are in our fourth year as season ticket holders for the Florida Panthers. We froze our butts off at the outdoor Winter Classic in Boston this past January, we traveled to California on a whim to see his favorite team when they finally made it to the Stanley Cup Finals in May, and my fiancà©’s  closet looks like a cartoon’s wardrobe who wears multiple versions of the same outfit everyday…and yes, that outfit is a hockey jersey.

We’ve also been noticing the trend of infusing the couples’ personalities and hobbies into the big day (i.e. Harry Potter and Disney-themed weddings). While I wasn’t ready to give up my idea of a traditional, elegant wedding for a ceremony officiated by our team’s mascot or reception table names influenced by our favorite hockey players, I thought it would be a great idea to let this collective hobby of ours play out in our engagement photos.

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Engagement Photo Shoot Planning

I’ve always loved seeing my friends’ engagement photos, but I can honestly say I didn’t realize how much work went into them! First came the most important part…choosing a date. I never put much thought into this before, thinking “you just pick a day and take some pictures,” but it’s not quite that easy. I had to make sure all the key players were available on the same day. For us, those key players were Lulu’s Hair and Make-up Studio, Jack Bates Photography, and the Palm Beach Skate Zone. We chose to take the pictures on Labor Day because it was a Monday I was off from work, and, as you can imagine, wedding vendors like a hair and make-up artist and a photographer tend to be booked on the weekends.

Once the date was set and everyone was on board for a Labor Day engagement photo shoot, the wardrobe decisions began! Because Harley and I planned to take pictures on ice at the Palm Beach Skate Zone, at the beach across from our wedding venue, and even some at our wedding venue, we knew we would need more than one outfit. We decided to divide and conquer with me being in charge of the hockey outfits and Harley being in charge of the wardrobe for the beach and venue. KIDDING!

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Real Jewish Brides: Karen…. Just one week to go!

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One  week today! It’s real. It’s happening and I cannot wait! Mostly because I’ve worked so hard to make sure that all the fine details are arranged but now I’m ready to kick back and enjoy it all.

I decided at the 4 week mark to buckle down with preparations, in an attempt to avoid last minute stresses. Despite the temporary hibernation from my social life, it’s worked. Thankfully, my list obsession has paid off and my token catch phrase “Ok, I’m on it” has caught onto numerous family members. It’s the “Roger that” of wedding planning in my family! Addressing who’s flying in on which date, how many tables to order and arranging the seating plan has stripped the glamour and challenged my attention span. So it was with great excitement that I decided at the 1 month countdown, to take to the West End…and shop!

First on my agenda was Beauty and Skincare. Allowing time for any potential irritations I redeemed a voucher at Cowshed Shoreditch House for a signature Cowshed facial. It left my skin feeling refreshed and radiant and I would recommend doing this at least a month in advance, so you can follow up with a less intensive facial closer to the wedding. I’ve been using Clarins Blue Orchid Face Oil twice a week at night to maintain the positive results and their Eye Contour Gel to keep the eye area fresh and bright. A make-up kit is incomplete without Urban Decay’s All Nighter Long-Lasting Makeup Setting Spray. This is a must-have for your wedding day as it sets your make up so well, it’ll beat all the happy-tears! I trialed it during the summer and even after two trips on rush-hour tubes my make-up hadn’t budged.

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Be sure to make each other laugh, even when you have made each other cry

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By the time this post is live, we will be 1 week away from the big day. As I’m sure you can imagine, the last few weeks have been just a little bit hectic and I still do have rather a lot left to do — I can hear my mother’s voice in my head saying “typical Lauren” right now. Whilst trying to think of what to write in my last pre-wedding post I struggled to come up with something specific and useful to write about that could shed some light on what it is like to be a bride at the final stages of prep, but nothing was jumping out at me as interesting.

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I felt that writing a post about the last minute tasks that I have to complete may actually add to my sleepless nights, but could potentially help focus me and force me to get those things done… so here is a small insight into my mind when I am lying awake at night thinking of all the things I need to do (please note that this was written over 2 weeks before the wedding day so I still have a little bit of time):

  • Sew up the chuppah canopy
  • Write the final signs and table names
  • Hammer the signs onto posts
  • Finish table plan
  • Sort out the children’s activities and packs
  • Make the table runners
  • Buy last few thank you gifts
  • Get outfit steamed
  • Final beauty prep — final hair appointment, nails etc.
  • Write the place  cards
  • Final meeting with wedding venue staff
  • Arrange transport for all signs, wine and props that we are providing
  • Write up our Ketubah (nicely!)
  • Write vows
  • Get married legally
  • Delegate some of the above!

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Jewish weddings and the importance of the role of parents and family

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A thank you letter

Last week my parents celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary. My sister and I planned a surprise party for them and we decided to decorate the house with photos of their lives together. Sifting through the hundreds of photos made me realise how important my family is to me and also what an incredible relationship my parents have. It got me thinking about what makes a wedding so special. What can possibly make one day something you remember for an entire lifetime? And I realised that the answer is family. Our wedding isn’t just about celebrating our love for each other, but celebrating the love we’ve both been blessed with from the day we were born. Love is what makes the day special, it’s what binds soulmates, families and friends together.

I started to think about our wedding and the role that my family and Gideon’s family have had and will have in our wedding. From dress shopping to checking out the venue; from supplier searches to food tasting our parents have been involved every step of the way. For us it is really important that this wedding celebrates Gid and I just as much as it celebrates our two families coming together as one.

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At our last meeting with Rabbi Miriam Berger who is marrying us, we went through each part of the ceremony. As we are having a reform wedding we are able to choose different components and mix and match traditions. One thing that featured throughout the discussion was the importance of the role our parents and family will play in the ceremony. Gideon and I are walked down the aisle by both our parents. Unlike in other weddings where it is just the father I love the idea that both our parents present their child to everyone and we walk down the aisle as a family unit. Both parents play an equal role in our lives so both parents should be by our sides when we marry each other.

Together with them walking us down the aisle they also stand under the chuppah with us. I love the idea that the chuppah is meant to represent our first home together and I love that we stand under it with our parents. To me it symbolises the importance they have played in helping Gid and I actually get to our wedding day but also the bringing together of both families in our home where both families are always welcome and a central part of the building of it.

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When choosing my bridesmaids I made the decision to have only family members. Just my sister, Gid’s sister and Gid’s cousins who I consider family. Having them as the central people on my wedding day is really important and again symbolises to me the importance of family within our Jewish wedding. Of course I have the most wonderful friends who would make the most amazing bridesmaids but to me keeping it within the theme of family allows for everything to be close and really makes it feel like two families are coming together as one.

As our parents have been at the centre of our wedding planning this has at times caused some conflict and disagreements. As is the case in most Jewish weddings our guest list is split three ways; my family, his family and Gid and my friends. With a maximum capacity of 160, two semi large families this has been a sticking point throughout the process. Despite lists, new lists, and new new lists being produced we know that as long as our nearest and dearest are with us it will be an amazing day and as long as the list is sorted by the time we send the invites out it will be all be wonderful in the end.

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Real Jewish Brides: Choosing Our Wedding Stationery

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Right now, Alex and I are in that really fun stage of wedding planning. Meaning, our invitations have been mailed out (phew!) and we’re just now starting to receive our guests RSVP’s back in the mail. Which for whatever reason, makes wedding planning  that  much more exciting. (what is it about snail mail that’s so deliciously appealing?)

Currently, coming home to check the mail is my favorite part of the afternoon, and because of that, I thought I’d talk about the process of choosing our wedding stationary.  

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Save The Dates

This is essentially a piece of postage that formally alerts your friends and family, that at some point in the not-so-distant-future, they will be receiving an actual wedding invitation. An invitation for an invitation, if you will. Alex didn’t care much about it (or think it was necessary) so he let me take the lead on the design and the entire process. Which I was more than happy to do. The save-the-date is the first piece of tangible evidence that shows we are going to be wed (minus my engagement ring, of course)!  

I booked a quick 30 minute engagement shoot with a local DC photographer, and scheduled our shoot in Georgetown. It was a ridiculously cold morning in March, but at the end of the shoot, we had nearly 200 photos to choose from before we settled on the one we ended up using.  

I loved the various save-the-date options I found online, however the price and lack of flexibility of the designs offered was enough to steer me towards a DIY project. And that’s exactly what we did.

I browsed Etsy until I found something similar to my vision. I worked 1-on-1 with a designer who tweaked everything to my liking. She emailed me a template, which I then uploaded and printed it locally at a shop. 100 copies for just about $50 (not including postage or addressing labels).  

I was thrilled with how they came out. They were in the mail in the very beginning of April. Providing our guests with a full eight months of notice – which for destination weddings seems to be standard etiquette. Fast forward through the summer…

Save The Date

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