Today on the blog we’re introducing our 7th gorgeous bride from our crop of 2018 and 2019 Real Jewish Brides! Please give a warm welcome to Roxanne who will be marrying Nathan on March 31st 2019 in Raleigh, North Carolina.
THREE FACTS: Roxanne and Nathan met in summer 2010 at a Jewish summer camp in Missouri. (2) They are having a DIY wedding and Roxanne is toying with the idea of designing and sewing her own wedding dress as she has a background in sewing and historical fashion design (3) Roxanne is converting to Judaism and the couple are planning a traditional Jewish wedding.
About us
I’m Roxanne, a 28 year old bride-to-be who doing freelance work sewing historically accurate garments. I grew up all over the place! I was born in Bucharest, Romania, but have lived in Illinois, California, Missouri, New York, and Texas! I am in the active process of converting to Judaism. I attended Stephens College and majored in Costume Design.
Nathan is a 30 year old Math and Science teacher at the High School level. He grew up all over the place as well and as a child lived in Missouri and New York, adding Louisiana and Texas as an adult. He was raised Jewish. He attended The University of Missouri, Saint Louis, with a major in math education. Together we enjoy all things geeky (especially Doctor Who), reading, playing board games, going to historic home museums, and so much more.
How we met
Years after we met, Nathan and I will both tell you, we both felt a “Zing”. When I first met him, I knew, deep down, we were destined to be more than friends.
We met summer 2010 at a Jewish summer camp in Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri. We had the same circle of friends at camp, and I did my due diligence and did a reccie via a mutual friend. Camp time moves differently, and a week feels like a month, and at the end of staff week, we had our first kiss under the stars on the sports field. I
t was perfect for my hopeless romantic sensibilities, and two this day, remember it in vivid detail! Due to miscommunication, we decided to just be friends for the time being later that summer, and remained close friends after camp.
Before we dated
We had some interesting years after camp, and our timing just seemed to be off for a few years, though we were there for each other for every high, every low, and every failed relationship. Both of us were almost comically clueless to each other’s interest for a few years. Finally I realized Nathan was always there for me, my one constant in whatever life threw at me. It took me 6 months to get up the guts to tell him, and he said he still had feelings for me.
Once I told him I had feelings for him, not a day went by that we were not in contact with each other. But, once again the timing was off, as he was just about to move out of state. 6 months later, he moved back, and we had a whirlwind romance for a few months, before we realized neither of us wanted to be a ‘rebound’ relationship, so we decided to take some time for ourselves, though we were incredibly close by than. In mid-2016, we decided to start dating.
Finally dating!
That summer, we dated long distance, and once Nathan was home from the summer, we said we loved each other on the steps of the oldest building of my former college campus. That night we decided I would move down to Texas with Nathan when he started a new job. Most of our friends thought we were crazy, but it worked out perfectly for us! During that first year, we met each other’s parents, and grew even closer.
Our lives were thrown upside down last summer, when Hurricane Harvey hit near us. It caused our apartment to flood, and we had to get rescued via boat. Going though this solidified how great of a team we are, and we came out so much stronger. Last fall, we picked out our engagement rings.
The Proposal
We and a friend all have birthdays in the last two months of the year. We decided to make a trip to New Orleans to celebrate my 28th birthday, and Nathan’s 30th birthday and I knew a proposal was likely coming. We went to New Orleans on a Wednesday and had a grand time. The fourth day of the trip we went up to City Park. I knew this was likely the day, and carefully picked out my outfit.
We got the the spot Nathan had chosen in the park, and small rustic stone bridge overlooking the peristyle pavilion and magnificent oak trees. The bridge, unexpectedly was rough stone all around, but that did not deter him from giving me a lovely speech about his certainty about us, our relationship, and our future. He then dropped to one knee on the rough surface of the bridge, and proposed!
I was so excited to say yes! He proposed with a lovely late 1920s platinum and diamond ring, and his engagement ring is a wood and silver ring from Hungary. We will be getting married spring 2019, tentatively March 31st 2019. While this was going on, our friend acted as our own personal paparazzi and got photos of the day we will never forget!
Wedding plans so far
We are moving to Raleigh, NC this summer, so we knew right off, we wanted to get married there. As far as planning goes, I am fairly type A (though I swear I am fairly laid back in day to day life!), so I had a blueprint of what I would like, and had long ago shared it with Nate.
We are both big fans of history, and knew we wanted a heavily vintage wedding, our chosen vibe is Southern Vintage. The wedding itself will be small, with a maximum of 50 people.
We are planning a fairly traditional Jewish wedding, which will be interesting as I am converting, and the guests on my side will be primarily not Jewish. We are planning on doing a nice program explaining some of the wedding traditions for those not familiar with them. The wedding will be a Sunday afternoon, and very relaxed.
We are trying to keep things affordable, so we are doing everything fairly DIY. For example, we are not having a DJ or band, we are going to come up with the music ahead of time, and having set playlists, that various family and friends will manage throughout the event. I am also toying with the idea of designing and sewing my own wedding dress (much to my mother’s dislike!), as I have a background in sewing and historical fashion design.
We chose our venue fairly quickly and it was the 2nd venue my mother and I visited on a trip to Raleigh. Our venue of choice is the Borden Building in Raleigh, which is a historic home in a lovely park setting. Right now on the docket is the hunt for Kosher caterers who are in the state, which has been an adventure in itself.
What Marriage Means To Us
We are so excited to be getting married. Marriage is very important to us as we were both raised fairly traditionally. We are already a stellar team, and marriage will solidify that. To us marriage means and equal partnership with our best friend, and person we love. We strive to balance each other out, and keep each other grounded and focused. I am very excited to share our story and wedding adventure with you!
Click here to read all Roxanne’s planning posts to date.
Roxanne & Nathan’s Wedding Vendors booked so far:
Venue – Borden Building
Love your post. Your story is very sweet!