Naomi will be marrying Daniel on 18th March 2020 at Beth Torah Benny Rok Campus in Aventura, Florida, USA. Click here to read all Naomi’s planning posts to date.
THREE FACTS: (1) British bride Naomi has just moved to Florida to join her Venezuelan fiance Daniel, who she met at a wedding in Israel – talk about an international couple! (2) Naomi and Daniel were long distance for 3.5 years, until this July. (3) Naomi is a member of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club!
Hello one and all,
The time has come for my final bridal blog! Which means the wedding is SO soon! I can’t really believe it – on the one hand, I feel like I’ve been planning forever (fellow brides, I’m sure you can sympathise, haha) while on the other hand, the time has absolutely flown by.
Above Naomi and Daniel’s wedding website front cover, using her Smashing the Glass Brides Club Member‘s discount on Appycouple.com!)
I honestly haven’t found this planning experience to be the easiest, for the following reasons.
- I am an insatiable people pleaser – and to have that personality trait whilst planning a wedding is EXHAUSTING. Try coming up with an ideal solution for, let’s say, starting times… throw in two vastly different cultures, one of which expects weddings to start at 4pm, the other of which expects them to start at 9pm. Neither one has even considered the possibility of doing it another way, and as they say, two Jewish people means 10 different opinions regardless of where they come from! I’ve often felt flummoxed and worried by this, despite the fact that both parties have been very willing to make compromises when it really comes down to it.
- My sliiiightly Type A personality has had me wanting to micromanage everything whilst, simultaneously, having realised that I’d rather be much less involved in the small minutiae of wedding planning because it can make me quite stressed, I haven’t been able to step back because neither Daniel’s or my parents live in the same country as us (where the wedding is being held!), so our involvement has been absolutely essential.
- I’ve been wedding planning, a notoriously highly-emotional and high stress time, at the same time as navigating a move half way around the world, away from my very wonderful friends and family. Everybody is always there to pick up the phone, and I have made some great connections out here – it gets steadily easier – but this has been a challenge in itself. Four of the most significant life events I will probably ever experience – getting engaged, leaving home, moving to another country and getting married – all in the space of 11 months!
Nevertheless, the best part of it all getting so close is that excitement is truly starting to set in, and the thought of so many loved ones stepping off that plane in Miami airport, having them here in my new hometown, exploring and eating and celebrating with us, makes the anxiety begin to melt away. I honestly can’t wait.
I was lucky enough to head back to England recently for a family bar mitzvah, my final wedding dress fittings (eek!) at the lovely The Bridal Collection in Harrogate and the most special, hilarious and wine-fuelled hen do, organised by two very gorgeous friends of mine. We all had an absolute ball, and it was truly just the happiest night, filled with so much love and fun.
Did my friends lift me up on a chair in the middle of a club? Maybe. Did the live band randomly start playing ‘Hava Nagila’, causing a FRENZY amongst our 20-person strong group on the dance floor? Quite possibly. Did I cry more or less than 6 separate times? Hard to say. And did I have to step out of the taxi for some air on our way home because it was VERY touch and go? I’m going to tactfully pass on that one.
From the personalised love hearts (!) to the most incredible keep sake of a photo book with messages and pictures from each of the very special girls in my life, the amount of thought and care that went into planning, and the effort everybody made to come out, really made me feel exceptionally lucky to have such amazing friends in my life, whether they live just around the corner or half way across the world. Nothing changes, and I hope it continues to stay just the same.
Well, that’s it from me folks! It really has been a pleasure. To anybody planning their wedding, I would say to just try and keep the big picture in mind as much as humanly possible, and remind yourself of what matters and what really doesn’t in the grand scheme of things, on a regular basis. This has been a crazy time, but has taught me a lot. I can’t wait to see what the next chapter brings, side by side with the man of my dreams.
Click here to read all Naomi’s planning posts to date.
Naomi & Daniel’s Wedding Vendors booked so far:
Venue – Beth Torah Benny Rok Campus
Catering – Erik Kaufman
Photographer and videographer – Esmeralda Bodas
Hair + Makeup – My Makeup Bible
Bride’s dress – found and fitted at The Bridal Collection
Join Smashing The Glass’ Brides Club for step-by-step guides, handpicked wedding vendor discounts, Jewish wedding action plans, a free smash glass pouch, Jewish wedding checklists and templates, and SO much more!
You can currently experience 30 free days inside Brides Club (you can cancel at any time – there’s no tie-in).
The promotion to access the 30 free days is closing on Monday February 17, so do ensure you join before then to experience Brides Club for free!
Join Smashing The Glass’ Smashing Life for life outside of the wedding. It’s our follow-on community to Brides Club where we cover everything from navigating the first year of marriage to house hunting to family planning, to Jewish life to Friday night dinner hacks to fitness to Book Club to interiors to health and wellbeing, finance – we even had a sexual therapist in for January’s expert talk! (February’s guest session is on‘ ‘Organization + Decluttering Tips for Newlyweds’ but of course you’ll have access to all previous sessions).
