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!
Wedding Planning Progress
Hello and welcome to bridal blog number 2!
I’m very happy to report that some definite planning progress has been made since I last sat down to write a post. Who would’ve thought, I’m actually enjoying wedding planning!? I can only possibly put that down to the incredibly calming influence of my other half to be, so shout out to Mr Azulay for pulling through there.
Fun news number 1) – we booked our wedding photographer and videographer, Esmeralda Bodas. After seeing some Instagram previews of a recent wedding they photographed of Daniel’s friends, including some spectacular hora shots where the bride and groom are captured mid air being thrown about by their friends (!), we instantly loved their style and the spirit of their pictures, and I’m so excited to work with them.
First Look or Trash The Dress?
We did have an interesting debate when making our final decision, however. American wedding traditions bring two photography options to the table that are both extremely foreign to us – namely, “first look” and “trash the dress” photo shoots.
The former is pretty self explanatory – the couple meets up on their wedding day before the ceremony begins, and the groom is photographed seeing his bride to be for the first time in her dress. The couple get to share a private moment between themselves on the wedding day, also cutting photo time between the ceremony and the reception to avoid keeping guests waiting.
The latter is a shoot that takes place in the days following the wedding, where the couple get dressed up to the nines again and often head to a more scenic location with greenery or an ocean backdrop, to take pictures with a more relaxed vibe. Pluses – another opportunity to wear your dress! Hellooo! Minuses – can anybody really be bothered to get dolled up all over again so soon after the wedding?
Whilst generally being pretty relaxed about these kind of decisions, we surprisingly found it really difficult to decide between the two. But ultimately…. (drum roll please)… we went with the second one. And this is why.
Ever since I attended my first wedding (and disclaimer: I have cried at every single wedding I have ever attended because your gal is a massive softie and perhaps that bit tooooo in tune with her emotions), I’ve adored a good badeken.
The moment where the groom is led in to see his future wife for the first time in her dress and veil, the pure emotion (I’m looking at you bro-in-law, who set off each and every one of my sisters and I bawling when he started to cry as soon as he set eyes on my big sister on their wedding day), the couple surrounded by friends and family singing Jewish songs, so excited and happy to begin the wedding ceremony.
I love the beautiful moment where the groom lifts the bride’s veil to check underneath it and often secretly whispers something to her, and I love how the energy from this ritual is taken all the way into the chuppah.
Ultimately, that is the moment I will be thinking about, waiting for and eagerly anticipating throughout my whole wedding day, leading up to the ceremony in the evening. That’s why Daniel and I decided we didn’t want to compromise this moment by seeing each other beforehand, for the sake of taking pictures.
Hence, the decision has finally been made and I’m pretty excited about it!
Hair + Makeup Sorted Out
The second bit of good news is that I booked a dreaaamy hair and make up artist for myself, my mum and my sisters, whose natural bridal looks are just stunning,
and thirdly, we are edging ever closer to confirming two really great options for a DJ and a Florist.
However, it hasn’t all been good news recently.
The Loss of my Grandma
A few weeks ago now, my family suffered the very deeply felt loss of my lovely Grandma Leila. It’s hard to put into words how this made us all feel. My grandma was a small but mighty, immensely classy, occasionally sassy and very fun lady who fiercely loved her family.
She was a world class chopped liver and meatballs maker, an amazingly expressive bedtime story reader and someone I can only hope to grow to be a little more like.
She is already hugely missed, and I know that her absence will be felt in so many occasions as we move forwards. This is a very sad thought. But I know that when it comes to March, when the room feels just that little bit emptier without her, as it sadly most definitely will, we will just have to dance and celebrate and laugh that little bit harder to make sure her presence is felt.
I’m sure she’ll be twisting and shouting up there looking down on us, as I proudly wear the dress she helped to buy.
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
