Leah will be marrying Zak in a Jewish wedding on 1st June 2018 at Masia Notari in Spain. Click here to read all Leah’s planning posts to date.
THREE FACTS: (1) Leah knew she wanted to convert to Judaism long before she met Zak. She feels that having a Jewish wedding is another milestone in her Jewish identity and is an opportunity for some of her family to experience new traditions. (2) Leah & Zak met on JDate (3) Leah and Zak are planning a beautiful black tie destination wedding in Barcelona, Spain
The difficulties of planning a wedding from afar
I’ll admit, wedding planning has been the furthest thing from fun for me. My family and friends live a 2.5 hour flight away, and my wedding venue is thousands of miles away, which makes planning very hard. When we chose a destination wedding, we didn’t consider that we wouldn’t have the traditional experiences.
Zak and I wouldn’t be going to taste cakes or try our wedding food, meeting with my florist wouldn’t be in person, and I would have to put a whole lot of trust in my planner, Becky of Barcelona Brides, who I had never actually met in person.
The process was becoming overwhelming for me, so I scheduled a trip to Barcelona in November to meet with my vendors and help narrow down a caterer and live music. Zak wouldn’t be able to make it as it’s the busiest time of the year for him, so I planned to go alone.
When I mentioned to one of my bridesmaids, Cristin, that I had found a cheap ticket to Barcelona, she opted to come with me. Later, I mentioned to my other bridesmaids and couldn’t believe it when they all took time off work and opted to come with me to Spain! Becky and I scheduled a full wedding planning day to cross as many items off my list including: a hair and makeup trial, two full menu tastings, a visit to the venue, and meetings with a DJ, my florist and the videographer.