The Wedding

We got married! Just in case you were holding your breath to hear that. Everything went so well, and the wedding was over so quickly!

The week leading up to the wedding was hard. Being separated was very, very difficult. When we were about to part on the Sunday prior to the wedding, there were lots of tears and questions about why we separating, but we did it after discussing the reasons why. It gave us a week of anticipation, nervousness, wonder, and emotions. I cried a lot. It's hard being separated from your partner for a week, especially for us, since we have been so incredibly lucky to have so much time together. All week, we sent notes back and forth and we texted. Because we planned a lot of the wedding details ourselves, we needed to be able to discuss when we had issues. Even so, we knew we wouldn't text over Shabbat, the day before the wedding, and we agreed not to text the day of the wedding.

Emet left Wednesday night for LA, and I went on Thursday. Once we were in LA, things felt more real. I met my family at the airport and we drove up to the suburbs to get together the gift bags and some other things. It was weird being back there without seeing Emet. Then, back in LA, our family started to arrive, and it was so unreal. By Friday, Emet and I were both hoping Shabbat would go quickly, since we weren't texting. I ended up hanging out with my parents and my grandmother, taking a nap (since I hadn't slept well in over a week), and generally stayed put in the hotel room, reading.

Saturday night, Emet and I had to play Tetris in the hotel during the dinner, and we assigned my sisters to make sure that we wouldn't see each other. When Emet was downstairs at dinner, I was in the room. Then they moved Emet to a safe location, and I appeared in the dining room. It was weird to know that our guests saw Emet, but she was elusive to me.

I expected Sunday, the day of the wedding, to be chaotic and nerve-wrecking, but it was so smooth. I davened in the morning, spending time thinking about every person who both wanted a prayer and who I thought needed one. I expected to feel more spiritual on the wedding day than I did, but it was still good.

During the morning, it seemed time dragged on, and I couldn't wait to see Emet. I hung out with my sisters for a while, and eventually we went to get our hair done. I was extremely hesitant to do this, since I wanted my hair to look natural, nothing over the top. It ended up being perfect. The hairdresser who did my hair had married his boyfriend the year before, and I'm pretty sure that we were the only English speaking clients. They were amazing, though. He put in the veil and we were all very satisfied with their friendliness and their work.

After our hair appointments

Then, I stayed in the room getting ready with my sisters. Devon took some amazing photos, as usual.

All of a sudden, it was time to go to the synagogue! I didn't want anyone to see me so when we went down to get in the car to go to the synagogue, my sisters played "Secret Service Agents" again and made sure there was no one to see me. We got to the synagogue and I was nervous to see Emet, after having not seen her for a week.

Just before I went down to see Emet for the first time

Our photographer was there, as were our videographers, and I didn't know how everything would work. Luckily, I was too preoccupied to think about the things that could go wrong that day! In that last photo, there were stairs to the right, and I went down them to see Emet. I could see her back, and then suddenly I was there behind her. I put my hand on her shoulder, and she turned around and started crying. We both started crying. It was just the two of us, there in time. I know there were others around us, but it didn't matter.

After a little while, our families came and we continued with photos. Then, everyone started showing up, and time just wouldn't stay still.

We greeted everyone, our mothers broke a plate, we gave dvar Torahs, and then we moved into the room to sign the ketubah. It is completely gorgeous, specially done for us by our friend, and it's just perfect. Once we signed the ketubah, Emet put the veil over my face - I was crying. I'm pretty sure everyone was crying in the room. Our families and two witnesses plus the photographer and videographers were all in the room with us and the rabbi and cantor.

I remember walking down the hall to get to the back of the sanctuary. My parents held my hands tight. I was jittery. When I got down to the bottom of the aisle, where Emet was, she started outright bawling. It was so sweet and authentic.

The ceremony was a blur. I was there, but it was just fast. I got nervous reading the Hebrew at the end of our vows. Our rabbi was absolutely amazing and our cantor did such a great job. We couldn't have been happier with our choices for the ceremony. It was a mostly traditional wedding service, though we altered the Sheva Brachot slightly. At one point, I was told afterward that everyone up on the bimah with us (our families) was crying. It was just so moving. Emet mainly broke the glass - I attempted to help, but let's be honest, her shoes were better equipped for breaking glass.

The sanctuary

Then we were alone in yichud. Thankfully, there was some food, which was delicious, and we savored the 30 minutes alone that we had.

The rest of the night just came and went. We did our first dance, hopefully staying on beat the entire time to "The Anniversary Song." Unfortunately for us, the synagogue only had folding chairs, so for the hora, I was terrified either Emet or I would fall, so it only lasted a few rounds of the song. Thankfully, we did not get injured. Our caterer was fabulous, our DJ was right on, and everything was perfect. Our parents and sisters gave toasts. We danced, we ate a little, we threw a stuffed pomegranate (instead of a bouquet), and we cut and ate some cake that had our small clay pomegranates that we bought at Yad Lakashish on it. The cake was white with white frosting and strawberries. It was delicious.

Our tables

Overall, the entire day was amazing, and we can't wait to get more pictures back from our photographer and the video! All these photos are what were uploaded on to WedPics. If you want to see more photos, email me and I can send you the code to see them.

Thank you to everyone who joined us and made the day special. We can't wait to continue celebrating this year and into the future. We are so thankful and grateful of everyone who helped us get to this day - our families, our rabbi, our friends both here in the US and in Israel, our photographer, caterer, videographers, and DJ. It was amazing. We couldn't have asked for anything better.

The end of the night!

Shabbat shalom!!

I Said Yes to the Dress

My mom and I had been searching for a wedding dress since I got back from Israel that both fit my style and my budget. We had only found two options, but they weren't great. One still required sleeves to be added, and the other was so large that tailors we have called told us not to get it. So, we kept looking.

I didn't know how difficult it would be to find a dress that was modest and fairly simple that also fits in my budget. I guess if I wanted to spend $1000 on a dress, I would have more options, but actually I have found that the more expensive the dress, the gaudier it is. I was something elegant and timeless, nothing poofy, not a lot of fabric, and I don't care for a train. We wanted to get something off the rack, both for budget reasons and because Emet and I will be leaving Atlanta soon and it would be better to have something before leaving for LA.

We have looked at bridal gowns, bridesmaids dresses, prom dresses, and even quincinera dresses. Not much luck unless we wanted to order from China, and we weren't sure how reliable those are, either.

Finally, we decided we will stop in to Bridals by Lori (yes, the one from Say Yes to the Dress) because it is around the corner from my house and it had a dress that I liked online. I figured we would see the dress that I liked online and if it worked, then maybe we would find a reputable place to order it online. Instead, we found the dress, I said Yes to the Dress, and I walked out with my dress purchased from Bridals by Lori. They have been fabulous so far - we wanted to add something to the order, and it was no problem, and the salesperson called to make sure the color of the ribbon is what I wanted. I'm happy!

Finding a modest wedding dress is no easy feat, especially if you are on a budget. I've realized the wedding dress shopping is ridiculous, wedding dresses tend to be outrageous (and often ugly), and the industry can charge you a lot of money just because it says "Bridal."

When looking for a modest wedding dress, here are my suggestions:

1. Look online for LDS wedding dresses. The Mormons have similar modesty rules as Orthodox Jews, and they have a lot more online stores, specifically - LatterDayBride, A Dressy Occasion, LDS Bridal Gowns‎, Totally Modest, and AltaModa Bridal. They have a lot of different styles and budget options. I also looked at Watters, Allure Modest, and other brands that I found had sleeves.

2. Consider bridesmaids or other special occasion dresses. I found that there were more options for sleeves on bridesmaids and special occasion or formal dresses. Plus, they are less expensive than wedding gowns.

3. You can look at bridal stores, but don't expect to find anything. I looked at David's Bridal and at least another 4 or 5 other bridal stores in the Atlanta area. None had anything in my size, my budget, or my style. I tried on a LOT of dresses and quickly became discouraged. But we kept looking, and I tried on everything that was even remotely close or far from what I wanted. If it was my size, I tried it, even the ones I thought were very ugly.

4. Look into a custom made dress. If you can't find anything, see how much it would be to have a custom made dress. If you know someone who sews, you're in luck! Ask them to do it as your wedding present or offer to pay them back in-kind if you can't afford it all. I found that having a custom gown was just as expensive as buying a new gown, but I didn't know anyone who sewed.

5. Be optimistic. I didn't think that I was going to find anything. For weeks, I scoured the internet to find the style I liked, and then I spent time feeling discouraged that there wouldn't be anything out there. Despite that, I found exactly what I wanted - not at a place I expected, though. You never know where you might find it.