Yes, there are still the details of the welcome bags, take home gifts, endless timelines, tastings and other things to complete, but for the most part, I would say I’m ready to be married!  The day after the wedding is looking pretty enticing right now.

The invitations and ketubah were the most exciting part of the process (other than the dress!)  I found an artist that I absolute love, Rachel Deitsch, who kindly helped my dreams become a reality.  She worked with me and my groom to ensure that the invite (which was the first that she had designed) was absolutely perfect.  It combines vibrant colors, Jewish texts, and an overall sense of who we are.  The inside also has the pomegranate theme, which is absolutely stunning. Rachel also converted one of her prints into a ketubah, which it has a similar feel.  Her work is incredible!

So with the invitations out, I’d say there’s no turning back!  The wedding tasting happened a few weeks ago when we went out to Boca. We decided to forgo the traditional wedding menu for something that is more of a representation of who we are and how we feel in love.   We’re doing stations during the reception with sliders, brisket sandwiches,  multiple varieties of french fries, tacos, dim sum, etc, etc etc.  It will be quite a kosher feast!  We wanted the focus to be on fun foods that will energize people to dance!

The dessert options are very similar. There will be a small cake for cutting, but the main desserts include donuts, little ice cream cones, popcorn, cookie sandwiches, etc etc etc!  I think we put more thought into the menu than anything else!

We’ll be back in Florida in a few weeks for the rehearsal dinner tasting, which I’m so excited for!  I just ordered personalized chocolate for the welcome bags, which I think are a cute touch (although probably one of my most unnecessary purchases.)  The Wedding Channel Store is having a huge sale right now, so I recommend picking these chocolates up soon if you like them.  They were on $50, now down to $20, with an extra discount on top of that!

Next up: How sample sales saved my wedding budget!

One night I was having frozen yogurt with my friend, and he texted her from his family trip to Israel.  It was of a picture of a Doritos bag in Hebrew. I think I fell in lust right then– a man who appreciates all that is Israel!  At the time, I had just graduated from college and was interning at home before moving to Israel for a year.

Once Matt returned from his trip, my friend and I had a chance to hang out with him again, and once my friend went back to college, Matt and I had an opportunity to hang out alone. I had only three nights until I flew to Israel for the year,  but they were most definitely three of the most romantically exciting nights of my life.  We talked for hours on the beach every night.  We learned that we grew up going to the same synagogue, our parents have known each other for years, and our homes were within a mile of each other. But most importantly, our first kiss was the most electrically charged kiss  ever.  It probably helped that it was in the ocean under a full moon.   Matt and I had so much in common, it was just too good to be true.   I left for Israel the next morning, and Matt went back to Carnegie Mellon.  After three months and a couple of $500 phone bills, we decided a long distance relationship wasn’t ideal for either of us.

One year later, in September of 2006, we both ended up in New York City. Matt wasn’t ready to commit, and I was happy dating around.  I just couldn’t deal with seeing him occasionally while dating other people–the spark we had was too intense for a casual relationship.  In November, I told him it had to be all or nothing.  It took him exactly five days to realize he couldn’t live without me.  We’ve been together ever since.

The Proposal!

On February 23, 2009, my boss sent me in a car service to deliver books to an investor.  It seemed the car was headed uptown, and not to Jersey as planned.  I was being paid to sit there, so I sat.  The car stopped at Columbus Circle and the driver told me to get out. “Should I leave my books?” I asked.  “Sure,” he said.

Matt was standing there, at the site of our first date in New York, on bended knee.  He held out the ring and asked me to marry him! After making sure the ring was for me, I grabbed it and jumped for joy.  Then I told him I had to get back to work and meet an investor.  Luckily, my boss was in on the hoax, and instead we were flying home to our families in Boca (he packed for me–eek!) But first he wanted to have lunch in the Mandarin Oriental hotel nearby. When we got to the reaturant, all of our friend were there to celebrate with us.  It was the most wonderful day of my life.

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