Some wedding photos!

Matt and I were married in South Florida on Halloween/Samhain, 31 October 2010, in an interfaith Jewish-Pagan ceremony. Below are some pictures of our wedding, courtesy of some friends and family members! Once we get the pro shots back, I'll be sure to share them here, too, but in the meantime, enjoy these!

Everyone was absolutely right, by the way, when they said the day flies by so quickly. That combined with our honeymoon (pictures of which you can see at Facebook: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3) was over in a flash; I feel like it was just yesterday we were boarding the plane to get to Florida! I can't wait for our pro pics and video to come in so we can relive that day forever. :)

Also below are vendor reviews for each vendor who helped make our day so special and beautiful. If you're getting married in the South Florida area, check them out -- you may find the perfect vendor for your own occasion!

And now, without further ado... pictures!

Me and my wonderful Mom! :)


The dress!


LOL, this is a fave pic. ;) After the garters went on!


The whole ensemble!


My sister took this one before the photographers could even come around. ;)


Our ceremony space!


My handsome brother and Man Of Honor. :)


Me, my amazingly handsome husband(!!), and my family!


Us and Matt's family! :)


Me and my sister, doing what we do best. XD


... it runs in the family. XD


I LOVE this picture. :)

In fact, I'm glad we got the first look and everything. Matt was hesitant at first, but finally relented, and it was good, too, as we got all the little tears and such out of the way. :) When I put my hand on his shoulder to turn him around, his reaction was instant... his eyes lit up and teared over at the same time, and then I started crying. We didn't expect any of that!

Our interfaith Jewish-Pagan wedding ceremony!


Matt walking down with his parents!
It's Jewish tradition for both parents to walk the bride and groom down the aisle. :)


My brother and ring bearer!
(He had a lot of jobs that day, lol. And performed each one brilliantly!)


My sister and Maid of Honor!


Matt's cousin and Woman of Honor!


I actually really love this picture. :)
Matt about to give WOH a hug, and my brother looking on!


Walking down the aisle! Surprisingly, I wasn't nervous.


Joining up with my soon-to-be husband!!

For our ceremony, my parents and I walked halfway down the aisle. Matt met us there, hugged each of my parents, and escorted me down the other half of the aisle. :)

OMG, WE'RE GETTING MARRIED!!


My poor sister and dad actually barely held it in.
In fact, my sister started bawling several times before the wedding! <3




The kiddush. :)


We were like this a good part of the ceremony. :)
This is when she was reading from our ketubah.


The tallit and the recitation of the Seven Blessings!

We had each member of our family read a blessing:
1. Matt's Nana: “May you be generous and giving with each other.”
2. Matt's Pa: “May your sense of humor and playful spirit always continue to enliven your relationship.”
3. My brother (in place of my Grandma): “May you always respect the diversity of humankind.”
4. FIL: May you respect each other’s individual personality and philosophy, and give each other room to grow and fulfill each other’s dreams.”
5. MIL: “May you appreciate and complement each other’s differences.”
6. Dad: “May you always share yourselves openly with your friends and family.”
7. Mom: “May your home be a haven of blessing and peace.”

Our ring ceremony!

According to Jewish tradition, the ring is placed on the right index finger as the "direct line to the heart." The bride and groom say their vows, then move the rings to the ring finger of their left hands to show a personal decision to willfully enter the marriage.

I, [name of groom/bride],
take you, [name of bride/groom],
to be my [wife/husband],
my friend,
my love,
and my lifelong companion:
to share my life with yours.
To build our dreams together,
while allowing you to grow with your dreams;
to support you through times of trouble,
and rejoice with you in times of happiness;
to treat you with respect, love, and loyalty
through all the trials and triumphs of our lives together;
and to give you all the love I can give
my whole life long.
This commitment is made in love,
kept in faith,
lived in hope,
and eternally made new.


I miiiight have lost it during the vows. ;)

“Stephanie/Matthew, take this ring as a meaning of our life together, for it is never ending and always beginning. With this ring, I celebrate and proclaim my love for you."


My brother holding the ceremonial broom. :)


Our handfasting! We stayed tied until our yichud. :)
We also had an elemental blessing tied (lol) to it:

Blessed be this union with the gifts of Earth, which provides sustenance, fertility and security. The earth will feed and enrich you, and help you to build a stable home to which you may always return.

Blessed be this union with the gifts of Air, for openness and breath, communication of the heart, and purity of the mind and body.

Blessed be this union with the gifts of Fire, for energy, passion, creativity and the warmth of a loving home. From the fire within you generate light, which you will share in even the darkest of times.

Blessed be this union with the gifts of Water, for our capacity to feel emotion. In marriage you offer trust to one another, and vow to keep your hearts open in sorrow as well as joy.

I love his look here. <3


Stompin' that glass!




And WE DID IT!! :D


Heeeee, everyone looks so happy! :D


No one got us actually jumping the broom, but we did it, I swear! ;)

Now on to the cocktail hour, none of it we actually saw (XD), and our reception!




They're next! Getting married in a nearby church on 1 October 2011, with their reception at Woodfield as well! :)


Okay, so we managed to pop in for a second. ;)


This is what I married into. XD


A great photo of the centerpieces!




We launched straight into our first dance: Thank You by Led Zeppelin. :)


My parents, Matt's parents, my sister, and Matt's cousin all gave speeches. :)


I did end up having a dress fiasco. XD

At one point during the reception, the button that was holding up my bustle popped off -- it might have been because the dress was so long and I was stepping on it a lot of the time. ;) Anyway, at one point, Matt saw that I was holding my train up, and he took a pin from his cufflinks (I don't know why he had those on there, lol) and pinned it back on. That one popped, so we had to take the first one he gave me and the second from his other cufflink. This is him and his Nana trying to get me pinned back in. XD Good thing, too; those two pins did the trick!

We ate! :D Haha, this was ALL we ate, but still, it was something!


Joint father/daughter and mother/son dance. :)

The thing with the DJ, he was terrible with letting us know when things were coming. Matt's mom had actually just stepped out to use the restroom, so when he called the dance, she was nowhere to be found. :( My dad and I started dancing, but he was left alone! Finally, his uncle jumped in and danced a bit, but he was kind of an ass about it, even though Matt was clearly uncomfortable. MIL came in to the reception to a round of applause and everything went well after that, but man, what a hitch. :|

Regardless, we still got a picture with Matt and his mom. :)

And she managed not to cry! ;)


Our cake. See what I mean by the scrollwork? Yuck.
Fortunately, though, it tasted AWESOME. Lemon, strawberry, and vanilla layers in each tier with buttercream. :D


My brother and mom dancing it up with my dad, the ghost. XD


OOH! That's right! We also had a homemade photo booth! Below is our picture series; click the image for more! :D




Oh my god, this was the BEST. He did it to Foxy Lady (o hai, Stephanie Fox, lol)...
... much like Wayne's World. XD NO KIDDING, IT WAS AWESOME!!
Oh yeah, and he totally grinded on me. LOLOL


We also TOTALLY played Thriller. This is Matt's cousin, totally hamming it up. ;)






... and we danced the horah. Of course. ;)








And the cake cutting! We were totally sweet to each other. :)




And the same friend who's getting married next year got some wedding details. :)

Vendor reviews:

• Alfred Angelo
• David's Bridal
• Mens Wearhouse
• Woodfield Country Club
• Jodi, Woodfield Country Club
• Cantor Debbi Ballard
• Esolis Entertainment
• We Take The Cake
• Petal Designs
• DK Designs

Wedding Attire (Alfred Angelo, David's Bridal, and Mens Wearhouse): A+ all around!
All these companies were amazing to work with! I bought my dress at an AA in Central Florida, then it took the drive up to Maryland when we moved and a plane flight down to South Florida when we got married. It went through a lot, both travel and places (as I had it altered in MD), but everyone was a dream to work with! The alterations woman at the Glen Burnie, MD Alfred Angelo was incredible, and I loved working with her. Same goes for AA in Sunrise, FL, where one of our wedding party got her dress; DB in Silver Spring, MD, where another of our wedding party got her dress; and Mens Wearhouse, where Matt rented his tux.

Venue (Woodfield Country Club, Boca Raton, FL): A++++++
Holy COW, I can't express enough how wonderful this place is!! Seriously, I attribute all the awesome things about our wedding to this place. They provided the catering, venue, linens, and anything else a Country Club might offer for a wedding, and they went above and beyond! I also loved working with their coordinator, named below. Everyone there was an absolute dream! And of course, the venue itself was incredibly beautiful. :)

Wedding Coordinator (Jodi of Woodfield CC): A++++++
ABSOLUTELY AMAZING! I love, love, LOVE Jodi!! I can't express enough how amazing she was in fielding questions, handling issues, conducting our rehearsal, and just being on top of everything during the day! I adore her!

Officiant (Cantor Debbi Ballard): A++++++
Another amazing person our day of! She had no problem at all conducting an interfaith Jewish-Pagan ceremony, and in fact, she said it was one of the more incredible ones she's ever done. :) She was punctual, asked us a ton of questions, and did a beautiful section of the ceremony where she talked about me and Matt as individuals and as couples that was just so incredibly sweet. HIGHLY recommend her!

DJ/Photography/Videography (Esolis Entertainment): Separate scores, B/A++/A+
Though they're one company, you wouldn't have known by the difference in the quality of the work. Our DJ was kind of lackluster, and failed to let us know when important things were going to come around, like the joint mother/son and father/daughter dance, the cake cutting, and other events, causing a lot of important people (like Matt's mom for the dance...) to miss a lot. We were pretty disappointed in his actual DJ skills, though the music he played was both appropriate and TONS of fun.

Photography, on the other hand, was absolutely wonderful! We had two photographers, Jenny and Julie, and they were fantastic! Knew what they were doing, were very creative, got us all into everything, and most importantly, got some incredible photos. I can't wait to see our pro shots! :D Same with the videographer! He was kind of quiet and in the background a lot of the time, but he did a fantastic job following Jenny, the head photographer, around and making sure to get a lot of great footage. :)

Cake (We Take the Cake): A-
Well, the design was... at best, sloppy. We were kinda disappointed when we saw the cake, as it was leaning over a bit and the scrollwork was nothing at all like what was on the website. However, the taste? INCREDIBLE. That was easily the best-tasting cake I've ever had in my entire life! Almost enough to make me overlook the design. Almost. ;) They were through our venue, though, so we pretty much had to use them. Oh well!

Flowers/Chuppah (Petal Designs and DK Designs): All around A++++!
Both of these guys were amazing! You've all seen my flowers posted here from DK Designs; they were even more beautiful in person than the pictures showed! Absolutely beautiful, amazing, and everyone loved them. :D And Diane, of course, was an absolute pleasure to work with!

Petal Designs had our centerpieces, chuppah, and toss bouquet for our ceremony and reception, and they all turned out SO beautifully! Our landscape was already amazing, so the simple white chuppah was all it needed; the centerpieces, I didn't even notice until near the end of the reception, but they were incredible, simple, and beautiful; and the toss bouquet... well, good thing I had it, as my cousin pretty much destroyed it when she went for it! ;) It was beautiful before the massacre, though. LOL