Jewish Wedding Info » Wedding News

Monica’s Bridal Sample Sale

Naomi — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 05:47:51 +0000

Brooklyn’s Monica’s Bridal will hold its annual sample sale on February 14th and 15th. Up to 80% off on many dresses, shoes, veils, headpieces, and accessories. Only sale items will be shown on the sale dates.

When:
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
11 AM – 7 PM

Wednesday, February 15, 2012
11 AM – 7 PM

Where
Monica’s Bridal
1655 Sheepshead Bay Road
Brooklyn, NY 11235
(718) 646-5400

Designers Include:

Allure, Allure Couture, Enzoani, Blue By Enzoani, YSA Makino, Pronovias, Elie Saab Bridal, Badgley Mischka Bridal, San
Patrick, Justin Alexander, Justin Alexander Couture, Casablanca, Casablanca Couture, Maggie Sotero, Avine Perucci, Stuart Weitzman, Mandalay, Marchessa Notte, Jovani and many more!!

Wedding Decor By BHLDN

Naomi — Wed, 04 May 2011 18:47:42 +0000

You probably heard by now that one of your favorite (certainly my favorite) retail brands – Anthropologie – has made a foray into the wedding market with a new brand that quickly made headlines – BHLDN. BHLDN is not your typical bridal boutique. It offers vintage inspired gowns, jewelry and accessories with an old time charm and timeless craftsmanship. Today BHLDN announced that they will not only dress the bride, but starting tomorrow they will dress your event too. It’s difficult to predict what wedding design elements they plan to carry, but if the furniture and decor at Anthropologie is of any indication (Anthropologie accoutrements are already being used quite often for wedding decorations and favors), BHLDN’s ornaments and wedding accessories hold plenty of promise.

Running To See Royalty

Naomi — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 04:29:15 +0000

The Talmud in Brachos (58a) brings a statement from R. Yochanan that a person should run to see a king, even a not Jewish king. There’s even a special blessing that one can recite upon seeing a king. (Blessed is the One who gave some of His honor to his creations.) In wake of the upcoming royal wedding of Prince William & Catherine Middleton millions of people around the world have been doing just that. The internet is abuzz with any and every detail of the wedding ceremony and reception and the planning process. The royal wedding, as it is officially called in the media, will be covered live on the monarchy’s own YouTube channel starting 10 AM Friday April 29th.

Even though the idea of royalty has long been an outdated one and the monarchs that still remain, like the British monarchy, are mostly symbolic, from the incredible attention that this wedding of William and Catherine has been gaining, it seems that the idea of royalty still retains some of its glamor and glory.

The kind of a wedding that this couple is about to have is certainly only possible with royalty – the elaborate details and the almost unbridled expenditure that has gone into every element of the wedding procession is indeed so rare that it is not surprising that it has grabbed the attention of so many people around the world, especially those of us ordinary people trying to plan a wedding on a tight budget.

Here are some of the elements that went into the royal wedding planning process:

Getting the Cavalry ready:

Special Commemorative china:

The Royal Pastries:
Prince William and Miss Catherine Middleton have chosen Leicestershire-based cake designer Fiona Cairns to create their wedding cake.

In addition, the couple have also asked McVitie’s Cake Company to create a chocolate biscuit cake for the reception at Buckingham Palace. The chocolate biscuit cake will be made from a Royal Family recipe and was specially requested by Prince William.

The Royal Choir:

The reception will be hosted by the queen at Buckingham palace:

Coney ‘Aisle’and Avenue Brooklyn

Naomi — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 20:07:35 +0000

Frum shoppers in Brooklyn know Coney Island Avenue as the central commercial street in the neighborhood. In recent times, along with the many other kosher food stores and frum clothing stores, a number of bridal gown stores have opened up shop on the avenue – all within a few blocks of each other. The latest addition to the Coney Island Avenue bridal portfolio – ‘Tznius Princess’ (at Coney and J), makes it a total of six bridal dress shops that can easily be scooped out in a single day visit.

A bridal gown purchase or a gemach find is not an easy task for the frum bride. With the current wedding styles dominated by strapless gowns, it’s not always easy to find the dream dress. Not to mention that not every strapless can be ‘built up’. Often times the materials and the cut of the dress make it impossible to build the gown up in a way that looks stylish and natural. The ability to check out six bridal stores in one visit, simplifies the hunt for the perfect dress.

In addition to Tznius Princess, the other stores in the vicinity are:

Augenbraun’s (between K & L)
Bridal Direct (between P & Quentin)
Miri (between M & N)
Raquel (corner of N)
Esti’s (between P & Quentin)

And only a few blocks off Coney on Avenue M, you’ll find the seventh bridal boutique in the area – Lavan Bridal.

Happy Shopping!

Wedding Planning with Google

Naomi — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 20:35:24 +0000

Google + Wedding Guru, Michelle Rago = Google for Weddings

Today Google posted on their blog about their new release: Google For Weddings. Anyone who’s been following Google in recent years knows that they have been getting involved in all sorts of projects from eBooks to Art to 3D Models. And now, it seems, they are going to help you plan your wedding. How? – you may ask. Well, with wedding tools and wedding templates.

Say you want to make a website, you can use Google Sites, but now you’ll have a bunch of new templates specifically designed for weddings. Say you want to create an invitation list with all the addresses, you can use a ready made form, which you can then email to be filled in by anyone you wish to invite. Other tools include: seating chart, music list, and a budget planner. You can also use Piknik to help design professional looking announcements, thank you cards, etc. It’s all there for you, together with wedding tips by Michelle Rago, who has recently collaborated on wedding projects with a number of big names like Style Me Pretty and the Wedding Salon.

In essence, most of it isn’t anything new. What’s new here is the central location, wedding focused features and a more user friendly interface.

Happy Planning!

Beautiful Chicago Wedding Held Despite Blizzard

Naomi — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 21:09:21 +0000

The wedding of Sarah Finkel and Shmulie Schochet went on as planned, outdoor chuppah and all, despite the massive storm that swallowed up the Chicago area last week. Their wedding, which took place on Wednesday February 2 in the Westin O’Hare, has become a local news item. Despite the fact that many of their close ones were prevented from coming to share in their wedding joy, their celebration was not hampered in the least. Some of the relatives were able to connect via live video streaming.

See more photos by Scott Strazzante of the Chicago Tribune on his blog.

ChossonKallah Goes Mobile

Josh — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 21:29:08 +0000

We have finally (thanks to our highly talented technical developer) made the great Jewish wedding directory that is ChossonKallah.com more accessible for our ever-increasing mobile users. Over the past two years, we have seen a steady rise in visitors from mobile device users, and finally reworked our wedding directory into a leaner and simpler version optimized for all those couples and families finding their wedding resources through the use of their handheld internet browsing devices. The Mobile (beta) version of our website is now officially live; although, there’s still plenty of tweaking that needs to be done.

To see the new Mobile version just go to ChossonKallah.com on your handheld device. You’ll see a much simplified version of our website, that I think you will like. It makes browsing the resources on our site even easier. The cool think about accessing ChossonKallah through your phone is that you can click any listing’s phone number – any photographer, hall, caterer, make-up artist, florist, or any other wedding professional that interests you – and your phone can just dial the number for you.

You can also see the ChossonKallah mobile at m.ChossonKallah.com.

You can help us test out the new, still fragile mobile version. If you get any errors, send us a note via our Contact Us page or comment here.

Bridal Gowns: Special Grand Opening Show in Williamsburg

Naomi — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 22:20:38 +0000

This Motzei Shabbos and Sunday, Aristocratic Bride will hold a special bridal gowns showcase in the ballrom of the new Pointe Plaza Hotel. As a way to kick off the grand opening of their new location in Brooklyn, Aristocratic Bride will bring their entire collection of designer kallah gowns as well as their extensive line of moderately priced gowns ($850) to Brooklyn for this one time special showcase. Chavy Grunhut, founder of Aristocratic Bride, is known for her ability to ‘seamlessly’ build up wedding gowns. “It takes a bit of vision and imagination to build up a strapless and yet retain the gown’s style and feel,” says Chavi who in recent times has had increasingly more clients from the Brooklyn area. Aristocratic Bride carries such brand names as Elma Reis and Gilles Montezin Bridal known for their signature dress details like antique lace linings, intricate hand stitching, elaborate construction and lush fabrics.

For more information about this event please contact:

Chavy Grunhut: (845) 238-4030
Leah Kraus: (347) 351-6271

When:
Motzei Shabbos January 15th: 10 PM – 12 AM
Sunday January 16th: 11 AM – 10 PM

Where:
Pointe Plaza Hotel
2 Franklin Avenue
Brooklyn New York

China – Shanghai Shidduch Results in Historic Wedding

Naomi — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 03:43:23 +0000

Source: VosIzNeias.com

Possibly the first Chasidic wedding in China since World War II took place today at the Marriot in Shanghai as a New York businessman married a Belgian employee of a high tech company.

Ari Lauber of Brooklyn’s Ner Mitzvah has been living in Shanghai for approximately seven years and is known for his tremendous hachnasas orchim, feeding guests, making cholent and helping travelers to the area as he manages Ner Mitzvah’s interests in China. Reizy Weingarten of Antwerp moved to Shanghai for business five years ago but it was a traveler from Boro Park who suggested what should have been the obvious shidduch to Lauber, saying “If the two of you are the only heimishe yidden who live here, maybe it is a basherte shidduch?”

And indeed it was. Approximately 150 guests from various locations including New York, Skver, Antwerp, Israel and England flew to China joining 200 members of the Shanghai community for this landmark event. The wedding was catered by R’ Shulem Greenberg of Chabad, with R’ Akiva Asher Padwa head of the London Beis Din and a frequent guest of Lauber’s serving as Mesader Kiddushin.

Entertainer Lipa Schmeltzer was flown to Shanghai for the wedding as a gesture of hakaras hatov by a group of businessman who have enjoyed Lauber’s hospitality over the years. Schmeltzer was one of only six people who managed to get onto a Continental flight out of Newark when his flight was cancelled due to the blizzard.

“A heimishe wedding in Shanghai. It is just gevaldik,” said Schmeltzer in an exclusive interview with VIN News. “They are the only heimishe people here besides the shluchim. They both had to move to China to find a shidduch.”

When Wedding Meets Blizzard

Naomi — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 21:21:05 +0000

Although many simchas were postponed in the way of the massive end-of-year blizzard of 2010, a lot of families stayed the course with their plans for simchas scheduled for Sunday night, the first night of the storm. In the hopes of beating the blizzard, guest attendance was quite good, although many of the invited did head home early. For many who did stay till the end, the wedding hall turned out to be overnight accommodations.

Guests sleeping on the floor at Ateres Chaya Sunday night. (Photo: YiddishNews)

In Ateres Chaya in Boropark almost thirty people had to spend the night. A similar story in Ateres Avrohom in Williamsburg. After another wedding – of Moshe Shapiro and Jenny Cooper – held at the Rockwood Park Jewish Center in queens, the chosson’s parents, who flew in from Israel for the wedding, ended up staying the night after their rental car got stuck in the snow as they were leaving. Fortunately for them the hall had some mattresses left over from a student shabbatton held in the same building.

For those guests that did drive back home, the ride was an adventure, albeit a dangerous one. Visibility on the road was next to nil, the windshield wipers would get clogged with clumps of snow every few minutes, and cars and buses would get stuck numerous times on the way. Thankfully, eventually everyone got home safe with a fun story to share.

Here’s another snow storm snapshot that will make you smile. This one courtesy of MahNishmah.com. (Unfortunately, this couple’s relationship is sure to be a short one.)

Simcha Expo 2010 | Inwood, Long Island

Naomi — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 01:28:31 +0000

This year’s Simcha Expo, which took place Sunday November 21 at the Inwood Country Club, was an event that combined business with pleasure with Tzedakah. By business we mean that families planning a simcha had a chance to meet up with up with caterers, simcha planners, photographers, jewelers, and many other simcha service providers. For pleasure, visitors were able to taste appetizing refreshments from caterers, such as Elite Caterers of Lawrence, samples of sweetness from the Cakery and the Biscotti Factory. There was also a music performance by Shua Kessin with BenShimon Music as well a cooking presentation by Susie Fishbein. And finally for tzedakah, guests were able to participate in a ‘chinese auction’ for the benefit of the Be’er Miriam Tziporah Hachnosas Kallah Fund.

Pictured Above:
Inwood Country Club where the expo was held.
Table layout by Silver Spoon NY
Albums by Hello Video
Girls in Gowns by Chaya Breuer
Wedding Cake and minis by The Cakery, Suri Messner
Ahron Frank Orchestra
Susie Fishbein

If you went to the show, feel free to leave us a comment about your impressions.

Wedding Salon | A Photo Reportage

Naomi — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 20:41:11 +0000

This Monday, November 15th, we had a chance to stop by the Wedding Salon – the grand bridal event in the New York area. The Manhattan Studios on 34th street, the venue for this year’s show, was barely able to hold all the brides that flocked to the event to get some ideas for their wedding and to meet with the people behind those ideas. The multi-level space at the Manhattan Studio allowed for the various elements of the wedding to be clustered together on different levels. The center of the main floor was designed to look like a real wedding with about a dozen tables each one decorated by a different event designer.

The periphery of the main floor is where most of the vendor booths were situated. Here brides had the opportunity to chat with some wedding businesses about their work – that is if they managed to be heard over the wedding band which was playing on stage the entire night and the chatter of the other couple of thousand people in the grand ballroom. All the visitors got at least a chance to look at photographs of some of the best photographers in the area, to enter their names into a number of give-away contests, to sample some delicious wedding cakes (as far as we can tell from the facial expressions of the brides) , and to see some of the latest wedding dress designs from various designers.

Some of the table display designs pictured below have been created by celebrity wedding planners such as Shawn Rabideau (Bravo TV’s reality series Bethenny Getting Married?), Michelle Rago (event designer and renowned author), and David Beahm (event designer of Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas’ wedding). Each designer presented their own take on what he or she expects to be the mood of brides and the feel of wedding decor in 2011. Whatever the trends the upcoming year will bring, it’s always refreshing to see tastefully adorned tables, thoughtfully selected china, and festive floral arrangements.

Simcha Expo 2010 | Lakewood, NY

Naomi — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 03:25:18 +0000

Only a few days left
until the Lakewood Simcha Expo!

Last year, ChossonKallah.com was a sponsor Simcha Expo 2009. Once again, year, we are glad to be a part of Simcha Expo 2010. This year’s expo will take place at separate venues one week apart. The first show is this Motzei Shabbos, November 13th, in Lake Terrace, Lakewood, NJ. The second show will be held next Sunday, November 21, at the Inwood Country Club in Inwood, Long Island.

Locations:

Lake Terrace Hall
1690 Oak Street
Lakewood, New Jersey 08701

Inwood Country Club
50 Peppe Road
Inwood, New York 11096

If you are in the Parsha of planning a wedding or a Bar Mitzvah, we encourage you to attend the expo. ChossonKallah.com may be a great way for you to connect with all the various businesses in the wedding community; a chance to meet with many of these vendors face to face in the same room on the same day, however, is as informative as it is exciting. Exciting, because the Simcha Expo is a very well organized and decorated affair with beautiful displays and creative designs. (If you do attend the expo, feel free to drop us a line about your experiences there.)

For more information, visit www.SimchaExpo.com

The Wedding Salon, NY | November 15, 2010

Naomi — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 19:19:07 +0000

Special Promo Code for VIP admission to the Wedding Salon, NY. Only $15 for VIP Tickets (Regular price $50, Admits 2).
Use Code BNYP at www.WeddingSalon.com

The Wedding Salon is a bridal tradeshow that connects brides, planners and the press with the best vendors in the industry. This one-day event which is structured to look and feel like a luxurious wedding offers brides to be an unique opportunity to find out about the latest trends wedding dress designs, floral decoration, and other elements of wedding planning.

The Wedding Salon features companies in a variety of categories, including photographers, florists, venues, gowns and formalwear, wedding planning, catering, beauty services, videographers, wedding travel and honeymoons, and many more.

The Wedding Salon will be held at Manhattan Center Studios with an incredible lineup with everyone from Sylvia Weinstock to Shawn Rabideau to Disney’s Fairy Tale Weddings. Bridal Reflections will treat our brides to an incredible couture fashion show featuring Ines Di Santo and David Tutera by Faviana. Brides-to-Be will enjoy beauty services by Yves Saint Laurent at Bergdorf Goodman, cocktails, cakes tastings and gelato tastings. The show will have some other amazing acts including aerial violinists performing from the ceiling of the Hammerstein Ballroom and much more. Amazing gift bags for each attendant.

(Please note: the food at this event is not Kosher.)

New Feature: Music Player

Naomi — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 19:00:01 +0000

We’ve added a nifty new feature – a media player – to the Musicians page, that will allow visitors to hear all the music samples of the wedding bands listed there in one place. (Not all bands have provided us with the music samples yet.) Try it out; let us know how you like it. Follow these links:

Tiffany + iPhone

Naomi — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 00:15:43 +0000

Tiffany & Co., the newest player to join the mobile mania, announced today that it was launching its first ever iPhone app – The Tiffany & Co. Engagement Ring Finder. The app includes an accurate Ring Sizer that lets users determine their ring size by placing a ring directly on the screen and aligning it with the correct circle in the guide. The rings are shown true-to-size, and the application also allows customers zoom in on the ring’s details, and of course, they can also share their favorites on Facebook and Twitter. {To access the Tiffany & Co. Engagement Ring Finder: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/tiffany-co-engagement-ring/id375427126?mt=8}

Some of you iPhone users out there are thinking: ‘oh, cool! When I am shopping on 47th, I’ll have nice pictures to which I can compare the rings there.’ But what does this say about Tiffany and its marketing strategy? What does this say about the Jewelry industry in general? Or is it simply a way for a gal to have something to drool over when she’s bored?

Ketubah Sweepstakes at Ketubah.com

Josh — Tue, 25 May 2010 18:55:22 +0000

In honor of their 14th anniversary, and also to shine some light on the transition to their new name (to Ketubah.com, from Ketubah Ketubah), Ketubah.com is holding a weekly Ketubah drawing for the next 14 weeks. They are giving away one Ketubah a week for 14 weeks from May 10 through August 18, 2010. No purchase is required, just fill out the form on their site. (www.ketubah.com/sweepstakes). Each week’s winner will be able to choose one Ketubah from 200 exclusive Signature Collection Ketubahs up to a total retail cost of $350 (including any selected options, shipping etc.) You can reenter each week until you win! (You must be 18 years old or older.) Ketubah.com will select a winner randomly each week and will announce the previous week’s winner every Wednesday on our Facebook Fan Page. (Winners must order their Ketubahs by December 31, 2010.)

Good Luck!

The Newest Wedding Halls of Brooklyn

Naomi — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 03:36:21 +0000

There are new kosher wedding venues on the Brooklyn map: The Palace and Sasson V’Simcha.

The Palace (in its final days of construction) is a new hall by Gedaliah Jacobowitz, the caterer of Ateres Chaya, and is located on McDonald Avenue near Ditmas Avenue.

Sasson V’Simcha Hall is a reincarnation of the recently closed Ateres Shlomo hall. The new Sasson V’Simcha hall, whch is scheduled to host its first wedding this month, is located on Coney Island Avenue near Avenue I.

ChossonKallah.com – Live in Maryland!

Naomi — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 19:46:53 +0000

It’s alive… It’s alive! Ok, we’ve finally ‘turned the switch on’ in our wedding directory in the Maryland / D.C. region. Big thanks to all those Maryland / D.C. wedding vendors that helped us organize the directory to be a more complete resource for Jewish Weddings in the area. If you know the area and notice that we missed a useful wedding resource, please let us and our visitors know.

www.chossonandkallah.com/maryland

Next on our agenda:

We are currently looking into Chicago, as well as Canada: Toronto and Montreal.

Coming to Baltimore and D.C.

Naomi — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 19:49:20 +0000

It’s been more than three years since the ChossonKallah.com wedding directory has been providing thousands of families with resources to plan their wedding. Three years ago, the directory covered the New York area only. Since then we have expanded to include New Jersey, California, and Florida regions. As of December, we plan to cover the Maryland / Washington D.C. region as well. If you have had a really good experience with a wedding vendor in that locale let us know about them; leave a comment or send us a line via the ‘Contact Us‘ page. …And Thanks.

Reportage From the Simcha Expo

Naomi — Mon, 11 May 2009 19:47:59 +0000

As one of the sponsors of the Simcha Expo, which drew large crowds not only from the Simcha planning community but from all types of people with an interest in event related products, we were there talking to vendors and attendees alike. People that we talked to walked away quite satisfied with the expo. We bring you here a visual glimpse from the expo.

Clockwise: Minicakes on crystal display from Tiffany Party Planners; Flowers from By Perfect Settings; Diplay Design by Silver Spoon Planning; Balloon Chosson and Kallah by Inflated Creations.

‘Let’s Get Cookin’ Recipe Management Software; Make Up by Panim Yaffot; Headpieces by Kaituz; Browsing through artworks; Decorative Element by Tiffany Party Planning

Clockwise: Headpices by ‘The Royal Head’; Design Element by Silver Spoon Party Planners; Mendel Meyers at his booth; Jewelry by Goldmark Jewelers; Various Silver by The Sterling Touch; Presentation by Jamie Geller Author of ‘Quick and Kosher’

Simcha Expo – May 10th

Naomi — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 19:18:04 +0000

We all know what it takes to plan a wedding. It takes an incredible amount of effort, effort just to make it happen, to set it all up: the hall, the food, the flowers, the music, the invitations, the guestlists, the photographers, not to mention the attire, and the hair and make-up for the whole family. You also want it done right, you don’t want to doodle it. And to do it properly, you need research, you need legwork and most of all time, time that you probably didn’t have to begin with. This is why bridal expos are so popular. In one room, in one day you get to talk to all the service providers and vendors, ask your questions and compare their offers. There aren’t many shows, however, that cater to frum families planning a simcha. So, many of you will find it exciting to know that a Simcha Expo will be held in Brooklyn on May 10th. The organizers of the expo really took the time to achieve an one-stop-shopping experience. Visitors will be able to browse the booths of caterers, florists, photographers and clothiers, as well as furniture retailers, hairdressers, cosmeticians and printers.

Besides the opportunity to talk to vendors, you’re likely to enjoy the presentations that will be held at the expo, performed by renowned authors and chefs. Expert party planners will be on hand to answer all of your important planning questions. Perhaps most useful, a simcha consultant will be available to help families organize, prioritize, and plan for their simcha while staying within budgetary constraints.

In addition, the Simcha Expo will feature useful and informative presentations and demonstrations, including: a cooking demo by Jamie Geller, renowned author of Quick and Kosher from The Bride Who Knew Nothing; a presentation about wines by Jay Buchsbaum, noted oenophile of Royal Wines Corp.; and a table-setting demonstration by florist and party-planner Tammy Polatsek, author of Aristocratic Fruits. Perhaps most useful, a simcha consultant will be available to help families organize, prioritize, and plan for their simcha while staying within budgetary constraints.

Participants will gain a lot more than knowledge. Many valuable coupons will be offered exclusively for Expo attendees, as well as a number of raffles such as: A Claire sheitel, a set of linen by Ben Barber, $750 towards a photo package by Mendel Meyers, and many other hourly raffles. Among the many attractions at the Expo are free photo sessions by Friedman Photography, a food court, wine-tasting by Liquors Galore, and numerous other giveaways.

The Simcha Expo is the brainchild of Mrs. Deutsch, who sensed the anxiety that many get when planning a Simcha. I would hear people talking about making a bar mitzvah or a chasunah, and there was nothing in their voice that reflected simcha, says Mrs. Deutsch. I would just hear the stress in their voice, and I’m thinking, this is NOT how it’s supposed to be!

The Simcha Expo is scheduled to take place on Sunday, May 10 at Ateres Chynka in Brooklyn, New York (follow the link to see map). For registration and information, go to SimchaExpo.com.