It’s the Friday before Rosh Hashanah so we are gushing about something that was made in Israel that you can sport while you enjoy cooking adventures in the kitchen for the holidays.

Once again, our friends at ModernTribe have a practical item that’s fashionable and meaningful! Do you want to make sure you keep your temple clothes kugel-free? Want to avoid a clothes-altering explosion of powdered sugar from the honey cake you baked? Do you want to make it look like you were rockin’ it in the kitchen while you sneak in the catered platter for your holiday guests? Protect your outfit and look adorable! We are totally gushing over the Modern Pomegranate Apron designed by Barbara Shaw and made in Israel.

During this International Week at The Wedding Yentas, we wanted to make sure we tip our hats to some of the most exotic places to be married by honoring them with Real Weddings and a Friday Favorites installment. We’ve taken virtual trips to Mexico and South Africa and today we are visiting Israel by obsessing over the apron.

Why pomegranates? Pomegranates are a symbol of fertility and abundance, so it’s only fitting that you should wear it with pride during this season of new year, atonement, and harvest. Thankfully, ModernTribe brings Judaica and Jewish gifts to the new generation of Jews that will help them express and develop their Jewish identity, and this apron is another example of how ModernTribe successfully equips its customers with the best Jewish merchandise available.

And it could be yours! Get cookin’ and look cool while doing it. Just enter to win for your chance to have your own apron.

Leave a comment below and share with us your favorite Rosh Hashanah food! You may enter through Sunday night at 11:59 p.m. and the winner will be announced on Monday! May your luck be as sweet as your apples and honey!

Nicholas and Stasia’s story goes back to high school where they had known of each other but had no romantic spark. They were reunited when Stasia was 17 and Nic’s best friend was helping tutor Stasia in math. Naturally, Stasia and Nic saw more of each other and they began to have feelings for each other when they shared long chats on Clifton Beach and Nic would walk Stasia home each evening. By the end of the winter vacation, they realized there was something between them and just like that, a seven year love affair was set into motion.

Having dated for such a long period of time, they shared every milestone together: Stasia’s matric dance, Nic’s 21st birthday, graduations, home purchases, and family celebrations. Their courtship was a magical whirlwind of a romance so it’s only fitting that on the most romantic day of the year, Nic would pop the question. On Valentine’s Day, he got down on one knee, ring in hand, surrounded by rose petals in their bedroom, and asked Stasia to be his wife. As if a ring wasn’t enough, he presented a Yorkie puppy and storybook about them. Gush!

In usual Nic and Stasia fashion, the proposal was followed by a celebratory l’chaim with close family and friends at the couple’s home to toast to another happy milestone together. A few days later they set a date and got on with planning their big day. Originally, the couple aimed to say “I do” in Italy at a Tuscan Villa, but it meant that Granny Yetta, Stasia’s paternal grandmother, wouldn’t be able to come and in the battle of location vs. family, family wins.

We love to see beautiful weddings that honor timeless love between the couple and their families through Jewish traditions and meaningful moments.

Mazel tov, Stasia and Nic!

Ceremony Venue – Great Park Synagogue
Photographer – Mario Sales
Rabbi – Ryan Goldstein
Floral Design – The Bloom Room
Decor – Trendy Settings
Entertainment – Zenith Band
Wedding Dress – Abigail Betz
Groom’s Suit – Fabiani
Makeup – Mac Cosmetics

Planning a destination wedding sounds like an involved and complicated task, but if you’re hesitating about making your wedding a dream vacation come true, don’t. We want to soothe your worries and calm your concerns with a breakdown of things to think about as you plan your destination wedding.

It’s likely that you and your circle of friends and family are sprinkled throughout the world. Thanks to Facebook and other social media sites and applications, you are able to stay in touch and keep up with each other’s lives. But there’s nothing like face-to-face time and being together in person. A local, in-town wedding will typically only last one day, and that’s a short amount of time to cram in hellos and hugs with your loved ones. A destination wedding, however, usually spans across a larger chunk of time, so take comfort in knowing that you’ll have more than a frenzied day to make the rounds and spend quality moments with your posse. It’s like a group vacation with all your favorite people. Embrace this concept as you plan your out-of-town nuptials and know that your wedding will be an intimate experience for everyone!

Believe it or not, it’s likely that you’ll spend less money on a destination wedding. We’re not guaranteeing your bank account will have more digits than a traditional at-home wedding; we’re just saying that it’s very likely you’ll have fewer people coming which means you won’t be spending the money on meals and tables (which means linens, centerpieces, chair covers, and favors). Destination weddings tend to be light on the guest list and RSVPs because some invitees aren’t able to spend the money to travel to be at your wedding. Knowing this possibility, you can account for a smaller turnout than you would at a local wedding. This may be what you want to hear — or not — but you should keep this in mind as you budget your wedding elements and vendors. It’s possible that even with travel costs, depending on the vendors you hire, you may still come out under budget with a destination wedding than with a local affair.

To keep costs down further, you can choose to get married at vacation spot during its off season. Most hotels will have better deals and airfare might not be so sky-high (no pun intended… okay, yes it was). You could even score some better deals during the off season if you play your cards right. Just be flexible in knowing that weather may be against you, since that’s usually the determining factor behind high and off seasons for vacation destinations.

Give your guests plenty of notice! Usually, the rule of thumb is to send guests a save the date notice about six months out from your wedding date, but that’s if your wedding is going to be in town. For a destination wedding, you really need to give more than six months so that your guests can begin looking for the best travel options. Make sure to provide as much information as possible including, of course, the date, city, hotel, and even wedding weekend event if possible (rehearsal dinner, family picnic, beach bonfire, etc.). This is also the appropriate place to include a wedding website if you have one. We love the wedding wed-sites over at MyWedding. You can create personal sites with a wide range of thematic choices that represent you as a couple!

Get help. No really, unless you plan on flying to your wedding location every few months, you’re going to need someone to help you plan while you’re living your life far from your venue. This is definitely a time to hire a coordinator or, if you have a friend or family member that happens to live near your wedding spot, this is the time to be needy! You’ll need someone nearby to help you delegate with other wedding vendors. If you’re not sure how to go about hiring a wedding coordinator abroad, I’m sure your venue will have contact to refer you to. If you’re getting married at a hotel property, you can use the venue’s coordinator. Either way, this is when you’ll need a chief of staff.

Find the right amount of activities for your guests. You want to give them substantial reasons to travel for your destination wedding, so you may consider planning group activities like a canoeing adventure on a lake or wine tasting event at a vineyard. A beach volleyball tournament or golf at the resort are also fun recreational activities. However, it is your guests’ vacation, too, and you don’t want to bog them down with too much that they feel they have no time to themselves. Your wedding is not their sleep away camp, so try to cut back on the tendency to be their counselor. A couple hosted meals and an activity should provide enough group bonding opportunities in addition to the main event: tying the knot!

Register with a twist. When it comes to your gift registry, keep in mind that tangible presents don’t travel well. Breakables, fancy wrapping, and packing restrictions make traveling with gifts a difficult task for your guests. And then, you have to shlep it back home when the wedding getaway is all over. Does this mean you shouldn’t register? No! Definitely not! Register to your heart’s content, but make it easy on your guests and you! Our friends at Deposit a Gift have a solution for you. This cash gift registry is helpful because it gives guests an option for a gift that they don’t have to worry about lugging or shipping. They can just pay with their credit card and go! Gift givers like Deposit a Gift because it helps them give a nice gift when they don’t have a lot of time to put tons of thought into it because they are more focused on the travel logistics of actually getting to the wedding. The chances of a gift getting lost or stolen is possible with at-home weddings, but gift safety is even more of a concern at destination weddings where you don’t have your bearings. And a lot of guests wouldn’t want to bring cash or checks to a destination because of the same concern. Basically, Deposit a Gift is super helpful because engaged couples can show guests what they want to buy when they settle down, but not have to contend with shipping a bunch of stuff or registering to appease people, only to return it all. Deposit a Gift takes away all that hassle. We love great companies with great ideas.

Don’t forget, your destination wedding isn’t all about umbrella drinks or ski lodge hot chocolate. You still have the “business” side of the wedding to conquer, and we want to make sure you’re ready. If you’re getting married out of state or even out of the country, you’ll still need to obtain a marriage license. Don’t forget your passport if you’re leaving the U.S. either! Passports aren’t quick on the turnaround, so make sure to plan way ahead and give the office enough time to return your passport to you well before travel time. Obtaining a local marriage license varies based on the city. We suggest you contact the local city hall and find out what the process is to be a resident of your state and get married in theirs. Be sure you’ve completed all necessary tasks before hand; some states or countries still require blood tests or other health screenings.

Your destination wedding will be fabulous no matter where you are, who’s with you, and what it looks like. Because despite what it says on the plane ticket, your final destination is married!

Spring had sprung and love was in the air. The recycled, coffee-saturated, phone-ringing office air. No, this isn’t another story of a scandalous workplace romance. This is the story of a girl, Kate, who thought the young man who worked in the office was cute… for her little sister. Alex worked in Rose’s sister’s office and after getting to know him, Kate realized that Alex and Rose had a lot in common. Kate arranged for the three of them (how romantic) to have dinner in Harvard Square. After several months of friendship, Rose attended Alex’s college graduation in May of 2000, after which they said our goodbyes. Alex was moving back to Connecticut for the summer and then to New York City in September to conquer the world. Rose, on the other hand, was about to embark on her senior year of high school in New Hampshire. Romance shmomance. It would never work. They kept in touch over summer and in August, Alex invited Rose to visit and see his band play. Romance shmomance, yeah right! Undeniable sparks flew, and as they say, the rest is history. After a year together, Rose moved to New York for college… and Alex.

Alex proposed on their seventh dating anniversary. They spent the better part of the past year traveling and enjoying their engagement before finally settling into “negotiation talks” about this wedding also known as the case of Boston Bride v. NYC Groom. The two settled out of court and decided to get married in neutral territory — Mexico!

We love the tropical Los Cabos details of this wedding and the dresses, chuppah, and flowers. Planning a destination wedding doesn’t mean having to forgo Jewish traditions either! Rose and Alex were still about to have the Jewish wedding of their dreams while on vacation with their favorite family members and friends!

Mazel tov, Rose and Alex!

Venue – One & Only Palmilla
Photographer – Leigh Miller Leigh splits her time between CA and KS but is available for travel worldwide!
Coordinator – Amy Abbott – Fiestas Los Cabos
Invitations – AB Paperie
Florist – Elena Damy
Event Design – Oxten
Wedding Gown – Kleinfelds
Jewelry – Suzy B
Wedding Website – MyWedding.com

If you are planning a destination wedding, we always think it’s a good idea to give your guests a little something for the shlepping. Yes, we know it’s a vacation for them, too, but showing your appreciation for celebrating with you near to their hearts and far from their homes is a nice and classy thing to do. Travel bags or gift baskets can also be a great way to set the mood of your wedding, show off your personalities, and allow your peeps to get to know you even better.

You may like the idea of Welcome Bags, but maybe you’re not sure what to put inside. We’re here to give you some ideas of items to include for your travelers.

Down to Business:
• A note welcoming your guests
• The schedule of wedding events and their addresses
• Map detailing the important locations

Fun Location Specific Amenities:
• Sunscreen for beach or tropical weddings or seasons
• Glove warmers or hot cocoa packets for winter wonderland weekends
• Something unique from the locale: a mini bottle of wine from Napa Valley or a I HEART NY t-shirt from… well, New York.

Party Pals:
• Disposable camera
• Bottles of water
• Ibuprofen packets
• Band aids

For the Munchies:
• Candy: if you two are known for your chocolate obsession, fill ‘er up! If everyone jokes about your love for sour gummies, toss ‘em in! There are really cute novelty candy items that look great in these bags, too.
• Mints or gum
• Crackers
• Dried fruit
• Nuts
• Cookies

For the Ultimate Tourist:
• Map of the city (these are free if you’re a AAA member!)
• A local newspaper
• List of tourist attractions nearby like museums, theaters, bike rentals, or tour groups
• List of important information like closest hospital, taxi company phone numbers, bus or metro stops, babysitter services, places of worship, or post office

A lot of the local information can be obtained from the hotel’s front desk or concierge, so you don’t really have to do that much work. They provide lists with relevant local information for their guests regularly, so asking them for these points will be a cinch.

The list of munchies we’ve included is a very basic and general list. We actually love the idea of including local food that makes the location famous. If you’re in Atlanta, give your guests some beautiful fresh peaches from a farmer’s market. A wedding in Memphis definitely requires you to include famous BBQ sauce in the Welcome Bag. If your guests are traveling to Mexico, why not salsa? Hawaii, macadamia nuts! Paris, croissants! We could go on and on and on… but this is making us hungry.

So what should your gift bags look like? It’s up to you! If you have a monogram or wedding logo designed, use it! Create stickers and attach them to bags or include the monogram or logo on all the paper items. Also, this is where you can incorporate the style of your wedding. The gift bag on the left hints that the wedding is going to be modern with a whimsical and feminine twist. The gift bag on the right tells us that the wedding is a more formal affair with traditional elements. Both are beautiful and their guests will be thrilled!

If putting together your own Welcome Bags sounds about as fun as breaking the Yom Kippur fast with a chili pepper smoothie on an empty stomach, that’s okay! We don’t judge! Fortunately for you, Kate Parker Weddings can make gift bags for you and your guests! These custom baskets can be shipped to your wedding weekend location so you have to do less shlepping! Sounds like a dream, right? It’s real and we love it!

Traveling for weddings is never simple, but it doesn’t have to be a nightmare. Have fun with this step of the planning and relax! Your guests are going to love traveling to be at your wedding because you are a special couple and you’re celebrating a wonderful milestone.

You’ve got this one! It’s in the bag!

It’s Friday, so today we are sharing a favorite recipe: brisket!!

We’re not going to pretend that we are all-knowing when it comes to cooking. In fact, our favorite tool in the kitchen is the take-out menu. However, when we do want to dabble in the kitchen and use anything other than a microwave, we can find easy recipes on cooking websites. But what if you want entertainment and a good recipe? That’s where “Bubbe” comes in from our new favorite online series, “Feed Me Bubbe.”

This bubbe is adorable and her grandson is her sidekick in the kitchen which is totally cute. We’re plotzing over how special that is! Not only does Bubbe show off recipes, she answers questions to emails and introduces the Yiddish word of the day. Perfect.

So, learn a thing or two from our new favorite cooking show!