Shari’s Wedding Dress Preservation in Connecticut
When was your wedding day and where did it take place?
“Our wedding was October 8, 2018 at the Carousel at Lighthouse Point in New Haven, CT. We had our ceremony on the beach and our reception was in the Carousel building.”
Tell us about your wedding dress!
“My dress is by Rebecca Ingram and I purchased it from Bridal Trousseau in New Haven (They’re wonderful there!). They made me a custom bolero to wear over my dress for the ceremony. I made my veil by taking an old veil that had been in the family, removing it from the headband it was on (it had melted wax flowers), cleaning the wax from the tulle, trimming the bottom, and sewing it onto a new plain comb. I loved the veil’s length and simplicity.
I wanted to get the dress cleaned because firstly, my beach wedding on a somewhat rainy day left the hem practically black with dirt and sand. Secondly, my husband and I love this dress and hope that maybe we’ll have a daughter who will want to wear it one day! The lace is exquisite and detailed with a subtle sparkle to it. The sweetheart neckline and fit are very flattering. I picked it out on my first dress-hunting mission with my mom, which was a special moment for me.”
Tell us about your wedding day.
“The wedding was wonderful. Our goal was to keep expenses down and hire local vendors to support small businesses. The wedding food had to be kosher and many of our guests were also Vegetarian or Vegan so Claire’s Corner Copia was the perfect solution for catering. Their food was delicious and they made us a fully Kosher and vegetarian wedding buffet with cupcakes for dessert. We used my parent’s cake topper on top of a simple bundt cake from Claire’s. The entire wedding was wonderful, but some of the highlights were riding the Carousel with our friends and family, our first dance together to Nat King Cole’s ‘L.O.V.E’, and the half our of Israeli circle dancing.”
“We had a traditional Jewish ceremony that started with signing some Jewish legal documents called the Tenaim1 and the Ketubah2. The Tenaim is actually an engagement contract which was only valid for a few minutes because after we signed that we signed the Ketubah which laid out the conditions of our marriage. Both documents are written in Aramaic. After the small private Ketubah ceremony, our wedding ceremony began.”
1.”Tenaim: the terms of a Jewish marriage, as the wedding date, amount of the bride’s dowry, etc., or an agreement containing such terms, made by the parents of an engaged couple at the engagement party.” – dictionary.com
2.”Ketubah: the formal contract in a Jewish religious marriage that includes specific financial protection for the wife in the event that the husband dies or divorces her.” – dictionary.com
“First my husband Dorian was led to the Chuppah (Jewish wedding canopy) by both of his parents who were carrying lit candles. He waited there for me as I was escorted to the Chuppah by both of my parents escorted me there with lit candles. Under the Chuppah, my parents and I circled Dorian 7 times. Our officiating Rabbi is the Rabbi from Chabad at Yale where we met at a Shabbat dinner one Friday night. The ceremony was kicked off by Dorian’s dad singing a beautiful song for us.”
“That was then followed by the Rabbi saying some words, blessings, a reading of the Ketubah, exchange of rings, blessings over a glass of wine, and finally by Dorian breaking a glass with his foot to conclude the ceremony! The whole ceremony was wonderful, it was on the beach on a cloudy day but the rain held out until later.”
“The reception was a blur for us but a lot of fun! My husband Dorian put together a list of Jewish and Israeli songs so that we could dance the Hora with the guests. Israeli dancing is a lot of fun, all the guests hold hands in a circle and go around and around. We had lovely speeches from my Maid of Honor, Dorian’s Best Man, Dorian’s two sisters, my mother, and Dorian’s father. The speeches gave us some time to sit and finally eat some of the incredible food!”
“The theme of the wedding was nautical and my colors were navy blue and silver. I grew up sailing in New Haven, so I love all things beachy and nautical. The venue is special to us for that same reason, I have many fond memories of summers in the park at Lighthouse point as well as sailing by and seeing all the beachgoers and weddings there from the perspective of the New Haven harbour.”
“Dorian and I met at a Shabbat dinner on a Friday night in the fall of 2017 (we got married only a year after meeting!). We had great conversation and decided to continue seeing each other. Our personalities fit together like puzzle pieces and we enjoy each other’s hobbies and interests. Since meeting me Dorian has learned to sail and surf as those are two of my favorite summer activities! Dorian teaches me about Parkour which is one of his passions. In May 2018 Dorian proposed on Trumbull street in the rain with a ring he had purchased moments before at Gilden’s Jewelers. In the short time we have known each other we’ve been on many adventures and our love only grows more and more. When we met I had three cats and Dorian had a dog and now we’re one big happy family. Dorian and I are both engineers (he is a software engineer, I am a biomedical engineer). Dorian is from Cleveland, OH and I am from Branford, CT. We met because he moved to New Haven because his little sister was going to Yale.”
“Together with my bridal party, we got our hair, makeup and nails done by students at the European Academy of Cosmetology in Guilford, CT. They did a fantastic job at a very affordable price.”
“My husband rented his tux from Attilio’s Men’s Clothing in East Haven, CT. They were affordable and wonderful. The tux looked fantastic.”
“My bouquet is the same bouquet my mom used for her wedding. I took out some of the flowers that had browned over time and replaced them with navy blue flowers to fit with my color theme. I also added some ribbon to the bouquet to spice it up a bit. I like the pop of blue color in my wedding portraits and it’s special that I was able to use a part of my parent’s wedding.”
Photo credit: Garrett Uhde, from CT Photo Group