Sydney &and James

On your day, what was your first thought when you woke up in the morning?

SYDNEY: My first thought was “today I get to marry my best friend in the world!” James and I did not speak or see each other for 7 days before the wedding (a Jewish tradition) so all I could think about was how excited I was to see him and speak to him!

JAMES: I was so excited- I honestly kept thinking about how I should be nervous, but I wasn’t at all. I couldn’t have been more ready to marry Sydney. Also, the wedding was at my house, so when I woke up, the whole team was preparing the backyard- it was a cool thing to watch come together.

When and where did the proposal take place, and how did it unfold?

SYDNEY: The day of the proposal, James called me and told me he was swamped with work and needed me to pick up a book from the library for one of his client’s sons – a book that was sold out everywhere and only available at the New York Public Library. I thought it was odd, because James never asks me for help, and I also thought it was weird to give a client a library book! I did not expect to be getting engaged, so I just thought he was acting strange due to stress with work. When I got to the library, I saw the photographer that photographed my friend’s engagement. I quickly processed that I was, in fact, getting engaged. I called up James and said “I know you’re proposing.” He denied it and directed me on the phone to a gorgeous hallway with a huge stained-glass window. In the center of the hallway, there was a red box on the floor behind a red velvet rope. I went to pick up the box and inside was a story book of our relationship from start to finish. The last page of the book said, “He tricked her into going to the library for him so he can ask her a question…” and then he appeared from behind a door and got down on one knee to propose! The fact that he chose to do it at the library made the proposal so special, because it shows how well he knows me. My happiest and calmest place is in bookstores or libraries. I love reading and being surrounded by books, and NYPL is one of the most gorgeous libraries in the world! We left the library to meet our families at a steakhouse. We had speeches and a great dinner! James also planned for all of our friends to meet us at a rooftop bar overlooking the city. It was such a special night to have an intimate proposal with just the two of us, then a beautiful dinner with our families, and then ending the night with all of our friends at a rooftop bar!

JAMES: The New York public library! I couldn’t figure out for the life of me how to propose. I went back and forth for so long and finally I decided to do it at the NYPL- Sydney loves libraries and this one is obviously beautiful. I decided to make a children’s book on our love story and I wanted to put it in a bookshelf and have her find it. I had Sydney go to the library that day, but when I got to the library earlier in the morning, they wouldn’t let me do anything. Security said no to almost every request I had, and I ended up looking for a place to leave the book for hours. Finally, I just took a red rope from the corner of the room, and sectioned off a tiny little area by a beautiful window. There, I left the book and directed Sydney there via text. After she finished reading the book, I popped out and proposed. Right after I proposed security yelled at me for sectioning off an area, but totally worth it.

What was the original plan for your wedding?

SYDNEY & JAMES: Our original wedding plan was to get married on the same date, August 27th, in Israel. We sent out all our save the dates, booked a venue and hotels, DJs, caterers and photographers. We planned an entire weekend of activities in Tel Aviv for our guests. While it was our dream to get married in Israel, we truly feel that everything happens for a reason and that there is nothing more special and intimate than having a small wedding at your childhood home.

How did you choose what you wore? Can you walk us through your thought process?

SYDNEY: I went dress shopping with my mom. She asked me to go with her in January which, at the time, I thought was insane! She likes to check things off her list, so I finally agreed to “just look.” We did not find anything at the first dress shop, but at the second store I tried on about 3 dresses and bought the first 2 I tried on!! I couldn’t decide between them, but I knew I loved both. I bought a Berta dress and the Mira Zwillinger one that I wore to my wedding. If I had the wedding in Israel, I would have changed into the Berta one for dancing, but I did not feel like changing for the backyard wedding. My mom must have had some kind of foresight, because if we did not go that early, it would have been very difficult to get a dress in time for the wedding with COVID-19 and all the shipping backed up.
Both my dresses had sequins, because I love when bridal gowns have a subtle shimmer. I never thought I would wear a strapless gown, but I fell in love with this Mira Zwillinger one, because I felt like a princess while still having a simple, understated and form-fitting gown. I wanted a bolero for the ceremony, and it was my mom’s idea to add a big bow in the back. I was so excited about this idea, because I felt it was a very elegant and unexpected addition to my bridal look.

JAMES: My dad manufactures tuxedos- so it was pretty easy.

What was running through your mind when you saw your groom for the first time?

SYDNEY: I saw him for the first time during our “first look.” For the pictures, the photographers had him walk up the road and up a lot of stairs to dramatize the scene. It was so worth it for our pictures, but I felt like I was waiting forever to hug him!!! I remember at a point yelling to him to hurry up and run, so he would get to me quicker! When he finally got closer, it felt like nothing else mattered. The stress leading up to the wedding, the details of the wedding, or anything else that was on my mind just melted away. All I cared about was being reunited after 7 days!

JAMES: Woah – I was honestly nervous to see how she looked and how I would react. Obviously she’s extremely beautiful, but I had no idea what her makeup or dress would look like. As per usual it was perfect.

If you had to choose, what would you say was the best part of your wedding day?

SYDNEY: I have two favorite parts. My first favorite part of the wedding day was when James was walking towards me at the bedeken. After changing our wedding plans, finding out friends and family won’t be able to make it, and all the stress that came with a COVID wedding, this was the moment when I was surrounded by my best friends and family members and it hit me that I was finally marrying James.
My second favorite part was that all the weather reports said 100% rain and some had hurricane warnings. All the guests, staff and family members were anxious that we would need to move the entire wedding under the tent. However, we couldn’t have planned more perfect timing! It did not start raining until a couple minutes after we went into the tent for dancing, and at that point, the storm served as a cool breeze during the party! I did not check the weather all day and was unaware of all the stress taking place, but when I found out afterwards, the timing felt extra special for us and all our guests.

JAMES: Dancing after the religious ceremony was over. It was a culmination of so many memories and special moments over the last 5 years, and we were both so ready to start a new chapter. We did it!

How did you feel during the ceremony?

SYDNEY: I felt extremely blessed during the ceremony. I was on cloud 9. I recognized how privileged and lucky we were to be getting married with our friends and family surrounding us during a global pandemic. I recognized how lucky I was to be marrying the greatest guy in the world and love of my life. We also were getting married under my Poppy’s prayer shawl who passed away right when James and I began dating, 5 years ago. He was one of the most important people in my life, so I felt that he was watching down on us.

James and I had our backs facing the guests during the ceremony, because it is a custom to face the Rabbi and not focus on anything outside the chuppah. The Rabbi told the guests “I know you can’t see their faces but one of them is smiling ear to ear and one is crying hysterically. I’ll let all of you guess which is which.” Afterwards, everyone told me they “knew” I was crying and James was smiling, but the truth was Jame

JAMES: Fulfilled. It was my favorite part as I said above. Just the fact that so much planning went into the wedding and all the drama was finally over. No it wasn’t in tel-aviv, but it seriously was so special and I couldn’t believe that we did it! Also it was 100% chance of rain and it didn’t rain until we were in the tent. That was pretty wild.

What wedding planning decision was the easiest one to make? What was the most difficult?

SYDNEY: We had an incredible team of people who made the entire planning process so easy for us, even with all the planning in just 5-6 weeks. I would say choosing our team of people – Tessler Events, Fete, Ira Lippke, Adrian Toto, catering etc. were the easiest decisions we made. The most difficult decisions were choosing how to limit our invite list to have a wedding with people we love and keeping necessary safety precautions. We really wanted every single person to be there to celebrate, but we made the extremely difficult decision to not have any of our parent’s or family’s friends. We almost chose to not have our wedding because of how sad we were to not have all our closest family friends there.

JAMES: Marrying Sydney was the easiest
Most difficult was if we should postpone and try to have it in tel-aviv, or have a small one – looking back on it we made the right choice.

Were there any funny moments that especially stand out?

SYDNEY: When James and I were in the yichud room (a Jewish custom in which the bride and groom get a few minutes of privacy after the ceremony and before the party), James’s dad came to advise him to take a shower! James kept refusing, but his dad insisted that it is a rare opportunity to have your own shower available at your wedding! It was a funny moment to watch James and his father bickering about showering in his childhood home in the middle of our wedding.

JAMES: When we went to go and cut the cake, I was so hungry and I went for the first bite not even realizing that Sydney was trying to feed me!

What do you hope your guests remember most about your wedding day?

SYDNEY: I hope our guests remember the intimacy and love that radiated throughout our wedding. Especially with customary Jewish weddings which are usually 400-600 guests, it is rare to feel the intimacy. James and I felt so close to every guest at our wedding, and we felt that we were able to talk and dance and spend time with almost every person there.

JAMES: The love that we have for each other and all of our guests. We couldn’t be more appreciative and thankful to everyone who came during a pandemic.