Scotty P Israeli Inner Circle mainstay Yoda Jeremy and actress extraordinaire and friend Samadar tied the knot last Tuesday in Jerusalem. It was a really fun party w/some of my closest friends. And the affair was the most extravagent I’ve seen yet in Israel. (The above image is from their wedding invitation – Jeremy drew it !!)
I got a ride w/ the Becker-Barkins, and my friends Leah and Rebecca. The wedding was in a hotel called The Sequoia, which is on a Kibbutz. There wasn’t an exact street address, but I typed the kibbutz addy into Google Maps on my BlackBerry, and it totes got us there!
I’m a little stressed at the moment, so my writing’s gonna suck for the next couple posts. Rather than struggle w/ posting masterpieces, I just wanna get some new stuff up. So, I kind of said all I really need to about this. You get the gist.
OK, a few more things:
- Jeremy’s speech was great. He even gave our table of mostly Ulpan rejects students a shout-out. And I love shout-outs !!!
- Samadar sang a song for Jeremy – Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man. She has a beautiful singing voice.
- Samadar’s family is part Yemenite, and there was a lot of, like, Middle Eastern music at the beginning of the party
- This was the first wedding in Israel where we actually danced in a circle and did the hora and stuff (the other two I went to, we didn’t do this for some reason). Is it more of a Diaspora Jewish tradition? (Samadar’s mom is American.)
- The desserts were insane! Like four giant tables of different ones – my faves were this berry/merengue pie and this hot chocolate fondue stuff in a cup
Pics:
Jeremy beams as he's walked down the aisle by Samadar's father and his bestie Aziz (visiting from Toronto)
The chuppah was alighted for the evening ceremony. White flowers abounded. It was beautiful, but it also reminded me of the way the sidewalk lit up in the "Billie Jean" video.
The room!
I pulled out all the prepster stops for this great new Facebook profile pic! Thanks, Anna.
Hora!
Inneresting. Yemenite tradition? Peeps grabbed hold of Samadar's gown and lifted it up as they twirled around her. (She had another layer underneath, you pervs.)
Team "Route 425" Gets Down!
Think anyone'll notice if I smuggle one mini dessert out in my pants pocket?
All the women in this photo were in my kita alef Ulpan class. They’ve also either gotten hitched, knocked up, or popped a kid out while we were in class together or since.
Seriously.
Lee’at (left in pic) was already very pregnant when class started. And she only got more pregnanter. Then, Anna & Eric skipped town and hot hitched in the USA.
Then, Marta told us she was pregnant and has since pushed one out.
Michole dropped into class mid-summer…pregnant.
Girl Jerami got engaged, married, and now her baby’s due any minute.
Yoda Boy Jeremy and Samadar are engaged.
And last Sunday was Hayley and Ariel’s wedding. Man – did we have fun there !!! First of all, the space was gorgeous:
It was, like, very cool, New York loft-y. All the art and signage inside were in English, and so were all the hot tunes spun. I, like, forgot I was in Israel for an evening! The food was succulent, the music was hot, everybody looked superSytlish out of their usual flipflops & shorts, and we tore up the floor. Seriously, besides the one Baby Boomer Dance Animal in the red tie, our Ulpan group was the major Disco Inferno on the floor. Who knew Sophie was such a H-O-T dancer !?!
Hayle (bride), Ariel (groom) & Beata
Beata busts a move. Red Tie Guy in the background. This must be early in the night, because by the end, his jacket was off, his tie was undone, his hair looked like Captain Caveman, and he was a schvitzy mess !!
Mood lighting, gorge centerpiece, city below us and a French dining companion.
The wedding fell on the third night of Hanukkah, so the Rabbi lit the candles and we all said the prayers at the start of the ceremony. Check out how high tech we were – do you see that black laptop in front of the Rabbi? Hayley’s sister was watching the ceremony LIVE from the U.K. via Skype.
beautiful Ketuba
Did I mention I almost forgot I was in Israel for the evening? ALMOST. This is something you probably wouldn’t see at a wedding in America. A fully loaded machine gun on a uniformed soldier. Active soldiers are only allowed to ever leave their guns in either their own home or their parents’ home (I think). If they’re anywhere else, they cannot let it out of their site.
Anyway, back to the bigger theme of this post. There were like 4-5 weddings among us (and some being planned now) and 5-6 kids popped out or still in the oven.
What the hell was Dina putting in those eee-tones anyway ???
Gefilte Fish Out of Water 