“I just fell in love with Sara and Justin’s story from the first time we spoke. How they met, how when they look at each other I can see the love they have for one another, how Justin proposed on a surprise hot air balloon ride over wine country. I had to be part of this amazing love story that these two doctors have made their happily ever after! Coming from two totally different parts of the world, Sara is Persian and Justin is Jewish, we blended both cultures in every aspect of the wedding. We started with a Jewish ceremony where the happy couple drank wine and Justin broke the glass before kissing his gorgeous bride. Then a Persian ceremony where sugar was sprinkled over the couple to represent a sweet life together and Persian sweets filled the table for guests to share. Bliss, total bliss is the only way to describe this lovely day!” – Samar Hattar of Blissful Events

What is your favorite wedding day memory?

“This is difficult to answer! There were a lot of favorites! I would have to say, the ultimate moment was probably being twirled around by my new husband on the dance floor to the amazing music being played by Dick Bright and his orchestra. I was absolutely flying, even higher than cloud 9 at that point. Smiles so big my cheeks hurt and all our family and friends immersed in that moment with us! It was spectacular!

What did you DIY for your wedding?

..We did do some DIY! We made the escort cards ourselves which were tags with the table number stamped on with vintage numbers and the names on coordinating color cards, then hung them from some rows of twine that we secured to a large picture frame with the glass and things removed so that the escort cards hung freely across the span of the frame. Everyone loved it and we supplied polaroids for them to snap their own photo and replace their escort cards, and that was our guest book too :)  We also made our own favors with paper that had flower seeds embedded into it and cut into the shape of hearts. We filled little rice paper bags with those and tucked them into the napkins for dinner. Our wedding was at a gorgeous art gallery that is also an outdoor garden, so the seeds to plant their own gardens to remember our day was the point of our favors. My mother also stitched the fabrics needed for the Persian ceremony and put together the entire Persian Ceremony spread which is only explained by photos! It would take too many pages for me to describe it in words! We also made our table numbers by having small birch stumps with a white washed block of wood, with the appropriate table number painted on, attached onto it. And last but not least, my lovely sister-in-law made both our ceremony program fans (which we needed because it was July!) and our gorgeous wedding invitations. 

Something old, new, borrowed and blue?

..I did. My ‘something old’, was my maternal grandmother’s necklace and paternal grandmother’s earrings. They are no longer with us so that was very special to me. I ‘borrowed’ them from my mother, so they played double duty in that sense. My ‘new’ was my dress. My something blue was a pretty Tiffany box on the morning of our wedding from my soon to be husband with gorgeous diamond earrings inside! Even though I didn’t wear them for the ceremony, I still counted that as my something blue ;)

Any advice for brides currently in the planning process?

..My advice (which I have given to a few friends who are getting married this year) is that you have to make the process and the day about you and your fiancé. Your family and friends will have a great time, they will weigh in on a lot of things that they want done because they think it will help you have a great time.. only you two know what will make you have a great time – so stick with your gut and just thank people for their insight and leave it at that. Make it your own and you will not regret it! We had family style meals and at first some of our older family thought that was crazy.. they ended up LOVING it, they shared at the table, got to interact and most of all taste all the foods they wanted :) We didn’t do individual pictures with each family member posed in one spot, some of our family did not love that but we did because it gave us more candid photos which we love and did not eat up an hour or more of our wedding day standing in one spot not enjoying all the hard work we put into it.

Also, do not stress over little things. I can’t tell you how many brides I see sweat the small stuff and then not notice the small stuff on their wedding day! Have a “vibe” or an overall theme and just make that happen.. if something is supposed to be light yellow and it turns out bright yellow, its ok.. I promise! Make it about you, your partner and your love! We had 3 small cakes (again, family thought that was nuts till they saw it and loved it) and one of them was leaning like the tower of pisa! My amazing wedding planner was worried that I would be upset.. by this point I was having so much fun that I did not care at all! Made for funny moments cutting it and funny pictures and made it memorable and trust me, it still tasted AMAZING! Also, to save some cash – ask around for vendors who may be great at what they do but not as established. Our cake came from an independent baker who works out of kitchen space she rents. Her cakes were the most delicious cakes I have ever tasted and she sent us off on our honeymoon with a huge jar of homemade lemon curd which was TO DIE FOR! She came recommended by our planner who had eaten her cakes at parties.. she was 1/3 the price and triple the value if you ask me! Another piece of advice….WEAR FLATS! If you have a long dress, no one sees your feet and I danced my tush off without the slightest discomfort that night! The last thing I wanted to feel on my wedding day was pain in my feet!” – Sarah, the bride

Event Credits

Photography: Carmen Alvarez // Wedding Planner: Blissful Events // Venue: Cornerstone Gardens // Dress: Alvina Valenta from Kleinfelds, NYC // Men’s attire: Hugo Boss // Flowers: Vo Floral Design // Catering: Park Ave Catering // Cake: Tara of Piece of Cake // Band: Dick Bright Orchestra // Videography: Burkart Studios // Jewish ceremony officiant: Rabbi Gershon // Persian ceremony efficient: Niloufar Nouri