More on Chloe's wedding

I know I have barely posted anything about this. And, one would think thatI would have much to say about a trip to Israel in which I married off my daughter.

First off, let me say this: it was an AMAZING wedding. Yes, the hall was beautiful (I do recommend Shaar Yerushalayim as a really nice place to make a simcha -- but I did not particularly care for Zusha - he is the person who coordinates all the events at the hotel.)

The flowers were beautiful -- the arrangements on the tables were simple: long and tall and narrow clear glass vases with long long stemmed white lilies, about 4 per vase. The arrangements for the chuppah, the bedecken, etc, were more ornate, large, using mostly the white lilies, and roses, greenery and more. I am sure we will have pics of them soon.

There were about 250 people in attendance, and enough of my own friends and family to make me feel comfortable (THANK YOU EVERYONE WHO CAME!!!). The music was great, it was an Israeli-Irish music band (hows that for amazing combination?). They even had a harpist, who happened to be a friend of theirs and so that part of the music was a gift.

There was an amazing cake, that had 4 tiers of two layers each, with completely realistic look flowers and greens on it -- that were made of sugar! The top most tier had flowers "painted" on the top. When I saw the cake the first thing that came to mind was, "I do not remember ordering this", and the second thing was, "This is going to be very expensive!". Then, I was introduced to the cake maker (baker?), and was told that the cake was a gift (and of course, great promotion for him!). We were unable to cut and eat the cake in the hall due to hechsherim (kashrut) issues. (Yes, the cake was kosher, but not "hechshered" -- or at least not according to the one that the Hotel accepts). However, we did get to eat the cake AFTER the wedding, and were eating it all week long, until after the final Sheva Brachot in Nof Ayalon! And, not only did this cake LOOK good, but it TASTED great! (I will post his info here later).

The physical chuppah leaned a little like the Leaning Tower of Pisa and I asked that it be straightened but Zusha insisted that it could not be done. I was not happy with his response.

The Chuppah, the ceremony, was beautiful. The seder of the Chuppah was like nothing I had ever experienced but it was PERFECT. The breaking of the glass occurred in the middle, before the Brachot, and was a somber moment -- NOT accompanied by cheers of Mazal Tov -- which actually makes more sense given that the breaking of the glass is supposed to represent the destruction of the Temple!

Jonathan attends a Yeshiva in Petach Tikva and so all (at least it SEEMED like all) the Yeshiva boys were in attendance, and between each ritual of the Chuppah they sang. It was so beautiful that it had my mother and me and my brother in tears -- and after the Chuppah, both my brother and I fell into each others arms, sobbing. It was really beautiful.

The Mesader Kedushin, however, never said ONE word to me and I was annoyed about that. Not even a simple Mazal Tov. I was never introduced to him nor he to me. I think that was disrespectful to both of us. He did not stay after the Chuppah. But that is normal.

There is more for me to post but I will complete this later. Now I must go and get dressed for work.