The best day ever

The wedding was so beautiful and emotional. The ceremony was held in a courtyard with plants and flowers everywhere. The Chupa was set up in a sort of greenhouse, a glass roof with open sides. Hilla looked stunning and she and Joe were so happy. The Rabbi (Betsy) lives in Waltham, met Hilla's mother on a kibutz here when they were 15 years old and has been a friend ever since. Joe and Hilla have eaten Friday night Shabbat dinner with her many times in the last year and a half so the ceremony was very personal. It is customary for 7 blessings to be offered for the couple. Since there was a mix of English and Hebrew speakers, 7 blessings were offered in each language by family and friends. I gave the first one, crying all the while. I was doing okay until they played Something in the Way She Moves when Hilla came down the aisle. That pushed me over the edge and I cried pretty much the whole way thru. The kids signed a traditional marriage contract in the presence of their parents, Betsy read it as part of the ceremony and the wording of what they promised each other was very touching. They drank wine from a cup that one of Lea's (Hilla's mother) friends had given Hilla the day she was born. When the time came for stepping on the glass, Joe broke it on the first try. Later he told us they had substituted a light bulb in foil for a glass in cloth to ensure it would break.

From the courtyard we walked one block to the resturant, the Bellini. Hilla's sister worked there for many years and it is still a favorite place for the Shimshoni's. They had taken Joe there on several occasions. It is a small older building with great character inside. There were tables inside and out, rose petals and candles every where. True to their name they served the best bellini's ever. They started with a frozen slush of peach and mango and added the bubbly to that. YUM. But nothing compared to the food. We ate gnochi with truffle sauce, mushroom rissoto, sea bass, chicken cordon blu, fabulous stuff. For dessert there was tiramisu, flan, and of course, ice cream (Hilla's favorite). Hilla's Dad spoke, Sally had prepared a slide show of the history of the Farbeann/Pickard family. She found the most hilarious pictures for illustration. It was a surprise to me and I laughed myself silly. Or maybe I was silly to start with.....who knows??? Then Hilla's family showed a short film they had made. They used Sonny and Cher's I got You Babe as the background with clips of the kids, bits of old Sonny and Cher shows and shots of themselves with Lea and Yonni dressed as Sonny and Cher with Hilla's sisters and grandmother as the back up band. It was fantastic. Then the dancing started. Joe had met with the DJ and picked the music so we rocked. I danced and jumped around like I was 16. Today everything aches and I feel like I'm 96. But everyone had a wonderful time. The kids were so happy and really seemed to be enjoying themselves. There were about 150 people all together which made a very lively crowd. Joe and Hilla got hugged and kissed all night.

I took pictures and will post them later, no time today as we are off to Jerusalem. Lea is the uber organizer and has a bus trip planned so I'm sure we are going to have a great tour.

Love and shalom to all, Jackie