Julie and Dan. Married.
I love this so. They were practicing their first dance and this is their reflection in a empty display case.
I mean… LOOK AT HER DRESS! 
Julie and Dan are both Jewish. I LOVE jewish weddings. SO, SO, SO much FUN!
My favorite shot of the day, right here…
Brother and Sister forever.
Julie, your smile is so contagious. You are seriously the cutest!
Julie and Dan played golf on their first date. She’s played since she was little and she thought Dan was new to golf. Dan wasn’t playing so hot, so Julie used her teaching skills to help Dan with his swing. By the end of the date, he had a killer swing and Julie was totally smitten. Little did she know, Dan’s played golf for years and was pulling her chain just so he could watch her teach him how to swing.
This was the seating inside the temple. Love it!
And the hallway with the leading lines. Love it.
Shots with Grandpa!
The veiling ceremony is held at the beginning of the wedding celebration. The groom, the rabbi, the fathers and the whole entourage proceed to the bride for the veiling ceremony. The groom places the veil over the bride’s face and recites the blessing given toRebecca by her mother and brother before she left for her marriage to Isaac: Achotenu: at hayi le alfei revavah—”Our sister, be thou the mother of thou-sands of ten thousands”. The rabbi, then the parents, extend their words of hope and prayer.
Her parents walked down the aisle half way. And then she walked alone and met them for the rest of the walk.
The ceremony was beautiful. It’s customary to put all phones and cameras away during this celebration. Although this was very difficult for Ana and I, it was quite wonderful and enjoying to take it all in and sit amongst the guests while Julie and Dan were married under the Chuppah.
The reception was GORGEOUS with flowers galore. The colors…AMAZING. The food… AMAZING and TONS of it. It was catered by Cameron Mitchell. Yummo.
The brother of the Bride.
The sister of the Groom. Watching her brother in amazement. So much love with both of these families. Touches my heart.
Because Julie is the last child to be married, everyone gathered around her parents to dance. Yes, that does call for a celebration!
The live band was fantastic. These people sure know how to have a good time! You’ll have to watch the video slideshow below to really see all of this fun dancing!
No Jewish wedding is complete without the Hora, or chair dance. In this tradition, the men hoist the bride and groom high above the crowd on chairs.
Mazel tov! Carol, you should be ever so proud of yourself for planning and executing a GORGEOUS wedding for Julie and Dan. You are a wonderful Mother and friend. Thank you so much for sending Lucy a “welcome to the world” gift and for always sending me wonderful letters with your kind words. I really adore you and your beautiful persona. XO!
The groom’s parents. 🙂
Julie’s dance with her father was to the hit song “Happy”. Can’t you tell…
You guys, I’m not kidding, they had a SUNDAE station. And this was not just any ice cream either. GRAETERS. At a wedding. Flipping fantastic!
Our foto booth was a HUGE hit. Duh!
I know I took tons of shoe photos at this wedding, but really, HER DRESS. It’s not often we get to see the Bride’s feet so much. SO CUTE!
I asked Julie and Dan what photo was their favorite from their engagement session. They said the one that was taken in the middle of the street. So, not to disappoint, I pulled them out of the reception to capture this one. Thanks for being troopers, friends. Thanks for always smiling. Thanks for being YOU. I really can’t express in words how wonderful and contagious your HAPPY spirit is. I wish you all the best in your HAPPY WORLD. XOXOXO, to the moon and back. Love, Crystal Jo.
To view the beautiful wedding slideshow, click HERE.
To view ALL 600+ of the wedding photos when they are ready for publishing, click HERE.
Their Creative Team…
Reception and Ceremony Site: Congregation Tifereth Israel
Caterer: Cameron Mitchell Catering
Cake: Simply Special Catering
Flowers: Petals and Leaves
DJ/Band: Dave Powers Band
Lighting: Ford Events
Ceremony Music: Arkadily Gips, violin, Cheri Papier, flute, Joey Skoch, keyboard and Gail Rose, vocalist
Hair and Make up: Hair: Maggie from Stile Salon, Make-up: Stacy from Pearls and Black Dresses
Wedding Planner: Bobbie Izeman
Invitations: Julie Hanan Design
Rehearsal dinner: Hilton Columbus at Easton
Wedding gown designer: Justin Alexander
……………………………
Their songs….
processional: Al Kol Eleh (Naomi Shemer), Festive March No. 1 Cantor Joseph Rosendlatt, arr. by Temple Painter), Erev Shel Shoshanim (J. Hadar, arr. by N. Brand), Dodi Li (N. Chen, arr. by S. Gewirt)
recessional: Siman Tov/Mazal Tov, Chosn Kale Mazel Tov, Tzena,Tzena, David Melech Yisrael
first dance: The Wonder of You
cake cutting: Uptown Girl (Billy Joel)
father/daughter: Happy (Pharrell Williams)
mother/son: The Circle of Life (Elton John)
last dance: Sweet Caroline (Neil Diamond)
……………………………
Fun Questions to answer…
What was the most memorable moment of your day?
Dan: My most memorable moment was memorable moment of the day was when Julie tapped me on the shoulder and I saw her in her gown for the first time.
Julie: My most memorable moment was when Dan broke the glass at the end of the ceremony and we went into the rabbi’s office for ten minutes to reminisce that we actually just got married. We gathered our thoughts and we tried to take it all in!!! It’s such a whirlwind! Also, the hora dance was amazing as 165 guests danced for 25 minutes! We were thrilled watching all our family and friends have a blast.
What was your favorite detail?
Dan: I really like the speeches from family members.
Julie: I loved the flowers and the band.
Any advice for future bride/grooms?
Dan: You have to hire Chrystal Jo Foto.
Julie: The best advice from my brother that I’d give other brides and grooms is take a few snapshots throughout the evening and take a few moments to lock it in and never forget because it goes so fast.
If you could do it all over, would you change anything?
Dan and Julie: We wouldn’t change a thing! Our wedding was perfectly, absolutely, without a doubt EXACTLY what we wanted. It was the very best day. We wish we could go back and live it again and again.
Where did you go on your honeymoon? Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts.
How was your experience with Crystal Jo Foto? If you have a favorite memory with her, please share it.
Wow… Where do I begin about Crystal Jo and her gorgeous photography! She started with our engagement session a year ago. I was absolutely floored and in love with the pictures. I love her as a person and her work is amazing!
Julie and Dan: Our experience with Crystal Jo was nothing but wonderful. Crystal Jo is truly gifted and we cannot say enough about her professionalism and sense of great fun. Crystal Jo has a great knack for capturing all the moments you experience as well as the ones you may have missed. She captures the moments without interrupting them… she was everywhere, yet she was completely unobtrusive. We really appreciated her artistic style and found her so pleasant to work with. Her assistant was just great, too.
Dan: Crystal Jo is so creative and fun, yet very serious with her surroundings and time of day.
Julie: I liked the alone private and alone session prior to the party and right before she left she took a few photos of Dan and I sitting in the street and we couldn’t stop laughing because who sits in the middle of a very busy street in a wedding dress. What fun and courage! It is clear that she loves what she does and puts all of her heart and mind into it. The day was magical and I was so excited Crystal Jo captured our special day.
Crystal Jo
Crystal Jo is an Ohio-based wedding and lifestyle photographer, dreamer, believer and lover of life.
I loved all the pictures! You are gifted in knowing what to capture! Julie and Dan you will have so many memories to cherish.