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I’ve got more great aspects of Shira and Loren’s wedding to share with you today, and I’m really excited to finally bring this element to everyone. It was one of my favorite projects for this wedding and has so much meaning behind it.

When I first met Shira, she told me the story how she and Loren met, on a Birthright trip to Israel. For those of you that may not know, Birthright Israel is an organization that provides the gift of trips to Israel for Jewish young adults ages 18 to 26. Started in 2000, it was created to diminish the growing division between Israel and Jewish communities around the world, to strengthen the sense of solidarity among world Jewry, and to strengthen participants’ personal Jewish identity and connection to the Jewish people.

Throughout the wedding planning process, I was constantly searching for ways to incorporate the story of them meeting in some element of the design, but the idea eluded me for months. Back in June, Inspired Goodness was asked to help take part in the Brooklyn Pop-up Wedding Event in Williamsburg, Brooklyn and it was right around that time that the idea took shape. For that event, we were asked to bring some projects-in-process, and I thought what better idea than to showcase these matches!

Loren’s father had wanted to hire a cigar roller for the cocktail hour - taking advantage of the amazing outdoor wrap-around deck at the Boathouse, I knew the cigars would play a big role for the first hour of the reception. So, I decided to turn the story into a series of illustrations, each providing a different detail. Below is the sign I designed - the story was originally written by me, taken from various emails and meetings. Shira and Loren helped clarify the pieces, and together, we created the final piece.

The story:

The 4 matchbook designs:

From L to R:

1. Shows them in the Tel Aviv airport, at baggage claim. Shira remarked how it looked as if another girl on their tour had packed her entire closet.
2. Includes the bus number and a representation of Israel in the background
3. Their first kiss captured under a Bedouin tent
4. Loren asked Shira to be his camel-ride partner, shows them both atop the camel

At the cocktail hour, we placed lots of display pieces around including an antique cigar mold, a vintage crystal lighter and displayed the matchboxes in a glass footed bowl and a large 3-tier dessert stand.

I also created matching cigar bands to complement the matchboxes.

The rollers making the cigars and some of the table elements

Plus a few signs sprinkled around to instruct guests…

In the end, it was so important for me to find a really creative and unique way to tell the story of this couple. When I first met them, I knew it was something that had to be shared with everyone at the wedding—it was so heartfelt and sweet and I’m thrilled with how all the pieces working together made such a strong statement.