Cleveland, Ohio Wedding at Temple Emanu El

Abby & Yoshi live in DC. Abby is from Cleveland, like me, and she grew up not too far from where I grew up, in an East Side suburb. I love photographing weddings in Cleveland as it gives me an extra chance to visit with family, especially my nieces and nephews who are growing up so fast! I’ve had the privilege of photographing a number weddings in Cleveland for couples like Abby & Yoshi who live in DC, as well as for some Cleveland based couples. I was fortunate once again to collaborate on this wedding with Chris Williams (Zoeica Images).

One of my favorite things about Abby & Yoshi’s wedding at Temple Emanu El was the way they personalized it and made their traditional Jewish wedding their very own. It was a lovely blending of tradition and personal touches. The synagogue was overflowing with joy as friends and family roasted and toasted the couple at their separate tische. And the tears of happiness were flowing as the separate parties joined together during the bedeken and for the signing of the ketubah. The music and singing, the laughter, the love; it was like being in the middle of a big warm hug. Their ceremony was full of stories and lessons about life and love and friendship and taking risks.

The horah was one of the most fun and lively I have seen. Everyone was smiling and dancing! The dancing was followed by wonderful toasts. Abby’s younger sister and brother read pages from the autobiography Abby wrote in elementary school. There was non-stop laughing as passage after hilarious passage was read to the guests. What a great idea and such a nice departure from the usual wedding toasts (although to be fair, I do hear more wedding toasts than most!).

Wedding at Temple Emanu El Cleveland Ohio