The Wedding Hall

The hall is perhaps the most important decision for the arrangements of the wedding and the wedding date. Without a hall you cannot really start anything. Btw. We were told not to mention that our wedding date was final i.e. the wedding will be on xyz date - apparently once you have set a date it's halachically difficult to change it.

Until you are very sure that you have the hall you want and the date you want, try to say that the wedding is scheduled at this point on this date but we haven't set the date as final - that way you have an exit strategy. We managed to get a great location - "The Prima Palace" a.k.a. The Malon Hamercaz Le-sheavar (Central Hotel) in Rechov Pines. We got a reduced price of 8000.00 shekels for the night and that includes up until 11.00pm but they are flexible until 11.30 - 11.45 after which there is an additional charge per hour starting from the first minute past that time. The reduced price was because we chose a preferred caterer - it's usually 9000.00 shekels. The price is for the hall and the caterer is a separate expense. Not all halls do this, some quote for the hall and the caterer together, so make sure you understand all the details before booking. The booking comes a kallah chair which we did not use as we used Sharon Miller's chair (see Flowers) and also a Yichud room. They have a security guard and will open a separate entrance for men or ladies at an extra cost. There is a big box on wheels for presents and a safe (make sure the safe is downstairs in the hall where you can see it, and it's locked - that is very important). There is also a Mechitzah included and tables and chairs which the caterer will setup. We also paid 1000 shekels to get the courtyard for the Chuppah - which was really worth it since it's really beautiful and also a great place for photos afterwards. We could have the chuppah in the parking lot in the back for free - but we felt it wasn't pretty enough for the occasion. There is usually a deposit required for the hall with the balance payable either by cheque the week before or cash on the actual night of the wedding. The deposit is negotiable and they were quite accommodating with us - I suppose they felt we were a good risk.

Also included was parking for 5 cars in the back of the hotel and a reduced rate on a room for the chattan and kallah (450.00 shekels) - you must ask for this if you want the room. We used the room to store all our things and have a home base to change, have make-up put on there etc. It was well worth the expense. The chattan and kallah did not use this room and hey, we would have loved to be able to collapse and sleep there after the wedding! You can get more rooms at approx 600.00 shekels a night. This may be useful for mechutanim or if you have other guests that would like to stay in the hotel overnight. The food in the hotel (not the caterer!) is under the Agudah as far as I remember. I think the price includes bed and breakfast. We were satisfied with the hall, the yichud room and the hotel room. Contacts: Feizel or the manager Mr. Motty Nahmias Tel: 02.531.1811 Fax: 02.654.4388 email: palace (at) prima (dot) co (dot) il. The only complaint we had was that it was difficult for some to find parking. There is a small lot next to the hotel with free parking after 6.00pm and meters on the street - also free after 6.00pm. I managed to find parking at the weddings I went to - you can park nearby in Guela and walk and apparently you can find a covered parking somewhere nearby, but I'm not sure where.

Okay, it's wedding season again and we are planning another wedding! I hope to update this post with some upated information that may be helpful. 

Still under construction - please be patient!

I'm slowly adding things to the blog - so please be patient!

Benchers - Bircas Hamazon

We wanted something simple but classy. Something my mother could read - not too small print. Remember you don't usually need a bencher for each guest. If you prepare them before in packs of 10, and hand them out only at benching, you can save yourself a lot of many and prevent wasting and prevent the bencher from going in the garbage. Remember to keep some back for sheva brachos and also for the family and chatan vekallah for there new home. We managed fine with 200 for 600 invites (dabcing and sit down included). We got from Yahalom Productions in Rechov Elefandri 42 in Guela Jerusalem. Tel: 02.537.3077 Fax: 02.538.2547 Their website is www.birconim.com and email is uzan-avi (at) zahav (dot) net (dot) il. They manufacture the birconim range of benchers. I'm sure there are many other good places. We paid 580 shekels for 200 i.e. 2.90 shekels each. Any other suggestions please email or comment.

Flowers

We chose to go with Sharon Miller Rechov Pines 4 (next to the Prima Palace - Ex malon Hamercaz). We had a budget of 2000 shekels and she gave us what we needed for that price. We got a kallah chair, backdrop and lights. Flowers for next to the Kallah chair (1500.00) and we got some tulips for half the tables (500.00). For the rest of the tables we bought our own candle holders and some candles with potpourri to sprinkle around it. Here are some pics:-

The Band

We made our wedding in Jerusalem so we asked a sheila about the band. We were told that we could have either a drum or a keyboard and if necessary both - but not more musical intruments. We are supposed to remember the destruction of Jerusalem in the midst of our happiness. Some only allow one instrument. In the end we chose Ari Goldwag Tel: 02.992.4701 or Mobile: 054.842.1978. The music was wonderful if you can book him in time! He charged a modest fee of 4000.00 shekels, played also at the Chuppah - what a mentch and what a musician!

Another great choice is Yisroel Borocov and his numbers are 02.572.5014 or 052.678.6788

Wedding Invites

We tried three different places. Katzberg in Jerusalem, Rechov Yoel 2 Meah Shearim Tel/Fax: 02.537.1090 Mobile: 054.457.0380 email yossefk (at) bezeqint (dot) net; Defus Tamar in Moshav Zanoach 37 Bet Shemesh Tel: 057.313.366 / 02.992.3996 Fax: 057.794.6786 email Tamarcho (at) zahav (dot) net (dot) il and finally Shmuel at Mishkan Print Rechov Hanasi Bet Shemesh Tel: 02.991.7722 / Fax 02.991.9638 / Mobile: 0545.428.101 and email: mishkan1 (at) bezeqint (dot) net. We first stopped off at Mishkan and chose the 'special' he was offering, what we didnt know was that the special was for a medium cost wedding so Yehudith vetoed the price. We went to Katzburg and got a rock bottom price, then to Defus Tamar and also got an even better price on some items - but these were for a cheaper type invite. Since we were trying to save money - I suggested that we try Mishkan again and ask for a cheaper style invite and try to bargain him down. We did, getting the cheapest prices on all the items we ordered. I chose Mishkan because I liked Shmuel, he gave excellent service, he was prepared to beat the other prices and he was shomer shabbos and employed shomer shabbos workers (on the whole). Now I'm not saying the others didn't have these things - but I noticed it at Mishkan more. Perhaps I just like Shmuel. I probably could have gone round and bargained the others down more, but I had made a personal preference to go for Shmuel on my gut feeling, and it was in Bet Shemesh. Remember, don't be scared to bargain and go with the one you feel will do the best job at the price you want. Here are the prices we got in shekels excluding VAT (NB). Please note that prices change!

Prices

For 600 Invites (per invite) - Mishkan: 1.00 NIS Tamar: 1.16 NIS Katzberg: 1.20

For 200 Dinner Cards - Mishkan: 0.60 Tamar: 0.69 Katzberg: 0.69

For 600 Envelopes - Mishkan: 0.30 Tamar: 0.46 Katzberg: 0.35

For 600 Address on back of envelope - Mishkan: 0.16 Tamar: 0.18 Katzberg: 0.31

For 500 Thank You Cards - Mishkan: 0.80 Tamar: 2.00 Katzberg: 1.39

Btw. We made a mistake with the dinner cards by ordering too few and had to get some more printed on a computer printer at Mishkan - not the exact color and slightly different paper -

and more expensive per card - maybe 1.20 NIS per card if I remember correctly. Remember that if one of the mechutanim is overseas they may send a dinner card with each invite to be polite and since the guests may not come anyway. We assumed that our mechutanim would only send to those coming so we under estimated and paid for it - though it wasn't much extra. It's better to print more to start and have left over!

Please send me your prices and experiences so others can benefit - you can either post it as a comment or email it to me and I will post it. If you are planning on posting for all the items in your wedding consider asking for a blogger account for this blog.

Our invites and everything came out stunning. Goes to show - you really don't need to pay through your nose to get something really smart and classy! Here is a scan of the invite!

The purpose of this blog

After Yehudith and I married off our daughter Batsheva to her wonderful Chossen Avi, people started asking us where I got the wedding invites done, how much it cost, which hall I used etc. Then my niece got married and they picked our brain also. Which hall, where to get dresses for rental from a gemach etc. etc. etc. I kept thinking that a blog would be the best place to put this so that people could also write in and share their experiences, prices etc. Well now I have finally gotten round to start the blog so here goes....

I decided that we would create three seperate categories (labels) - one for an expensive wedding, one for a mid sized wedding and one for a cheap wedding. There may be other labels like Gemachs, Wedding Halls etc. and this should make it easy for anyone to find exactly what they are looking for. If you had a wedding experience, and what I mean is you feel great about how you organized it and want to share a tip - please feel free to email me at israelisimcha (at) gmail (dot)com and I will publish if it meets our guidelines - which are basically that it must be to the point - have all the details e.g. contact, prices etc. and no Loshen Hora or Motzei Shem Ra!