The Best Wedding Planner Ever

By Avraham Dimenstein

So you want to know how we managed to pull off a wedding at Falkirk Estates near Monsey, when we live in Los Angeles? Sure, our son- Shimon, daughter in law- Kayla, and her parents the Klein family helped out. They live locally in Manhattan and Kew Garden Hills respectively. But we never could have pulled it off without the help of our wedding planner. 

Every time a fiasco was lurking, and there were plenty of them, our wedding planner used his connections to iron things out. The first near fiasco was at Bear Mountain Lodge, where the “Aufruf” was held. The hotel wanted $7000 for use of the refrigerator.  The food was pre-cooked, and we did not need access to the kitchen itself. So, my son bought some ice boxes to hold the salads overnight. My wife was having visions of all of us and the guests getting food poisoning and throwing up during the wedding the next day.  Hillel, the mashgiach, realized that the salads for 55 people couldn’t be contained in two ice boxes, so he contacted the wedding planner. Poof! The hotel changed their minds and decided to let us have the refrigerator for free.

The next near fiasco was with the beautiful paper cut “Ketuva” we ordered months in advance. Apparently, nobody contacted the artist with the address of where to send the “Ketuva” to, so she never mailed it out. Kayla is an accountant, and she has spreadsheets for everything. About 1 ½ weeks before the wedding she noticed the “Katuva” was not checked off. The artist was contacted, and the artist sent it UPS priority to the Klein’s home. It arrived Friday afternoon at 5:30 PM before the Sunday wedding. Thank you wedding planner!

Then there was the near fiasco with my tuxedo. I like my waist loose, so I didn’t take in the waist. Nobody told me tuxedos don’t have belt hoops. So here I was at the wedding holding my pants up with my two thumbs. My nephew- Elliott, arrived without a “Kippah” I asked my cousin Efraim if he could lend Elliott his “Kippah”, since he was wearing a hat. Efraim suggested he get a spare “kippah” he had in the car instead. As a joke I asked him if he had brought along any spare suspenders, and he responded that he had! He just bought a pair of rainbow-colored suspenders to use as part of his wedding “shtick”. Another fiasco averted by our wedding planner.

So, you want to know what was his fee? Nothing! But He does demand a great deal of dedication. Davening three times per day, Shabbas guests, and He wants us to trust in him. In the end He always comes through.