Weddingbee Blog

On Friday morning, I woke up early and ran down the street for my wedding waxing. Soon after that, I met Mr. Hermit Crab’s mom and sister for manis and pedis, and my mom joined us shortly after. Mr. Hermit Crab had to finish up some work so he could rest easy through the weekend and then on our honeymoon, so he was out for most of the day. We had lunch with some of my friends, and then everyone got ready for the evening.

Friday night was incredibly special to us. Mr. Hermit Crab and I had both attended NYU, and we had gotten very close through our involvement with the NYU Hillel, housed at the Bronfman Center. We spent nearly every Friday night there for several years, for Shabbat (Sabbath, in Hebrew—the day of rest beginning at sundown on Friday evening and ending an hour after sundown on Saturday evening) evening services followed by dinner. We wanted to share this favorite memory and experience with our close families and we decided this would be the perfect way to kick off our wedding weekend. I apologize in advance for not having too many pictures of this night, especially of the service or the details but hopefully my words will be descriptive!

We began the evening on the second floor of the Bronfman Center where I led the first part of services (Kabbalat Shabbat), and Mr. HC led the second (Maariv).

This was a special moment for me because I have worked hard over the last few years to learn this part of the service, and I was so excited to share it with our families. After services, which lasted about an hour, we headed to the first floor for a delicious Shabbat dinner.

Here is a little glimpse of our whole group—it was about 30 people in all—our parents, siblings and aunts and uncles. Although unintended, it was a great way to celebrate our wedding with our close family members, as our group only increased in size as the weekend progressed and we had less time for individual people!

The Hermit Crabs and my sisters

My sisters and my brother in law

The Hermit Crabs and Mr. HC’s sister and her boyfriend

The almost-there-totally-excited-can’t-believe-it’s-finally-here-Hermit Crabs

Mama Hermit Crab and me

One aspect of Friday night was that we were able to see our Chuppah cover for the first time. My wonderful aunt hand stitched the entire thing for us, and included in the middle “Ani l’dodi v’dodi li” in Hebrew letters which means “I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine,” which is a traditional Jewish wedding phrase, and also engraved inside our rings. The chuppah is now hanging on a wall in our apartment, but we intend to have it become a family memento as other close family members get married and use it in their weddings. My aunt is going to embroider the names and dates of everyone who uses it.

Revealing our chuppah for everyone to see. It’s so hard to see the details in this picture, but I hope you get the idea of it!

Though we could hardly believe our wedding weekend had finally arrived, Friday night flew by before we knew it. It truly was a great way to kick off the weekend—a throwback to the beginning of our relationship, and some quality time with our close family members.

Hermit Crab wedding tip #1: If at all possible, ease into your wedding weekend by spending time with small groups of people—it may be the only quality time you get to spend with them!

Up next, Saturday rolls around and I hang out with some bees…but don’t worry, I didn’t get stung!

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Check out the Hermit Crab Honeymoon in Croatia!

• Part 1: Zagreb and Istria
• Part 2: Plitvice Lakes and Zadar
• Part 3: Split and Dubrovnik