Surprise! This Bride and Groom Shocked Guests When They Turned Their Engagement Party Into Their Wedding
1/36Because our wedding was a surprise, I got to Pauline Brown’s house in the morning to get ready and Jordy was with my mom. We were still dressed in our “engagement party” attire and this photo is the first time we saw each other at the location before the big event started.
2/36This photo was taken during the first hour and a half of the party—still the engagement party part of our event. Jordy and I are spending time with our friends, definitely getting anxious and excited that in the next hour, we will be getting married.
3/36We didn’t want to be too “obvious” and “too wedding-like,” but we did want to have memories and notes from the event. Instead of having a photo booth, we opted for a selfie station where guests could take photos of themselves and write us little notes. This album is now such a treasure of memories from the event and it was fun to read them the next day.
4/36Jordy and his boys. Even though no one knew this was a wedding, somehow the guys sort of matched.
5/36Our rings. I love rose gold and Jordy opted for a silver band.
6/36People always say that when you find the right dress, you will know. I don’t know if I believed it, but when I tried on this Oscar de la Renta dress, I knew it was the one.
7/36My grandmother, who was the person I was closest to in the world, passed away three years ago and I wanted to feel like she was there. I carried a locket with her photo and the words “You are always in my heart.”
8/36Jan from Rossano Ferretti graciously agreed to do my hair.
9/36Jan adding some small flowers to my hair.
10/36About an hour and a half into the event, guests were invited to listen to live classical music. During that time, Jordy and I escaped to get ready. This is Jordy changing into his Hugo Boss dark navy suit.
11/36This is me with Jordy’s sister Nicki and her husband, Dan. Jordy’s sister is a rabbi and we were so honored she married us.
12/36Right before the big moment, coming down the stairs to see my mom for the first time and walk down the aisle.
13/36This is when I think it finally dawned on me that I am actually getting married. This is moments before my mom would walk into the room and we would walk down the aisle.
14/36We kept the wedding a surprise. Everyone thought they were coming to an engagement party. Even my mom! This moment completely captures the moment when my mom learned it was actually a wedding and I was so happy she was by my side. I have so much love and admiration for my mom—she and my grandmother raised my sister and me by themselves. She moved us to America and has always been there for us in our lives.
15/36After the first hour of cocktails and hors d’oeuvres, guests gathered to hear a live performance by two violinists and a guitar player. After a few songs, the performers played Mendelssohn’s processional revealing to the guests the true nature of the event. We wanted everyone to have a glass of Champagne during the ceremony, so waitstaff came out with trays of Champagne and pouches of rose petals for guests to toss after the ceremony.
16/36After the first hour of cocktails and hors d’oeuvres, guests gathered to hear the live performance of two violinists and a guitar player. The performers played “A Thousand Years” as we walked down the aisle.
17/36The wedding ceremony at the home of Pauline in Manhasset.
18/36We wanted our friends and family to be there when we signed our marriage license and ketubah, so we did the signing during the ceremony.
19/36First kiss as Mr. and Mrs. Leiser!
20/36Walking down the aisle as a married couple while attendees throw rose petals, all to “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” playing by live performers.
21/36Us, right after the ceremony.
22/36Table settings for the luncheon to celebrate the big event.
23/36I love flowers, and it was important to me to have a lot of flower arrangements at the event and ceremony.
24/36We opted to have a day event (although, festivities continued well into the night), so we wanted the setting to be light and casual.
25/36Here we are thanking the guests for coming and being part of our surprise.
26/36Me with Jordy’s mom, Janie, after she read a beautiful poem she wrote for an engagement party and masterfully turned into a wedding toast. I cannot imagine a better mother-in-law. I feel so welcomed and loved by Jordy’s family.
27/36For the first course, guests had local burrata and heirloom tomatoes.
28/36Our first dance!
29/36The whole day felt surreal!
30/36We wanted to make sure that we had a band that could get people dancing during the daytime. Our band definitely succeeded at that. Here, from left to right, Jordy’s mom, Janie, and stepdad, Bernie; me; and our friends Anne and Kristina. Everyone was dancing!
31/36Jordy inviting my mom, Janna, to dance.
32/36The band did an amazing job getting everyone on the dance floor.
33/36No Jewish wedding is complete without the hora (even an unplanned one).
34/36. . . and, of course, a bouquet toss. Even though we decided to throw a surprise wedding, it was still important to us to keep certain traditional elements: walking down the aisle, saying our vows in front of our closest family and friends, and a bouquet toss was one of them for me. Probably because of the influence of movies, the bouquet toss felt like a must-do. Here, one of my oldest friends, Elena, has just caught it.
35/36In July, Jordy and I were in Germany for our friends’ John and Lara’s wedding and got to hear a band called Goodbeats. Some of our friends were there, too. We all loved this band so much that we joked around that we should fly them to New York for a party sometime. When we decided to plan a wedding in three weeks, we knew that they would be an amazing addition. They could get the dance party started at 3:00 p.m. in the afternoon. And, they did just that!
36/36We are so lucky to have had so many people fly in from all around the world for our engagement party (aka our surprise wedding). A “camp photo” of the entire group was a perfect way to capture the day!
