Real Wedding: Alissa & Aaron
Alissa Cohen was frustrated. She’d just gotten the most romantic proposal she could imagine. During the years she had been dating Aaron Mandell, he’d communicated a number of important messages on postcards from Paris. He’d written on one to tell Alissa he loved her for the first time. He’d used a postcard to ask Alissa to move in with him. And now he’d given her another postcard telling her how much he loved her before asking her to marry him on a deserted Nantucket beach. She had never been so happy. But she wanted to tell her parents and her sister the wonderful news, and though she’d called and called, she couldn’t reach them before it was time to head to dinner. When they entered the restaurant, however, Alissa’s frustration immediately disappeared when she saw both their families grinning at them in a private dining room. Aaron had planned the whole thing.
You could say Aaron has a knack for surprising Alissa. (He swept her off to Paris a few weeks after he proposed to celebrate her 30th birthday.) But the night they met, on a blind date set up by two matchmaking friends, Aaron was the one who was surprised. He had never seen a more beautiful girl, and he was amazed by how much they had in common. That first conversation never slowed down, and six years later, Alissa and Aaron are still finding things in common.
One similarity is their love for Cape Cod and The Islands. Aaron grew up spending summers on Nantucket, while Alissa and her family spent summer holidays on the Cape. There was no question that a wedding celebration near the water was in order, but they weren’t sure whether to choose Nantucket or the Cape. A visit to the Willowbend Country Club in Mashpee settled the question — Aaron and Alissa both fell in love with the beautiful outdoor spaces and rustic red barn on the site.
Alissa took an active role in wedding planning, enlisting help to ensure that things went smoothly for the big day, but doing most of the preliminary wedding planning herself. Her efforts resulted in a ceremony full of personal touches. Alissa carried a family Bible and a picture of her beloved late uncle down the aisle along with her bouquet. Instead of a pillow, the ring bearer carried the couple’s rings tied to a bamboo fishing pole. Per Alissa's father's request, Aaron’s father acted as the ceremony’s rabbi — a doctor in his professional life, Mr. Mandell had studied to get a one-day certification to perform the couple’s marriage rite. Alissa and Aaron wrote their own vows, reading them aloud to each other during the ceremony.
At the reception, they performed a choreographed first dance to “Right Round” by Flo Rida — a surprise for their guests that they’d prepared with lessons from Extreme Dancesport in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
The couple also celebrated with their guests at a cocktail party before the wedding, allowing the actual ceremony to take place after sundown on Saturday in keeping with Jewish tradition. The dual celebration also gave Alissa the opportunity to splurge on two wedding dresses: a shorter Vera Wang dress for the cocktail party and a full-length Vera Wang gown for the wedding and reception.
Aaron also had one more surprise for Alissa. Knowing his bride’s penchant for fireworks, Aaron plotted a terrific fireworks display to take place during the reception. Alissa was stunned and delighted.
“I got him monogrammed silver cufflinks and a monogrammed silver belt buckle from Tiffany,” Alissa says. “I guess you could say he won in that department!”
Alissa & Aarons' Advice
1) Be as hands ~ on as you want to be in your planning process. You can either leave everything to your wedding planner or take on much of the work ~ whatever makes you happiest!
2) It’s ok to be nontraditional! We did a dance to a popular hip ~ hop song at our wedding. Totally unexpected, but our guests loved it and we had a great time!
{Other Professionals}
Calligraphy: Celebrations of Cape Cod
Coordination: Firm Affairs
Entertainment: Joey Scott & The connection
Event Rentals: Table Toppers, Boston Photobooths
Floral Design: Winston Flowers
Hair & Makeup: Salon Capri, Bobbi Brown