Real Wedding: Rachel & David
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Rachel Avan doesn’t like banana bread, but she didn’t confess that fact to David Chmielewski until they had been dating for a number of years.
In the spirit of friendly roommate reconciliation, David baked a loaf of banana bread for Rachel the first time they met, when they became unexpected housemates and David borrowed Rachel’s room during a short renovation before she moved in. Rachel, who heard the news from the landlord the day before she was planning to move in, left a very firm message on David’s answering machine to let him know she was planning to assume possession of her room, and, eager to smooth things over with his new roommate, he baked her a welcome-home loaf of banana bread. A few days later, he invited her out to lunch, and they ended up talking until the wee hours of the morning. Rachel might not have been crazy about David’s banana bread, but it quickly became obvious that they were crazy about each other. They made their relationship work through years of being in different
cities — while David attended medical school and Rachel studied law — and in the early days of their careers. Finally, they ended up together in New York.
Rachel came home on the seventh night of Hanukkah exhausted after a busy evening with clients, but David insisted they stick with their plan to celebrate every night of Hanukkah that year. He lit the candles, and Rachel opened her gift — a thin rectangle that turned out to be an envelope. Curious, she opened the envelope and found a printout from a design-your-own-ring website. Puzzled, she looked at David, who had gotten down on one knee. She looked back at the paper and saw that he’d written “Will you marry me?” “I don’t think I stopped smiling for a month,” says Rachel, who was excited about the prospect of choosing her own ring. “It was the perfect moment.”
Rachel is from Miami, but David had taught her to love the laid-back charms of Martha’s Vineyard during their time together, and they knew the Vineyard would be the perfect place to celebrate their wedding. Choosing the exact location was easy, too, since Rachel and David had enjoyed a romantic dinner at The Beach Plum Inn a few years earlier to celebrate Rachel’s birthday and her successful completion of her first year of law school. Looking out over the gorgeous grounds and enjoying a glass of wine, Rachel and David agreed the Inn would be the perfect place to get married. It was just the right size for the intimate wedding they imagined.
Rachel had always dreamed of planning her wedding, though she’d never envisioned exactly what she wanted for the ceremony, and she dived into the planning process with gusto. She browsed fabric stores for samples to give her vendors a sense of her style and settled on a palette of rich blues and greens inspired by the outdoors and the ocean, knowing the colors were David’s favorites, too. Rachel spent a lot of time with her vendors putting together the details, and her efforts paid off: Everything about the wedding celebration came together perfectly, from the storm breaking just before the ceremony to David’s Grandpa Saul saying the Shevah Brachot with the couple under the huppa, right down to the marshmallow roast at The Beach Plum that followed the reception.
As for the food, there was no banana bread in sight. Guests celebrated with a lemon chiffon cake layered with white chocolate-lemon mousse and raspberry jam that was so exquisitely crafted that guests asked Rachel if it was real. The delectable cake did have one thing in common with David’s long-ago banana bread, though: It marked the beginning of something special.
Rachel & David's Advice
1) Choose vendors that you trust and ask them for recommendations. They can suggest people whom they have relationships with and save you a lot of time.
2) Take a moment on the big day to really appreciate the fruits of your labor. Seeing all the details you planned come together gives you a real sense of accomplishment.
{Other Professionals}
Accommodations: Hob Knob Inn
Entertainment: Eric Johnson
Invitations: Bella Figura