Sample No. 0063
A Persian-Jewish Wedding in Florida Blends Tradition, Soft Pink Florals and a Lively Dance Floor
Victoria and Jake paired a Sofreh Aghd with a Jewish ceremony, then brought their cultures together through thoughtful design, music and celebration.
Victoria and Jake’s wedding at JW Marriott Grande Lakes in Florida was built around a clear idea: let Persian and Jewish traditions sit side by side, and give guests a celebration that felt joyful rather than formal. The day moved from a traditional Sofreh Aghd to a Jewish ceremony under a chuppah, then into a reception shaped by Persian music, a packed dance floor and a soft pink design.
Personal details carried the story throughout: pomegranates appeared on the invitations and ketubah, custom kippahs reflected the couple’s Jewish heritage, and three flags featured in a reception dance. The meaning came from the couple’s choices, not from asking either tradition to recede. A sudden Florida rainstorm changed their ceremony setup less than an hour before it began, but the vendor team rebuilt the plan indoors and helped create a moment the couple remembers as even more meaningful.
A resort chosen for guests as well as the couple
Victoria and Jake chose the JW Marriott Grande Lakes because it offered the combination they wanted: attentive service, room for guests to enjoy the resort, and a location near a major airport. Family and friends were flying in from across the country, so convenient travel mattered. The expansive property also gave guests the option of privacy while still making resort amenities part of the wedding weekend.
For couples planning a gathering with travelers arriving from different places, their priorities offer a useful lens for venue decisions: consider the guest experience across the whole weekend, not just the ceremony and reception spaces. Victoria described the venue staff as professional and dedicated to the details.
One pink palette, with room for texture
The design centered on soft, monochromatic pinks. Victoria wanted an all-pink wedding that felt romantic and sophisticated, so the palette depended on varied shades and materials rather than a single flat color. Florals, linens and lighting were planned to work together, giving the look cohesion while keeping it modern.
Planner Carly Magnarella of Carlisha Rose Events helped shape the design and guide the cultural fusion. Victoria says Carly’s experience with fusion weddings made her feel confident that both backgrounds would be honored with care. That planning relationship helped connect the visual details with the meaning behind the ceremony.
Pomegranates were a recurring motif, chosen for their significance in Persian and Jewish traditions and their associations with abundance and prosperity. The couple also had custom-designed kippahs. Each detail was selected to share something of their heritage and the life they were beginning together.
Paper goods that introduced the weekend
Jamie Lee of The Moxie Workshop designed the invitations, signage and day-of stationery, including custom napkins. The paper details followed the pink palette while adding personality, and helped establish the celebration’s tone from the first invitation onward.
For couples choosing stationery, this is a way to make a theme feel present without relying on one repeated symbol everywhere. Victoria and Jake connected the visual style across different pieces, while using the pomegranates to carry cultural meaning.
Two dresses and a dramatic veil
For the ceremony, Victoria wore a custom ball gown by Dina Hawidi of Arlington, Texas. She had followed Hawidi’s work for years, drawn to the intricate beadwork, craftsmanship and dramatic silhouettes. The gown reflected the grandeur Victoria associated with Middle Eastern bridal fashion.
Her reception dress came from a very different kind of decision. During a Dallas shopping trip with her mother, mother-in-law and maid of honor, she tried on a Blanche gown at Iconic Bride. The drop-corset mermaid silhouette immediately felt right to the group, making it an easy choice for the evening.
Hawidi also designed Victoria’s veil. Its detailed, elegant look matched her vision, though she recalls that it was surprisingly heavy. For shoes, after a long search, she found the Sarah Flint Perfect Sling 85, a classic style she felt was comfortable and suited the overall look.
For beauty, makeup artist Liz Santana created polished makeup and Hollywood waves. Victoria wanted a more elevated, dramatic look and says Santana understood how to achieve that while still enhancing her natural features.
Bridesmaids had more choice in their outfits. The couple selected a coordinated color palette and used Dessy, allowing each person to choose a dress style that felt comfortable while keeping the group visually connected. It’s a practical way to balance a shared look with individual preferences.
A ceremony plan adapted in under an hour
The couple had planned to hold the ceremony beneath an existing outdoor pergola. Their Sofreh Aghd would sit in front of them, and Jake’s tallit would be draped over the pergola to create the chuppah. A classic Florida rainstorm arrived less than an hour before the ceremony, forcing the team to move the setup indoors and rethink the arrangement.
Floral arrangements, the ketubah, signage, the Sofreh Aghd and other ceremony details all needed to be relocated. The production team at FyerFly built a chuppah from scratch, finding materials around the venue and working through the new setup in real time.
The couple’s ceremony began with the Persian Sofreh Aghd, a table featuring symbolic elements associated with love, prosperity, health and a joyful marriage. They then held their Jewish ceremony beneath the chuppah, which represents the home they would build together. The order let each tradition have its own place while making the ceremony feel like one shared expression of their relationship.
The revised structure wasn’t the design they had first imagined. But Victoria says seeing the team’s effort made the moment more significant. Their experience is a reminder to build a little flexibility into an event plan: an unexpected change can reshape the setting, while the meaning and sequence of the ceremony remain at its heart.
The ketubah was another meaningful design choice. The couple saw it as both a marriage document and an artwork that would become part of their home. After months of searching, they found a pink design decorated with pomegranates. It tied into the wedding palette and echoed a symbol important to both backgrounds. Victoria says she had nearly left it too late to have a custom ketubah made, a useful nudge for couples to give personal paper pieces enough lead time.
Flowers, food and a dance floor across generations
Florist Sarah Leung of Flower Girl Designs carried the blush palette through pink baby’s breath, roses and hydrangeas. Both Victoria and Jake carried pink calla lilies, adding a modern note. The range of pink shades kept the arrangements from feeling too sweet or uniform. Guests also noticed the scent of the flowers throughout the reception.
Catering came from JW Marriott Grande Lakes. Dinner offered guests a choice of beef tenderloin or salmon. Dessert was a five-tier blush pink cake with traditional piping, discreet bows and two swans on top. Its vanilla layers were filled with lemon curd and raspberry, then finished with fresh fruit for a lighter balance.
Music helped define the reception. Victoria and Jake wanted the room to feel like a lively Middle Eastern beach club, welcoming to everyone and built for dancing. The wedding party entered to “Bigharar,” a Persian classic by Moein, carrying American, Israeli and Persian flags. The moment reflected the identities and family histories the couple wanted to honor.
The couple brought their DJ and entertainment team from Toronto. DJ Borhan, a drummer and an MC combined Persian hits, the Hora and familiar 2000s songs, helping keep different generations on the dance floor. During the reception, Victoria and Jake also danced with the flags, describing the moment as an expression of love, pride and connection.
Photography and a honeymoon shaped by tradition
Photography was a priority, and the choice followed an earlier milestone: Vadim Pastuh had photographed the couple’s engagement session in Lake Como, Italy, in November 2024. He and his wife traveled from Europe to photograph the wedding, giving Victoria and Jake continuity between their engagement and wedding pictures. Pastuh has been named World’s Best Photographer in 2025, recognized among Europe’s Top 20 Wedding Photographers and featured in Vogue.
For their honeymoon, the couple traveled to Morocco. Their first night fell during Passover, and a connection Jake had made with a rabbi after moving to DC led to an invitation to join a local family hosting Jewish travelers for a Seder. Sharing the meal with people they had just met became a memorable beginning to the trip.
The couple’s advice: leave room for the day to change
Victoria’s advice is to release the pressure of a perfect wedding, including pressure about appearance or weight. She remembers spending months worrying about the last few pounds and wishing she had spent more of that time enjoying the process.
She also recommends accepting that some details may shift. A microphone may fail, signage may not land exactly where planned, or weather may require a different ceremony setup. The rain changed their plans, but it didn’t erase the Sofreh Aghd, the chuppah or the vows they shared. Guests, she says, are more likely to remember the love between the couple than a small detail that went awry.
Victoria and Jake registered at Bloomingdales and Williams Sonoma. Their celebration’s lasting lesson is just as practical: choose the traditions and details that feel true to you, and give the people around you room to help when the plan changes.
Victoria and Jake’s vendor list
Photography: Vadim Pastuh
Venue and catering: JW Marriott Grande Lakes
Planner: Carlisha Rose Events
Bride’s ceremony dress and veil: Dina Hawidi
Bride’s reception dress: Iconic Bride
Bride’s shoes: Sarah Flint
Bridesmaids: Dessy
Hair and makeup: Liz Santana
Flowers: Flower Girl Designs
DJ: DJ Borhan
Production: FyerFly
Stationery and invitations: The Moxie Workshop
Registry: Bloomingdales and Williams Sonoma
