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My Barri story is truly amazing.  In 2004, back in another lifetime, when my days were spent recruiting CPA’s and college students (blech), I was knee deep in fall recruitment on a tour of Florida’s top campuses, namely, the #1 Accounting school in the state, UF.  (Go Gators!)  The day was a parade of one Accounting student after another, and halfway through the day, this tall, beautiful, amazing young woman walks up to me and we start to chat, and the rest, we shall say, was history.  Barri came by to discuss her future career, caught between the top echilon pressure of whether to go Big 4 or choose quality of life, for her first step into career world.  I know we stood there and talked for hours, but remember little else.  The world went away, and Barri and I knew we had just established a friendship that would take us years into the future, we just didn’t know how.

When I recruited her (heavily) for an internship for my firm (which she so politely turned down – to hit the big city lights of Big 4 world), she asked me if her sister, Tracy, could come along for the interview.  (I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone else’s sister on an interview).  Enter – Tracy.  Tracy had a little girl named Taylor, and we all stood out there on the sidewalk, even Taylor!

As time went on, Barri of course went to work for Big 4, and her career path was on its way, and who knew – that a few years later, I would be a Cantor!  It didn’t seem we had much opportunity for mentoring with the way our lives were going – till Barri found Dan.  She called me one day – just to tell me she met a boy, and she was in love, and when he asked her to marry him – she emailed me right away.  Our lives were going to cross paths again, in the most wonderful way!

Several years ago, Barri lost her Mom.  Her sister, Tracy and I were both in the same fields, and Tracy and Jamie are older than Barri.  The last thing Barri needed was a mother-figure, she already had 2 older, doting sisters, but I loved Barri – and Tracy, in a way that was so much more than friends.  I still to this day can’t describe it – but I feel like one of my jobs in life, was to be in the Litt ladies’ lives – and so here I am – to stay.

November 21, 2009, Barri walked down the aisle at the Embassy Suites Oceanfront pavilion, in one of the most beautiful ceremonies I’ve ever seen.  Everything this was perfect.  Especially Dan.  If you told me to go out into the world, and pick the absolutely BEST man for Barri, I couldn’t have done a better job.  They are one body, one soul.  I fell in love with Dan, watching him love Barri.  I adore the both of them, and I know she is in the best hands, ever.

The wedding party was incredible – not your every day wedding reception, Tracy and Jamie both sang a song for Barri, that was so beautiful, and then ALL the Litt girls and Barri’s girls got up and rocked with the band.  The funniest was when Dan and his boys got up, and gave it a go.  It was quite a battle of the boy – and girl bands!

But words cannot describe my pride and joy for being asked to stand in my very special spot – as the person responsible for joining Dan and Barri in marriage, nor will I ever forget the moment that Barri – my favorite little Litt lady – became…

…..Mrs. Barri White!

Dan, Barri, Tracy, and Jamie – I love you!

Deb

But what also made these couples very special was how creative they both were in planning their weddings. There were differences that I just loved, and made them so much fun to reflect back on.

First, Bevin and Brian are diehard Canes fans, so it was no surprise when they chose to include the sand ceremony, and had individual bottles of sand with their initials on them, filled with orange and green sand!

But what made Bevin’s wedding so unique was that Brian’s mom hand made the bride’s bouquet, as well as the bridesmaid’s, and the groomsmen’s boutonnieres out of beaded jewels and fibers. They were stunning!

Elaine and Larry’s wedding was completely unique – they did an amazing job of planning, but incorporated some really fun, lighthearted aspects into the night. The scary part was, they put their wedding rings in a treasure chest, and buried them in the sand right near the chuppa. I lost sleep over this for days, and even though they marked the spot with a wooden “x”, it still gave us a scare when their little ring bearers couldn’t find the chest, even though they were digging frantically with their shovels. WHEW, were we relieved when they found those rings!

My favorite part of a west coast beach wedding, though, is something money can’t buy. The west Florida sunsets are beyond beautiful, and I had so much fun capturing the coastline.

But, the coolest part of the wedding, was that after they were pronounced, we all lined up with sparklers, and formed 2 lines on either side, and they came running up from the beach, and through the line of sparklers, just as the sun was setting, and it was just so beautiful, lively, and unique!

My awesome couples are now celebrating on their honeymoons, and the certificates are filed, but the love and joy in my heart is still so strong for them both. Thanks for the awesome memories, and the really great Marriott weekend, everyone!

P.S. BIG shout out to Alexina at the Marriott Biscayne Bay, and to Jacey Wood at the Marriott Marco Island. Both operations were first class, and I especially loved how totally in control Alexina was and had every detail covered before I even asked for anything. Great job, ladies! You are true professionals!

Also – I really loved working with Lisette, the photographer for Bevin & Brian’s wedding – she’s a sweetheart, and her work is just so yummy!

Soo – off to Islamorada on Saturday for Cheryl & Prav’s Jewish-Hindu wedding extravaganza!  See you next week!

I love a day that starts with a wedding, and Saturday was no exception! Matthew and Valeria were married at the Juno Beach Park, in a private beach ceremony with their closest friends surrounding them. The weather on Saturday was stormy, and I was really concerned, driving to Juno, but it managed to hold off, just long enough for us to have their ceremony on the beach…but, no sooner was that ceremony over, the rains re-appeared! We were so thankful for serendipitous timing!

Their ceremony was simple. I have a special ceremony that I use for beach weddings, that is much nicer than a “civil” ceremony, but nothing close to the elaborate religious style weddings I so often perform. Their friend read the Apache Wedding Blessing, and it was simple, and fun!

Later that night, I married Ronni & Maude, at the top deck of the Viceroy Hotel, in downtown Miami (Brickell Key). The view was magnificent, and again, it was a small intimate wedding – just a few friends, and a beautiful photo location! Wow, that hotel is amazing!

I love a weekend that is full of love!

B’Shalom!

This morning, on Fort Lauderdale Beach, I had the pleasure of joining Kristin & Wendy together in their commitment to becoming life long partners.

Kristin & Wendy are beautiful women. I had just put a new advertisement out, and Kristin responded the following day. She and Wendy lived in Kentucky, and they were raising Wendy’s son, Cody, and they were coming to Fort Lauderdale for a week. They wanted someone who was spiritual, but not into all the fru-fru stuff, and they found me. Since they didn’t live in Florida, they really needed someone they could count on to make some other arrangements, as well – namely, line up a photographer, and some flowers.

So, the first phone call I made was to my friend, Desiree Wilcox, who, even though she was 8 months pregnant, immediately agreed to photograph the ceremony at 7:30 in the morning! Then, I wanted to buy the flowers from a gay-owned business, so I called Bobby at Petals Panache in Wilton Manors. Bobby did such a great job with the flowers, arranged to open the shop on Sunday so I could pick them up, and his willingness to go above and beyond for a relatively small order was so appreciated. And, the flowers were beautiful! He put just the right touch to the flowers, elegant, but not “wedding-y”. Thanks, Bobby!

So, we all met on the beach, and found the perfect spot. Right there, near Las Olas, was a little carve out, with a few trees surrounding us, and just enough room for us to stand inside. The sun was still coming up over the ocean, there was a beautiful breeze, and it was perfect. We included a sand ceremony, which came out beautifully. Kristin didn’t want rainbow colors, so I chose a cranberry and lime green color sand, then gave Cody a cup of sand from Ft. Lauderdale beach. The 3 of them combined their sand together to make a beautiful sand sculpture in a glass jar, and I hope they get it home the same way it looked when we were finished!

Afterwards, Desiree burned them a CD right on the spot, so they could take the pictures of their ceremony with them right away. It was a beautiful ceremony, and I am so honored to have been part of it. I’m so happy to be able to officiate a ceremony like this. To me, it doesn’t matter who you are, man or woman. When you love someone, you love them. You want to honor that love in a respectful, beautiful way, and i believe that everyone should have someone who truly cares about them officiate their ceremony.

I hope it was a memorable experience for them. Kristin & Wendy, you are both very special, and I thank you for including me in your special day!