Newlyweds Abby Nicholson, the preventative director for Hope & Help of Central Florida, and Rachel Silverman, an assistant professor at Embry Riddle, recently tied the knot after six years together. They met in Tampa while Rachel was finishing her PhD.
“We met at a Halcyon concert, and we had mutual friends,” says Abby Nicholson. “I proceeded to very politely stalk Rachel and convince her she should give me the time of day.”
The two blushing brides tried to keep their big day as in-touch with their Jewish roots as possible.
“We did do a pretty traditional Jewish ceremony with a few tweaks, obviously, built in,” Abby says. “It was actually kind of fun because as a result, we got to write our own ceremony… We wanted a huppah, to do the circling, we wanted to do the seven blessings, smash the glasses and do all these traditional things, but everything was so ‘bride-groom’ whenever we researched it.
“So we kind of got to design it ourselves. We both smashed the glass at the end of the ceremony. Instead of one person circling the other, we each circled each other three times and then did a final circle together. And the wording, we did our own rendition of the seven blessings, which our sisters—we each have a sister—got up and read for us.”
Both say their favorite part of their wedding was being able to have a sweetheart table, because they were able see all their wedding guests and watch how much fun they were having. The couple did the Horah, and both were lifted up on chairs by exuberant, dancing guests.
“Prior to the ceremony, we signed our ketubah… We scrolled through a lot of the language to find the language that we liked and requested that it be ‘bride and bride.’ It was very much a very traditional Jewish wedding,” Rachel says.
Both women agreed that it wasn’t just their wedding day that they enjoyed and loved, but the entire weekend.
“It was a whole weekend thing,” Rachel says. “We had friends over for dinner Thursday night. We had a rehearsal dinner Friday night. There was a brunch on Sunday. It just felt like a whole weekend full of people that we love.”
So what’s next for Abby and Rachel?
This summer the happy couple will keep the romance going on their honeymoon in Italy.
WEDDING DATE:
Feb. 21, 2015
WEDDING VENUE:
The Acre in Orlando
WEDDING PLANNER:
Abby planned a lot of the wedding, plus there was a day-of coordinator who helped.
WEDDING CATERER:
4Rivers Smokehouse
WEDDING FLORIST:
Porch Therapy from East End Market
WEDDING THEME/COLORS:
“Old Southern Chic”
INTERESTING FACT:
Rachel’s brother, Matthew, married them.
