Day 35: Los Angeles, CA

We got up, had a quick breakfast, and went with Arielle’s parents to Blazing Saddles. Arielle worked at this spin studio six years ago when she lived in LA, and her parents go back almost every week for a spin class. We ran into Jessie, a good friend who moved to London less than a week after she attended our wedding and just moved back! There were only a few other people in the class, taught by Maxi, who said that we had someone in the class used to weaving between cars in Manhattan (that would be Abe). It was quite an intense class that gave us a great workout. We drove a few blocks to Fresh Brothers, a pizza place that now offers cauliflower crust. We ordered one medium mushroom pie and one medium plain cheese pie. They were both great and served as more than adequate substitutes for typical bread.

We made our regular run to Coffee Bean and returned home with just a bit of time to get ready for the wedding. We drove to the Sportsmen’s Lodge in Studio City, where we immediately located our table card so that we could store our giant vault of shtick materials at our seats. Arielle went to greet Lisa at the bedeken and cried when Lisa gave her a blessing then walked over to join Abe and the men as the only woman at the tish for Michael, which was led by Rabbi Ed Feinstein, who jokingly prodded Michael to actually say something in his d’var Torah while hushing the crowd after repeated bursts of song he himself incited. Michael was danced out to Lisa before the ceremony, which took place outside. Arielle was honored with signing the marriage license, and despite practicing writing out her full name (in English), she ended up just signing it with her first and last name as her hands trembled. Rabbi Feinstein also created a wonderful moment by affirming that, as their parents blessed them, Lisa and Michael were no longer just descendants but also the architects of their own family. We scored great seats near the front with our friends Ross and David, Abe’s roommate from Florence, Lisa’s law school colleague, and Arielle’s “New Lisa” when she moved back to LA.

It was a spirited, thoughtful, and intentional ceremony, and Lisa’s college a cappella group, the Shabbatones, sang her down the aisle. Arielle was excited that Lisa chose to circle Michael seven times, the traditional way that we now rarely see at weddings we attend but which is also what we did at our wedding. It was very obvious that they tried to honor as many people as possible with the sheva brachot, which was very nice. Rabbi Feinstein made Lisa very happy when he started singing the melody for the seventh blessing after her grandparents had said it under the chuppah. After they were danced out, we made our way inside to the reception after grabbing a quick picture with our friends Ilana and Andrea!

We joined our LA friends Shiri, Yoni, Shani, Edan, Phil, Sydni, and fellow visitors Leah and Alex at Table #2, in between Penn friends at Table #1 and Cardozo friends at Table #3. We liked the long dais-table that Lisa and Michael were sitting at along with all of their immediate family members, a very sweet touch. The hora got off to an exciting start, and, after Lisa and Michael were lifted up on chairs, at seemingly very different heights, it was time for shtick. Arielle and Abe had been appointed “rosh shtick,” so we had reached out ahead of time to groups of Lisa and Michael’s friends to advise them about preparing signs and other entertainment for the happy couple. It all went by very quickly, and a plethora of people going up to make the bride and groom smile and laugh meant that we barely got in all the things we had prepared. The highlight was definitely David wearing a curly brown wig that looked nothing like Lisa’s hair, and when Lisa finally realized what the giant Bartenura Moscato bottle was. The dancing started right back up, but Lisa’s brother Adam kept making sure that Lisa and Michael saw the shtick that was still being flashed in the background. For dinner, there were alternating salads options, one of which Abe was fortunate enough to get without dressing. Abe got the stuffed chicken, and Arielle got the salmon. We danced the night away and got great pictures with the following friends: Rachel and Jordan, Ilana, our table, David and Ross, David and Lisa, Rachel, Arielle’s high school classmates, and, of course, the bride and groom!

We were honored to sing the sixth of the seven blessings during the Birkat Hamazon (grace after meals), and of course stayed to close up the joint, departing around 1am after Abe had some trouble finding the car because it was parked in a different lot and the gates had already been locked. What a blast though, and with almost no L.A. traffic in the middle of the night, it only took us fifteen minutes to get home and pass out right away after a fantastic night.

Approximate number of miles covered: 18