WEDDING IDEAS

Adeena and Josh’s wedding featured a subdued palette, with brilliant tropical-hued flowers providing pops of color. The bridesmaids were a cool contrast in pale-blue silk faille dresses from J.Crew.

“Our ceremony was all white,” Adeena says. “There was a white chuppah and white chairs, the bridesmaids carried white flowers, and of course my gown was white.” Her bouquet was the exception, providing a bright tropical contrast. It included gerbera daisies, cymbidium orchids, snapdragons, lilies, lemon leaves, and other bright blooms.

Adeena and Josh wed at sunset on a boardwalk overlooking the beach. The chuppah stood beneath two large palm trees. As guests entered, the guys received yarmulkes from a collection that the bride and groom had accrued over years of attending weddings and bar mitzvahs. They were customized with the couple’s names and the wedding date, beginning with, “Regifted at the wedding of….”

“We tried to be as inclusive as possible in our ceremony,” Adeena says. Her father, who is a rabbi, officiated. She and Josh chose some of their closest friends and family members to repeat the Sheva Brachot (Seven Blessings) in English so that more guests could be incorporated into the ceremony.

Bright citrus fruits were a key decor motif at the reception. Green limes held the escort cards in place.

“The reception was very tropical, and the centerpieces reflected that,” Adeena says. The brilliantly hued arrangements included citrus and flowers in vibrant tropical colors.

Following the ceremony, guests enjoyed a cocktail hour on the terrace overlooking the beach. Passed hors d’oeuvres and sushi began the evening’s repast.

“The cake was the first thing we picked out when we were planning the wedding,” Adeena says. She and Josh chose a marble cake covered in chocolate fondant and bedecked with chocolate-covered strawberries. The tiers were stacked just a little off-center for a unique look. “It was one of the things everyone commented on -- and absolutely everyone took pictures of!” the bride says.

Adeena & Josh in San Juan, Puerto Rico

Photos By: David Medina, San Juan

Consultant: Nicole Estremera, San Juan
Location: InterContinental San Juan Resort & Casino, San Juan

Adeena and Josh met up a few times before becoming, well, just friends. After a few years of close friendship, Josh finally asked Adeena if she’d go on a date with him, but she said no. A few months later, though, she changed her mind. And a few months after that, the two moved in together.

The Bride Adeena Colbert, 32, media relations manager
The Groom Joshua Babbitt, 32, attorney
The Date January 14

After dating for a year and a half, Josh asked Adeena out to dinner, and the two left their New York City apartment for the restaurant. They wound up first, however, in Washington Square Park. Josh stopped beneath the famous arch and asked her to marry him.
The couple figured that their friends and family would have to travel to make it to the wedding no matter where it was, so they decided to go for a destination affair. "We thought, 'What could be better than a sunny beach in the middle of winter?'" Adeena says. So she and Josh chose Puerto Rico.

-- Kate Wood