THEY MAY HAVE SWAPPED THE SYNAGOGUE
for the Sequoia Grill in Stanley Park but when Naama Levy and Liron Sireni started planning their wedding they wanted a day that stayed true to their Jewish roots. They weren’t interested in a big glamorous showcase; they simply wanted to follow in the footsteps of their ancestors. “We wanted a wedding that was more traditional and less extravagant, and it was great to have the whole experience really go down to the roots,” explained Naama. “Being Jewish is not just about religion, it is about tradition and that is very important to us. It was the way our parents and our grandparents got married and it was great to be able to keep that tradition going.”

Naama, 24, immigrated to Vancouver with her family when she was 11 and they opened the Trees coffee house on Granville Street two years later. The Capilano College business student had always been keen to get married in her mid 20s. Her mother and father provided matrimonial inspiration: “I wanted to be just like my parents,” she says wistfully. “They were married on my mom’s 20th birthday and they have always been so wonderful together. I believe that if you start
young and experience things together you are bound to have a better life.”

Liron, 26, arrived in Canada in 2002 after a mandatory three-year stint in the Israeli Defence Force and a period of travelling. He was looking forward to settling in Vancouver and was studying sciences at Langara College with hopes of fulfilling his ambition to become a vet. It was another two years before he walked into Trees and heard Hebrew being spoken behind the counter. He introduced himself and the coffee house quickly became his second home.

Naama was immediately intrigued by Liron who she thought was “handsome and shy but welcoming and warm.” It took Liron a few weeks and the encouragement of a mutual friend to notice that Naama was interested. But once they went out on their first date, he realized he had found a like-minded soul. “I knew she was perfect for me and we were meant to be together,” he says. “I feel so complete with Naama and I love everything about her. She is very smart and we believe in the same things.”

The first date on St Patrick’s Day 2004 may have been a low-key affair, just walking and talking around the streets of downtown Vancouver, but by the end of the evening, Naama was in no doubt that Liron was her man. “I was in love and I was ready to marry him that day,” she confessed.

Within three months they were planning their future and they decided to move to Tel Aviv the following year. Naama found work as an event planner and Liron became a veterinary assistant. Although they had long-term plans to stay, after six months they decided it was not to be. “Tel Aviv is the New York of Israel. It is where everything happens and we wanted to go back and see what it would be like to live and work there,” says Naama. “It is such a beautiful country but there is so much pain as well. It was hard being there and we really missed our family.”

In August 2005, while still in Tel Aviv, their engagement became official and Naama’s parents, Shevy and Doron, were put in charge of planning a Vancouver wedding. A date was set for the following spring and they chose the Sequoia Grill, situated in the emerald idyll of Stanley Park, to show off the city to their guests from across Canada, the US and Israel.

While in Israel, Naama and Liron began work on the dress together with Naama’s Aunt Nitza, a professional wedding dress designer. They designed a unique, off-white, strapless, A-line gown made from five layers of pure silk. “It was a weekly procedure of having the layers sewn onto me,” recalls Naama. “It took a few months to make and it is one of the most beautiful pieces of clothing I’ve ever seen in my life.”

The wedding day itself took place on March 2, 2006, and was the culmination of a week of ceremony and celebrations. A traditional Jewish wedding ceremony celebrates not just the union of the bride (kallah) and groom (chatan), but the union of two families.

In the first part of the ceremony, Liron was required to read and sign the Ketubah, the Jewish certificate of marriage, in the presence of the male guests. By signing the Ketubah, Liron promised to take care of Naama’s emotional and financial needs. Only then could he join Naama for the spiritual part of the ceremony.

As in all traditional Jewish wedding ceremonies, Naama and Liron took their vows under a chuppah, a canopy made of decorated cloth that is stretched over four poles and acts as a symbol of the home to be built and shared by the newlyweds.

It is customary at Jewish weddings for the bride to circle the groom seven times, but in a nod to equality, Naama circled Liron three times, then he repeated the gesture and finally they circled once together. With as many family members as possible squeezed under the chuppah, Naama and Liron took part in a series of rituals lead by the rabbi. The Blessings of Betrothal were recited in Hebrew and Naama and Liron drank wine from one of two goblets and exchanged plain, gold rings.

The Blessings of Betrothal were followed by the Sheva Brachot or the Seven Blessings which were recited by family members. These prayers offered thanks to God and requested that joy and happiness be bestowed on the newlyweds in their future lives. To mark the end of the Sheva Brachot, Naama and Liron shared their second cup of wine.

The official ceremony came to a close when Liron broke a glass under his foot, a tradition that is said to represent the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem—one of the holiest places in the Jewish faith. Jews perform this act to recall the suffering their fellow Jews have endured in the past, even in the midst of their happiest times. As the glass shattered, cries of “Mazel Tov,” Hebrew for congratulations, filled the air.

An evening of dancing, laughter and games followed with hors d’oeuvres replacing a sit-down meal to create a “cocktail bar” ambience and informal atmosphere for the 90 guests.

A year after the wedding, the couple is settled in an apartment in North Vancouver and studying at Capilano College. Their delayed honeymoon will take place among the Mayan ruins of Guatemala later this year. But before they packed their backpacks, they returned to the Sequoia Grill with a piece of raspberry and vanilla wedding cake to reminisce and celebrate their first anniversary. “We had a week of celebrations and it was just party, party, party and so much fun,” recalls Naama. “But our favourite part of the wedding was how traditional it was. The most important thing for us was to unify our families and let our friends and family see and really appreciate our love.”