A wedding worth waiting for
The story of how Connie and Sahar met is a unique one. They first laid eyes on each other in the middle of the Australian Outback in October 2013. They were both backpacking through the country separately with different groups they had met along the way and they were all looking forward to the adventures that long roadtrip would bring.
They spent just over a month on that road trip. Hiking up mountains, swimming in fresh water pools, watching whales from red rock cliffs and camping under the stars. They became close and their relationship blossomed into something rare and extraordinary, without the constraints of normal society.
Whilst living and working in New Zealand in 2016 they knew they had to make a decision about their next move. They needed to figure out where they would live together. For Connie, living in the UK was not an option, but to move to the USA would mean a complicated and expensive immigration journey ahead of them.
The quickest way to become a US citizen, is to marry one – this is a well known fact. Sat at their dining table one evening, this is what they decided to do and begun gathering all the necessary documents. After a year and a half of medical tests, paperwork and interviews that spanned two continents, Connie moved to New Jersey in 2017.
The main rule of the visa, is that you have to be married within 3 months of arrival. Connie wanted to have New York City on the marriage certificate, so a date was chosen and the appointment was booked. Very few people knew what Connie and Sahar were up to, as they had decided to keep it quiet in order to concentrate on completing the process correctly without added stress.
On the 1st of June 2017 they travelled into NYC by train and got married at the City Hall. Connie didn’t wear white and carried a single sunflower. Witnesses had to be found off the street and that was that – they were married! Connie and Sahar spent the afternoon running around the city eating pizza and taking photos at well known spots with a homemade sign. Although it was sad not to have any friends or family members present, they knew they would celebrate at a later date and that this was a practical decision for their future together.
Cue 2020 when Connie and Sahar had returned from their trip to South America and they figured it was time to start planning the official wedding. Having it in the UK made the most sense as most of Connie’s family still lived there and it was more of a central location to guests flying in from America and Israel.
The venue chosen was The Beauvale Priory, a beautiful working farm in the middle of the English countryside with charismatic buildings and historical ruins. Sheep roamed in nearby fields and the backdrop was a hill blanketed with yellow flowers. Connie and Sahar wanted a fun but casual event with quality food, decent drinks and lots of laughter. They had not seen most of the guests attending for 5+ years, so the wedding was more like a huge reunion for everybody.
As if having two weddings wasn’t enough, a Henna party was also organized during the week of the wedding. This was a wonderful way to greet the guests from Israel before the wedding and also for Sigalit to share some of her family’s Moroccan traditions. All of Connie and Sahar’s immediate family dressed up in sequin adorned outfits and were soon dancing around to loud music and eating traditional sweets sneaked in from Israel (thanks Batel!)
Having the wedding ceremony outdoors was important for Connie and Sahar as so much of their relationship has been centered around just that. Luckily the weather held off and Stav delivered an incredible ceremony under a floral arch made by Connie. She perfectly intertwined funny stories and Jewish traditions, but still managed to keep it so down to earth. Connie and Sahar’s vision really came to life, the entire evening was perfect (such a cliché!) and they were thrilled to finally celebrate their love, with everybody they love.
