700 Help News’ Youngest Daughter Marry
Mina New wed Levi Farkash in December in downtown Atlanta.
Sarah Moosazadeh is a staff writer for the Atlanta Jewish Times.
Dassie New’s fondest memory of her youngest daughter’s wedding is the dance her grandchildren performed for the bride and groom at the reception.
It was the fifth and largest wedding organized by Planning Makes Perfect founder Alyson Pollack for Congregation Beth Tefillah Senior Rabbi Yossi New’s children.
The wedding for youngest daughter Mina drew more than 700 guests, Pollack said.
“Atlanta just doesn’t understand the magnitude of planning a wedding like this. … Within six weeks the couple gets married, which means you have to find all the vendors and a venue big enough which is kosher,” she said. “It’s no easy feat, but it can be done.”
Pollack was hired in mid-November to plan the wedding, which took place Dec. 19. Fortunately, she said, “the weddings are very similar because they are very large and Dassie New has a particular style that is very elegant.”
The ceremony was held at the Centennial Olympic Park, and the reception followed at the nearby Omni Atlanta Hotel at CNN Center. Pollack said it was a challenge just moving 700 people between the ceremony site and the reception.
“The wedding was a milestone not just for my daughter, but for the community as whole,” Dassie New said. “Everyone that came to the wedding added a measure of palpable joy.”
The vendors involved in the huge Orthodox event included Jim White Designs, Harold Alan Photographers, musician Chony Milecki, caterer Avenue K, Dewitt Smith Video Productions, LLC and Omni Hotel catering sales manager Edward LaBranche.
“The wedding was a unique opportunity for our staff to get exposure to an Orthodox ceremony and reception,” LaBranche said. “One thing I will never forget is the grand windows which face Centennial Olympic Park, revealing Atlanta’s entire skyline. We had tables and tables which faced the park while family members came to light their menorahs. It was a beautiful sight.”
Because the wedding took place during Chanukah, Pollack was asked to provide menorahs for the guests, but she substituted oil lamps.
One of the challenges was planning everything in the time allotted, LaBranche said. “Everybody just came together within several weeks to make it happen, but it was a big contrast from a Western wedding when you have eight to nine months to plan everything.”
Pollack, who was brought into the business by Barrie Antebi, said she tries to stay in the background of the simcha while making the family feel like guests. “This is their event. This is their party and their personal experience, and I want them to feel that they can enjoy every aspect of it.”
With every wedding, Pollack said, her timing has improved. “It makes me feel appreciative that my team can pull that off and try to make it special for the bride and groom.”
The team is crucial, she said. “This is not just something I pull off. It takes a village, and when you have a good team, a good group of vendors and a client that lets you help them, you have the key to a good planning process.”
Photos by Harold Alan Photographers (Hal Schroeder, Stephanie Ellie, Steven Dewberry and Brad Covert)
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- As befits the daughter of the head of Chabad of Georgia, Mina New heads to the ceremony with a siddur in hand.
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- Groom Levi Farkash makes his entrance.
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- Guests of all ages make their way to the New-Farkash wedding.
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- Each of the more than 700 plates was carefully prepared to glatt kosher standards.
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- The Omni reception room is ready for more than 700 people to celebrate.
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- Alyson Pollack arranged each table with intricate details for the wedding reception at the Omni at CNN Center.
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