Jstyle Weddings spotlight | Lauren Feldman & Jordan Roth

Photos by Lauren Gabrielle Photography

How did you meet?

Hinge (a dating app)

Do you have any interesting stories to share about getting to know one another?

The day we got engaged was the first day our families met. My (Lauren’s) family belongs to a beach club on Long Island that has been a special place for my family that we have gone to every summer of my life. Jordan’s family was visiting New York for his graduation from orthodontic residency at Columbia University. We invited Jordan’s family to the beach and spent the day playing volleyball and relaxing on the beach. Toward the end of the evening, Jordan asked me to go take a walk (despite the fact that there were 30 mph winds). My sister had snuck down to the lifeguard stand to set up roses, and our siblings followed us down to take pictures and share in the big moment. It was so special to celebrate our engagement on the beach and to see our families become one on their very first day together.

How long did you know each other before you got married?

Two years. Our first date was on June 24, 2018, and we got engaged just under one year later on June 15, 2019. We got married on July 11, 2020.

When did you know you wanted to marry your partner?

Lauren: I knew after a few months that I wanted to marry Jordan. It became very clear to me that he was a very kind, hardworking, thoughtful person with wonderful values that were aligned with my own. I saw how much he cared for his family and friends. We connected very quickly and learned that we shared many common interests and hobbies, and integrated seamlessly into each other’s lives. Jordan was everything that I always hoped for.

Jordan: I used to work at a private orthodontic office in New Jersey during residency. However, to get there and back involved taking a subway to Penn Station and then transfer to a bus that made about 30 stops before being dropped off to walk up a steep hill to the office and see patients all day. So needless to say, those days were exhausting by the time I made it back to the city. Not to mention they left me very hungry. Lauren understood this the first time I made this trek while we were dating, and she was willing to have a quiet night in and a delicious dinner ready and waiting for me once I arrived. That’s how you know she’s the one.

How did the pandemic affect your wedding plan and wedding day?

The original plan for our wedding was to get married in October 2020 in New York, my (Lauren’s) hometown, with a traditional wedding of approximately 200 people. Due to the COVID pandemic, we had to adjust these plans. We knew we wanted to get married in 2020. We also had to decide what was the safest way to get married and still share the day with some of our loved ones.

We cut down our wedding from 200 to 24 people. This was a very difficult decision to make, but it was one that we thought was necessary to best protect our loved ones. We are still hoping to have our large New York wedding celebration in 2021.

Was there any spot-on advice you received prior to the big day, either in terms of the wedding or lasting relationship?

My (Lauren’s) father had previously presented me with two questions that I should be able to answer in a relationship: 1. “What do they do to enhance you as a person?” And 2. “What do they bring to the relationship?” When I met Jordan, I knew very quickly that there were many answers to those questions, which made me very confident in him as my partner.

Were there any conflicts between the two of you or your families in the planning process? Did either of you have to make any sacrifices?

Jordan had always wanted an outdoor wedding, which I was reluctant towards due to the possibility of bad weather. We agreed to move up our wedding date from October to July to improve our chances of nice weather, and I took a leap of faith that everything would work out. Thankfully, we were blessed with the most beautiful evening, watching the sunset light up Lake Erie.

What was the most fun or interesting Jewish aspect of your wedding/partnership?

There were many grandparents that were unable to be with us at our wedding. We had two kiddush cups at our wedding. One was an engagement gift from my (Lauren’s) grandmother, who remained in Florida to protect her health. The other was a family heirloom from Jordan’s grandparents, which was engraved with their names and the date of their wedding from over 60 years ago. It was very special to us to have this representation of family and Jewish heritage at our wedding.

“The best moment of our wedding was seeing everything come together better than we ever could have hoped for. We had to modify our original wedding plans due to COVID and planned a 24-person wedding in six weeks. With the help of our family and friends and a little bit of luck, everything turned out incredibly. It was a very special and intimate night with our loved ones, wonderful music, a beautiful sunset, and turned out to be the most magical dream come true. What started as a stressful change of plans ended up being the best night of our lives.”
Lauren