Celebrate! a WPC NNWRAI. Weddings, The Sephardic Way Whether jour4 aWedding, a Bar/Bat Mitzvah, or a special party of any kind, you can count on us for a view from a different angle. We capture all of the action Same message, different ceremony. IP RUTH LITTMANN STAFF WRITER without being intro - sive, which helps to provide our clients with superior results. erience the difference others have been a part of for the Past 44 ran. G o R bAc k STUdi0 Of p[10TOCIRAphy • j • ' 31 Franklin Road, Franklin, chian Celebrate in Style. At The International Banquet & Conference Center in historic Greekown, we've thought of everything to make your next celebration a manorable success. And we int= evcrything,! Our 20000 foot, imprmively art deco appointed facility atop the magnificient International Center building with its skylight roof; has the Ftople Mover connector at our doorstep. Making it easy to reach major downtown hotels, the civic/convention center and office buildings. Our spacious facility has the flexibility to accommodate 250 to 650 people From a business meeting to a grand sit down dinner banquet And, for receptions we can graciously saw 1,200 attendees. Ihu can count on us to take care of all the details, from providing state•of-the-art audio/visual equipment to arranging c-ustomizzd menus. Style Its wt rat were all about! , na antenzatioL C34 (BANQUET&CONFERENCE) Golfer 400 Monroe • Greelnown/DetroitNichigan (31 3) 963-1400 o Yes, rd to kilos, • more about The International Banquet & Conference Center Please send me a free information kit NANIE COMPANY ADDRESS CITY STATE ZIP PHONE ( MAIL TO: Banquet Manager The International Banquet & Confornce Center 400 Monroe Ave, Suite 480 Detroit, MI 48226 L J or Janice Erdstein, it was like stepping into the pages of National Geographic. The Hunt- ington Woods resident describes her son's wedding as a colorful blur. During festivities before the actual ceremony, 26- year-old Brian wore a turban and shimmering robe. His bride, Karene, 20, donned three differ- ent outfits with jewels and elab- orate headdresses. Ms. Erdstein admits to high- voltage culture shock. "He looks like he's from Shushan long ago," she says, point- ing at snapshots of her son and daughter-in-law. "She looks like she dressed at the Israel Museum and walked out of the display." Brian and Karene married July 4, 1995, on a hilltop outside of Jerusalem. Brian is Ashkenazic, which means his Jewish ancestors can be traced back to Eastern Eu- rope and Russia. Karene's family is part-Sephardic. Sephardic Jews come from places like North Africa, Turkey, Spain, Portugal, Iraq, Yemen and Iran. Karene, along with many youth in Israel to- day, have made a point of promoting their heritage. Proud of her family tree, the bride-to-be planned her wedding according to Sephardic tradition. What ensued was a far cry from the showers, bachelorette parties and big-band receptions so common in the so- cial halls of metro Detroit. First, there was the henna, a ceremony traditionally held the night before a young woman leaves her home and enters the household of her spouse. True to ways of old, Karene's fe- male relatives pulverized leaves and roots of the henna plant, which they mixed with water to create a red-orange paste. As in India, some communities Ms. Erdstein and her mother, Lillian Maltzer, sang and danced alongside Karene's relatives, many of whom balanced baskets of fruits and herbs on their heads. High-pitched wails — ululation — rose from the crowd. The be- lief is that such noise wards off aiyn hara, the evil eye. Men celebrated in another part of the house, owned by Karene's family RIGHT: members. Brian Erdstein during a pre- Dressed in pin- wedding striped outfits ceremony. and hats, they jumped about energetically to Middle Eastern music. For Ms. Erd- LEFT: Karene wearing traditional stein, her hus- Sephardic garb. band George, as well as two of Sephar- daughters, Elana, 17, and Rachel, dic Jews 23, the scene was all the more fas- still apply cinating because Brian and Karene henna to the skin of the bride. The are observant Jews who moved color, which stains the skin for sev- separately from the United States eral days, is alleged to protect her to Israel: Brian from Michigan, Karene from California. from illness and evil. ABOVE; The couple takes their vows.