Under The Chuppa

Longtime friends celebrate
their marriage by
creating meaningful
family traditions.

LINDA BACHRACK

Special to the
SourceBook

Because blue is
Dana's favorite
color, it was domi-
nant in the wed-
ding decor.

20 •

sourcebook 2000 • in

hen Dana La Kritz and Scott Marcus met in
the sixth grade, little did they know that
they'd one day stand together under a
handmade, heirloom chuppa (wedding
canopy), exchanging their wedding vows.
Back in grade school, Dana claimed
Scott as her boyfriend ... for two weeks.
After that initial infatuation, though, they
were "just friends" for years.
"He hung out at my house all the
time," says Dana, "but I thought of him
as my athletic trainer, not my
boyfriend." In fact, they trained each
other. She played softball and he played
hockey. They were dedicated jocks.
Today, the Birmingham attorneys are
a happily married couple. Both graduat-
ed from the University of Michigan,
went to Wayne State Law School and
studied in Vienna for a summer.
In June 1999, Scott pro-
posed. That gave the couple
almost a year to plan their
Memorial Day Weekend wed-
ding, which took place at
Temple Israel in West
Bloomfield.
Because Scott had attended
more than 200 weddings during
his stint as a videographer in
high school and college, he
knew just who to call for pho-
tography, entertainment, flowers
the works. He even knew what kind
of veil he wanted Dana to have.
"He saw all of these details through
his camera and made note of them," she
explains.
Dana was sure of two things: she
wanted lots of the color blue in her wed-
ding, and she wanted an elegant, simple,
strapless A-line dress with a lace overlay.
Dana found her dream gown in a tiny
Toronto boutique.

Much of the blue decor ideas came
from the creative mind of the couple's
wedding planner, Dee Dee Hoffman of
West Bloomfield.
"We gave her the vision and she car-
ried it out," Dana says. "My mom,
Cheryl, also contributed some amazing
ideas. The two of them together were
scary.

CREATING TRADITIONS

The couple wanted to start some tradi-
tions that could be carried on through
future generations. One of Dee Dee and
Cheryl's most inspired creations was the
chuppa. It incorporated mementos from
ancestors — a handkerchief embroidered
by Dana's great-grandmother, a piece of
heirloom fabric, another great-grand-
mother's scarf, a remnant of the
peignoir Scott's mother Linda Marcus
had worn for her wedding night, and
more initialed, personalized handker-
chiefs from family members. Dana and
Scott plan to use the chuppa as a crib
canopy when they have children.
Scott presented his bride with a
monogrammed Victorian tussy-mussy.
The silver nosegay holder held Dana's
bouquet and now sits in her powder
room, filled with dried flowers. She
hopes to pass it down to her son or
daughter.
The bride and groom also embraced
some time-honored Jewish traditions.
Preceding the ceremony, performed by
Rabbi Paul Yedwab, Scott, escorted by
his father, Hank, veiled his bride. This
bedeken custom is reminiscent of how
the biblical Rebecca covered her face
with her veil upon seeing Isaac before
their marriage.
Dana and Scott also designed and
wrote their own ketuba, or marriage con-