The Venetian Ballroom, left, and the Italian Garden room

in

The "new" Book Cadillac is bringing Jewish events back downtown.

Gabriella Burman I Special to Celebrate!

arriage involves a leap of faith,
which is why, when planning the
wedding, families generally leave

nothing to chance.
For a handful of "adventurous" families in Metro
Detroit, however, and even a major Jewish organization
this year the unknown was part of the experience at
the newly renovated Westin Book Cadillac Detroit, as
they booked its ballrooms while the hotel was under
construction.
"It was definitely a departure from the tried and
true," said Marva Sugar of Bloomfield Hills, whose
first glimpse of the hotel renovations came during a
hard-hat tour last year. Her daughter Liza will marry Dr.
Jonathan Lauter, son of Dr. Carl and Jain Lauter of West
Bloomfield, at the hotel on May 24.
The Westin Book Cadillac Detroit
"We could have held the wedding at our temple,
Temple Israel [in West Bloomfield], where you know
what you're getting. But we wanted a new place, and
we're hoping it will be wonderful," she said.
To date, more than 30 weddings have been booked at the downtown Detroit landmark.
Its 1920s Italian Renaissance style underwent a $200 million renovation before reopening
to the public last October.
Nearly half a dozen of those weddings are Jewish or interfaith. Most will take place in
the Venetian Ballroom, formerly the Grand Ballroom, with its soaring ceilings, Italian chan-
deliers and decorative balconies.

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celebrate! I

March 2009

"It is exquisite in its detail," said Dana Abrahams of West
Bloomfield, whose daughter Lindsay will celebrate her bat
mitzvah with a party in the Venetian Ballroom on May 2, fol-
lowing services at Congregation Shaarey Zedek in Southfield.
"And the fact that much of our extended family has memo-
ries of the hotel, including my grandparents' wedding there 75
years ago, is cool."
"It definitely gives the space more significance that it was
0 special to another generation," said Liza Sugar, a teacher. She
and her fiancé are brainstorming ways to include photographs
at their own wedding of couples they know who married at the
Book Cadillac.
"It's a first-rate shining star for downtown Detroit," said Don
Cohen, executive director of B'nai B'rith International's Great
Lakes Region. On March 23, the region is holding its annual
Great American Traditions Award dinner at the Book Cadillac.
This years honoree, Nancy M. Schlichting, president and CEO
of the Detroit-based Henry Ford Health System, requested a
downtown venue.
After years of holding the dinner at various spots around town, Cohen said, "it's nice to
be back supporting the city."
Admittedly it hasn't been smooth sailing from the get-go. Sugar reports that when she
first donned her hard hat for a look at the hotel, she had difficulty envisioning the space.
"I was overwhelmed," she said. "I'm a visual person and I couldn't see the layout."

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