Y

ou never know what 
will be the caveat to 
finding true love: In 
one case, it was a bride’s wish 
for the perfect processional that 
ignited another couple’s love 
story. 
When Paula and Jeff 
Lebowitz married in 1981, 
there were eight bridesmaids 
in the bridal party, including 
a certain Karen Hess, who’d 
grown up in the north end of 
Oak Park. 
Jeff had eight groomsmen, 
and Karen knew one of them, 
whom she’d attended camp 
with as a kid, and wanted to 
walk down the aisle with him.
But nope, Paula wanted her 
bridal party “to match” in the 
pictures and paired Karen 
with Steve Soffin of Livonia, 
who, like Karen, was also fair 
skinned.
At the time, both Karen and 
Steve were dating other people 
and had even brought their 
dates to the wedding. But there 
was a bridal dance that they 
danced together … and then 
the hora right after that … and 
something just clicked.
“We both just liked each 
other,” Karen said. “
At the end 
of the night, I gave him a kiss 
goodbye and said, ‘We’ll have 
to do this again sometime 
soon!’ Back then, I was pretty 
shy; I must have had a drink or 
two!”
Hopeful, Karen broke up 
with her then-boyfriend and 
waited for Steve to call, but he 
didn’t, so she got back together 

with her boyfriend.
Fast forward one year. 
Karen and a friend got 
together for a dinner date. 
“I’m in the mood for 
guacamole,” her friend 
declared, so they headed to 
Carlos Murphy’s. 
In the middle of the meal, 
Karen looked up and her eyes 
lit up. For there was Steve 
Soffin heading to the bathroom 
right in front of her. They 
started chatting (Steve would 
later tell Karen he really had to 
go but didn’t want to ruin the 
moment) and this time Karen 
decided she was not going to 
give up so quickly.
“I knew I should ask our 
mutual friends to set us up, so 
I called Paula to tell her I was 
interested in Steve, but Steve 
was still too chicken to call and 
had Jeff call to ask me if I’d go 
out with him,” Karen laughed. 
Their first date was during 
Chanukah, so Steve got to meet 
Karen’s whole family early on.
Six months later, they hap-
pened to be watching TV, when 
a commercial started playing. 
Steve commented, “That’s my 
uncle.” 
Karen started laughing. 
“Then you must know my 
neighbor!” 
Not only did Steve’s cousins 
live next door to Karen, but the 
two families knew many people 
in common — which was a 
fun discovery at their wedding, 
which took place in 1986 at 
B’nai David in Southfield. Paula 
and Jeff Lebowitz naturally 

From Bridal 
Party to Bride

ROCHEL BURSTYN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

16 | JULY 11 • 2024 
J
N

OUR COMMUNITY
HOW WE MET

Karen Hess and 
Steve Soffin were in 
the wedding party 
of their friends who 
married in 1981.

The Soffins’ 
wedding took 
place in 1986.

