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PHOTOS by Lily Kesselman Photography
Michelle Graci and Jay Glazer were married Sunday, June 25, 2006 at 5:00 p.m. Rabbi Melinda Pankin and Cantor Wayne Siet of Temple Shaari Emeth, Manalapan , New Jersey officiated over the ceremony. The ceremony and reception were held at Robert Todd Lincoln’s “Hildene” in Manchester, Vermont.
The bride and bridegroom met at the Stone Rose Restaurant in the Time Warner Building in New York City. The bride was meeting mutual friends at the restaurant and the bridegroom upon seeing her grabbed a chair and placed it next to him. It was love a first sight!
The bride, Miss New Jersey, U.S.A. -2000, is an actress and model with the Ford Modeling Agency in LA. She has been an active participant for Happy Helpers for the Homeless and volunteered for the Cancer Institute of New Jersey raising money for ovarian and breast cancer awareness.
The bridegroom is a graduate from Pace University in Manhattan. He is the NFL Insider for “The NFL” on Fox with an on-air breaking news segment every Sunday during the NFL season on FOX NFL Sunday in addition to hosting “Pride Fighting Championship” on FSN and the weekly program “Pro Football Preview” on Fox Sports Net.
The bridegroom volunteers his time emceeing charity events and each holiday season buys toys and clothes for several underprivileged families in NYC and personally delivers them to their doorsteps.
The bride and groom share a love for mixed marshal arts with the bride holding multiple black belts and the groom having competed in MMA and submission fighting tournaments.
Their wedding site “Hildene” was the estate of President Abraham Lincoln’s son Robert Todd Lincoln and has been restored to its original condition. Robert Todd Lincoln’s beautiful Georgian Revival home was open to the guests during the cocktail hour and the reception. Docents were available to give tours of the house and the observatory. The ceremony took place in the gardens overlooking the valley and the mountains. Approximately 300 guests attended; among the guests were NFL stars Michael Strahan, Brian Urlacher, Tiki and Ronde Barber, Tony Gonzalez and Panthers head coach John Fox.
The Chuppah (wedding canopy), which the bride and groom stood under to take their vows, was a memory quilt. The mother of the groom, with the help of the bride’s mother, sent pieces of material to those family and friends that were close to the couple and asked that they put something symbolic of their relationship on the material. The material pieces were collected and then sewn into quilt. The highlight of the quilt was a section drawn by the groom’s grandfather five years ago, one year before his death, in anticipation of this day.
The terrace and gardens could not have been lovelier for the cocktail hour. The peonies in bloom presented a spectacularly colorful background. The cocktail hour included everything from upscale mini lamb chops to party French-fries with a dipping station to good old fashioned Mac N Cheese on Japanese spoons. The featured wedding drink was a “Flaming Sangria” comprised of red and white sangria with dry ice that made each glass smoke.
Under a beautiful white tent lit with large Japanese paper lanterns, the reception’s whimsical theme inspired an aura of ease. The wedding’s theme: “It’s a party so let’s have fun” was apparent in the smallest detail. The bride’s love for sweets was introduced in centerpieces that included lollipops and candy intermixed with flowers. Not to be outdone, the groom wish was granted with a wedding cake entirely comprised of Twinkies. Everything about the décor was fun, colorful and witty.
