Went Their Separate Ways

Location and Caterer: Loews Miami Beach Hotel, Miami Beach, FL; Cake: Ana Paz Cakes, Miami, FL; Day of Planner: Sara Lowell, Sara Renee Events, Miami, FL; Event Décor and Floral Design: Xquisite Events, Boca Raton, FL; Lighting and Snow Machine: Frost Lighting, Boca Raton, FL; Ice Bar: Sculptured Ice Occassions, Ft. Lauderdale, FL; Rentals: Hitched Events, Medley, FL; Invitations: Checkerboard Stationery; Menu Cards, Programs and Place Cards: Salutations of Boca Raton, Boca Raton, FL; Ceremony Music: Scott Marischen, String Theory, Marischen Music; Band: Libido, Tropics Entertainment, Miami Beach, FL; DJ: Chris for Full Throttle Entertainment; Favors: Donut Divas; Hair and Makeup: Amy Palma, South Beach makeup Studio, Miami Shores, FL; Wedding Gown and Veil: Boca Raton Bridal, Boca Raton, FL; Videography: Sendery Video Productions, Lauderhill, FL; Photography: Munoz Photography, Ft. Lauderdale, FL

Jessica Herman and Craig Cooper were next door neighbors while attending college at the University of Florida. "It was love at first sight," recalls Jessica, "but bad timing for both of us." So, they went their separate ways after graduation and ended up loosing touch. A few years later, while Craig was traveling to New York City on business, he heard that Jessica lived there and reached out to her about meeting up. Craig ended up taking Jessica out for dinner and the rest, as they say, is history.

When it came to planning, Jessica and Craig decided on a winter wonderland themed wedding in south Florida of all places. You see, before moving to Chicago following Craig's acceptance to Northwestern University’s JD-MBA program, he and Jessica both quit their jobs in the city and moved to Aspen, Colorado for one year. Inspired by a non-profit organization called Challenge Aspen (a company dedicated to impacting lives by presenting meaningful recreational, cultural and competitive experiences to individuals faced with cognitive or physical disabilities), Jessica and Craig made the move to volunteer full-time helping children and adults with disabilities experience the great Rocky Mountain life.

Come March of that year, Craig decided that the timing was right and proposed. "It started out as a normal day on the slopes," remembers Jessica, but just after lunch, they headed out to take their last run before a huge storm was due to move in. "Craig suggested that we ski Gunner's View (on Elk Camp) since that is our favorite run," says Jessica. "As we were skiing down, Craig started complaining that his foot was hurting him and he had to stop." All part of his master plan to get Jessica to a hidden picnic table, Craig started to take off his skis and asked Jessica to help him because he was in pain. Worried, Jessica walked him over to the picnic bench to sit down. At that moment Craig dropped down on one knee in the snow and proposed. "The glittering snowflakes became bigger and bigger; it was pure magic!" Jessica shares.

They were married a year and a half later by Jessica's 95-year-old great uncle, Raphael, who is a Rabbi. This was a very meaningful touch since he also married her parents several years prior. Having been a junior bridesmaid at her older cousin, Jodi's, wedding and Jodi was a junior bridesmaid at her mom's wedding, and Jessica's mom, Minette, was a junior bridesmaid at Jodi's moms wedding, well you get the drift. It meant the world to Jessica to have Jodi's daughter, Rebecca, as a junior bridesmaid at her wedding.

After Craig broke the glass, Jessica surprised Craig: it started to snow under the chuppah. Special touches at the reception include special cocktail napkins that the couple had made imprinted with 10 different fun facts about their love story. Some examples include: Did you know Jess and Craig lived in 3 different states in 3 consecutive years; Did you know Jess and Craig were neighbors with Jerry Springer in their Evanston apartment; Did you know Jess and Craig feed their beloved dog, Mr. Two Bits, his own filet mignon on his birthday every year. They also opted for a 16-foot ice bar and a junkanoo band was the segway from the party to the after-party where their DJ kept everyone on the dance floor. "We didn't want people to realize that the band was ending," smiles Jessica.

Location and Caterer: Loews Miami Beach Hotel, Miami Beach, FL; Cake: Ana Paz Cakes, Miami, FL; Day of Planner: Sara Lowell, Sara Renee Events, Miami, FL; Event Décor and Floral Design: Xquisite Events, Boca Raton, FL; Lighting and Snow Machine: Frost Lighting, Boca Raton, FL; Ice Bar: Sculptured Ice Occassions, Ft. Lauderdale, FL; Rentals: Hitched Events, Medley, FL; Invitations: Checkerboard Stationery; Menu Cards, Programs and Place Cards: Salutations of Boca Raton, Boca Raton, FL; Ceremony Music: Scott Marischen, String Theory, Marischen Music; Band: Libido, Tropics Entertainment, Miami Beach, FL; DJ: Chris for Full Throttle Entertainment; Favors: Donut Divas; Hair and Makeup: Amy Palma, South Beach makeup Studio, Miami Shores, FL; Wedding Gown and Veil: Boca Raton Bridal, Boca Raton, FL; Videography: Sendery Video Productions, Lauderhill, FL; Photography: Munoz Photography, Ft. Lauderdale, FL