"Ness and I met four years ago when we were both working in the Garment District in New York City. Ness is a men’s clothing buyer for a large retailer in New Jersey and I’m the vice president of a fashion recruiting firm in Manhattan. He came into one of my showrooms and we became instant friends. We both realized that we wanted to take our friendship to the next level. On our first date, Ness took me to dinner at Sushi Sen-Nin. From then on, we spent almost every day together.

"A year later we decided to move in together. In January of 2007, Ness proposed to me at our apartment. He filled it with balloons and six dozen roses. Sitting on our couch were two bears dressed as a bride and groom. The bride was wearing my ring around her neck. All I could do was cry and say yes. The next day we went to Mexico to celebrate our engagement.

"After we settled in from all the excitement, we began looking for the perfect venue for our ceremony and reception. We were looking for a space with a romantic Old World feel. We found out about Temple Emanu-El from the owner of our band. He has worked with Les Friedman, the owner, for several years at many of his other venues.

"We loved everything about Temple Emanu-El. The exterior looked like an old English castle. I started to cry the first time I walked in the space. Les took us to the synagogue, which was unlike any we’d ever seen. It had high ceilings, stained glass windows, and a stained glass dome 300 feet above us. It was exactly what we were looking for.

"Ness and I had very specific foods that we wanted and Les met all our requests. This included a French fry bar for the cocktail hour. Les suggested we serve them in martini glasses with several different dipping sauces.

"Throughout all our planning, he stayed in constant contact with us. Les also worked very closely with all our vendors to make sure everything was always on track. For the ceremony, the temple was decorated with candles, wild berries, and branches, and afterwards our guests were entertained at our cocktail hour with more food than they could imagine. The French fry bar was a bit hit, along with the Middle Eastern station, a pasta station, and a veal carving station.

Deborah Karp & Ness Ginsberg Ceremony & Reception: Northern Valley Affairs at Temple Emanu-El Gown: Carolina Herrera Bridesmaids: Marchesa Hair: Lulu Stamkovic Makeup: Laura Mercier Florist: Wild Flowers Cake: Temple Emanu-El Photographer: David Roth Photographers Band: Soul Street Honeymoon: Cayman Islands Northern Valley Affairs at Temple Emanu-El 180 Piermont Road, Closter, NJ 07624 201.750.0333, northernvalley@aol.com www.northernvalleyaffairs.com

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"Next, everyone was led into the Grand Ballroom for an evening of fine dining and dancing. For our reception we went with a soft palette of creams and burgundies. The centerpieces were different shaped candelabras with hanging crystals and hygrangeas, roses, and calla lilies.