Sharon (Shay) Yuval and David Bannick like to refer to theirs as “ski-ternal love,” both because of their great fondness for the sport but also because David’s marriage proposal came at sunset at the top of the double diamond mogul run on Snow Summit in Big Bear, California. For David, the proposal brought together his two greatest loves—Shay and skiing. And for Shay, it was the fruition of a bond that began on a movie set.

The two met through a mutual friend on the set of “Dude, Where’s My Car?,” which featured David as one of the Nordic alien dudes. When they met, they felt an immediate connection and quickly discovered they shared similar backgrounds:  growing up, Sharon lived in five countries and learned to speak six languages; David lived in Europe and learned to speak three different languages. Their relationship continued, as their instant chemistry grew into love.

The bride and groom chose to celebrate their ceremony and reception at the Skirball Cultural Center in Bel Air. The ceremony was outdoors in the main courtyard, which featured a stunning mountainside backdrop and allowed for one of Shay’s favorite touches:  the releasing of doves.  The reception was held at the Ahmanson Hall.  Dave wanted something contemporary and Shay wanted a site that was appropriately grand and spacious. In a real sense, Ahmanson Hall offered exactly that: forty foot ceilings featuring a twenty-foot skylight and a mezzanine to get a birds-eye view of the colorful reception.  It had ample space for a sophisticated but traditional Modern Orthodox Jewish wedding.   As Shay explains, “We both wanted a “wow” wedding that embodied our wish list.”  The site’s architecture and matte gray concrete color proved to be the perfect balance for the unexpected, vivid colors that Shay chose, including fuchsia, lime, orange and yellow.  The bursts of color were prevalent everywhere from the florals to the lime green kippot that were provided for the guests to wear to match David’s.

Though the setting was near perfect, when Shay and David danced to Etta James’s “At Last” for their first dance as husband and wife, they no doubt felt a sense of relief that they had overcome all the last-minute hurdles that sprung up in the final days of planning. Every wedding encounters some challenges, but the wrinkles that befell their wedding planning seemed exceptional. Only two and a half weeks before the wedding, the florist became deathly ill and their Rabbi needed emergency surgery just four days before the wedding.  Luckily, their Cantor stepped in as the officiant, and carried out the couple’s ceremony just beautifully. Next, Shay experienced every bride’s worst nightmare when her wedding gown never arrived, and she found herself searching for a new dress only two days before her wedding. And, the food that was meant be kosher wasn’t and had to be re-ordered just three weeks before the wedding. On top of all this, the fires that swept across Southern California last fall prevented fifty guests from attending the wedding.  Despite these setbacks, the day itself went so smoothly and gracefully that most of the couple’s loved ones never would have guessed what it took to get to that result.  The entire event was stylish, sophisticated and marked by the love of close friends and family. The evening reception featured a delicious plated dinner, starting with tomato and roasted pepper soup, steak and fish, followed by luscious chocolate-dipped strawberries, a spectacular sweet table loaded with desserts, and of course, the wedding cake.   No ordinary wedding cake, the five-tiered creation was ornately embellished to copy the artistry of the couple’s Ketubah, and the top tier was a surprise in itself – a high protein, low carb, all-natural, sugar-free, kosher confection in honor of David’s fitness profession!

Following the festivities, which which everyone agreed was a triumph in spite of the various last-minute snafus, Shay and David were finally able to relax during a weeklong honeymoon that took them to Negril, Jamaica.