Miriam and Joel - The Jewish Chronicle

December's red and green festive decorations gave way to the black and gold theming of Miriam and Joel Goldman's end-of-year wedding - the first in Hull, excluding remarriages, for almost a decade.

Miriam, nee Dysch, is a primary school teacher in Moss Side, Manchester. She met Joel Goldman, a social media producer/journalist for BBC Sport, on the Jdate website: "We started speaking and due to work and holidays coming up we decided to meet the next day," she says. "It was clearly meant to be!"

The couple became engaged in Prague and by the time they landed back in the UK, Miriam's mum had already made lists to help with the planning. Within three weeks, the venue was booked.

"As Hull has very few Jewish people living there, not many venues allowed outside caterers for events," says Miriam. "Mercure Grange Park, Willerby, was the only venue, at the time, that allowed kosher caterers. As well as it being local for my family, it was where most barmitzvahs, batmitzvahs and Jewish weddings have taken place for as long as I can remember. We wanted to add our wedding to our family's and friends' memories of being there."

"Truth be told, I actually wanted to get married in front of the shark tank at The Deep submarium," says Joel, "but the wife wasn't having any of it! So I settled for our second option - a nice hotel with a great entrance through a lovely little Yorkshire village. There's a second entrance which takes you through an industrial estate. Guess which way the Sat Nav takes you from the motorway… the main aim was to get married in Hull. Miri's family play a key part in what's a small but proud Jewish community and this was the first Jewish wedding in the city for nearly eight years.

"On top of that, my grandparents came from Hull and it's where I got my first real break in journalism, so it's a special place for lots of reasons."

The guests dined on seabass on a bed of oriental noodles, followed by chicken with mushrooms, spinach and a Lyonnaise potato timbale. Dessert was a trio of lemon torte, chocolate ganache and sticky toffee pudding. Heart-shaped biscuits were specially designed in the colour theme.

"We chose a black and gold theme based on the time of year - we wanted to make sure there was a warm feeling to the party. Lots of sparkle and glitter helped," says Miriam.

"Seeing as Miri was becoming a Goldman and it was a winter wedding, we went for black and gold - gold kippot and ties, black tablecloths and chair covers with gold ribbon, and golden glowing lights on the tables. We wanted to create a cosy, but classy feel to the day."

Miriam's wedding dress was from Jacqueline's, a boutique in Beverley, on the outskirts of Hull. "I tried on 26 dresses, and think I'd still be trying to make a decision if mum hadn't helped me."

"The maid of honour wore a floor-length gold, sequinned dress by Jenny Packham which looked stunning as it glittered in the wedding lights. Our three little bridesmaids wore black and gold tutu dresses that were made by a family friend."

Joel wore a black dinner suit with a shawl-lapel - "it took ages to find because it's not in keeping with the current style of most dinner suits. However, persistence paid off as I found just what I was looking for. "

He adds: "Music's a big thing for us and I just happened to know a great party band who everyone would love. They're called Big J and the Piccolo Chickens and my brother's the keyboard player. Handy."

The band's lead singer is from Hull but it did prove quite a challenge to find companies in Hull that had worked on a Jewish wedding. The florist Googled chupahs and was inspired to suggest some ideas and a family friend designed and made the chupah material.

"It was tricky finding a photographer who would know which moments to capture in a Jewish ceremony so we used a photographer who had been recommended to us from Manchester," adds Miriam.

She was amazed by "just how many people managed to get to Hull to celebrate our wedding; people came from America, Israel, Abu Dhabi… and even London!" Other memorable moments included "being in the bedeken room waiting for Joel to come in; having not seen him for a week I couldn't wait to see him and get the wedding started.

"We were lucky to have our rabbi from Hull, Rabbi Naftoli Lifschitz, and Sheffield's Rabbi Yonoson Golomb leading the ceremony as well as the amazing chazan Alby Chait from Joel's shul in Leeds."

"I was surprised at how much I managed to take in," admits Joel. "Our friends say it's such a blur of a day and you hardly get to spend time with each other because you're so in demand, but I remember it all and was able to enjoy it in real time.

"After the stress of not finishing my speech until the morning of the wedding and trying to sort out music for the reception just hours before it all started, I was starting to feel the pressure. Thankfully that tension was relieved when one of my ushers turned up in a wing-collar shirt despite strict orders not to do just that. We all had a good laugh, I loaned him my spare shirt and it set the tone for the day."

His favourite memories include: "How beautiful Miri looked. It's a cliché, but it's true. I loved it when Miri was walking around me under the chupah - everyone's watching you, but you're just looking at each other as if you're the only two people in the world and that's something unique to Jewish weddings. Plus the fact that we got married in a Jewish ceremony in Hull. How many other people these days can say they did that?"

But though it was a milestone to celebrate a wedding in Hull, it is another rare moment that sticks most in the couple's minds. "We may have seen a first happen at our wedding," says Miriam. "Joel's niece Mia decided she wanted to walk down the aisle with a packet of crisps rather than the basket of flower petals we had bought for her. It provided plenty of laughs, so we can't complain!"