Publisher

Love. What does Michele Schwartz love about being the creator and editor-in-chief of The Modern Jewish Wedding (MJW)? Everything! For Michele, the best part of each day is looking at submissions—the wedding photos couples send in for publication. She says, “Every wedding is so beautiful. It sounds trite and like it can’t possibly be, but it’s really true. Weddings are so romantic; they’re so beautiful! Seeing the bride’s face is always my favorite part.” Inspiration. Michele’s reason for creating MJW? “I want to inspire brides. A wedding can be as old school and traditional as you want. But if I can inspire the bride to find that one thing that infuses the couple’s personality into the wedding, that’s my definition of a modern Jewish wedding.” She adds, “I also hope to inspire vendors to do their best work for these cultural and unique weddings. These are not the cookie-cutter weddings we so often see in bridal magazines.” One thing that sets Michele apart in the blogosphere is that she is, by her own admission is, “genuinely not crafty.” She didn’t start as an invitation designer like other famous wedding bloggers. She didn’t start with a home craft or a talent for cake design. She started as a communicator. Michele says, “I hope that I write like I’m talking with you. I hope that I’m like a bridesmaid to every one of my readers. That we’re sitting in a coffee shop, talking about your wedding. Not everyone else’s wedding, but your wedding. I’m talking directly to you. That’s my goal every time I write a post.” Michele is a nationally recognized expert on Jewish weddings and a sought-after speaker at wedding conferences across the country. By attending these events as a speaker and a participant, she learns the questions on everyone’s minds—and shares the answers with her MJW readers. Every six months, Michele attends the elite Engage conference, where attendees are immersed in the hottest trends and most elegant designs, all brought to life by over-the-top budgets. Bringing her treasures home to MJW, she shows brides how to take these cutting-edge event elements and make them their own. Michele says, “That’s inspiration, when brides in Ann Arbor, Michigan or Austin, Texas—brides who don’t have seven-figure wedding budgets—have access to these ideas!” Looking ahead. Michele’s dream is to see The Modern Jewish Wedding on the shelves right next to Southern Weddings. If she could shut her eyes and dream big, the magazine would sit side-by-side with Martha Stewart Weddings and The Knot! MJW is only one facet of Michele’s bigger-picture universe, a media company called The Modern Jewish Life. The Modern Jewish Wedding and The Modern Jewish Mitzvah are in full swing. Next up will be The Modern Jewish Home & The Modern Jewish Baby. Working with the Modern Jewish Life team to inspire and educate individuals and families is the perfect culmination of Michele’s past lives. Her many, many years as a Jewish educator. Her thousands of hours spent planning Jewish life cycle events. Her…well…obsession with gathering and sharing stylish, beautiful lifestyle trends with her community. Michele celebrated her own life cycles as a child growing up in Austin, TX at Congregation Beth Israel. She went on to become a die-hard University of Texas fan, while studying for her degree in Communications. She is a member of both Congregation Beth Israel & Congregation Agudas Achim (local Austin Reform & Conservative congregations) and is active with the Jewish Business Network. She is a Past President of the Austin Section of the National Council of Jewish Women. She is also an alumna of Leadership Texas 2007 and is active with the Women Communicators of Austin. Friends ask Michele how she manages to juggle everything while maintaining her active social life. She laughs. “I don’t really know. It’s working, though, so I’m not complaining! I’m having the time of my life.” Meet Michele’s own Modern Jewish Family and learn about her life cycle events here!