I just finished presenting the world premiere of “Sweet Caroline” to Caroline’s family in our screening room and I’m giddy with excitement to share these photographs.
The color, character, and creativity of this event was cracklin’!
From Caroline’s amazing fashion shoot to their beautiful, dream-like Bat Mitzvah service in the Hamptons to the saturation of sweetness that was present across every detail at Guastavino’s. Thrilled to continue making beautiful memories for this family.
Team Caroline – Producer: Allison Gage and Lani Frenchman of Plan Great Events, Designer: Raquel Corvino Designs, Entertainment:
MC Dan Fisher and Total Entertainment, Photography Michael Jurick, Nathaniel Johnston, Shawn Inglima, Mark Sweeney
Mazel Tov to you and your whole family Caroline – my warmest regards!
Sammy has grown up the cutest little munchkin before my lens over the years and when it came time for her big Bat Mitzvah at Edison Ballroom, she lit up all of Times Square!
FEATURING Producer: Melissa Rosenbloom & Gourmet Advisory Designer: Phyllis Skolnick & Extraordinary Productions Entertainment: MC Dan Fisher and Total Entertainment
Venue: Edison Ballroom Photography: Michael Jurick, Nathaniel Johnston, Aviva Klein, Mark Sweeney
I just wanted to share a few of the cutest photographs of Sammy through the years.
Lavo – NYC’s favorite nightclub. Vinayak, everyone’s favorite guy! The two were a match made in heaven.
Vinayak’s Bollywood Bash screamed “raging good time!”
From the incredible Bollywood costumes to the vivid colors of the room designed by Pat & Glenn, this party was full-tilt, off the chain fun. 50 never felt so fun.
As just 1 of 10,000 athletes who competed in 20th Maccabiah Games in Israel this year, my story is only a tiny sliver and perspective of the full scope of the event.
After a few days back home in New York City, I’ve had time to reflect upon the trans-formative experience this past fortnight truly was.
This year’s games encompassed 10,000 athletes, 3000 tournaments, 47 sports, 2100 medals and 80 countries!
Maccabi World Union is the largest and longest running Jewish sports organization spanning over five continents, more than 60 countries, 450 clubs, and 400,000 members.
Maccabi utilizes sports as a means to bring Jewish people of all ages closer to Judaism and Israel.
Three Generations: Grandfather, Father, Son
Traveling together as 3 generations of tennis players competing for the USA was a deeply fulfilling experience.
When I began dating my wife Gal, tennis was the bond developed between her father Avram and I.
We won many father/son doubles matches over the years. After my son Jonah was born, the tradition continued and ultimately led to the opportunity to compete in the 2017 Maccabiah Games – all together.
The press loved the story and here’s a collection of published articles relating to our three generations:
Meeting and competing against players from around the world was an amazing experience. Even greater were the friendships formed on the trip with members of our USA team.
The feeling of camaraderie cheering / supporting your team during key matches was unforgettable.
Huge congratulations to my mixed doubles partner Rebecca Stein, so proud we brought home a bronze medal together.
Amazing that there were so many Jewish athletes from Suriname. I don’t think I’ve even heard of Suriname before this event!
Thank you so much coach Scott & Ana Eherlich and Todd Rubenstein for your commitment, coaching, passion, patience and selflessness to ensure we all had the best experience possible!
Tennis Masters Video Highlights:
The Maccabiah organization hosted a rave glow-party to bring the kids together and showcase some of the best Israeli multimedia which took place at the youth olympic village in Haifa. The sports facilities were absolutely gorgeous. The setting in Haifa was spectacular – featuring terraced tennis courts with views to the Mediterranean Sea.
My breakfast of champions every morning – the mighty acai bowl from this incredible fruit stand on the corner of Ben Gurion and Dizengorf. Also checkout the super cute tennis player in the cappuccino foam at a coffee shop near the Ramat Hasharon Israel Tennis Center.
Spending quality time with my family was also very special. My mom made the trek from Florida and we enjoyed cafes in Jaffa. Gal, Avram and I visited the trendy Neve Tzedek neighborhood which had the best french cafe “Ballal”.
Even after playing tennis for hours in the 95 degree scorching heat, we always found time to play kadima on the beach at sunset along the shoreline. Here’s a nice photos of Gal and Eden at sunset in Tel Aviv.
Special thank you to Jacqueline Glodstein, Executive VP for Global Development at the Israel Tennis Centers Foundation for her incredible support across the entire event. I had a chance to photograph the young players at the Israel Tennis Center in Jaffa to support the foundation in their mission to spread tennis to young people and bring together jews and arabs in the name of sports and camaraderie. To learn more and support the centers, click here.
The tank museum in Letrun was a spectacular location to celebrate the athletes in a fantastic closing ceremony hosted by Bar Rafieli.
Competition is a fire that burns deep within us. We seek to improve ourselves and test the results in the arena of sports. We do it for the love of the game and for how it makes us feel after putting in the hours, weeks and months of training.
I personally feel fitter, stronger and more focused than ever. I also feel that this experience has given deeper meaning to my business and personal life.
Higher, Better, Together, the mantra of the closing ceremonies of the 2017 Maccabiah Games was simply profound.
To go higher, you must do better and to do better, we must do it together… as a team.
Photo credits: Maccabiah World Organization, Andy Stein, Jonah Jurick, Michael Jurick
Here you can create the content that will be used within the module.
When you are blessed with impeccable spring sunshine and the most incredible bride and groom the hottest southern city in America, your recipe for an epic Atlanta wedding is all but certain.
Brittany & Adam were as gorgeous as movie stars, as entertaining as rock stars, and in love with each other as the leads in a romance novel. This was the perfect wedding – fun, free of drama and full of life.
It also was an extra special sweetener for me to spend the most important day of my cousin Brittany’s life to photograph her wedding. I was beaming with energy and enthusiasm all day and there was a tender moment when I saw her in her gown for the first time which brought me to tears… of joy.
I would really love to give a huge thank you to my lens partner, the amazing Bia Sampaio for creating these beautiful photographs with me. Thank you to Robin Nathan for your lighting craftsmanship to sculpt Hollywood glamour lighting on Adam and Brittany.
#beKAZiloveyou
Roll the credits:
Venue: Flourish | Wedding Planner: Michele Lend / Legendary Events | Make Up: Rebecca Borman | Hair Stylist: Ingrid Villa | Floral Design: Legendary Events | Cake: Legendary Events | Band: Jesse’s Girls / East Coast Entertainment | Wedding Gown: Monique L’huillier / Carine’s Bridal | Bridal Shoes: Stuart Weitzman
Almost 10 years ago, Sophia’s smile shone brighter than the sun on Scott Cameron beach in the Hamptons. Fast-forward 10 years later, and now her star power grew in magnitude to light up Times Square (seriously, look below to find her fashion shoot photographs on “The Bird” jumbotron!
I can’t say enough fun things about Sophia and her family. We’ve shared so many fun times over the years on our photo adventures together and the crown jewel was Sophia’s Bat Mitzvah at the Diamond Horseshoe. Team Sophia – we send you so much love and the heartiest Mazel Tov!
FEATURING Producer: Victoria Dubin Events Event Design: Bob Conti / Ed Libby Venue: Diamond Horseshoe Photographers: Michael Jurick, Nathaniel Johnston, Mike Reid
When my teen-age daughter Eden asked me if I could take her to Coachella, at first I said to myself “really??! You must be joking!” But then I thought about it more and realized – wow, what a great opportunity to take her on a west coast journey and spend some amazing quality time together.
The krewe grew to include my son Jonah, my nephew Max and our best friends Sofie and Mark. The band was formed and we took the show on the road!
We planned to play tennis every morning and really explore Santa Monica (Rustic Canyon is an absolute hidden gem to play tennis). We hiked, biked, played tennis, laughed hard, took alot of pictures (of course) and thouroughly enjoyed the zen and attraction of southern California.
All photos taken inside the grounds of Coachella were on my Google Pixel phone.
The famous “stairs” in the Pacific Palisades that hiking enthusiasts climb. It’s busy all day long.
Rustic Canyon trees in Pacific Palisades next to our tennis courts.
The view from Pepperdine University. How can anyone do any work around here?
Once we left Santa Monica, our drive into the desert included the mandatory stop at In-N-Out Burger (epic).
We designed our Coachella trip around the insanely beautiful Indian Wells Tennis Garden (home of the BNP Paribas Open) only 90 seconds from our hotel. Indian Wells is beyond gorgeous. It’s the next town over from Indio in the Coachella Valley near Palm Springs. The weather in mid-April is enough to make a man pack up and move there permanently. I’m talkin’ “head-shaking, how can this be?” weather.
We experienced so much joy, fun, tennis, and family bonding time before we even got to Coachella. So when it came time to actually hit the festival, we were so pumped and full of good Cali vibes that it really shows in these pre-game photos.
Coachella breakfast of champions.
I want to give a huge shout-out to my friend and fellow Tulanian, Andrew Klein at AEG for making our maiden Coachella exprience first class. Andrew – you are the man, thank you for everything!!!
The festival, now in it’s 18th year has grown into one of the largest music and arts festival in the world. The annual music and arts festival held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, located in the Inland Empire’s Coachella Valley in the Colorado Desert.
FUTURE, DRAKE (special guest appearance), GAGA, KENDRICK, MAC MILLER, RADIOHEAD, LORDE were a few of the bigger acts – though the real story was in the overall vibe of experiencing bands we hadn’t seen or heard before and wandering cushy, comfortable polo grounds, its music, art, vendors and weather.
Our krewe at the American Express Platinum House on left and Eden and Alessandra Ambrosio on right.
American Express Platinum offered an incredible benefit to its members and featured an outdoor Soul Cycle in the gardens of the swanky Parker Hotel Palm Springs. None other than Stacey Griffith led the class and took the vibe to new levels of fun. American Express offered yummy bites and drinks to the guests the Soul Cycle session – and just like everything else we experienced in the desert, it was too cool for words.
We finished our trip with a long-realized dream of tennis training with Coach Jack Broudy in Long Beach, then a day in Huntington Beach and were sent home via the beautiful Long Beach airport. Its open air walkways were the perfect ending to an unforgettable trip.
Being with the kids 24/7 this past week and seeing them have the time of their life was priceless.
When it comes to celebrating life, Stevie and her family are a beacon of joyous bright light. Neon light to be exact. This was Stevie’s time to shine and all (neon) lights pointed her way.
The amazing Jennifer Gould crafted neon signs that decorated the room reflecting how truly SHARP Stevie was! The fantastic rotating lightbox at the center of the bar was the talk of the design space.
Stevie’s mom, Ramy worked with Jennifer Gould to print wall-sized photos of all her friends that were displayed around the cocktail hour space – adding a touch of warmth and intimacy.
Stevie was a superstar at the center of it all – from rockin’ incredible fashion shoot photographs at the top of the William Vale Hotel to reading the Torah at the heart and soul of the Mitzvah experience.
I couldn’t have been more thrilled to complete the Mitzvah trifecta by documenting Stevie and her two brothers for Ramy and Rob – it was a true family affair.
The party raged on inside the super fun “car-a-oke” that kept friends singing till the late night hours while indulging in Emack and Bolio’s and a dangerously delicious Oreo Station. Guests danced until the wee hours at the after-hours party – a trend I’d love to see continue.
Mazel Tov Team Sharp – it was an epic night and you deserve all the happiness in the world!
