Groundbreaking Initiative to Transform Crown Heights Wedding Costs

A major new initiative aimed at easing the financial burden of weddings in Crown Heights was announced today by Keren Hachomesh, in partnership with Oholei Torah, offering an all-inclusive, affordable wedding package for the beautiful Oholei Torah Ballroom, utilizing the most upscale and popular vendors in the wedding industry, COLlive has learned.

After months of discussions and nuanced planning, today they are announcing a curated, all-inclusive wedding package priced at $29,500 ($14,750 a side), coming in at close to half the cost of a typical wedding of this caliber.

The formal agreement was finalized in recent days, in which Keren HaChomesh, a fund established by the Rebbe and administered by Machne Israel, has partnered with Oholei Torah and assumed exclusive operational responsibility for the Oholei Torah Ballroom, long regarded as one of the neighborhood’s most elegant wedding venues.

After speaking with many Crown Heights residents about what a typical wedding entails, Keren Hachomesh recognized that a carefully curated roster of vendors is key to maintaining consistent quality while achieving affordability through economies of scale. By establishing exclusive agreements with select vendors, costs can be kept down without compromising standards.

To that end, the wedding package will include a selection of Crown Heights’ most popular and top-tier vendors, each of whom have partnered with Keren HaChomesh and the Oholei Torah Hall in this groundbreaking initiative: Table One Catering has been commissioned as the exclusive catering partner, bringing its reputation for excellence, presentation, and top-tier kosher cuisine. Clients will be able to select top industry vendors for their simcha. Chanie Greenbaum Events or Debby Event Design will serve as the official florists for weddings under the initiative. Photography will be provided by CJ Studios, and clients will choose from top-tier musicians including Choni Milecki, Mendy Kraus, Yossi Cohen, Shimon Brod and Fitche Benshimon.

The single, flat fee will cover the hall, along with top tier vendors providing catering, flowers and décor, photography, music, and additional curated wedding essentials. If desired, the services of Mrs. Devorah Benjamin as the wedding planner to guide and keep the wedding running smoothly are also included. Additional details will be publicized by 15 Shevat. The package includes settings for 275 guests — the average size of a wedding in Oholei Torah — with an option to upgrade for larger weddings as well.

The goal is to ensure that a beautiful, respectable, and tasteful wedding is more attainable for every Chabad family and Shluchim, as well as for families from the broader Anash community, including those from outside Crown Heights, and that it can be achieved without incurring tens of thousands of dollars in debt.

Rabbi Shmaya Krinsky, Executive Director of Keren HaChomesh and Machne Israel, told COLlive.com that the move follows years of firsthand experience hearing from families struggling to afford dignified weddings. “Many families who are just getting by financially and are doing OK, when faced with making weddings, find themselves in debt all over again in their fifties,” he said.

“Supporting kallahs and chasanim has been a core mandate of Keren HaChomesh since its establishment, rooted in the Rebbe’s directives following the Rebbetzin’s passing,” said Rabbi Shmaya Krinsky, who is overseeing and spearheading the program.

What began as simply financial assistance has now been developed by Machne Israel’s leadership team into a structured and proactive solution addressing a growing communal need.

While typical Crown Heights weddings often exceed $50,000 to $60,000 for what is considered an “average wedding,” the new model will bring expenses down to half of that, and will do so without compromising standards. Organizers emphasized that this is not a “takana” or discount hall, or a new lower-tier solution, but a thoughtfully designed framework that balances refinement with affordability.

Keren Hachomesh, as part of its mission to assist chasanim and kallos, is investing in enhancements to the already beautiful space. Planned upgrades include new mechitzos, improved serving and buffet stations, and additional aesthetic and practical improvements.

As the goal of the initiative is to create more accessible and affordable weddings, financing and payment plan options are being explored to further ease financial strain for families.

Keren Hachomesh stresses that in addition to the curated wedding package, the Oholei Torah ballroom will remain available for weddings that don’t choose to use the curated package, and families who wish to rent the hall independently through Keren Hachomesh and select their own vendors may continue to do so, subject to venue standards and terms. The goal, organizers stressed, is to expand options rather than restrict them.

The motivation behind the initiative is twofold, in keeping with the Rebbe’s directives to Keren HaChomesh and to chassidim. The first goal, dovetailing with Keren HaChomesh’s mission as directed by the Rebbe, is to financially aid chassanim and kallos. The second goal is to help keep weddings in Crown Heights. “The Rebbe strongly emphasized the importance of making dignified weddings accessible locally, and the Rebbe encouraged community leadership to secure venues for this purpose,” said Rabbi Shneur Brook, administrator of Machne Israel and Keren Hachomesh, who was involved in developing and shaping the initiative. “In recent years, rising costs have pushed many weddings out of the neighborhood. This initiative seeks to ensure that couples once again have an attainable option to celebrate their wedding close to home, in a premier Crown Heights venue.”

Local Crown Heights institutions and Moisdois will continue to have access to the venue for communal events, subject to scheduling guidelines and limited blackout dates, Brook notes.

“Our ballroom has always been a community service,” said Rabbi Yehoshua Lustig, Menahel K’lali of Oholei Torah. “The Rebbe expressed his deep wish that Crown Heights be the place where chasunahs and all simchos are celebrated, with the assurance of ‘כאן צוה ה׳ את הברכה’. We are proud to be a driving partner in an initiative that eases financial pressure while preserving the dignity and beauty of every simcha, and we are fully committed to its success.”

The initiative will go into effect beginning Rosh Chodesh Sivan, with a dedicated booking website scheduled to launch in February. In the interim, all bookings for events taking place on or after Rosh Chodesh Sivan should be submitted via email to [email protected].

As Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky, Chairman of Machne Israel and vice president and treasurer of Keren HaChomesh, noted, “The Rebbetzin embodied elegance, dignity, and refinement in every aspect of her life. This initiative draws directly from that legacy — ensuring that affordability never comes at the expense of class, kavod, or beauty as young couples begin their lives together.”

For more information and to give any feedback or ideas, email to [email protected] .