Ready, Set, Go 

I had one cardinal rule with new clients who were nonobservant: I never, ever mentioned religion. I displayed invitations; I schmoozed about calligraphy fonts, layout styles, color themes, tablescapes, and lighting; how to deal with mechutanim; what colors best suited what skin types; and the all-important shoe shades and eye-shadow tints.

And I would wait. First impressions and second glances are fleeting and patience isn’t my virtue, yet inevitably, one thing would lead to another — a comment here, a question there, and I now celebrate the friendship of more than one client turned close friend.

If invitations were ready for pickup either Thursday or Friday, I would make sure my Shabbos table was set, complete with elegant tablecloths, cloth napkins, napkin rings, chargers, my beautiful Shabbos dishes, crystal goblets and — because what would a table be without them? — hand-calligraphied place cards.

For extra measure, I’d bake apples sprinkled with cinnamon — and the house smelled good enough to do the talking for me.