A Wedding Planner for All, Including Those in Need

Devorah Benjamin zips up her fatigues — a black hooded sweatshirt with “The Wedding Planner” embroidered in fluorescent pink across the back — and is ready for another day’s battle. Her army stands at the ready: musicians, photographers, florists, hair and makeup artists, and a team of middle-aged mothers who volunteer their nights to cook and donate food.

Their mission: to make weddings happen, even for couples who cannot afford them.

“I’m a part of everyone’s lives,” Ms. Benjamin said recently. “If you walk around Crown Heights and say my name, people know exactly who I am. I’m a household name.”

In Hasidic households in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, she is.

The Dutch-born Ms. Benjamin is the founder of Keren Simchas Chosson V’Kallah, a nonprofit organization that pays for and plans the weddings. The foundation’s nearly $500,000 annual budget comes entirely from donations collected at annual fund-raisers and charity drives, and via mailed-in checks.

Ms. Benjamin explained that in most Hasidic households, parents are traditionally expected to pay for their children’s weddings, which average about $20,000.

In a community where families typically have many children, make do on one income and send their children to private religious schools, weddings can present intimidating financial obstacles. Still, the resourceful Ms. Benjamin decides to operate quietly, never divulging exactly what she donates to each couple.

“I tell the couples to pay for what they can, and I’ll do the rest,” said Ms. Benjamin.

Ms. Benjamin said her organization thrives because of the emphasis on charity among ultra-Orthodox Jews, though donations come in from non-Jews as well. It is not uncommon to receive anonymous checks in the mail for $1,000, she said.

“It all runs on miracles and miracles and love,” she said.