Haute Partners: J Group Events

Nothing is impossible for the event planning duo, Jassi Lekach Antebi and her friend and partner Hinda Adler at J Group Events, established in 2005. They have helped pull off weddings in two weeks, as well as kept high profile clients like Cartier happy for many years with their attention to detail and creativity in event planning. The event duo, Antebi and Adler met each other at the University of Miami, where they both had internships with Karla Dascal of Karla: Conceptual Event Experiences. They stayed in close contact as friends after graduating, but went their separate ways in their professional lives as Antebi went off to study interior design in Florence and Adler went straight to work. It wasn’t until Adler was planning her own wedding and became fed up with the company she hired that she contacted Antebi. “I got to the point in my wedding where I couldn’t deal with who I was working with and I called Jassi and said, ‘I need you to do my wedding!’” recalls Adler, knowing her friend would get it right. “And that was it. We worked so well together,” Adler said. “I could’ve not been involved [at all] and I would’ve walked into my wedding and it still would have been perfect!” Adler added.

They forged a partnership, but only on the premise that it would not get in the way of their friendship. That was not a problem and the two get along swimmingly. As a team they like to get inspiration for their events from traveling, shows and even social media.

“For me I think it’s really important to go to great restaurants, to go to different cities, go to the gift shows, all those things. The J Group Events Instagram @jgroupevents, is filled with gorgeous images of both past luxe events and images that inspire them.

For them, the most important first step in planning an event is the venue. “Obviously, we try to make every party as unique as possible and we really try not to have repeated themes or visions, and I think the space is very important,” said Antebi. “You can’t just say, ‘Oh, I want it to be this.’ And then stick it in any type of venue. You have to work with the venue and make sure it works with what your vision is,” added Adler.

Clients of J Group Events can be as specific or broad as they like when planning an event. The two can take an idea and run with it, or come up with their own. They work hard with clients to avoid any confusion or missed details that having a third party in the way may cause. They come to us with trust and confidence and we take that very seriously.

J Group Events can handle all types of events from weddings to corporate and social events. They have worked with high profile clients like Jeff Gordon, for whom they planned a very meaningful retirement party. “It was very emotional because it was the last race of his career,” explains Antebi. They also planned a Parisian dinner for Paris Hilton; a Swarovski covered party in New York for tennis star Maria Sharapova and an entire ice bar in Mexico, and have an on going relationship with Cartier that has resulted in countless lavish affairs all over the world.

Their specialty is making affairs that are lavish and inviting and approachable. They handle every detail so clients are stress-free and have only to enjoy themselves. “We like things done well, so I think when you walk into our parties you feel like it’s very well designed and it is a luxury event always, but it’s not ostentatious,” said Antebi.

When they aren’t working or spending time with their families, the ladies like to give back to many charities mostly involved with the Jewish Community. Their charities of choice include the Women’s International Zionist Organization, the social service infrastructure in Israel for women and children, the local Jewish Community Services, Jewish Adoption and Family Care Options and a Kosher food bank. “Children are our focus. It’s what we’re most connected to,” added Adler.

The future for the company includes more events for Cartier. “They’re one of our consistent clients, so we get to do a lot of fun things with them. We are working on two parties for them now. We do one in Geneva now in January, we do one in February in Arizona,” said Antebi.