Hoda Kotb Talks Possible Future Wedding Almost 3 Years After Joel Schiffman Split: ‘When That Day Comes’
Hoda Kotb is looking ahead towards a possible wedding in her future.
On the Dec. 11 episode of Today with Hoda and Jenna, Kotb and co-host Jenna Bush Hager discussed the “micro-wedding” trend. Nearly three years after her split from her ex fiancé Joel Schiffman, Kotb imagined the day she might walk down the aisle again.
Kotb was married to Burzis Kanga for three years, from 2005 to 2008. She was then in a relationship with financier Joel Schiffman for eight years, during three of which they were engaged.
Bush Hager asked Kotb if she’d want a large or small wedding one day.
“When that day comes, probably a small [wedding], yeah,” Kotb said.
The question came up in the two co-hosts’s conversation on micro-weddings, a trend that is gaining speed due to the high costs associated with the occasion.
Micro-weddings typically have a smaller guest list, generally just 10 to 30 people, Kotb said. The ongoing trend offers a more traditional approach than an elopement, according to BRIDES, and creates a more intimate environment for the special day.
“They’re growing in popularity because I think people don’t want to spend a ton of money on the party and then afterwards and then the bills,” Kotb said.
But the challenge with micro-weddings, Kotb said, is that they’re virtually impossible with large families.
Kotb revealed the celebration of her nuptials with Kanga was a destination wedding — “it wasn’t small but it wasn’t huge.”
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Schiffman and Kotb were engaged in November 2019, just months before the COVID-19 pandemic halted many in-person events. Thus, the pair delayed their wedding multiple times before ultimately separating in January 2022.
Patrick McMullan/Patrick McMullan via Getty
At the time, she imagined a beach wedding — where Schiffman proposed — but prior to their split, she said she was apprehensive of another destination wedding. She then shifted her sights to a smaller ceremony closer to New York City, again to accommodate restrictions and changing norms during the pandemic.
After a brief three-date romance earlier this year — with a man that Bush Hager introduced her to — Kotb shared she’s just looking for simplicity in her next partner.