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Home > Posts tagged 2016 > Page 20

Archives for 2016

Bertha & David | Elegant-casual ‘garden market’ destination wedding on the beach at Bayit Al Hayam, Jaffa, Tel Aviv, Israel

27/05/2016 by Karen

Destination-wedding-Israel
I first received an email from today’s bride in April of last year when she wrote to me asking for recommendations for a wedding planner, a great wedding website, and other ideas for her dream wedding in Israel.

Doing what I do, I had some lovely ideas for her, one of which was the suggestion of working with the brilliant BE Group TLV to plan and produce her destination wedding (Bertha and David hail from Mexico!).

Roll on just over a year later, and I can safely say that Bertha was thrilled to bits with her experience of working with Lisa and the team at BE Group TLV (as you’ll read below) and I could not be happier to be blogging her frankly fabulous wedding to David.

The couple were after a laid back but pretty feel to their big day and chose to get married at Bayit Al Hayam, a gorgeous venue right on the beach in Jaffa-Tel Aviv. They placed an emphasis on ’boutique booze’ (I’m talking a premium tequila and margarita bar, with one of Israel’s best mixologists brought in for the night!) and colourful garden market details with fruit and vegetable decor which just works SO well.

Now even though this is an elegant, sophisticated do, I love that the bride and groom chose to sit with their friends on a long cream sofa and chose to forgo assigned seating for their guests. They went for a combination of different sized tables and cream sofas and I think it’s so important to remember that you can be playful with your seating arrangements. You don’t have to stick to ‘tried and tested’ formulae!

There were also lots of lovely details to reflect Bertha and David’s Mexican heritage like churros instead of wedding cake, kippot made in Mexico, and tequila bottle favours organised by the bride’s brother and father.

A couple of other elements that I LOVE are a children’s choir and shofar accompanying the couple to the chuppah, and on a very different note (excuse the pun!) the screening of photos at the reception of the guests on tours of Jerusalem and the North of Israel. Bertha and David had organised these tours of Israel for their guests as part of their wedding week, and it must have been so lovely for the guests to see images of their Israel experiences on the big screen at the reception.

Bertha looks exquisite in a gown designed by a friend of hers from Mexico. She was inspired by several of the big designer names but wasn’t able to find a look she loved, so she had the dress of her dreams custom-made. And let’s not leave out the dashing groom! I am seriously coveting his black patent leather Converse which he teamed with a Kenneth Cole tuxedo. Super super cool!

Before I show you all the pretty, let me leave you with this wonderful quote from Bertha & David’s wedding website (for which they used the amazing Riley & Grey, also recommended by yours truly ðŸ™‚ ) alluding to the fact that the two of them met back in 1983… in kindergarten no less!

Life is funny. You can spend years searching for something only to realise it`s been there right in front of you all along”

Enjoy this one peeps. The big day was captured perfectly by Eran Beeri…

Elegant-casual ‘garden market’ destination wedding on the beach at Bayit Al Hayam, Jaffa, Tel Aviv, Israel_0014 Elegant-casual ‘garden market’ destination wedding on the beach at Bayit Al Hayam, Jaffa, Tel Aviv, IsraelElegant-casual ‘garden market’ destination wedding on the beach at Bayit Al Hayam, Jaffa, Tel Aviv, Israel
How we met

Bertha, the Bride: David and I first met in kindergarten in 1983! Our families have known each other for about 30 years and our brothers were childhood friends. We re-connected many years later in our late 20’s and became best friends. We began dating years later and dated for two years before getting married.

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A Halfpenny London Bride for an interfaith Mexican-Jewish wedding at Searcys at 30 Pavilion Road, Knightsbridge, London, UK

24/05/2016 by Karen

Mexican-Jewish-Wedding-Searcys-at-30-Pavilion-Road
The last few weeks have been filled to the brim with all sorts of events and meetings… all in the name of work! From admiring the 2017 bridal collections at White Gallery London to a meeting with the Vivienne Westwood couture team in central London to the fabulous Not On The High Street press event where I got to meet the wonderful Kate Halfpenny and see her phenomenal wedding dress designs firsthand. Having been a fan of Kate’s for a long time (since I first heard her speak  at Paperfest in 2014) I’m delighted to be finally featuring a bride wearing one of her vintage-inspired Halfpenny London gowns in today’s interfaith (let’s call it Mexi-Jew!) fusion Jew-ish wedding.

Yes, today’s wedding features a surprise Mexican mariachi band singing Hava Nagila and Siman Tov… Epic, right?

And when it’s all captured by Matt Parry, you know it’s going to be utterly superb. Matt is one of those photographers whose work makes me do a little dance whenever I see it — there is something so very creative and fresh about his style — and I’m so happy to be able to say that today’s couple booked him after discovering his work on Smashing The Glass (which definitely elicits another happy dance from me!).

Mexican Jewish Wedding Searcys at 30 Pavilion Road
how we met

Liz, the Bride: Freddie and I met six years ago whilst I was living in London with friends.  We met at a club and exchanged phone numbers. We went on a date and I spent the rest of my time in London with him.

When I returned to Mexico we assumed that that was the end of our whirlwind romance, however two years later I came back to London for the Olympics and I met up with Freddie and we ended spending the entire summer together. The following summer I was back in London for work and after spending yet another summer together we finally decided to give it a go. I moved to London and the rest as they say is history…

We chose this venue as Freddie and his family used to live less than 100 yards away. As Freddie’s mum mentioned in her speech it felt like coming home…

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“My best Jewish wedding photo” by Marianne Taylor

22/05/2016 by Karen

A weekly series where  I ask some of the world’s best wedding photographers to pick out their favourite shot from their Jewish wedding portfolio. This week it’s the turn of  Marianne Taylor.

Marianne-Taylor-Photography

‘Getting Ready’ by Marianne Taylor

‘I’ve always loved the getting ready part of a wedding  best. The charged atmosphere, the calm before it’s time to go when everything kicks into high-gear, all the pretty little details that transform a girl into a bride.

The setting where Ali was getting ready was simply perfect. A beautiful house where you could still sense the history and all the glamorous people who’ve once passed through it. We were nervously waiting for a stubborn mist to clear so that the arriving guests could take in the stunning views. When Ali was ready, her smile shining even brighter than her gorgeous gown, the sun finally broke through the mist. It was time to get married.“

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White Gallery London 2016

20/05/2016 by Karen

White-Gallery-London-2016
On Monday I attended The White Gallery in London’s Battersea Evolution which is essentially the London Fashion Week of the bridal industry. It’s a trade event for UK and international bridal designers to showcase their 2017 collections to press and buyers, and it feels like stepping through a vortex into the bridal apparel future.

The show took place in the heart of a blossom-filled Battersea Park inside a pavilion that was transformed into an elegant showroom, complete with catwalks and press lounges. The event ran over three days and offered press and buyers access to a diverse range of designers, runways, and of course industry lovelies!

You may have already seen a few sneak peeks of my photos on Instagram, and live commentary and video on Snapchat (and if you’re not yet on Snapchat, you’re missing out on ALL the fun and behind-the-scenes footage!). This post takes it up a notch with my favourite wedding dress and wedding shoe designers, and my six key bridal trends for 2017 as spotted at White Gallery.

If you’re currently on the hunt for your wedding dress or shoes, I do hope that this post will inspire you. All the gorgeous images (unless otherwise stated) are by the super talented Kate Nielen who accompanied me to the show. Feel free to pin and share them to your heart’s content!

Below: clockwise from top: Sassi Holford catwalk show / Emmy London / YolanCris
White-gallery-London

Stephanie Allin Couture

Stephanie Allin designed my wedding dress and is genuinely one of the loveliest people in the business. What appeals to me about Stephanie, besides her wonderful service and giving nature, is her contemporary take on classic couture and her desire to create wedding dresses for the ‘real bride’ as opposed to what looks best on a model. Her latest collection is inspired by the Italian lifestyle and artistic flair, and incorporates compelling fabrics including metallic jacquard prints on silk organza, and concepts like bridal separates of bra-lets teamed with dramatic skirts.

One a side note, Stephanie definitely gets the award for the most inspired creative campaign (shot by Matt Bird). How uh-mazing is the shot below taken from Stephanie’s new Bellisima collection?!

Stephanie Allin Bellisimo Stephanie Allin

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A Watters bride for an ‘all white’ destination interfaith Jewish Wedding at Masseria Le Carrube, Puglia, Italy.

17/05/2016 by Karen

Destination-Wedding-Masseria-Puglia
Thank goodness we’re having some summery weather in London this week as today’s destination wedding is making me crave eating ‘al fresco’. Those rustic tablescapes are some of the prettiest I’ve ever seen. Don’t they look inviting? And Abigail Warner‘s stationery is so fabulously ‘destination’ too. I’m sure there were no RSVP declines to those!

With Adam being British, and Paula being Brazilian, as well as part-Japanese and European, this is another wonderful example of a Jew-ish, mixed faith, mixed culture, mixed nationality wedding and I LOVE it.

First of all that styling… Get your pinning finger ready as the girls as Design Anarchy Studio designed this white-on-white wedding to perfection. Then there’s the fashion.. Paula rocks her two-piece top and skirt by Watters  (isn’t it divine?) and just wait until you see her jewelled Givenchy sandals â€” they’re pure destination luxe! Adam plays his part of the dashing groom in his chic ivory suit too, and the legendary Wedding Smashers DJ’ed until what looks like dawn!

This wedding is filled to the brim with style and grace, and not only do I have the wonderful images for you by Cinzia Bruschini, but also the film by Marco Caputo at the bottom of the post.

Come on then, let’s dive in — you’re going to love it.

Destination wedding ItalyDestination wedding ItalyDestination wedding Italy

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