Have we got a spectacular Jewish wedding to share with you today! Ella, who works in real estate investment, and Curtis, a senior recruiter, live in the UK, but they always knew they wanted to get married in Israel – and they found the perfect spot in stunning seaside venue Al-Hayam in Caesarea.
This wedding is just so full of phenomenal energy, and the couple’s photographer, Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Ronen Boidek, captured every single moment so perfectly. In Ella’s words, “We absolutely love his style of photos and I have been part of weddings who have used him before. He is so professional and made everything stress free – he even knew the correct way to tie my dress after we forgot the instructions!”
We can’t turn you over to Ella without raving about how absolutely exquisite she looked in her dress from beloved Israeli designer Berta! Read on for more in the bride’s own words…
How We Met
Ella, the bride: Curtis and I met in first year of University at the University of Birmingham. I am from Liverpool and Curtis is from Glasgow.
A Wedding in Israel
We got married in Al-Hayam, Caesarea. We attended a wedding there 7 years ago and Curtis turned to me and said this is where I want to marry you one day so whilst we did go and look at other venues it really was a no brainer for us. As my family is Israeli it was never a question we would get married in Israel.
Desert Meets Ocean
We used the amazing Noa Levy as our wedding planner and she really brought our vision to life. We wanted a desert themed / sunset wedding overlooking the sea and she helped achieve that with our Persian rugs, and orange / sand shaded flowers.
Invitation
We used Paperless Post for our invitations and found this really simple to use and to keep track / keep in contact with our guests.
Hair + Makeup
I used Shira Biton for makeup, she is very chilled and made getting ready with her so fun. I also used the amazing Sylvia Tuval for my hair. They were both so easy to work with and I didn’t need to do trials for either as I was confident they knew what I was going for.
A Berta Dress
My dress was from Berta and it was a romantic style, I loved how untraditional it was and fitted the theme of the wedding perfectly. It was effortlessly beautiful and I knew it was the one when I tried it on.
Accessories + Shoes
Curtis gave my a new pair of mother of pearl earrings to wear on our wedding day and I chose to not wear any other jewellery. My wedding shoes were Jimmy Choo patent white leather with a pearl band. I choose the matching veil to my dress which had Italian style lace around the trim.
Bridesmaids
I had a big group of bridesmaids and wanted them all to feel comfortable and beautiful on the day so I told them to wear any dress they wanted as long as it was shiny/metallic! I think this worked so well and everyone felt their best, it also looked amazing with the colour theme!
Ceremony & Chuppah
I walked down the aisle to my family song ‘Ouf Gozal’ which my siblings also walked down to when they got married before me. We had the lyrics of the song translated and displayed near the seating and we got married under my father’s talit. Our favourite part of the chuppah design was the Persian rugs which we used on the aisle, something I have always imagined having.
Ketubah
Our ketubah was kindly gifted to us by our dear friends and was designed by Danny Azoulay. We opted for a cream and gold lace design.
Our music choice
We are quite specific in what kind of songs we like and Caliente band worked with us to create our dream playlist. We had a Saxophonist at reception playing Bridgeton themed music. Our chuppah singer Yuval Lev Tov had an amazing Mizrahi voice and for the dinner/dancing we started off with a band and ended the night with a DJ!
Flowers
Noa Levy, our wedding planner, is luckily also a florist, which was a huge bonus as she really understood the style we were going for from the outset. We used mostly local Israeli flowers which were in season all in various shades of sand, orange, creams with hints of pink and blue and cream roses for the button holes. We also had a mixture of terracotta, gold and glass vases for the tables all at varying heights with candles to make each table look slightly different.
Photographer and videographer
The incredible Ronen Boidek was our photographer, we absolutely love his style of photos and I have been part of weddings who have used him before. He is so professional and made everything stress free – he even knew the correct way to tie my dress after we forgot the instructions!
Our videographer Michael Levy captured the wedding beautifully and has a really cool style where he is able to artistically capture most guests at the wedding (which is not easy when there are over 300 guests).
Food and cake
Erez Hanan was our caterer and we love his style of food, we spoke to him before and told him about our favourite restaurants in Israel and the style of food we like to eat and he executed it perfectly! We had lots of bbq’d meat at reception, an amazing dessert buffet and my favourite part of the night was the schnitzel challah sandwiches we were served at midnight!
Gift List
We used The Wedding Shop for our gift list
Extra Details
We loved incorporating our family in the wedding as much as possible with Sheva Brachas from brothers, cousins and close friends, both of our sisters were our joint chairwomen for the night and our living grandparents walking down the aisle!
Curtis’ speech was lost about an hour before he was expected to make it which was a little bit of a stress as the only other copy was on his laptop in his hotel room 30 minutes away, the Eyal Golan concert going on in the nearby stadium made traffic a nightmare! Luckily my brother smooth talked the police and managed to get a police escort to the hotel to get the speech!
Honeymoon
We were planning on a safari honeymoon for December 2024 but are now expecting a baby so our honeymoon is going to delayed by a couple of years at least!
Advice to couples currently planning their wedding
Our advice would be not to stress in the lead up, people won’t notice the small things that don’t work out. Keep the wedding true to you
ELLA & CURTIS’ LITTLE WHITE BOOK
Photography – Ronen Boidek
Videography – Michael Levy
Venue – Al-Hayam
Planner – Noa Levy
Ketubah – Danny Azoulay
Bride’s dress – Berta
Bride’s shoes – Jimmy Choo
Makeup – Shira Biton
Band – Caliente
Catering – Erez Hanan
Gift List – The Wedding Shop
If you’re a Jewish or Jew-ish bride-to-be, you’ll want to join Smashing The Glass’ Brides Club. Guided by the world’s number 1 Jewish wedding expert, Karen Cinnamon, Brides Club is the private community for Jewish and Jew-ish brides that removes wedstress and indecision and gives you what you need to plan with confidence during these uncertain times. Join our Brides Club here.
