We first discovered today’s wedding on Instagram when we posted this amazing video… 👇🏽Goosebumps right?
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The gorgeous bride, Kim, got in touch with us and here we are, a month later with the whole wedding on Smashing The Glass (and what a stunning W Day it is!)
We LOVE a good Jewish wedding flashmob. Usually they’re planned by the couple as a surprise to their guests, and that’s pretty cool. But you know what’s even cooler? Guests planning a flashmob as a surprise for the couple!
Kim and John’s best friends managed to stealthily gather all the guests’ emails, and before the big day they emailed one and all a video of a dance they were instructed to learn so they could break it out en masse when Happy by Pharrel Williams came on!
We’re obsessed with all the touching surprises the couple’s family and friends planned for them, and the flashmob is just the tip of the iceberg. There was also a time capsule from the couple’s BFFs, a surprise musical performance by the bride’s family, and a sweet video from the families with recordings of good wishes and humorous remarks to the newlyweds. Awww!
Oh, and did we mention Kim, an Israeli-Swiss trader, and John, a Dropbox salesman from Belgium (they currently live in Ireland – how’s that for international?!), also happened to put on a totally gorgeous day?
Full of natural greenery (including some super cool boho wreaths hanging from the ceiling in the reception space), it’s one of those perfectly, effortlessly elegant Israeli celebrations we can’t get enough of. Photographer Jen Sladkov took the most beautiful, natural pictures, capturing everything from the botanical details to the wild dance party!
If you suspect your family and friends may not be quite so creative as Kim and John’s, you and your spouse-to-be might be left to your own devices when it comes to making your wedding super unique and memorable. But no worries, we’ve got you! Just sign up to our FREE online event: ‘The secrets to an unforgettable Jewish wedding with our founder and editor, Karen, happening on Monday November 12. It’s going to be unmissable!
Okay, now over to Kim, who looked absolutely beautiful in her dress from Emanuel Brides…
How We Met
Kim, the bride: John and I met 7 years ago. I have an aunt who lives in Belgium, and I went to visit my cousin while John was in the Israeli army (he volunteered for one year). It turned out we were in Belgium in the same time, because he had some time off.
We have a friend in common who I was supposed to see, but we had reschedule and it turned out the only day she could see me she’d be with a friend of hers visiting from the army who she couldn’t cancel on. I told her no problem, we could all hang out together. That was John.
We clicked immediately. We spoke on and off for a year. When he finished the army I had a trip planned with friends to Belgium so we agreed to meet (it was January 2013). We met and I came back telling my parents I have a boyfriend.
We dated long-distance for 4 years while he was studying business in Nottingham, and I was studying psychology in Geneva. After 4 years we decided we wanted to move in together and that’s when we ended up in Dublin. He proposed 7 months later, and now we’re married. ☺
A Wedding in Israel
John and I got married in Gioia Mia, Nahshonim. We knew from the beginning that we wanted to get married either someplace with nature or near the beach, and we wanted a venue where we could have the chuppah outside and the party inside.
When we arrived at Gioia Mia we immediately fell in love. They have a gorgeous garden with lots of greenery, and the venue itself has big windows. We loved how there was no clear separation of the outside and inside.
Botanical Chic
Our theme was botanical chic. We wanted our venue to have a lot of green and plants, with a modern touch.
Since we don’t live in Israel, we used a wedding planner, Unicas. Gretel Scheiner and her team are the most amazing people I’ve ever met. They understood our needs and always responded to our messages quickly, and it was really fun to work with them all the way through. I’m still in contact with them today.
Invitations Designed by the Groom’s Sister
Our invitation was very simple, just one card. We wanted it to be as clean and clear as possible. The special thing was that my sister-in-law (John’s sister) designed it for us.
Hair + Makeup
Andrey Levin did my hair and makeup. I wanted the most natural makeup possible, and he made me feel absolutely amazing.
As for my hair I wanted to have it off my face but didn’t want to put it all up, so he made a half ponytail and braided my hair with a little curl for volume. Andrey Levin made me feel so good, he kept me calm – he was perfect!
An Emanuel Brides Dress
My dress was from Emanuel Brides. I chose it because my cousin had her dress made there and she was so happy. I had a very specific idea in mind, I wanted the bodice to have some detail, like embroidery, and the skirt to be simple and smooth.
But I came open-minded and asked Michal to show me other styles so I could make an informed decision. I ended up choosing the very first design Michal showed me. I took the top of one dress and the bottom of an other one, and we created my perfect dress.
Jewellery
My only jewellery on the big day was earrings, designed by my aunt. She has a gorgeous jewellery company, Annati Jewellery. I am very close to her and it was an absolute honor to wear her earrings on my wedding day.
Metallic Mattes
At first I wanted to wear Jimmy Choos for my wedding, but I ended up using them for a pre-wedding party we had at the Poli House. On the wedding day I bought Aro shoes in a silver/gold matte color. I wanted to be comfortable, but I still ended up in flip flops by the end of the night…
The handsome groom
My most handsome husband wore a bespoke dark blue suit from Suit Supply. He chose the fabric and it was made to measure specially for him. He wore very special cufflinks – the same one his father wore on the day he married John’s mother.
He also wore a burgundy bow tie from Mrs Bow Tie with the matching pocket square. When I saw him I just couldn’t stop smiling and thinking how lucky I was to be marrying him.
Chuppah
We collaborated on our chuppah with our designer, the amazing Tslil Amram. She matched the chuppah design with the general theme of the wedding, greens and white flowers.
A Singer for the Ceremony
During the chuppah we had a singer, Mendi Jerufi; we absolutely loved the way he sings. Mendi had his crew with him, so before the chuppah started there was a violinist who played songs.
Our music choice
During the first part of the wedding, Mendi Jerufi stayed and sang Hassidic songs. We had no real separation between women and men, but we did separate naturally. That was a big part of the wedding, and we had CRAZY dances.
After that, our great DJ Moran Kariv, played Israeli songs, pop, French, even Irish (because John and I live in Dublin) music… people danced all night.
Our first dance together was a song from Shlomi Shabat Yesh Lach. We chose that song because John dedicated it to me our first year together. We were in a long-distance relationship at first; he left for 2 months to go backpacking Australia, and I would hear this song and cry because I missed him… ☺
Hanging Greenery
We had lots of greenery and white flowers. Tslil Amram made circles of greenery that we had hanging from the ceiling; it was really special and made the venue look different.
Photographer
The amazing Jen Sladkov was our photographer. I have a friend who got married one year before me and when she posted her wedding pictures I fell in love with them. Looking at Jen’s pictures on Instagram I discovered HE was her photographer, so I took it as it was meant to be and we chose him.
What we LOVED about him is that he is simply an artist. He likes to take the most natural pictures and that’s what we wanted.
We had Tomer Foltyn for our magnet favors, he was great also!
Videographer
We used a videographer, the great Avichai Wechsler, the nicest person I’ve met. He came with a teaser of our wedding 24 hours after!
Cake!
Limor Zisman made us a white cake with chocolate inside, decorated with chocolate macaroons. It was served on a table with lots of sweets. People went crazy for it. We also provided small boxes for the guests so they could take it home.
Electric Drummer
We had Itzik Ben David from Bombastic, an electronic drummer with special lights. He put on an amazing show with Moran Kariv!
Three surprises
We had 3 surprises during the wedding:
Our best friends (my 3 best friends and John’s 3 best friends) made a speech. At the end they presented us with a big box full of souvenirs from all of them, they made us promise to open it together 10 years from now!!!
My best friends managed to get all the guests’ emails, and before the wedding they emailed every one with a video, telling them that when the song Happy by Pharrel Williams came on, everyone had to do a flashmob! It was amazing, we didn’t understand at first how everyone knew the dance.
It turns out my father-in-law tricked me into giving him the guest list with all the emails. He pretended he wanted to see something…
My sister sings very very well, suddenly she got up on stage and started to sing a song, and everyone’s mouths dropped open. After like three lines of the song my mom joined her, and she was followed by all my family. All our family (included cousins, brothers, and sisters) made an adorable video for us where everyone said something nice or funny.
Honeymoon in Bali
We actually just came back from our honeymoon. We went to Bali! We started with two days in Singapore, which was amazing, and then we went to Bali: we did Ubud, Seminyak, and Jimaran. It was the most perfect honeymoon ever. It was the first time for both of us, and we wanted to discover Asia. We went for two weeks.
Advice to couples currently planning their wedding
Enjoy the day as much as you can. Keep in mind that the past year, or many months, of work that you’ve done is for YOU and your HUSBAND, and just give all you’ve got. Dance like a crazy person, laugh, just enjoy. That’s what I did. I can really tell you I had so much fun on my wedding day, and John will tell you the same.
I just gave my all because I knew the day would pass so quickly and I wanted to enjoy all the work I’d put in. It took me about a month to really recover from it, haha, my feet hurt for a long time and I think I’ve burned the most calories in my life in a few hours.
Kim & Jonathan’s little white book
Photography – Jen Sladkov
Videography – Avichai Wechsler
Wedding planner – Unicas
Venue – Gioia Mia
Bride’s dress – Emanuel Brides
Groom’s attire – Suit Supply and Mrs Bow Tie
Flowers – Tslil Amram
Cake – Limor Zisman
Chuppah singer – Mendi Jerufi
DJ – Moran Kariv
Electric drummer – Itzik Ben David
Magnets – Tomer Foltyn
That looks like a really fantastic celebration and party at the end! definitely one of the loudest weddings I’ve seen recently.