We just cannot get enough of today’s Jewish wedding. We see a lot of beautiful weddings here at STG, but this one is really and truly unlike anything we’ve encountered before. Bride Daniella always wanted “a fairy tale princess wedding,” and she and groom Natan went ALL OUT to make it happen.
It didn’t hurt that this is pretty much the ultimate industry insider wedding — wedding planner Adena Mark at A to Z Events just happens to be the mother of the bride, and Daniella herself is a bridal makeup artist. So it’s safe to say this mother-daughter duo knew what they were doing.
Between the knockout pink flowers on the ultra-romantic chuppah, the pink chiffon arches lining the entrance, and the pink sweets table, this wedding really was, this was the kind of Jewish wedding that would do Cinderella proud. You’ve got to check out Shabi Kedem’s photos of it all.
And then there’s that dress. We love that Daniella wasn’t afraid to make a bold choice, bypassing traditional white for a sparkly pink princess gown she custom designed together with Chana Marelus. With intricate floral beading and a huge, poufy skirt, this is the kind of gown that absolutely takes center stage. Now over to lovely Daniella…
How we met
Daniella, the bride: Natan and I grew up in the same small community, so it’s amazing we didn’t meet earlier than we did. We met on my 15th birthday through some mutual friends. Through the years we were close friends and hung out in the same social groups but we both dated other people through high school.
During my post-high school year of National Service and while he was waiting for his draft date into the IDF, we found ourselves hanging out just the two of us more often and talking on the phone for hours until morning. One night rather than directly asking me out, he tricked me into a date. I thought we were meeting with our big group of friends but when he picked me up alone I discovered he had asked everyone else not to come. Unbeknownst to us, they followed us and joined us for sushi dinner and then just he and I went back to his place, watched a movie, and carved a watermelon into a shark.
We’ve been together through his entire 3.5 year army service, an earthquake in Nepal, too many family losses, and lots of celebrations, and throughout it all, we never doubted the strength of our relationship. Four and half years later he finally popped the question and, now, 5 years later we share a last name 😊
A Fairy Tale Venue
We got married in Ein Chemed in the beautiful rolling hills outside of Jerusalem. We chose it for a few reasons. I wanted a fairy tale princess wedding, which in my mind meant a pink, sparkly, secret garden type of place. Ein Chemed is exactly that. It’s simple enough to enjoy the natural beauty of the flower gardens and still has lots of room to get creative and to personalize it.
We were a little worried about an outdoor wedding in March because the weather could be risky, but Ein Chemed has a beautiful and HUGE glass enclosure incorporating their natural outdoors including trees and flowers. Luckily, we got the one day of that month with perfect weather!
Pretty in Pink
I’m a little obsessed with Disney princesses and fairy tales, so that was pretty much the theme. I wore a big, pink, poufy, sparkly dress. And so did my family! We designed the hall with that theme – pink and flowery and very romantic.
Luckily the best event planner in the country happens to be my mother, Adena Mark of A to Z Events. All I had to do was show her a few Pinterest pictures and she took care of the rest. With her design concept ideas, even as guests pulled up into the event, they saw and felt the fairy tale romance theme. She even had big arches built with pink chiffon drapery and flowers in the entrance and reception, she made the chuppah romantic with lots of pink and pink flowers, and my brides chair (kiseh kala) was a huge swing made into a flower wreath. Basically, it was like walking into Cinderella’s dream. Perfect!
Paperless Post
The invitation colors were pink and gold with a very classic logo, like something you might see on the cover of a Jane Austen book. My husband had the creative idea of a tree with swirly branches as the background under the text since our wedding date was when we say the Blessing of the Trees (Birkat Ha’ilanot). We sent the invitations using Paperless Post, which was super convenient because the guests were from Israel, US, and Europe; it was helpful to track the guests RSVP’s and definitely cost effective. Our ideas for the design for the invitation were carried through to the place cards, pashmina, table numbers, and other “branded” ideas; all were brought to life by the talented Michal Klein of Studio Nona by Michal.
Hair + Makeup
Since I’m a bridal makeup artist, many people expected me to do my own makeup for my wedding. But I really wanted to be pampered that day, so it was just a matter of finding someone I trusted to do the job. Rashelle Tzruya is a very close friend of the family and has been doing our family’s hair and makeup for years. I practically didn’t have to tell her anything and she just knew what was best for me.
You can’t tell from these wedding pictures, but I have a short pixie cut with a 4-year-old rasta down the back, and yet Rashelle managed to add A LOT of hair to make me a princess updo that looked natural and didn’t budge all night.
We had an enormous team of hair and makeup artists because, well, we were quite a large group! There was music playing, and we all drank and danced between our makeup and hair turns and the whole day just felt so intimate, happy, and relaxed.
A Chana Marelus Dress
I designed my dress together with the incredible designer Chana Marelus. When my mother and I first showed up to her showroom on the small street in Bnei Brak, I had my doubts! But as soon as we walked in and saw the long racks of sparkly beads, tulle, and creative fabrics and designs, plus the many Vogue magazine covers on her wall featuring her work and the photos of her Seventh Avenue showroom in NYC, we knew it was a good match.
At first it was challenging to design a high fashion glam dress that would still match the garden, outdoors vibe of the venue. Chana had a great idea to use a sheer fabric with a beaded branches and leaves design plus more beaded leaves around the collarbone, with hot pink beaded flowers down the back leading to a bright, sparkly pink tail. In her words it was “Princess Couture.” And it was exactly what I wanted.
A Rose Gold Tiara
Most little girls dream about their wedding all their lives. I just dreamed of my tiara. At home I keep a box of dozens of tiaras and crowns, which made it hard to find something different and super special for my most special day. Well thank gd for Keren Wolf! Her boutique in the Neve Zedek neighborhood of Tel Aviv has some of the most unique jewelry you can ever imagine.
After dreaming about this for so long and seeing all the choices Keren Wolf had to offer, it turned out that 1 tiara wasn’t enough. So yes, I wore 2. One of her designs was this very cool set of 2 matching tiaras, one that sits on the crown of your head and a smaller version of it that sat on my big bun made of extensions. Of course, they were rose gold. My veil was a very simple piece of pink tulle that I tried to wear as little as possible. As a makeup artist and tiara enthusiast I didn’t want to cover either one. Sue me 🙂
Badgley Mischka Shoes
I thought I wouldn’t care about much about my shoes because you don’t see them anyway. Then my mom found sparkly, pink stiletto Badgley Mischkas with a rhinestone applique on the front toe. I think they screamed out to me. I swear. (I think they had Carrie Bradshaw’s voice 😊)
Most importantly, they had an ankle strap to make it easier to walk and dance – just like my mother taught me.
The handsome groom
So, my hubby has never planned ahead – except for when he was in Thailand 6 months before he proposed. While there he had a custom suit made for our special day. And he hadn’t even bought the ring yet! Knowing my love of pink and loathe of black, he had his 3-piece suit made in navy, and a shirt and tie made in light pink. I had no idea he had done that until after we were engaged! His whole wedding outfit was hanging in his closet for almost a year, and I didn’t have a clue. Let’s just say with that suit, his thick head of curly hair, and the ring I put on his finger- I found him simply irresistible.
The emotions really began when I got a beautiful letter from my soon-to-be husband and imagined him reading mine.
Mix and Match Bridesmaids
I wasn’t planning on a theme or special color, but I have 4 sisters, 3 step-sisters, and a very close aunt, so they all decided that in my honor they would all wear pink, rose gold, sparkles, and shine. It looked beautiful in pictures and everyone was happy with how they looked, which was most important for me.
My 4 main besties aren’t friends with each other, and their looks are vastly different from one another, so it was kind of impossible for them to coordinate wearing anything. Funny enough, without even consulting with each other, they each bought a solid jewel-colored dress – dark purple, dark red, dark blue, and one sequined combo of all the above! It looked perfect. My besties really were the best, including perfectly planning my bridal shower, bachelorette party, and Shabbat Kallah.
The day of my wedding was crazy! I decided I wanted the intimate and homey feeling of doing all the makeup and hair prep at home rather than a hotel room. I woke up to find that my mother had ordered a catered breakfast buffet with champagne. My sisters, step-sisters, besties, and favorite aunt all wore pink satin robes with “Bride’s Entourage” written on the back in gold. Of course, mine was white with “Bride” on the back 😉
Oh yes and there were pink balloons all over the house!
Pink Fairy Tale Chuppah
I Pinterested “pink fairy tale wedding chuppah” and BAM — it showed up at my wedding. Thank you to Mookie of Pine and Clover and to A to Z Events Israel for seeing my vision and making it happen.
A Meaningful Ceremony
Oh, the ceremony was so beautiful! My husband’s rabbi led the chuppah ceremony and he even got the crowd involved which was so fun and held people’s attention. Before the wedding, he taught us a lot about the meaning of every part of the ceremony, so we could make our own decisions about which customs to incorporate based on what had meaning to us.
At the bridal chair, we read a special blessing to be recited by the bride and groom together on their wedding day, under the chuppah we both gave the other a ring with a special blessing and we each simultaneously broke a glass. It was beautiful, and the guests were all in tears of happiness.
A Custom Ketubah
My best friend Ariella Bogner is an artist and her gift to us was a custom designed and handmade ketubah. She even did the calligraphy of the text and framed it with watercolor paints and leaf printing. It’s absolutely stunning.
When You Wish Upon A Star
You may have already guessed that I walked down the aisle to a Disney song, When You Wish Upon A Star from Pinocchio. The dancing began with a mix of traditional and modern Jewish music and then turned into party music including Israeli pop, some techno, and some of my favorite 90s songs.
Our first dance as a couple was to Ed Sheeran’s Perfect.
The father-daughter dance was to Charlie Puth’s One Call Away, inspired by the many emotional texts from my dad reminding me of exactly that.
My mother-in-law surprised my husband and requested the band play You Are My Sunshine for a dance with my husband that got everyone teary eyed since that was the song she sang to him when he was a little boy.
Pink Flowers
The one and only Mookie Cohen from Pine and Clover used so many beautiful accessories and details to bring our theme and concept to life.
I only sent her pictures of my ideas for the chuppah and my wreath swing. As for the rest, I had complete trust in her and knew it would be perfect. I really didn’t know what to do for my bouquet because my dress was so different than any other bride’s gown. I sent Mookie a picture of my dress and I thank god that I didn’t tell her what to do because I could never have come up with anything as pretty and unique! It was incredible combination of roses, amaranthus, peonies, and other beauties in all shades of pink.
Our fabulous Photographer
Shabi Kedem has photographed many of my family’s past events. If we had even a slight doubt that we wanted him for our wedding, once we saw the results of our engagement shoot with him, we were positive!
My husband is a little camera shy and I’m not very photogenic, but Shabi and his team helped us overcome all of that and we have gorgeous photos of every moment, somehow without even feeling like there was a camera in our face all the time.
Pink Cake!
Juliana Talor is a good friend and neighbor who made me the most elegant cake I’ve ever seen. Exactly what I wanted – pink and gold flowers! I didn’t taste it until after the wedding but when I did – WOW! It’s always a nice surprise when a beautiful cake also actually tastes good 😊
Pink Pashminas
At the entrance to the chuppah area there was a table of pashminas in many shades of pink because of, as mentioned before, my fear of bad weather. We had cute little tags that said “To Have and To Hold, and In Case You Get Cold” 😉
Our friends got shot glasses with our names and date of the wedding, because you know, alcohol.
Superhero bowties
My husband’s best friends since kindergarten all came dressed in suits – and that is NOT common at Israeli weddings! Since childhood and into adulthood, they share a love and hobby of all things superhero — movies, comics, books, anything. They surprised us by showing up with each one wearing a bowtie with a different superhero print!
I know every bride thinks her dancing was the best, but I swear between the family flash mob, Natan and I dancing on the bar, and the multiple bottles of champagne we sprayed everywhere, we really made the dancing rocking in a special way.
Advice to couple currently planning their wedding
Firstly, I advise not to worry about the little things. Pick one or two things to really care about and focus all your effort into that, and then let the rest go. When things get too stressful, try to remember that now you have a partner in life, who also has ideas and opinions so let him help you take some of the load off. Last but not least – Pinterest! There is no excuse for “I don’t know what I want” or “I have no idea” while Pinterest exists.
Daniella & Natan’s little white book
Photographers – Shabi Kedem and Levi Dovid Greenberg
Wedding planner – A to Z Events
Venue – Ein Chemed
Bride’s dress – Chana Marelu
Bride’s accesories – Keren Wolf
Bride’s shoes – Badgley Mischka
Makeup – Rashelle Tzruya
Flowers – Pine and Clove
Cake – Juliana Talor
Ketubah – Ariella Bogner
Invitations – Paperless Post and Studio Nona by Micha
