Roxy and Adam faced a wonderful dilemma about where to tie the knot. Both with such international backgrounds, they ultimately decided it made sense to bring their loved ones to beautiful Israel for a divine destination wedding, filled with color, love and happiness.
First of all, before we get to anything else, we have to stop and take in that magnificent creation of a chuppah – what an abundantly floral beauty it was! WOW!
We were also blown away by the sheer amount of heart – how well Roxy and Adam got to know their Rabbi before the big day, and Roxy’s beautiful way of remembering her father, who had sadly passed away.
The wedding was shot by internationally renowned photographer, and one of our beloved STG Recommended Vendors, Herschel Gutman, who did a sublime job of bringing the wedding to life. Roxy and Adam also took some time with him the following day to fit in an additional couples’ shoot.
We’ll hand you over to Roxy now for her wonderful write up – we hope you love her and Adam’s gorgeous wedding as much as we do!
A magical outdoor venue
Roxy, the bride: We got married at The Q, Kibbutz Glil Yam in Herzliya Israel. We knew we wanted to have a destination wedding, with both families coming from different places (mine originally South African and then Australia and my husband’s mostly from England and many overseas guests). Israel was the most logical choice for us.
Being originally from South Africa, I really wanted to get married in a natural setting rather than in a hotel or indoor space. When we saw the Q, we just loved the look and feel of it. Particularly being outside and in the open air, it just ticked all the boxes. It was truly a magical venue.
A Smashing The Glass-inspired wedding
My husband and I planned every part of the wedding, with the help of a wedding planner so we were really involved in every aspect of the decision making which made it a lot more personal.
We hired a wedding planner based in Israel, Sarina Hirshenson of Sarina Events, who helped us immensely, particularly as we were only able to go out to Israel once before the big day.
Sarina was fantastic to work with, and made us feel comfortable that everything was in hand. We didn’t have a particular theme, per se. I did get some inspiration from Pinterest and definitely the helpful blog posts on Smashing the Glass (so thank you!!)
Relaxed hair and natural makeup
I was very keen to get as many referrals as possible so I asked a lot of people for their recommendations.
As most brides do, I also scoured instagram and pinterest for inspiration. I went with Michal Moscovitz for makeup and Yonatan Yaeish for hair. They were both fantastic! My hair was a half-up ‘relaxed’ look and my makeup was mainly natural tones.
An unexpected dress
My dress was a beautiful Ellis Bridal dress from JS Couture. I bought it by myself within about 45 minutes while on my lunch break from work! I didn’t have a particular image beforehand about what I wanted, but it was actually the sales assistant who suggested I tried it on. I don’t think I would have looked at it otherwise.
I think it shows that it is important to stay open to ideas. I was so excited afterwards, I couldn’t wait to call my mom and tell her about it.
Two words: Jimmy Choo
I wore a pair of lacey ivory Jimmy Choo heels. They were so comfortable, and the perfect fit!
The handsome groom
My husband wore a gorgeous dark three-piece suit from Hugo Boss with a white tie. His cufflinks, kippah and socks were all gifts for the big day.
I was so excited to see him after a week apart, and he didn’t disappoint — he looked so dapper.
Bridesmaids in pale peach
My bridesmaids were all four sisters (my two sisters and my new two sisters-in-law). I gave them a color guide of pale peach tones and left it to them to choose a style they felt most comfortable in. They all really looked gorgeous and the colors really worked!
A colorful chuppah design
I was really keen to incorporate lots of color into our chuppah design. I had quite a concrete vision for it and the decorator captured that completely. It was absolutely stunning with different tones of reds and oranges, with lots of greenery. It truly was magical.
I wanted the table centre pieces as well as the bouquets to continue this theme. Danielle from Dushka Design (our decorator) did a spectacular job of capturing our vision.
Honoring lost loved ones
As my dad passed away a few years ago, I wanted to have something of his under the chuppah for when we got married. We had an old siddur of his, which we managed to have under the chuppah which really meant a lot to me.
We chose Rabbi Gideon Sylvester to officiate at the wedding and he was fantastic. He really took the time to get to know us, both in person and long distance over Skype, and it meant that the chuppah was incredibly personal to us and our families.
We had sent the Rabbi a copy of a book written by my husband’s grandfather, Jack Kagan, who survived the holocaust in Belarus (but who wasn’t able to join us in Israel), which Rabbi Sylvester mentioned under the chuppah.
Traditional chuppah music
We asked the band to play a selection of traditional songs during the chuppah. including Boi Kallah for my entrance. We asked them to use a very specific version of Im Eshkachech just before Adam broke the glass. It can actually be viewed here on Teta’s own Facebook page.
Our fabulous photographer
We chose the amazing Herschel Gutman capture the day’s events — from getting ready in the hotel room beforehand all the way through the night. We found Herschel through a couple of recommendations from people both Adam and I know. When met him for a coffee in Tel Aviv not only did we love examples of his work but we all just really clicked. Maybe it was the South African connection!
Herschel brought with him a second photographer and a videographer, and we hardly seemed to notice them at all, yet they’ve caught some fantastic photos.
We also wanted to get some photos of just the two of us, as we knew there just wouldn’t be time on the night itself, as we were having a private badeken. So two days later, we got dressed up all again and met with Herschel for a couple of hours. Those photos too are really special!
Live music
Just an incredible dosage of ruach from family and friends! The band and music was provided by Teta, with Momi Levi providing some incredible vocals — both at the chuppah itself and throughout the evening.
Hand-held fan favors
We had personalised hand-held fans for the chuppah. We also had some flipflops and party ‘shticks’ for the dancing, all of which we sourced locally in Israel.
We organized personalized tefilat haderech (traveller’s prayer cards) to give to all the guests. We thought it would be a nice personal touch particularly as most people were travelling to come to the wedding. It was also a nice gift we thought people could take away with them and keep.
Importance of family and friends
We tried to involve a lot of family and friends on the day. Close family were asked to do the sheva brachot under the chuppah. My niece and nephew were flower girl and page boy. Our friends assisted with the remaining sheva brachot. We also wrote inscriptions into the benchers in memory of close relatives who weren’t able to join us, like my father.
Our friends and family really made the day special for us. They were amazing, from the tisch, to singing and dancing us after the chuppah, leading the sheva brachot at the end of the meal, and even spontaneously getting up to dance on their chairs during the meal!
Advice to couples currently planning their wedding
Don’t be afraid to ask for help! When you and your partner are holding down jobs and have other stresses of life, I think a wedding planner is a must — particularly if it’s a destination wedding. It really takes the stress out of it.
I think it’s also important to ask around for friends and family’s recommended suppliers. Make decisions based on what you feel most comfortable with — definitely go with your gut.
But the most important piece of advice we would give is relax and just make sure to find a few minutes to ‘take in’ your surroundings and have fun on the day, with your loved ones (and your new husband/wife)! After all – that’s what it’s about!
Roxy & Adam’s little white book
Photographer – Herschel Gutman
Wedding planner – Sarina Events
Venue – The Q
Bride’s dress – Ellis Bridal purchased at JS Couture
Bride’s shoes – Jimmy Choo
Groom’s attire – Hugo Boss
Hair – Yonatan Yaeish
Flowers and decorations – Dushka Design
Band – Teta
