Planning a Jewish wedding from thousands of miles away is no small feat. Luckily, London-based couple Jodie, who works as a decorative homeware buyer, and Matt, a football agent realized that straight off the bat when they started planning their big day in Israel, and they made sure their first planning decision was choosing a great planner to help smooth the way.
Even luckier for Jodie and Matt, they found one of the best of the best: Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Victoria Rosen Events. Vicki is a popular choice among STG couples opting to wed in Israel, and this couple’s rave review of her planning prowess makes it clear why: in addition to helping them source some truly outstanding vendors (not to mention their gorgeous venue),
Vicki seamlessly ran the whole day’s events so carefully and left us and our parents feeling totally calm, happy and taken care of. She couldn’t do enough to help us. Always available, nothing was too much. Vicki was incredibly supportive and always positive, friendly and super-efficient.
We’re also crazy about all the fun, memorable touches the couple added to their day. For starters, they had a flower stand (inspired by a something they saw right here on Smashing the Glass!) in the reception area, where guests could have bespoke floral hair accessories and button holes made on the spot! And if that weren’t enough, they also hired a glitter face painter to make sure their guests had a night that was literally sparkling. Oh, and pre-wedding, Jodie and Matt also blew their own smash glass and kiddush cup to use under the chuppah!
You can probably already guess that this was one fun wedding – and if you have any doubt, a quick scroll through Idan Hasson’s radiant, joyous photos should set you straight.
Now over to Jodie…
Nature and Soul
Jodie, the bride: We got married at Achuza. Matt didn’t want to get married in a hotel hall and I vetoed beach venues because of what humidity does to my hair! : ) We were both looking for a soulful, outdoor venue surrounded by nature and somewhere that we could create a fun and intimate party atmosphere for all of our friends and family. We fell in love with Achuza as soon as we walked up the path towards the venue. It’s surrounded by flora and the chuppah is stunning and all natural.
Theme
We live in London and were conscious that we really wanted a wedding planner who we liked and trusted to help us source a venue and all our vendors. We spoke with a good handful of wedding planners and met with a couple in London but we didn’t hit it off with any of them. Thankfully a friend recommended we contact Victoria Rosen Events, a wedding and events planner, who we instantly got such a good vibe from. We spent a couple of hours speaking to Vicki and she didn’t rush us at all, giving us venue ideas and so much free advice over the phone in that initial conversation.
When we went to Israel for our first planning trip, we met with Vicki and were so pleased to have found a such a brilliant wedding planner to help us and she was also by far the most reasonably priced.
Vicki helped us source our stunning wedding venue (which included food & drinks), music and chazan, photographer, hair and makeup, accommodation and coaches, photo booth, florist and designer as well as shtick, favours, accessories and entertainment.
On top of all the pre-wedding planning, Vicki seamlessly ran the whole day’s events so carefully and left us and our parents feeling totally calm, happy and taken care of. She couldn’t do enough to help us. Always available, nothing was too much. Vicki was incredibly supportive and always positive, friendly and super-efficient.
Invitations / stationery
We chose a rich olive green colour for our invitations, to match the venue’s natural tones. Jodie came across our wedding stationery designer, Jacqui Sharples – Print for Love, in a wedding magazine and we were both so happy with the look of our save the date cards and invitations. Jacqui Sharples is so lovely and super-talented. We selected the colour, fonts, paper and debossed finish from a good amount of options on Jacqui’s website and we asked her to drawer our chuppah as the motif for all our stationery.
Hair + Make-up
Jaquelyn Lawrence absolutely nailed my makeup! I didn’t want to go too heavy and Jacqi did the perfect natural look that lasted. I loved it.
Hana Bloch did my hair and also organised the whole morning’s hair and makeup schedule for me and my family. I wanted to keep my hair off my neck and back in the heat, so I went for a messy bun with a side braid.
Dress
I didn’t have any idea what shape or style I wanted to go for, so I tried on a LOT of dresses. I loved the whole experience of taking my mum, sister and MIL to dress shops and trunk sales in London. In the end I hired my dress in Israel, which had the benefits of being more reasonable than buying in London, I didn’t have to take my dress on the plane and I could return it after.
I found a fitted dress with patterned detail on Pinterest which I fell in love with. I did a lot of searching online and found something similar in Israel. I incorporated removable sleeves for the chuppah and a removable overskirt to the waist, which I took off after Israeli dancing. I loved the look of my dress!
Unfortunately, I had a really poor experience with my dress designer. When I arrived in Israel a few days before our wedding (even though I’d had two fittings), he hadn’t started making the dress, which was really stressful. I spent a full day in the dress shop a couple of days before our wedding while the dress was made… and the dress split down the front during Israeli dancing! Thank goodness, our wedding planner, Vicki, had thought of EVERYTHING and stitched me up with her sewing kit.
Accessories
Matt bought me a stunning pair of pear-shaped diamond earrings as a wedding gift, to match my engagement ring.
Shoes
Argh! I struggled so much with my shoes. I really wanted a pair of white heels that laced up at the front but I searched and couldn’t find what I was looking for.
I wore a pair of strappy silver diamanté stilettos from Dune for our ceremony and changed into a pair of nude wedges for the rest of the wedding. Looking back at the photos, I wish I changed back into my heels for our first dance because they would have looked better in the pictures.
The handsome groom
We wanted the emphasis to be on a great party and didn’t want the dress code to be too formal. Matt wore a pair of Yoox smart, pale pink chinos, a white Zara collarless shirt, a Next burgundy coloured blazer (the shape and lapel material was altered by a tailor in London), a pink pocket square and a pair of brown suede loafers.
The way that the venue was configured meant that it wasn’t until I walked around the corner that the outside space opened up and I could see all of our guests and Matt waiting for me at our beautiful chuppah. There were seats for those that needed and the rest of our guests were standing, surrounding the chuppah. It was so emotional being walked down the aisle to Matt by both my parents and I loved that Matt came to meet me half-way, take me from my parents and walk me the rest of the way to the chuppah. It was a moment I will cherish for the rest of my life.
Bridesmaids and Page Boys
My sister was our maid of honour and our nieces and nephews were our bridesmaids and page boys. The bridesmaids (all under 8 years old) were dressed in white tutus and bodies from Angels Face and the page boys (also all under 8) wore pale pink shorts, white shirts, burgundy braces and bow-ties and brown suede loafers with tassels to match Matt’s outfit. They all looked adorable!
Ceremony
We wanted to keep the ceremony relaxed and informal whilst still respecting the majority of the Jewish traditions. We also wanted it to be personal to us.
Our chazzan had a lovely singing voice and could sing in Hebrew and English. He sang ‘I will wait‘ by Mumford and Sons – played while my family and our bridesmaids and page boys walked down the aisle – and ‘Can’t take my eyes off of you’ by Andy Williams – when I walked down the aisle with my parents.
We had a limited number of seats placed in front of the chuppah for close family and anyone who needed to sit, which meant all our friends and the rest of our family were standing along the path and around the chuppah, which made it feel really relaxed and informal. They all cheered for us when we met on the aisle, which was such a special moment.
We had printed ceremony explanation sheets for our non-Jewish guests, which were handed out by our ushers.
Ketubah
We wanted a ketubah that we could frame and keep as a special momento of our wedding day. Jodie sourced a brilliant artist in the US called Rachael Pace, who drew images that were symbolic and unique to us and our relationship (i.e. our beautiful chuppah, where we got engaged, holidays we’d been on together, etc.).
Rachael’s artwork surrounded wording (both in Hebrew and English) detailing where we got married, on which date and some vows that we made to each other. The lettering was done by Jerise Lettering & Artwork (also in the US). Both Rachael and Jerice were found through Etsy. We would highly recommend both. We absolutely love our ketubah and it takes pride of place on the wall in our living room.
Chuppah
One of the major reasons why we selected Achuza as our wedding venue was because of the stunning chuppah. We fell in love with its natural beauty the moment we saw it. We didn’t want to detracts from that beauty by adding any decorations. We felt that this would take something away from it’s unique and special quality. It overlooked a moshav too, giving a feeling of space behind it and a genuine feeling of being in Israel.
Our Music Choice
We had a first reception before the chuppah where food and drinks were served as our guests arrived. During this time we had a klezmer band playing. We picked the songs for them to play (all English) without any singing. They helped create a really relaxed vibe. We then had the chuppah ceremony. We used a couple of songs to play in the background (‘How long will I love you’ by Ellie Goulding and ‘Hey Ho’ by the Lumineers) while a few ushers helped move guests from the reception area down to the chuppah.
Matt was played down the aisle to the chuppah with all of his ushers and his father by the klezmer band. Jodie’s family walked down the aisle together with Matt’s mum and brother, our bridesmaids and page boys accompanied by ‘I will wait’ by Mumford and Sons (the chazzan sang the words). Then ‘Can’t take my eyes off you’ by Andy Williams was played (with the chazzan again singing the words) while Jodie was walked down the aisle to the chuppah by her parents.
After the chuppah we used ‘Little Talks’ by Of Monsters and Men to play in the background while we left the chuppah and headed to the bedeken room and our guests dispersed for the second reception. We used this song to keep the mood light and upbeat. At the second reception, we had a brass band playing intermittently between recorded music of our choice. Caliente Music supplied the klezmer band, brass band and chazzan and we were delighted with all three. They helped create the perfect atmosphere that we were aiming for.
The chazzan remained for the beginning part of the party (the Israeli dancing). He sang alongside a recorded mix of classic Israeli songs. The Israeli dancing was incredible. There was an amazing atmosphere on the dance floor and plenty of space for both the men and woman to go crazy!
For our wedding party we hired the venue’s DJ to play songs that we selected and shared with him at a meeting a couple of days before the event. Unfortunately, he played whatever he wanted and not what we requested. At times, the songs and lyrics were totally inappropriate. If we could change anything about our wedding, we wish we’d gone with the DJ our wedding planner, Vicki, recommended instead.
Our first dance was ‘Wings’ by Birdy <3
Flowers
Our wedding planner, Vicki, recommended Mookie from Pine and Clover to supply the flowers for our wedding. Jodie really wanted long tables, which looked stunning in the space. Half the tables had long eucalyptus runners with candle votives and the rest hand pink and burgundy coloured flowers (to go with Matt’s outfit) in asymmetric arrangements. We had gold vintage finishes on the vases and table number frames.
We also had a beautiful flower stand, which we originally saw on Smashing the Glass! Mookie set up a stall in the reception area and throughout the first and second receptions our guests had bespoke hair accessories and button holes made for them to wear.
Photographer and videographer
Our videographer had previously videoed one of my good friend’s weddings several years before our big day. Unfortunately, he turned out to be a complete nightmare! We should have opted to go with Vicki’s recommendation where we would invariably have saved a lot of time and aggravation. It took a over a year (and numerous calls, emails, chasing and pestering) for us to get our 5 minute video.
Our photographer was a very different story. We found Idan Hasson on Instagram and loved his work. Idan was very patient with us and our families on the wedding day and when we got re-dressed for more wedding photos in Jaffa a few days after the wedding itself. We were delighted with what he created and have some amazing memories in photo form that he produced for us and our parents.
Food and Cake
We signed up to a package deal with Achuza which included all our food and drinks. The food was completely faultless. So many people during and after the wedding commented on how outstanding the quality of the food was and it was plentiful too. The first reception food was a particular highlight. At the wedding party we opted for a buffet style set-up which was catered excellently, presented beautifully and there was no compromising on quantity nor quality.
For us, our particular favourites were the pulled beef bao buns, mini poke bowls, crispy chicken, and the chocolate pizza.
The food tasting experience was one of our wedding planning highlights!
Entertainment
The entertainment at our wedding was mainly provided through Caliente Music (brass band, klezmer band and singer).
We had an old Volkswagen Beatle photo booth by Photomobil. Our guests loved it and everyone got photos to take away with them. Our wedding planner, Vicki Rosen also helped get us some props for our guests to wear in the photos and on the dance floor later in the evening.
We also hired Zippora’s Feather to paint guests’ faces with glitter. Our friends and family loved it and everyone looked amazing with their glitter in the photos.
In hindsight, we should also have had someone with a shot belt on the dance floor to hand out drinks, so people didn’t have to leave the dance floor to go to the bar. We’d definitely recommend doing this if you’re planning a party!
Favours
We didn’t have any favours to take home although we did provide fans at the chuppah and flip-flops for the ladies which went down really well during the dancing. We also gave out heel stoppers before the chuppah, so the ladies didn’t damage their heels on the grass.
We did have welcome bags and made welcome postcards but we sent a lot of the welcome bag goodies along with some décor for the wedding to Israel via DHL and it got stopped by customs! So if you are planning on taking extra bits, it is worth taking everything as luggage.
Extra details
We blew our own glasses, one for Matt to smash (which one of our friends made into a stunning mezuzah for our front door) and the second for us to drink wine from under the chuppah.
Vicki arranged for someone to take polaroid pictures of our friends and family at our wedding and collect notes to go with them. We absolutely love our polaroid photo album. We also had disposable cameras on all the tables and there were some brilliant photos from the party on them!
Our second reception was all about the drinks, so we each chose a drink – Matt’s Mojito Bar and Jodie’s Sangria Bar – and had signs printed from designers on Etsy.
We also had toiletries and essentials baskets in the ladies and gent’s bathrooms.
Honeymoon
We selected the Maldives for our honeymoon and it surpassed all expectations. It is the best holiday that we have ever been on. With our wedding being at the end of June 2018 we opted to wait until March 2019 before heading on honeymoon. This was for a couple of reasons: 1. We wanted to have something to look forward to and not have our wedding and honeymoon all completed within a few weeks, 2. This was the most suitable time workwise and when we could expect excellent weather. We weren’t disappointed by the weather at all as it was perfect everyday.
We spent 10 nights at Ozen by Atmosphere on an all-inclusive package that was booked through Gerogi Mishev at Kenwood Travel. Georgi arranged for us to be on a ‘honeymoon package’ which included:
– a couple of treatments each at the spa
– a private dinner on the beach
– one night at the underwater restaurant
– one boat trip / snorkel with dolphins
The venue was spectacular (less than two years old). The staff were all super-friendly. The food and drink offerings were abundant. It was the closest thing to paradise that we have ever experienced.
Ozen was approximately 40 mins by speedboat from the airport and we were made to feel incredibly special (despite there being many other couples and one or two families there) during our time. We loved every aspect of the holiday – the restaurants, ice cream parlour, sushi bar, spa, gym, snorkelling, scuba diving. It was phenomenal from start to finish. We would highly recommend Georgi as a travel agent, Ozen as a venue and the Maldives as a honeymoon destination.
Advice to couples currently planning their wedding
We loved organising our wedding day together. Our advice is to give yourself plenty of time to source all your suppliers. I found Pinterest and Etsy really useful for all the design elements and finishing touches too.
The most important aspect of all is to make sure you like and get on well with your wedding planner, band, DJ, photographer, videographer, dress maker, designer, makeup artist and hairdresser (and your other half) and that you trust that they care about you and your day!
Having a wedding planner really made our whole experience so much easier. We think Vicki Rosen is amazing and can’t recommend her enough!
What ‘Smashing The Glass’ Did For Us
I got the flower stand idea on STG and I really enjoyed reading some of the blog posts on it while we were planning our wedding.
JODIE & MATT’S LITTLE WHITE BOOK
Photography – Idan Hasson
Wedding planner – Victoria Rosen Events
Venue – Achuza
Bride’s shoes – Dune
Groom’s attire – Yoox, Next, Zara
Bridesmaids – Angels Face
Hair + Makeup – Hana Bloch, Jaquelyn Lawrence
Flowers – Pine and Clover
Band – Caliente Music
Catering – Achuza
Ketubah – Rachael Pace
Lettering – Jerise Lettering & Artwork
Stationery/Invitation – Jacqui Sharples – Print for Love
Photo Booth – Photomobil
Glitter Make-up Artist – Zippora’s Feather
Glass Blowing – Jonathan Rogers
Honeymoon – Kenwood Travel
Smash The Glass Pouch – Smashing The Glass Etsy Shop {or join Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club and get one for free!}
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.
