When a pair of artists plan a DIY Jewish wedding, it’s pretty much guaranteed to be something special. But even so, the boho backyard wedding of Britt and Adir exceeded our wildest expectations.
The bride, Britt, is the mega-talented ketubah artist and beloved Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor BRITcolors – she makes incredibly unique ketubot, and as far as we know is the only one out there making embroidered and beaded designs – and as if that weren’t enough, she’s also a freelance interior designer.
Groom Adir is a poet-singer-songwriter who’s also working on his master’s degree in clinical social work, running sales for a friend’s construction company, AND moonlighting as a private kosher chef.
So clearly there’s a ton of talent going on there, and it doesn’t hurt that pretty much all of the bride’s family are artists too – plus plenty of the couple’s friends. And they all came together to throw one amazing, unique, ultra-personal wedding in Britt’s parents’ backyard in Zichron Ya’akov, Israel.
The couple focused on making the most of the lush greenery and bright colors of the garden, working lots of watercolors (the bride’s specialty) and florals into the day. We’re obsessed with photographer Tomer Ben Simhon’s luminous photos, which capture all the emotion AND the gorgeous artistic details so perfectly.
Naturally the bride designed her own ketubah, and we’re in love with the one-of-a-kind creation she came up with. In her work she regularly utilizes embroidery, layered watercolors, and gold flake paint – but until crafting her own ketubah, she’d never combined all these elements together into one. The finished product is a real stunner – you don’t want to miss this beauty.
We also love that in keeping with her DIY, low-key style, the bride opted for a non-traditional boho chic dress from Free People. There’s so much more to say about this awesome wedding, but we’ll let Britt tell you the rest herself…
How we met
Brit, the bride: In October of 2013 I was living in Florentine, Tel Aviv. I was starting my second year at the Holon Institute of Technology and went to my local print shop to print out an assignment. It was very early in the morning and I was the only one there, right when they opened.
Moments later, Adir walked in, dressed to impress (he was working in finance) and stood next to me waiting for his order. Excited to finally meet what I thought was a slightly older, more “serious” guy, I struck up a conversation only to learn that he was just another musician printing flyers for a show … and was a few months younger than me. He insisted on giving me a flyer even though I said I wouldn’t come. When I heard his music, I knew I had to send him a message. He responded by asking me out on a date. We met the following night, and have been together ever since.
Backyard Wedding
It was our dream wedding. We were married in my parent’s backyard in Zichron Ya’akov. Their house has a yard that faces out to a beautiful valley of natural preserve land which the Israel Trail runs through.
My family’s house is a home of color and art. To many friends it has been a second home and a place where quite a few other ‘simchas’ have been celebrated. I think it was always in our mind to have an outdoor, DIY wedding so when we began looking at spaces, it was one of our first choices. This all made our wedding incredibly unique and warm.
I had planned almost the whole wedding from New York with a single week-long visit six months prior. I worked on decorations and dream catchers to hang on the trees and brought them with us. We arrived three weeks before the wedding where Adir and my family spent every day in the yard getting it ready, landscaping, moving earth around and making it wedding worthy.
My step-dad, Ziv had already also done a lot of work before we got there and was able to enlarge our yard quite a bit into the open preserve area which was very helpful. The front patio of the house is a beautiful, Greek style area with a big mango and avocado tree. It was such a perfect place to take pictures before all of our guests arrived.
Local Color
I planned and designed every little detail… from the signs to the place cards. I ordered colorful decorations and string lights in bulk and brought them with us to Israel. It was important for us to have a lot of greenery and nature around, and we made sure to find ways to highlight the diversity of the amazing things growing in the yard, including many different fruit trees and herbs. We wanted to decorate the tables with local color.
From the very beginning colors were very important to me. Everything from the ketubah to the invitations and place cards I created had a common theme of water colors and florals. Everything, especially the colors, was inspired by the backyard.
While I planned the entire wedding, we had a day-of wedding producer named Roi whom we had met with through Skype and once before in person at the meeting of all the vendors. We were introduced through a very close mutual friend who had done some major projects with him at Burning Man Israel and beyond. He was absolutely incredible. A true artist, with real focus and a lot of love and calming energy. With his amazing eye and the help of friends to put the final touches on everything really tied it all together.
In general, all of our vendors really made everything so perfect. The bar, Shoteh Ha’ Kfar and the lights/electric/bathroom, “Orot” – along with our caterer – they all felt like family and made our guests feel truly taken care of. They also all knew each other separately and were ecstatic to all be working on the same wedding together.
What ‘Smashing The Glass’ did for us
I am a vendor on STG, sharing my ketubahs – and I love this platform. I took a lot of inspiration from pictures and stories I have read since beginning my time with STG and appreciate the fact such a platform even exists for brides like me to get inspired by and learn from. I especially love following STG on Instagram and really appreciate all the valuable content.
Invitations by the Bride
As a watercolor artist, it was important for me to utilize that in creating our invitations. I designed two invites, one for the wedding in the yard on Thursday and one for beach party that went from Saturday afternoon to Sunday afternoon. I used watercolors to paint the locations themselves to help people get excited for what they were about to take part in. My brother also made a really cool sped up video showing people how to get to the post-wedding beach party.
Hair + Makeup
I’m incredibly lucky to have VERY talented friends whom I grew up with in Israel. One of them, Noam Bushlin, does professional hair braiding for brides. I have always felt most comfortable with my hair up, and so she worked off that. Within a short time I had the most perfect hair I could have ever dreamed of for my wedding.
As for makeup, I was very torn. It is very rare for me to wear makeup in my day to day life, so I was hesitant to bring in a makeup artist and change my look up so drastically for our backyard wedding. One of my best childhood friends, May Niv, offered to help me and sure enough she gave me the perfect makeup for my wedding. It was delicate, natural and felt right.
A Free People Dress
I always had a feeling that I wouldn’t buy an all out “real” wedding dress and wanted to stay on a budget of $500 or less to stick with our DIY, low budget ethos on this whole thing.
A year before the wedding, I happened to walk into Free People and the first thing I saw on the mannequin was THE dress. It was a year before the wedding and I was not planning on starting to look yet, but it just appeared and I fell in love with it. It is a bohemian chic style and was exactly the dress I had always dreamt of wearing. I was alone and after trying it on I so badly wanted someone’s opinion. When I walked out everyone’s heads turned and jaws dropped… that was it.
For the later part of the evening I changed into a simple, almost toga-style white dress from Club Monaco. It was elegant and comfortable with a perfect flow.
Accessories
The jewelry was all very special. My mother gave me to wear rare diamond studded earrings that belonged to my grandmother before she passed. We were very close and it was important for me to have her be there with me in some way.
I wore a gold necklace that belongs to my now mother-in-law, Hana which was very special to her.
I wore my unique and beautiful engagement ring by Artemer, an Israeli jeweler whose designs are out of this world.
My mother Ruthy made our wedding bands in her home studio.
As for hair, It was all about flowers. The morning of the wedding I went to our local florist to pick out flowers for my bouquet and hair. I didn’t plan exactly how it was going to look, just whatever flowers looked beautiful and stood out to me that day.
The veil I wore was given to me by my cousin.
Shoes
Literally a week before the wedding I was still unhappy with how uncomfortable the shoes I chose were … After arriving in Israel from NYC, my mother and I went into Tel Aviv to buy gold for her to make our wedding bands and so we took some time to stop by one of my favorite shoe stores on Shenkin Street.
My mother saw these amazing, gold slip on shoes, which I initially thought was too much sparkle. In the end it’s what really tied my whole look together. Everyone kept asking me where I got the shoes. But, the best part is is how comfortable the shoes were. Unfortunately this store was closing, but the clearance sale of 100 NIS a pair helped us stick with our DIY budget wedding (and contributed to my shoe collection by a few more pairs:))
The handsome groom
OMG – when I saw Adir I melted. Neither of us really knew exactly what the other was going to wear, but when we finally stood together it looked as if we had completely matching attire. Adir purchased his Tasso Elba shirt at Macy’s (USA) and linen cargo pants at Castro (Israel). As for his vest, he purchased it from a local artsy tailor in Pardes Hana, Israel. I loved his shoes as well – Maians which is a shoe company out of Spain. For a boutonniere, he picked a little stem off the rosemary bush in the yard.
Ketubah by the Bride
Being that I have made hundreds of ketubahs for couples around the world, I don’t think I was going to be able to get out of making our ketubah. Adir is my biggest fan and he really wanted me to just go wild on it. We decided on the traditional look but I began to experiment, as I often do.
In different ketubahs, I will utilize embroidery, layered watercolors and gold flake paint – but I had never put them all together. In all honesty, my first prototype actually ended up being the ketubah. It’s a piece that really fits us and is something you can look at a thousand times and see something different every time. There has certainly never been a ketubah quite like this one and it’s always exciting to know with a handmade piece that it will be unique and only yours.
Chuppah
My father, the ceramic artist Mark Yudell, handmade our chuppah. He actually made it with my mother for their wedding thirty years ago and has been used by a few couples since. I always knew I would be married under it. It is wild, and like no chuppah you have ever seen… purple velvet, linen and bells with intricate and colorful embroidery around the entire thing.
Ceremony
The ceremony was so special… Adir was led to the chuppah by a parade of all the men in our lives and a bunch of our musical friends all playing guitars, banging on drums and singing. Three of these closest friends continued with us to the chuppah and played all the music for my entrance with our mothers from the house and also between prayers. They played traditional songs mixed with some Carlbach and even some modern things. One of these friends is the amazing Akiva who is actually really big in Israel right now.
Our (conservative) Rabbi, Elisha was stellar. Firstly, the ketubah signing ceremony was unbelievably moving and he captivated the family and friends who we chose as witnesses who gathered in the house… explaining everything and making sure we felt its meaning. Throughout the wedding ceremony he spoke out to everyone in both English and Hebrew so everyone could understand and made sure to highlight all the beautiful things that were important to us at this wedding. When it came down to the final blessing over the wine, he began to talk about the abundance of life ahead of us – and while doing so poured an entire bottle of wine into the glass as everyone watched it all overflow. It was beautiful. The chuppah ceremony was very traditional. Some family and Adir’s grandfathers made blessings… the last two sung in a drawn out Moroccan style by his maternal 90-year old grandfather. It was very emotional.
Our music choice
The music at the wedding reception and later on the dance floor covered such a wide range of styles and moods. Because Adir and I come from two different worlds, along with our many guests – we wanted to make sure to have both Hebrew and English music from folk, world, rock, electronic and beyond… it was an amazing combination we put together with the help of our amazing friend and DJ, Eli Schechter.
Being that we had food served in the two hours leading up to the ceremony, the moment the glass was smashed, ‘Dancing in the Street‘ by Martha Reeves & The Vandellas hit the speakers and the dance party did not end until the sun came up.
Flowers
Like the rest of the wedding, this part was also DIY. For the tables, Adir picked eucalyptus branches from the many trees outside his grandparents apartment in Pardes Hana. Friends collected bright pink, purple, orange and white bougainvillea from local vines. They were just blooming everywhere, on every street. My girlfriends helped arrange the tables and put together my bouquet which was made up of flowers I picked up at the florist that morning. There were so many flowers, fruits and colors surrounding us already that we didn’t have to do to much.
Photography and videography
We hired Tomer Ben Simhon as our photographer after being blown away by the work he did for our cousin’s wedding. We loved how he was able to catch special moments in gorgeous light. He has a really artistic eye and his incredible energy and positive attitude made us light up with smiles every time we saw him throughout the night.
As for a video, we originally planned to not have one. Eventually we felt it was important to have a simple video to catch our guests coming in and the ceremony in full. We brought in a family friend, Alon Sigavi for this and he did a really outstanding job catching some really special moments in a very artistic way.
Food
Wow… we really had the best possible catering in all of Israel. People are still telling us how much fun they had just eating. Shishi is a master of outdoor cooking and catering – smoking various meats on the spot and a wide range of colorful salads and so much more. Every bite from Shishi’s food is an explosion of delicious flavor that just puts a smile on your face.
The wedding began with two hours of feasting and drinking at long family style tables and a large area we turned into a Bedouin style low table and mattress vibe. At midnight, a second round of food came out with a massive wood fired grill… lamb chops, burgers and fresh homemade burekas.
Our biggest regret is not getting to eat much of the food everyone kept talking about… but then again, how could we eat? The small group of people at our wedding who are religious and strict about kashrut were the happiest of all and blown away to find out it was all glatt kosher!
Entertainment
At one point everyone gathered to watch presentations, performances and speeches where the chuppah had been. My mom’s side of the family all got together and sang us a song they wrote for us. My girlfriends made the most unbelievable, thought out and hilarious music video. Adir’s father and brother, along with my brother made speeches that had everyone crying. For me, the highlight was my husband Adir, singing my favorite love song for me in Hebrew (he only ever sings in English). The song is ‘Aht Od Te’i iti’ by Alon Eder.
Favours
As our guests entered the wedding, they received beautifully designed ceramic turquoise chamsas with our initials on them which were handmade by my father, Mark Yudell.
Like every good Israeli wedding, we also had a photographer (Elat of Flor Magnet) there specifically to provide picture magnets which I designed the borders which matched the invite and place card theme. She did a great job and they all came out amazing – truly great quality. All of our guests got to take pictures home with them right then and there.
All DIY
Adir and I are both artists and my whole family is made up of artists… so we decided to do it all ourselves – with our hands and with love. We are so lucky to have all these talented people in our lives who could contribute their talents and unparalleled energies to our wedding day. It was important for us to plan every little detail and I was able to really go wild with my imagination.
From the landscaping, to the wedding bands and chuppah, to the ketubah and invites I designed… it was all done by us and our family. Amazing musicians who are friends sang their hearts out for us under the chuppah. It was perfect and was 100% us, 100% percent of the time.
Days of celebration
Keep in mind, the festivities did not start or end with the wedding itself:
– The Shabbat Chatan in Adir’s grandfather’s Sephardi shul was really beautiful and was followed by a massive feast made by his grandmother.
– Two days before the wedding, Adir’s aunt hosted a gorgeous Moroccan henna ceremony in her backyard in Pardes Hana. We all wore jalabias and there was traditional Moroccan music playing. There was the traditional cookies and food served… and of course the ceremony itself where Adir’s grandparents blessed us and everyone else with henna on our palms.
– Because we had many guests coming from the US, it was important to have a big Friday night Shabbat dinner for them the night after the wedding, which was hosted by Adir’s family.
– On Saturday afternoon we began a wild 24-hour beach party located under a beautiful festival style tent put up by Razolot at Maayan Tsvi Beach. It had couches, mattresses, a fridge, lights and generator to keep it going all night. It was by no means fancy, but was so perfect and blew everyone away. Everyone brought food and drinks; friends DJ’d. It was truly the most beautiful day and night. As the sun was setting into the water, we spontaneously asked everyone to join us on the water to watch the sunset together. If you can imagine sixty people hugging each other and screaming at the top of their lungs in appreciation of the sun as it dipped back into the Mediterranean… it was… unreal.
Honeymoon
We had originally planned to make a stop in Spain on the way back to NYC as a sort of honeymoon… but once we were in Israel and with the wedding behind us, we didn’t want to go anywhere except for stay in our favorite place on earth. We still needed to get away and have time to enjoy one another and process the magic of the week, so we went somewhere we could drive to and had always wanted to go.
We decided to head down to the Sinai in Egypt. Despite all the fear people put into our heads about going down to the Sinai, we made the trip and would do it a million times over. We drove down to Eilat and easily crossed the border, taking a thirty minute taxi to one of the many beaches north of Nueba where you can rent a little shack. We were so fortunate to be able to snag one of their brand new high end shacks with air conditioning and our own private bathroom.
The bedroom had a black mirror for a massive window so we can have total privacy inside while looking out to the Red Sea. We spent our days relaxing in pure bliss, eating great food and periodically jumping in the turquoise blue, crystal clear waters to snorkel and explore the beautiful coral reefs and variety of ocean life. We literally lived like royalty with full service for five days and nights and ended up paying what one celebratory night out in NYC would cost (with tip!).
Our real honeymoon will probably be in India next year when Adir finished school.
Advice to couples currently planning their wedding
– Take a break from each other: We didn’t see each other for 24 hours before the wedding which was surprisingly really beautiful and made our reunification that day so special.
– Take a break from the madness of the wedding and of your life: realize you are about to do something truly special, holy, and completely untouchable. So cleanse yourself of all the things you don’t want to take with you on this amazing journey forward. Have a moment of touching base with yourself, with nature and the ones closest to you. Check in.
The sunset before the wedding, I went to the mikveh in the ocean with my mother, Adir’s mother and my aunt and cousins. I’m in no way religious, but this tradition and moment I shared with the women in my life – purifying or cleansing myself in the water that day was so special. Adir did the same thing with his and my father, along with his brother and cousin at a different beach.
– Want to stress less? Remember that (contrary to popular belief) its not “all about you!” This whole experience helped us see what a wedding is really about. Think of the wide spectrum of people in your life from your youth until now who have shaped you and your spouse and made you the amazing people you are. Now think of how this one day in history – your wedding – is a one time catalyst for all these people in your lives to meet.
To create a completely unique, joyful and truly unforgettable experience together in which they witness you proclaim your love and commitment to one another. How cool is that? The wedding is also about them – its about everyone. So just go have a genuinely good time with all that love and energy you made happen. Things will undoubtedly go wrong at one point or another – the question is whether or not you will even remotely care.
Brit & Adir’s little white book
Photography – Tomer Ben Simhon
Ketubah and invitations – BRITcolors {offers 10% discount to all members of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club}
Videography – Alon Sigavi
Bride’s dress – Free People and Club Monaco
Groom’s attire – Tasso Elba purchased at Macy’s, Castro and Maians
Hair – Noam Bushlin
Chuppah and favors – Mark Yudell
Lighting – Orot
Bar – Shoteh Ha’Kfar
Magnet – Flor Magnet
Rabbi – Elisha
Musician – Akiva
Tent – Razolot
This is so beautiful and inspiring! I will return to this post many more times to continue to take in the beauty, joy, and wisdom before my own wedding.