Katie and Aaron's breathtaking destination Jewish wedding embraced the beauty of Santorini.

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In the five fabulous years since Smashing The Glass’s inception, having lovingly blogged hundreds of incredible real Jewish weddings, we have always ALWAYS wanted to blog a Jewish wedding from Santorini (surely one of the most magical places on earth) and today the day has finally come. and seriously guys… this wedding is EVERYTHING.

It’s a destination Jewish wedding that has us absolutely picking our jaws off the floor. Australian couple Katie, who works in PR, and Aaron, a commercial airline pilot for Virgin Australia, wanted a spectacular backdrop for their once-in-a-lifetime day, and so they chose to marry on the sun-drenched Greek island of Santorini. And did it ever deliver! HannaMonika Wedding Photography’s images from the day are just beyond.

Every photo is its own little work of art — and a whole bunch of them could’ve easily been plucked from the pages of a super-glam travel magazine. Take a scroll through, and we guarantee you’ll be fighting the urge to book yourself a ticket on the next flight to Greece. And don’t even get us started on Orriss Films‘ Hollywood-perfect trailer – seriously, Katie and Aaron look like absolute movie stars, and every scene is shot so exquisitely.

We just can’t get enough of photographers Hanna and Slavomir’s style: bright and crisp, romantic and modern. They could not have done a better job of capturing the amazing light and colors of Santorini. The blue skies, the whitewashed houses, the lush greenery of the chuppah… yep, we’re smitten with this one.

Oh, and did we mention that beautiful Katie — who looked so effortlessly summer chic in her Jadore dress — was an avid Smashing The Glass reader in the lead up to her wedding? She reports that she found the blog especially useful for Jewish music inspo for the horas and the procession. So glad we could help, Katie! Now over to the bride…

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How we met

Katie, the bride: We met at a pub in Sydney. Aaron saw me with a girlfriend sitting at a table and wanted to introduce himself without being sleazy, so he and a friend asked if we minded if they shared a table with us while they ate their dinner.

We said fine, not realizing he had actually already had dinner but ordered a second meal so that he could sit at the table. Slowly they worked their way into our conversations, and soon after he was telling me about his friend that he thought I might like. He handed me a card for his friend if I was interested and that’s when I saw “Aaron” on the card and realised he was telling me about himself, haha.

Needless to say I ended up texting him later in the night after a couple of glasses of wine. It took us about a month to finally catch up after that initial meeting because I was being difficult (sorry hubby!), but the rest is history. I never would have thought that night I was going to meet my future husband.

Santorini

We got married on the Greek island of Santorini. We had both been there before and knew it would be a spectacular backdrop for our wedding, and not too many stops for our guests from Australia to get to.

We were traveling to Israel prior to the wedding, so it was nice and close for us from there.

Our rabbi also pointed out the connection between the two places, with the significance of the colors blue and white together, which made it even more special for us.

A Wedding Planned by the Bride

I didn’t use a wedding planner. I have my own PR and events company so am familiar with organizing all different scales of events. So planning a wedding wasn’t daunting to me. I wanted something simple, timeless, and chic, so stuck with a white color palette with accents of gold and greenery.

Luxe Invitations

We had our invitations printed on an extra-thick textured stock, and they were each sent with the RSVP card tied on with black raw leather string. We sealed envelopes with custom gold wax seals that had our initials on them.

Hair + Makeup

Luckily for me, my sister is a professional makeup artist in Australia, and she knows exactly what I like.

Again, I kept things quite simple and I wore my hair down with loose curls. I was given some wise advice not too long before we got married that said why decide to do something dramatically different to your hair just because it’s your wedding day? Stick with something similar to how you normally wear your hair that you know suits you. So many brides end up looking back at their photos and hate their hair. So I stuck with what I know, and added some gold pins to the back.

A Jadore Dress

My dress was by an Australian label, Jadore. It was actually a ball gown, not a wedding dress. I had seen a photo of it online and thought that the style would suit my body shape, so called them to find out where I could try it on. I tried all different styles and price points but felt the most like “me” in this one. It was simple but with details that made it a little bit more special, like the lace split at the back.

I was also mindful of what would suit the style and location of our wedding. It was going to be a hot summer day in Santorini, so I didn’t want anything long-sleeved or heavy and layered (as much as I love the look of them!), and the wedding wasn’t black tie so I didn’t want to go too glam.

A Last-Minute Veil

I wore a veil as is customary in a Jewish ceremony. It’s what changed my dress from being a ball gown to feeling like an actual wedding dress.

Again, I went with something super simple. And bought it from a bridal shop in my hometown a couple of days before we left for the wedding. Definitely a last minute purchase!

Sophia Webster Shoes

I went with white Sophia Webster heels with a high stiletto heel. Not skyscraper though! I knew I’d have to be wearing them for a while, and on uneven Santorini ground, so I was reasonably sensible. I did change into a pair of simple gold heels later on.

The handsome groom

He looked very handsome! How lucky I am! He wore white linen and pastel blue, with a pop of brighter blue and tan details. Mostly Hugo Boss and Australian brand Calibre. We really wanted to keep things feelings and looking light and summery, not too formal.

The most special piece he wore was the 1972 Omega Moon Watch that was given to his father by his grandfather when he joined the airforce. Aaron had it restored, and it is one of his most cherished possessions because of the sentimental value.

Bridesmaids in Lace

My sister Bonnie and Aaron’s sister Yvette were my bridesmaids. They wore beautiful lace dresses by Australian designer Thurley. I’m obsessed with the sleeve details on their dresses! Conveniently, the lace matched the lace on my dress.

A Leafy Chuppah

I wanted lots of greenery! With all of the white surroundings, I thought lush greenery would look fresh and pretty (and not too formal). Pietro from Fabio Zardi sent me ideas of what he could do that fit the brief, and it was spot-on. He did such an amazing job. We loved our chuppah.

An Accessible Ceremony

A lot of our guests weren’t Jewish and some had never been to a Jewish wedding before, so it was a new experience to them. Everyone seemed interested in the traditions and customs, so it was nice to share that. We created custom programs outlining each stage of the ceremony so that it made a bit more sense. Everyone embraced it, which was very special!

We flew Rabbi Brad to Santorini to marry us, as he is not only a close friend but our mentor and means a lot to both of us. To be able to have him there to marry us was so important, and we wouldn’t have done it any other way. He played a huge role in making our ceremony so enjoyable for everyone.

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A Jerusalem Ketubah

Our ketubah was a laser cut design by Ray Michaels, and included in the design is a vision of Jerusalem. It’s so pretty, I love it. And looks beautiful framed! We visited Jerusalem just days before we got married, which makes it even more special.

Higher Love

We played a beautiful song, a remake of an oldie, to walk down the aisle, called Higher Love by James Vincent McMorrow, followed by a lovely version of Lecha Dodi for the hakafot.

We didn’t do a first dance; we went straight into horas upon our arrival at the reception.

I loved using Smashing the Glass when I was looking for song suggestions to play during the ‘Hora’ and procession. It’s great for inspiration as there are so many spectacular weddings featured on the site. Inspiration that can be used for non-Jewish weddings too.

Peonies Galore

The bouquets were white peonies. My favorite. Flowers on the chuppah and tables were a mixture of peonies, roses, and hydrangeas mixed in with lush greenery. Pietro and Fabio Zardi are responsible for our beautiful flowers.

Our Fabulous Photographer

We decided to work with HannaMonika Wedding Photography for our wedding images. I did a lot of research into photographers who work in the Greek islands.

I loved Hanna and Slavomir’s style the most. Very bright, white, and not cheesy. And looked like great quality images. I don’t like overly saturated photos or “glamour” style, so it felt more natural with their style of work and approach.

…and videographer

Our videographer was Duane from Orriss Films. He filmed one of our friends’ weddings in Australia and we were so impressed with his video, we couldn’t believe our luck when we found out he was going to be in the Mediterranean at the same time as our wedding. He is super talented and creative; our wedding movie is better than we could have dreamed.

He has filmed many Jewish weddings so it was perfect having him there and understanding each stage, as a Jewish wedding is very different to other types/religions.

We also took our guests out on a boat around Santorini a couple of days before the wedding, so Duane and his partner Mahalia came on that to capture the day so that it could be added into our wedding video too.

Entertainment

We kept it simple with a DJ. Being in Santorini I wasn’t 100% confident with the selection of live music so felt more comfortable using a DJ and selecting our own playlist.

Crystal Favors

The wedding favors doubled as place settings. I had stunning large slices of Agate crystal made with gold trims, and had each guest’s name handwritten in calligraphy on each slice by an Australian artist, Paige Tuzee. I liked the idea of something special that people could take home with them and keep from our wedding day.

Carrying them from Australia to the other side of the world was the most difficult part, haha; they were HEAVY and bubble wrapped so imagine going through security with a suitcase full of them in Israel and Athens. I got stopped every time! But they made it there in the end.

Converting to Judaism

I converted to Judaism, so having a Jewish wedding was very new to my family and friends. Everyone embraced it beyond belief.

My mum practiced Hebrew so that she could say the blessings in Hebrew and not English. And practiced the hora!

My niece (who was the flower girl) loved the wedding so much she kept saying she wants a Jewish wedding now haha, very cute! Our hora got so rowdy that the restaurant asked us to calm down as they were worried the roof was going to collapse. Santorini architecture!

Advice to couples currently planning their wedding

Honestly, the best thing to do is be relaxed and know that some things are beyond your control, and it’s almost a guarantee that not absolutely everything will run to plan.

At the end of the day, all you need is your husband, family, friends, and rabbi there to marry you. It doesn’t matter if something goes wrong with the food, if your flowers are slightly different, etc. Don’t sweat the small stuff. What matters is the people you love are there, and you get to marry your soul mate. Everything else is minor and people will either not even notice or forget very quickly!

Katie & Aaron’s little white book

Photography – HannaMonika Wedding Photography
Videography – Orriss Films
Reception venue – Pantelia Suites Rooftop
Bride’s dress – Jadore
Bride’s shoes – Sophia Webster
Groom’s attire – Hugo Boss, Calibre and Omega
Bridesmaids – Thurley
Flowers – Fabio Zardi
Calligraphy – Paige Tuzee
Ketubah – Ray Michaels