A New Orleans-meets-Tel Aviv wedding?! Yes, please – what’s not to love about a big day that combines the best of two of the world’s greatest party cities? Bride Laura, who runs her own English teaching business in Tel Aviv and teaches high school humanities, knew from the start she wanted to combine her American Southern background with the all-Israeli roots of groom Elad, a front end web developer for a start-up company.
Sounds like a tall order, right? But nothings’ too much for the team at amazing Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Bebke, who understood exactly what the couple wanted and fused together their vision of an eclectic New Orleans style meets funky Israeli vibe to create a one of a kind wedding. Even the catering got in on the game – Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Maasia worked New Orleans French style, American southern, and Mediterranean Israeli food into the menu, and scored a runaway hit with late-night corndogs that guests are still raving about!
As if the theme weren’t awesome enough, we’re equally obsessed with all of the personal touches these two put into their big day. Laura and Elad wanted their brothers – four between the two of them – to hold each corner of their chuppah, so they went with a simple hand-held bamboo setup to make it happen. They also had a “dog of honor” – their beloved Kimchi – join them under the chuppah! We’re in love with Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Ronen Boidek’s breathtaking photos of it all – as Laura said herself, he is just so skilled at capturing “not only the big moments but the small ones as well.”
Now over to Laura, who looked so beautiful in her Julie Vino dress…
How we met
Laura, the bride: We met on Tinder believe it or not, when it was brand new in Tel Aviv. We both were receiving hundreds of matches but somehow I ended up answering his message. Our first conversation was about our music taste which wasn’t the standard topic when Tinder first began. I had a gut feeling there was something there. We went on a date a few weeks later and took off from there. That was almost five years ago.
A Green Venue
We got married in the backyard of an old couple’s house at Moshav just outside of Tel Aviv. I wanted a space that was green, had a nature feel to it, and reminded me of home. Our planners at Bebke understood exactly what we wanted, it hit all of those points.
New Orleans Meets Israel
We had an extraordinary production company, Bebke, produce and put on our wedding. Inbar fused together our vision of an eclectic New Orleans style meets funky Israeli vibe to create a truly one of a kind wedding. We wanted to blend our American Southern and Israeli roots so that all of our guests would feel “at home”, my focus words for Inbar included home, cozy, and eclectic and she nailed it on the head.
What ‘Smashing The Glass’ Did For Us
I love the attention to detail and the unique aspects that make weddings not your average cookie cutter weddings! Those are what make your posts stand out and keep me wanting to read more!
Tree Invitations
I have a small obsession with trees which is why I chose the wedding venue that was full of them and to go along with that, our invitation designer Lany Shubitz created a special invitation that included a tree similar to the tree of life.
Makeup
Maya Oppenheim was a genius when it came to makeup for myself and my bridal party. She is light skinned and blonde like me, so I knew from the moment I met her, it would be a great match particularly since so many Israeli women have completely different skin tones and and hair colors than me!
A Julie Vino Dress
After trying over 70+ dresses both in Atlanta and Israel, I finally found “the one” on a whim visit to Julie Vino after eating an entire bowl of the famous “Abu Hassan” hummus in Yafo. I knew it was the one because I felt incredible in the dress, not once BUT twice, after eating an entire bowl of hummus and a few pitas!
Accessories
My wedding band was my grandmother’s that I inherited after she passed. I also took her collection of broaches and pinned them around my bouquet so a piece of her would be with me under the chuppah.
Shoes
I went for classic and comfortable with the Stuart Weitzman Nearly Nude in platinum for the ceremony, they were practical for our grass venue and comfortable on my feet. Immediately after the ceremony, I switched into rose gold Kendall & Kylie sneaks and that was the best decision I could have made, I added some toule laces to jazz them up for the night.
The handsome groom
Elad is a practical guy so buying a suit that he may never wear again seemed silly but we did it. Suit Supply is the greatest store for this, we bought everything he needed head to toe from there, including all the alterations. For a tall, dark, & handsome guy who has never worn a suit, he looked stunning our our big day and I’m so glad we decided to go all out for him.
Bridesmaids
I had five bridesmaids including three first cousins, my sister-in-law, and my best friend. They all have similar styles luckily, and again practicality came into play here so we went with floral maxi dresses from Show Me Your Mumu, they were affordable, comfortable, easy to wear again, and fit the more casual dress code of an Israeli wedding.
Bamboo Chuppah
We wanted our brothers to hold each corner of our chuppah so we went with a simple hand-held bamboo style. Our venue was so stunning we wanted the natural beauty to standout in our pictures rather than the chuppah itself we trusted Bebke and their magic touch.
Ceremony
Elad has three brothers and I have one, so we had all four boys each take a corner of our hand held chuppah which was a nice touch since we were so many under there. We also had our “dog of honor” Kimchi, who wore a classic black bowtie and joined us under the chuppah as we tied the knot. He is like a son to us, so it was really important that he share our big day with us. My sister-in-law did handmade crocheted kippas that matched the men’s ties. We wanted to incorporate our family into as many parts of the ceremony as possible.
My favorite part of the ceremony was when our rabbi shared some words that Elad and I had shared about each other to him privately during one of our sessions together. It warmed my heart to hear how well we know one another as we made it “official”.
An Eco-Friendly Ketubah
Our ketubah is also following along the tree theme but is made from all eco-friendly materials which is important to me since I live a green lifestyle!
Our music choice
Processional we had two songs:
1. for the wedding party (‘Make You Feel My Love’ by Billy Joel)
2. for the bride (‘My Girl’ by Tiago Iorc) as Elad came to the middle of the aisle to “accept” me as his bride (Israeli style wedding)
Recessional – ‘Signed Sealed Delivered’ by Stevie Wonder
First Dance – ‘Crazy Love’ by Van Morrison – when Elad proposed (which was a total surprise!) He serenaded me with this song (he is a singer and guitar player) so this held special meaning for us.
Also our last song of the night – Elad serenaded me again with ‘My Girl’ (from above) which was a great way to close out the night.
Flowers
Bebke took care of all that, I love flower arrangements and they took it to a perfection level!
Photographer
Ronen Boidek had this creative and professional yet Israeli vibe to him that I immediately clicked with when we met. He is extremely talented and I had a special intuition that he would be able to capture not only the big moments but the small ones as well.
Videographer
Luca Seres was our videographer and I loved her off-beat style and that each video she creates is unique to the couple. She had great energy on our big day, was easy to work with, and I think we will be really happy with her work.
Cajun Mediterranean Food
Our catering was by far one of the highlights of the night. Maasia by Haim Sabag created not only incredible food but an experience that our guests will never forget. They thought of every detail and were able to adapt to our feel of New Orleans French style, American southern, and Mediterranean Israeli food in the menu. Our guests are still raving about it all especially the late-night corndogs that everyone needed by the end of the night.
Entertainment
The Mottis Band – we picked this band that we saw playing in a bar one time because it was music we LOVE and would definitely fit our theme of jazz, soul, funk, swing and country all in one. No one could believe they were from Jerusalem.
Later in the night we switched over to the talented Gal Kadan who delivered 100% to the crowd.
Due to the Israeli noise ordinance that there cannot be amplified music after 11pm, I suggested we do a headphone party from 11pm onward so that we could continue on late into the night and our guests LOVED it. People were able to take off their headphones and chat or put them on and rock with us. It added an extra layer of fun instead of wrapping things up.
Guests from US and Italy
We had 59 guests fly in from the US and Italy for our wedding and that in itself was heartwarming. We shared so many memories, meals, laughs, sunburns, and l’chaims with the people that I spent my whole life growing up with, who nowadays, I see rarely after moving to Israel from the US six years ago. We also had over 100 guests drive 3 hours from Northern Israel to share in our simcha which without them, we wouldn’t have had that Israeli feeling.
Seven days apart
Elad and I separated for seven full days before our wedding. We shared custody of Kimchi, our dog, during that time which was a funny experience for us. We spoke briefly over text and phone but nothing lengthy. The hardest part was that I was staying in the apartment below him so the temptation was right in front of us to cheat and just hang on our balcony but we held strong. This made our first look particularly emotional after not being together for a week. Elad rarely shares or shows emotion and he even had a few tears shed when we first saw each other!
Advice to couples currently planning their wedding
Trust all the work you and all your people have put into the wedding. Everyone has their own responsibilities to uphold and trust that they will do them to their fullest extent. I felt so confident in our production company, all our vendors, and everyone involved in the big day, that I was able to be present and more carefree on our wedding day, which I am so grateful for.
I woke up an hour early to do a mini walk and yoga session along the beach to calm my mind, take in the beauty surrounding me that day and it was a nice way to start the day before the craziness of the preparations. Take that time in the morning to do something you enjoy whether it’s enjoying a cup of coffee, a walk, a workout, reading, meditating, whatever floats your boat. DO IT – it will center you and will be a little piece of comfort as you begin the day.
We didn’t give each other gifts but we did write each other a short note that I also wrote the morning of the wedding. It helped me to focus and put my feelings into words since there are emotions flying left and right. Plus, it’s a great keepsake to look back on down the road.
Be present, soak it all in like a sponge from beginning to end, you’ll be glad you did!
Laura & Elad’s little white book
Photography – Ronen Boidek
Wedding planner and design – Bebke {offers 10% discount to all members of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club}
Catering – Maasia
Videography – Luca Seres
Bride’s dress – Julie Vino
Bride’s shoes – Stuart Weitzman and Kendall & Kylie
Groom’s attire – Suit Supply
Bridesmaids – Show Me Your Mumu
Makeup – Maya Oppenheim
Band – Mottis Band
DJ – Gal Kadan
