It’s not easy planning a Jewish wedding long-distance – and that goes double when it happens to be halfway across the world, as was the case for California-based couple Axel and Susie! In honor of Axel’s French roots – he’s originally from Lyon, France – the couple opted to make things official in none other than the City of Lights.
And they found the perfect partner in making their dreams come true in their wedding planner, Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor La Fete. Working with a knowledgeable planner is so key when planning your big day from afar – and if you scroll through the beautiful photos from Dream Prod, we’re pretty sure you’ll agree La Fete knocked it out of the park.
Everything about this exquisite wedding was perfectly Parisian chic from the venue, Pavillon Dauphine, to Susie’s 4-piece custom wedding outfit by Daniella Kallmeyer of Kallmeyer. And naturally, the food was nothing short of gourmet.
Read on for all the wonderful details of this very special day…
How we Met
Axel and Susie met in April 2019 in San Francisco, California on the dating app “Hinge.” Axel, originally from Lyon, France, had been living in SF since 2015. Susie, originally from Washington, D.C., moved to SF from Mexico City in March 2019 and met Axel shortly after – very shortly in fact: he was her first date since moving to SF. On their first date, they met for dinner on a Tuesday night and were the last two to leave the restaurant. A few months of persistence later, Axel asked Susie to join him on a trip to France in September 2019 – and the rest is history.
A Parisian Venue
Pavillon Dauphine a very classic Parisian Jewish Wedding venue that has been around for ages but was recently renovated. It has elegant classic French/Parisian architecture and nice gardens. For our American guests, it really felt like a Parisian venue. We also wanted a venue where we could ideally do an outdoor ceremony and an indoor reception – the Pavillon Dauphine was an excellent choice!
Invitations / stationery
We decided to go the eco route and sent evites through Green Envelope and kept the style very simple. For our stationery, we asked Malka Klein Designs (the ketubah calligrapher and artist) to create beautiful cards that would match our ketubah with similar colours and font.
Hair + Make-up
Onorina and team from Onorina Jomir Beauty were an absolute pleasure to work with and we would recommend anyone looking for hair and make up artists in France to work with them. Onorina was able to create a natural and elegant style to go perfectly with Susie’s wedding look.
A Kallmeyer Dress
Susie asked the amazing Daniella Kallmeyer of Kallmeyer if she would be able to design a wedding outfit for their special day in Paris. She wanted something to cover up during the houppa and an outfit for the reception – Daniella’s vision came to life in a beautiful and chic 4 piece custom pale blush look.
Kallmeyer is a New York based RTW and accessories brand which reimagines everyday staples as an elevated and refined modular wardrobe for modern, empowered women.
Bridesmaids
Susie asked her childhood friend, Laura, to be her maid of honour. And Axel asked his childhood friend, Max, to be his best man. We had a small but mighty wedding party and it felt intimate and special to bring two of our oldest friends together for this celebration.
Ceremony and Chuppah
We kept the chuppah architecture simple and focused on the ceremony’s symbols rather than the flower extravagance. The Rabbi was Susie’s childhood rabbi from Potomac, Maryland, Rabbi Joel Tessler. It was very special for us to have studied with Rabbi Tessler and the amazing Rabbanit Aviva Tessler for many months before our wedding. Under the houppa, we had our immediate families and were blessed by Susie’s late grandfather’s talit above our heads.
Ketubah
We had the ketubah designed by the talented and special Malka Klein Designs. She is a gifted calligrapher and artist based in Israel and worked with us through Zoom and phone calls to design our ketubah. We wanted the ketubah to be an homage to Axel’s family history (Moroccan – Algerian). The central shape is a Hamsa (5 in arabic) symbol of luck. The colours are inspired by the famous Majorelle Garden in Marrakech with bright blue and yellow.
Our Music Choice
We let our band, VIP Orchestra, organise most of our playlist and listened to their suggestions and we were right: they were amazing! The music never stopped and we didn’t take a break from dancing!
Axel and his mom walked down the aisle to ‘Yedid Nefesh’, and Susie and her parents walked down the aisle to ‘Modeh Ani’. For our entrance to the reception, we chose ‘I don’t wanna dance’ from Boston Bun – quite a cynical song name and lyrics for a wedding but a great party starter.
We insisted on having a very active horah, a lot of middle eastern, north african, and latino music throughout the evening. Our band also sang the song ‘Shallow’ from A Star Is Born during dinner which brought our guests to dance on the chairs. It was magical and a ton of fun.
Food and Cake
Our caterer was Charles Traiteur, a famous kosher caterer in Paris. We let his team design the catering from start to finish. They pleased us with an extensive cocktail where the foie gras stand was a hit. After dinner, they opened up the doors to a dessert room with everything single dessert option you could dream of (hard to believe it was all pareve!) Perfect boost to finish the party.
Advice to other couples planning their wedding
During the planning, you will get attached to very little details that may feel silly looking back. You should know one thing: nobody will notice them and nobody cares. But if it matters to you, go the extra mile!
SUSIE & AXEL’S LITTLE WHITE BOOK
Photography – Dream Prod
Wedding planner – La Fete {offers 10% discount to all members of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club}
Venue – Pavillon Dauphine
Bride’s dress – Kallmeyer
Hair + Makeup – Onorina Jomir Beauty
Flowers – Mathilde Mouton Fleurs
Band – VIP Orchestra
Catering & Cake – Charles Traiteur
Ketubah + Stationery – Malka Klein Designs
Rabbi – Rabbi Joel Tessler
Wedding Registry – Zola
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.
