Today’s super luxe Jewish wedding contained plenty of surprises, from the astounding floral arrangements throughout the reception to the insanely gorgeous chuppah, the violinists during cocktail hour to Moshe Peretz and the ACTUAL Gipsy Kings playing the reception!
The couple chose to have a religious ceremony, conducted by none other than the Chief Rabbi of Israel, in Jerusalem, originally home to bride Natalie. Careful nods to their faith were included throughout the celebration, honoring the history and atmosphere of the incredible surroundings.
Beautiful bride Natalie looked a million bucks in her TWO(!) divine, sexy and gorgeous Lee Petra Grebenau gowns, with a see-through leg and gorgeous illusion embellishments. We. Are. In. Love!
Wedding planner and florist, Kby Design, created an incredible aesthetic, as you can see from the beautiful spread of images below from none other than our fabulous Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor, the one and only Ran Bergman.
This is the kind of divine big day that can only really be described through the medium of pictures, so we’ll now pass you over to Ran and to Natalie for the full story.
How we met
Natalie, the bride: We met on Rosh Hashana three years ago at a mutual friend’s house.
A wedding at home
We both wanted to get married in Israel, my home country, and we both knew Jerusalem was the location. The David Citadel Hotel could cater to all our requests and plans.
A Jerusalem-inspired event
Kby Design was our event planner. Kobi Bar Yehuda designed the event for us, inspired by Jerusalem.
Biblical invitations
The invitations included a Jerusalem-inspired color scheme and sentences from the Bible about Jerusalem.
Picking suppliers you like
Ortal Elimelech did my makeup. Dekel Ben Zion was my hair stylist. Both have great personalities and are unbelievably talented. Make sure to pick someone you like as it’s a long time together.
Two stunning dresses
Lee Petra Grebenau designed me my two wedding dresses. The first dress was a very special dress. It had a see-through skirt – very sexy but so classic.
The second dress Lee designed for me for the wedding party: open back and feathers at the bottom of the dress.
Subtle jewelry
I wore stud earrings with the first dress.
Ed got me a jewelry set for the wedding. I wore it with the second dress. I personally preferred to keep my hair looking natural, with no accessories.
Chanel shoes
My wedding sandals were sparkling champagne low heels by Stuart Weitzman It was important for me to feel comfortable .
My wedding party shoes were Chanel pearls sandals.
The handsome groom
Ed wore a Tom Ford bow tie, tuxedo and shirt from Victor Talbots. His shoes were from Santoni.
Blushing bridesmaids
I didn’t have bridesmaids – my wedding party consisted of my mum and my two sisters.
Lee Petra Grebenau designed my mum’s beautiful dress.
My sisters worked with a tailor to design their dresses the way they wanted. The both wore light colors: blush and light pink.
The dream chuppah
We saw our chuppah design in my event planner’s portfolio. It was built for a wedding in Morocco and we both knew it was the one!
A powerful ceremony
Our ceremony was conducted by Rabbi Lau, Chief Rabbi of Israel.
The ceremony was very special for us! The chuppah was amazing, not just the design, all around the chuppah the view of Jerusalem old city and tower of David was very powerful.
Hebrew songs
Walking down the aisle, we chose Hebrew songs:
For Ed and all the family: ×× ×שכחך ×™×¨×•×©×œ×™× /בו ×¡× ×•×£
I walked down the aisle to: בו××™ ×‘×©×œ×•× / בן ×¡× ×•×£
After the chuppah we played Can’t Stop The Feeling by Justin Timberlake.
We picked the song for Ed and our family, the most well known sentence Tehillim in the Bible:
“If I forget you Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning.”
THE Gipsy Kings and Moshe Peretz
We had female violinists during the cocktail hour before the chuppah. We had Gipsy Kings, Moshe Peretz and DJ Gil Fux all playing live!
We wanted international singer and Israeli singer and that fused perfectly together. DJ Gil Fux has a lot of experience with international weddings, that was an added value.
Religious wedding favors
We had a Siddur with our names and the wedding date engraved. Again, the wedding was in Israel in Jerusalem, 99% of the guests were Israeli or Jewish, so we wanted to give a meaningful gift.
We also had kippot for the men and shawls for the women.
All together in Israel
It was very special to be all together in Israel, my home, with all my family and with Ed’s family from NYC. It made it even more exciting.
Advice to couples currently planning their wedding
A wedding is very exciting day for the bride and groom, but it can be way too stressful.
My day was amazing and relaxing and my advice is to sleep well the night before clean your face and your mind. Also, try to spend the wedding day with very few people, in order to stay as relaxed as possible.
No matter how much time, money and energy you spend, nothing will be completely perfect! But almost perfect is just as good! So please remember this and please enjoy every moment, because it goes by so fast!
Natalie & Ed’s little white book
Photography – Ran Bergman
Wedding planner and flowers – Kby Design
Venue – The David Citadel Hotel
Music — Moshe Peretz and Gipsy Kings
Bride’s dress – Lee Petra Grebenau
Bride’s shoes – Stuart Weitzman and Chanel
Groom’s attire – Tom Ford, Victor Talbots, and Santoni
DJ – DJ Gil Fux
What a beautiful couple like they had loads of fun!