We adore the magical forest vibes of today’s Jewish wedding at incredible Israeli venue Ba’yaar. This is one stunning celebration, no question – and the couple’s photographer, Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Ran Bergman, captured all the emotion and beauty of the day in his signature style.
But the thing that REALLY warms our hearts about how Shira, an occupational therapist, and Jonathan, who works as a political consultant, celebrated their marriage is the way they made their big day all about tradition and family – while making sure their own personalities always shone through.
Take the ceremony. For Shira and Jonathan, there was no question that crafting a personal, moving, yet traditional ceremony was priority #1. To make sure their ceremony truly spoke to who they are as a couple, the pair each spoke under the chuppah, shared individual vows to each other, and exchanged rings. We also love that in between the traditional 7 brachot said by men, they asked 4 women to each add their own personal blessing.
And then there’s the couple’s incredible paper cut ketubah from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Danny Azoulay Art– truly a work of art!
But what really, REALLY blew us away about this ceremony was something we don’t usually remark on: the groom’s wedding band. Jonathan used his grandfather’s wedding ring from before World War II, to his first wife who perished in the Holocaust along with the couple’s two young children. What an incredible heirloom to pass down through the generations.
There’s so much more to say, but we’ll let the bride (who wore an absolute stunner of a gown from wonderful Israel designer Limor Rosen) take it from here…
A Magical Forest
Shira, the bride: We scoured throughout Israel to find something that conveyed a feeling of magic while also providing the highest quality. When we walked into Ba’yaar we knew we found it. Nothing compared to the feeling you get of walking into a magical forest when you walk into their perfectly lit and beautiful garden of orange trees and blossom. Additionally, they stood out with the very high quality food, technology and professional staff.
We got married in spring, and another important factor was a stunning indoors due to what turned out to be a realistic fear of rain. The spectacular glass incased room surrounded by lit greenery was exactly the combination of class and nature.
Classic Meets Fun
I think what best describes what made our wedding special to us and showcased who we are was a combination of classic elegance with a fun, easygoing humor.
The colour scheme we chose was a combination of elegance, deep purples with burgundy flowers matched with my hot pink shoes and fuscia peonies.
Invitation
I worked directly with the designer to match the invitation to my theme, with a focus on the burgundy, with purple and white flowers. Michal made endless corrections until I was satisfied with the color of every single flower.
A Limor Rosen Dress
This was the hardest decision to make, but when I walked into my dress designer’s stunning studio in Tel Aviv and she personally spent 3 hours with me until we created my dream dress, I knew I was in the right place.
My dress was by the talented Limor Rosen, designed especially for me combining two different styles from her collections, The Eden dress and the Lucia. The skirt, with a cheeky slit, was layers of tulle with a partially hidden layer of a shimmery embroidery and continued touches of lace falling from the waist line between the different tulle layers to create a 3D affect. The top was an illusion top with lace going off the shoulder, combining two types of floral lace, with hand-made beaded flower elements in a luminous pearl and blush pink beads. I especially loved the slit in the skirt so you could see my hot pink shoes.
Accessories
I found my earing, a drop single pearl sitting on a white gold chain of diamonds from the jeweler that my family has been going to since my grandmother’s days. The store is named Meltzer’s and it’s been open in Jerusalem since 1946. I also wore my mother’s diamond tennis bracelet, also from there.
However the most special piece was a Tiffany’s bracelet of a vine, symbolizing the future growth of our family tree, which my husband to be had given me as we first set eyes on each other the day of our wedding.
Another special piece of jewelry was actually the groom’s. Jonathan’s wedding band, a simple deep gold ring, was his grandfather’s wedding ring from his first marriage before the Shoa (Holocaust). Engraved inside are the wedding date and initials of his grandfather’s first wife who perished by the hands of the Germans together with their two young children. The date was April 16, 1933. By chance, our wedding date was April 15th, an incredible coincidence. Jonathan had my initials and our date added inside, leaving room for one more engravement, hopefully for our grandchild, when the time comes (he is very sentimental!)
Shoes
I loved my shoes!! I looked for months online to find something that will stand out. I refused to wear white. When I saw them, I knew! A stunning mix of fucsia velvet and hot pink leather high heels by Rachel Zoe!
Hair + Makeup
I wanted a natural look to emphasize my features and make me look fabulous without looking overdone. I only wear make up when I go out and wanted to make sure my husband to be actually recognized me! I chose to leave my hair down with thick waves, with the sides swept up and pinned with pearl pins. I liked the young, flowy and elegant look without being overdone and too mature.
The handsome groom
Overcome with emotions, I cried when I saw my groom for the first time. I could barely read the card which accompanied the Tiffany’s bag he handed to me in that moment. What made me swoon? His smile and his eyes. Jonathan has a very tough exterior, seeing him actually glowing with love and happiness was my first memory of seeing him.
He wore a crisp blue Paul Smith suite bought from London with a Paul Smith deep green thin knit tie. He matched the color theme so perfectly with his Jewel tones without even knowing.
Bridesmaids
We had flower girls and boys who wore blue suits with pink shirts and a blue tie and vest, and the girls in baby pink dresses.
What was special was the my Israeli nieces and nephews who barely speak English became instant best friends with Jonathan’s British nieces who spoke no Hebrew – and of course the unifying event was walking down the aisle together!
Chuppah
I wanted an endless flow of flowers and deep colors, with a feeling of a circle with flowers hanging low.
Ceremony
Our ceremony was VERY important to us. We come from mixed backgrounds of level of religiousness with a common ground based on a strong connection to tradition. It was important to both of us to have a personal, moving yet traditional ceremony. We wanted our wedding to speak of Jewish tradition, to be founded on our ancestors customs. I insisted on having a badeken ceremony, where Jonathan was danced to me at the Kise Kallah and whisked away but dancers to the chuppah, not a common custom in Israel.
We each took time to speak under the chuppah and share our vows to each other, we also both exchanged rings.
Another unique and really personal touch is that in between the traditional 7 brachot said by men, we had asked 4 women who are dear to us both to each add their own personal blessing to us.
Ketubah
I always knew that I will have a ketubah from the one and only Danny Azoulay Art, but I didn’t realize how hard it will be to chose from one of his stunning pieces. Our ketubah was his “Blue sky” square ketubah, an exquisite paper cut artwork by Azoulay Art, which we had framed in floating glass.
Our music choice
Jonathan walked down the aisle with his parents in either side to Elvis Presley’s ‘Can’t Help Falling In Love With You’ arriving teary eyed, and followed by the flower kids. I walked down with my parents to a beautiful rendition of ‘Mehera Hashem’ by The Levi’im accompanied by a violin played by the incredibly talented Guy Wittenberg.
First dance
Our first dance, was actually one of the most special parts of the wedding. Jonathan and I, to say the least, have quite the different personalities. Jonathan loves rock, country and southern rock and old soul music, He’s an old soul trapped in a young body. I like more mainstream, pop and most of all, all things Disney. What we both are is whimsical and funny. Knowing this, I decided to create a special show combining both our personalities.
We basically started off with a classic waltz to the one and only Beauty and the Beast –‘Tale As Old As Times’ only to be stopped suddenly by Jonathan who shouts out that he refuses to dance to this, yelling to the DJ to play something ‘good’. To that the DJ responds with ‘I Want You So Hard’ by Eagles of Death Metal, to which he proceeded to wave his hands in my face in a very hard rock moves while I was left standing there, supposedly astonished by this with my hands on my hips! At which I stop the DJ and we stage a fight! Right there in front of everyone only to conclude it with proclaiming we never stand by each other… With this the music changes abruptly and we walk around one another to the beginning of the perfect ‘Stand by Me’ by Ben E. King, a song we both love!
We actually used a dance teacher, Avi Sukar, practicing only twice as Jonathan was working abroad for most of the duration of our engagement (except for weekends). I really loved taking dance lessons as they served as another really wonderful part of planning the wedding, allowing us to come even closer to each other and have that special moments privately before the big day (Needless to say he forgot the moves, but as an excellent natural dancer swept me around the dance floor perfectly!).
Flowers
Noa Kirshberg was our floral designer. I basically told her the color scheme (variety of purple with touches of deep burgundy) I wanted and a few ideas on what we don’t want and she masterfully put together the design. The only flower I really wanted was peonies and was lucky enough they had just gotten into season so could have them I my bouquet.
Photographer
We decided to go with Ran Bergman after meeting with him and his wife. We fell in love not only with his impeccable style, a combination of sharp yet with a touch of softness and always extremely tasteful photos but also with his personality. My husband needed someone who would make him feel free and easy going and Ran was exactly that.
He also provided videography, but we haven’t chosen a song for our highlights video yet…
Food
Avsha, one of the best caterers in the country, who work directly with Bayaar. The food was unique, delishes and included a cultural mix which added interest (sirloin bites in pineapple yuzu sauce for example). We had amazing desserts (including chocolate soup with strawberries!) and they even threw in the most amazing doughnuts we’ve ever had. Decided against a cake, as we felt like we didn’t want to stop the party to cut a cake.
Entertainment
In addition to our DJ, Ilan Hening, we had Guy Wittenberg which was a brilliant addition elevating both the ceremony and the party. Guy plays both the saxophone and the violin and added a personal element to the dancing throughout the night.
Another fun surprise that we had was a photo booth with a gorgeous gold background and lots of silly props. The gusts were able to get copies of the photos and I think it added a fun unexpected surprise!
Favours
We had benchers printed with the same print as the invitations and deep navy suede yarmulkes with our names and date inside. In hindsight, we should have has personal haggadahs as the wedding was a few days before Pesach. We also had a special magnet photographer so guests could take home polaroid magnet photos home with them!
Personal touches
Besides all the aforementioned above, including involving personal blessings from friends and family at the chuppah, we also added the mezinkah dance. Both Jonathan and I were last to get married and my mom has been dreaming of this since her own wedding! Most Israelis had no idea what was going on when both our parents had decorated brooms and were sweeping us away!
Another special touch was adding photos of our grandparents wedding and lives at the entrance by the welcome sign, as both of ours had passed away. I think it added a special and personal touch.
Of course, as in British tradition, my groom and his best man, his brother gave speeches, which of course bright me to tears.
Connection to family
I think what defined our wedding was in fact the connection to family. I had spent the night before my wedding with my mom sister and best friend at a hotel, and we spent the day together while getting ready with a few more friends who joined. Jonathan on the other hand spent it with his close friends and only brother who came in for the wedding. The day of the wedding, Jon went, together with our Rabbi, one of his close friends to the sea, and even though the water was freezing, dunked in it as a mikveh to purify. It was his first time ever. We were truly accompanied by our friends and family the whole day, and that made the day truly special for both of us and we were truly present the whole time.
Honeymoon
We actually split our honeymoon into two! One more active and adventurous, spending 12 days in Sicily, renting a Fiat 500 which we named Gennaro (Jamie Oliver reference!), climbing the highest and most active Volcano in Europe, drinking lots of wine and eating amazing food! Sicily has so much to offer between gorgeous views, hikes, beaches and culture.
Our second trip was built around pure luxury and relaxation – spending a perfect week in the Seychelles at the , an all-inclusive hotel with butler service fulfilling our every need(!). We stayed at one of 30 private villas with a private pool overlooking the Indian Ocean. Wow, what a week, we were pampered with massages, helicopter rides overlooking the stunning white sand beaches and many little islands, private sunset dinner and a private breakfast on the beach (with lots of champagne).
Advice to couples currently planning their wedding
My most important advise, which is so hard to accomplish is to actually finish everything a week before. Be organized, keep a folder of everything printed out and go over it with your mom, friend or event planner.
Don’t be rash to make any decision and most importantly, follow your heart – YOU know best! It’s your day and you need to have the best one.
The day goes by so quickly, try to take in every moment and event leading to it, and be as present as possible during the actual day. But most importantly have fun and don’t sweat the little things!
Shir & Jonathan’s little white book
Photography – Ran Bergman {gives an extra gift to all members of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club}
Ketubah – Danny Azoulay Art {offers 10% discount to all members of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club}
Venue – Ba’yaar
Producer – Elisheva Goldman
Bride’s dress – Limor Rosen
Bride’s shoes – Rachel Zoe
Groom’s attire – Paul Smith
Hair + Makeup – Jaquelyn Lawrence
Saxophone and violin player – Guy Wittenberg
Invitation – Studio Nona
Photo Booth – Tag Box
Dance teacher – Avi Sukar of SugarDance
Honeymoon – Maia Luxury Resort and Spa
