Get ready to be blown away by the absolutely jawdroppingly gorgeous Jewish wedding of Tal, an entrepreneur, and Daniel, a lawyer. This wedding is SO stunningly elegant, so perfectly planned down to the last detail, that you’d never guess it was anything other than the couple’s original plan.
But in fact, Tal and Daniel scaled their 200-person New York wedding down to 75 and changed the location to Miami with just two months’ notice, due to Tal’s father’s health. Luckily, they were still able to secure two positively swoonworthy venues: Vizcaya Museum and Gardens for their ceremony and Villa Woodbine for the reception. We could not be any more in love with the incredible photos from Shai Ashkenazi and, focusing on lighting and scenery, Munoz Photography.
We’re also crazy about Tal and Daniel’s exquisite ketubah by Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Noa Attias. As always, Noa was a breeze to work with, and, to use Tal’s words, the finished product is truly a masterpiece.
Before we turn you over to the bride, we’ve also got to mention her STUNNING Millanova gown. When Tal’s best friend first saw her in it, she said, “Forget looking like a princess in your dress, you look like a Queen.” And we couldn’t agree more.
How we Met
Tal, the bride: We met in high school but did not interact much since we were in different grades. Many years later, I was looking for legal help at my office and my husband was just starting out in the legal field. He began assisting in my office just before the Covid-19 lockdown began. Once the lockdown started and people stopped hosting Shabbat meals, we began spending Shabbats together in the city along with my cousin. The rest was history.
Change of Plans
We were originally supposed to get married in New York with a guest count of 200 but had to change our plans last minute due to my father’s health issues. With just 2 months until our wedding date, we moved our destination to Florida, cut the guest list to 75 people and revised nearly all of our original plans. Our ceremony was at Vizcaya Museum and Gardens and our reception was held at Villa Woodbine. We chose these venues because of their natural aesthetic and romantic vibes. While it took a lot of effort to coordinate and ensure all COVID-19 regulations were being met, my heart was really set on these two locations!
A Dash of Dazzle
I wanted the vibe of our wedding to express elegance and class with a dash of dazzle. We chose black, gold and white as our color schemes. I had two wedding planners due to our last-minute destination change. We kept our wedding planner from New York and hired another wedding planner in Miami.
Eventmuze, a complete event planning service in NY founded by Natalie, worked with me to develop a complete vision for my wedding. She created the perfect logo for us and customized black masks with gold embroidery to keep our guests feeling and looking safe and classy. We also matched the Kippahs as well, each item embroidered with our custom monogram. Every detail of our day was thoroughly thought out and carried out to makeour vision come to life. F3 Events was the event planning company we used in Miami. Shoshi, the founder helped us put every last-minute detail in motion.
Invitations
For our invitation I used a company called My Lovely Store. Together we designed my dream invitation. They were acrylic in a black folio with gold embroidery and were sent out in black velvet envelopes. I chose these invitations because of their elegance and uniqueness. I absolutely loved how they came out.
Hair + Make-up
I went for a natural look on my wedding day, with hair and makeup done by Nicole Emano and her team. It was perfect.
A Millanova Dress
As soon as I tried on my dress, I knew it was the one. (I had tried on more than 60 dresses before finding it!) I bought it at Viero Bridal at their NYC location. The staff was very sweet and accommodating, it was a pleasure working with them. My dress was designed by Millanova. I will never forget my best friend’s reaction when she first saw me in it: “Forget looking like a princess in your dress, you look like a Queen.” It was everything I was looking for and more.
Accessories
I chose Brilliance Jewels. They were so knowledgeable and accommodating. They delivered the jewelry to us which was so convenient. My husband wore a classic Rolex, and I wore a pair of 2 ct. diamond studs. Our simple accessories were the perfect compliments to our special day. Brilliance Jewel provided us with the greatest value for the best price and made our entire shopping experience flawless.
Shoes
I wore Badgley Mischka heels for the ceremony. They fit perfectly with my dress and for the reception I wore Chanel sandals. I wanted to keep my look classy, yet comfortable.
The handsome groom
The groom wore two different black tuxedos, one for the ceremony and one for the reception. They were both from Suit Supply. It was the perfect fit for him. He looked incredible.
Bridesmaids
My bridesmaids were a group of my closest friends. They all wore black, modest dresses. I didn’t choose one specific dress style for them to wear. Rather I gave them the liberty to choose any dress style they would like to wear, as long as it was modest. They looked amazing.
Ceremony
Our ceremony was shared with 75 of our closest friends and family. We had to keep it small due to COVID risks and my father’s health. It was particularly important for us to share our special day with those who are no longer with us. We had a special table with candles and a sign for those watching down on us from heaven. Just before I walked down the aisle, candles were lit to honor each one of our loved ones whom had passed away. Another special touch that we incorporated into our ceremony was wearing pins on behalf of our loved ones.
I had a picture of my aunt attached to my bouquet in memory of her and my husband wore a pin inside of his tuxedo in memory of his grandfather and great-grandfather. Growing up, I was always told that butterflies are souls. So, I decided to release butterflies just before our ceremony started. It was a meaningful and emotional ceremony, it left almost everyone in tears. At one point during the ceremony, a butterflies landed on my bouquet (the photographer caught a picture of it) and I remember smiling and thinking to myself that this was their way of confirming their presence with us, right here, right now.
Ketubah
My ketubah was designed by Noa Attias. She was super patient and made the entire process so easy and stress free. She is a gifted soul and was a true pleasure to work with. Our Ketubah is a masterpiece and we absolutely loved having it custom-made by Noa.
Chuppah
I wanted a simple and classy design for the chuppah. Something striking but elegant.
Our Music Choice
My husband walked down the aisle to ‘Bereshit Olam’, and I walked down to ‘Boei Kalah’. Both songs were performed by Shulem Lemmer who truly has the voice of an angel. For the reception we had Samba Entertainment – DJ Efi. He did an amazing job playing the right music at the right time and catching on to the vibe of the evening. My father-daughter dance was to ‘You Raise Me Up’ by Josh Groban. This song truly symbolizes my relationship with my father, I love him so dearly.
Flowers
The groom wore an Orchid boutonniere with his tuxedo and I had a mix of White Orchids and White Roses in my bouquet. The floral arrangements were a simple and classy mix of White Roses, Orchids, Anemone Hydrangeas and Eucalyptus.
Photographers and videographer
We hired two photographers due to the venue change. One of the photographers was Shai Ashkenazi. We flew him and his creative designer, Liel, in from Israel to capture our special day. They have a unique way of capturing people natrually and it was really important for us to have that on our wedding day. I worked with them in the past and have always been a big fan of their work.
My second photographer was Munoz Photography. They are international photographers that specialize in lighting and scenery. Mario, the head photographer was so sweet, funny, easy going and made us all feel amazing and comfortable. Overall, the pictures and experience was amazing.
Chris Gutierrez of Chris G Films was our videographer. He was so professional and very accommodating. He made us the perfect wedding video highlighting all of our most special moments.
Food and Cake
Gallery of Cakes made us our last-minute cake. It was a 4 tiered, black, and gold cake with white flowers. It looked perfect with our theme and tasted delicious.
Entertainment
We had a performer, a violinist and a DJ for the ceremony and reception. It was the perfect combination.
Favors
We had an array of different wedding favors for our guests to take home with them. We had kippot, a Passover Haggadah (we got married right before Passover), a candle lighting prayer book, bottle openers, and plantable pencils with the message “Let love grow” which grew into basil plants. We also had goody bags with sweets, a photo booth that printed pictures for our guests, and monogrammed masks and hand sanitizers. All of our favors were set in our theme colors and in some way told our story as couple.
Extra details
I personalized every part of our wedding. Everything from our guest sign-in board to our envelope box, party favors, and tables was entirely personalized. Some of our highlights included our unique (and delicious!) drinks menu I created for our guests. We streamed the ceremony for all our loved ones who could not attend in person but were watching at home. My dog Prince crashed our reception in his tuxedo, which was adorable!
I had a special father-daughter dance with my father who was in a wheelchair at the time. And of course, we were fortunate to have so many people travel from overseas to be part of the wedding including my photographer and my husband’s Rebbe, the Biala Rebbe from Bnei Brak, which made our day extra special.
Honeymoon
For our honeymoon, we plan on going to the Maldives in the winter. It is a place we both have always wanted to go. It is the perfect place for us to relax and just spend some true quality time together without all the life stresses that come with our day-to-day routines.
Advice to couples currently planning their wedding
I learned a lot from my experience and have some advice to share.
My wedding was scheduled for 3:30pm. This resulted in us running about 2 hours behind, and not being able to take many wedding photos– it was one of my biggest regrets. So much so, that we even came back for a re-shoot. We were fortunate to be able to do a re-shoot, but nothing can ever compare to the actual day of. After this experience, I would not recommend scheduling an early wedding, unless you are prepared to start getting ready at 5:00 am.
I also tried to go above and beyond with every detail of our wedding despite having so little time to plan it. That ended up being super stressful, especially on the day of the wedding. I recommend prioritizing and really honing in on the most important elements rather than trying to get every little thing perfect. Especially if you have a short amount of time to plan your wedding.
For anyone who wants specific songs for their chuppah and reception-be sure to clearly communicate those choices to the event coordinator/entertainer and verify that they are on the same page as you.
I had a specific look in mind for my chuppah but was not able to see it set-up before the wedding began. Ultimately, the design did not turn out exactly as I expected. It is not always possible, but if you can see the ceremony and reception set-ups beforehand, I recommend doing so.
I do not recommend ordering your dress in a smaller size thinking you will lose weight by the time of the wedding. While many people succeed in reaching their weight loss goals, that does not always work out as planned, and you instead end up having to pay double to alter the dress.
Review your guest list a few times to make sure you did not forget anyone.
Do not second guess yourself. Do what you want and how you want it on your special day because it’s YOUR special day and no one else’s; and in the end you will be only one left with regrets.
And finally, and most importantly…marry the person whom your soul loves.
Tal & Daniel’s Little White Book
Photography – Shai Ashkenazi and Munoz Photography
Videography – Chris G Films
Ketubah – Noa Attias {offers 10% discount to all members of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club}
Wedding planner – Eventmuze
Venue – Vizcaya Museum and Gardens & Villa Woodbine
Bride’s dress – Millanova found and fitted at Viero Bridal
Bride’s shoes – Badgley Mischka
Bride’s accessories –Brilliance Jewels
Groom’s attire – Suit Supply
Hair + Makeup – Nicole Emano
DJ – Samba Entertainment
Singer – Shulem Lemmer
Cake – Gallery of Cakes
Stationery/Invitation – My Lovely Store
A truly beautiful wedding and a gorgeous couple, pleasure to watch!