Planning a wedding from 7,000 miles away isn’t easy. But you’d never know it looking at this gorgeous Jewish wedding, which LA-based Rachel and Yonatan planned all the way on the other side of the world in Tel Aviv.
Their secret? Amazing wedding planners. Specifically, Naama and Yael of Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Naama Raicher Event Workshop. These two not only set the couple up with some of the best vendors Tel Aviv’s got to offer, they enabled the pair to actualize their vision of a wedding that felt less like a formal event and more like a casually elegant dinner party.
Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor LUZ, who managed both photo and video, did an awesome job capturing the vibe. Rachel and Yonatan say booking LUZ was one of the best wedding planning decisions they made, and we love Rachel’s description of LUZ’s stylish work as “something you would see across the room and think, ‘Wow, that’s a beautiful shot,’ and then as you approach closer ‘wait a minute, is that your wedding?’”
We’re obsessed with the pair’s Rothko-inspired ketubah by Stephanie Caplan of Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor The Ketubah, and we love Rachel and Yonatan’s tip for making a destination wedding as painless as possible for your guests: over the months leading up to the big day, they sent a series of custom travel guides covering everything guests needed to know at that point in time, from favorite movies about Israel, to hotels and flight recommendations, to what to expect upon arrival at Israeli immigration, and go-to bars, restaurants and walks about town. Such a great idea!
There’s so much more to say about this stunner of a wedding – from the enchanting venue to the sunset ceremony held on the fly in a public park – but we’ll leave it to Rachel, who looked smashing in her Mira Zwillinger gown (followed by a fun, non-traditional floral party dress from Zimmerman) to tell you about all that…
How we met
Rachel, the bride: I am in brand development and global marketing for the beauty industry and Yonatan is in finance and real estate. Although we had offices on the same hallway at the original WeWork location in Soho, it took us a few years to finally meet. We would often say “Hi, there” as we would pass each other but we both were so absorbed in our budding start-ups that there wasn’t much more than that.
Sometime later, I moved to a larger office on the other side of the floor and Yonatan finally felt compelled to knock on my door, introduce himself, and congratulate me on growing my team. Again a few months passed and nothing came of it. Then one day he popped up on my Tinder account. I swiped right and we’ve been together ever since. I came to find out later that I was also the first swipe to come up when he first opened his Bumble account. I guess we are just a match made in the social media stars 😉
A Tel Aviv Wedding
In 2017, after a year and a few months of dating, Yonatan invited me to join him in Tel Aviv to get a glimpse into the land he adored and called home for most of his life. One of my favorite memories of this visit was on our last day. After a bowl of musabbaha at Abu Hassan we spent the afternoon wandering the ancient stone streets of Old Jaffa and found ourselves on the Wishing Bridge near Gan HaPisga.
We had spent the entire week prior weighing the pros and cons of a job offer I had recently received which would require me to move from New York to Los Angeles. By this time, I had made my decision to accept and we both were trying to embrace the reality of what a bicoastal romance would look like. It was a bittersweet time for us and so, that day, on the Wishing Bridge, I made a very significant wish.
Fast forward, four days shy of a year to that day in Jaffa, I sent Yonatan a link to an article on Vogue.com. The article featured a beautiful wedding in a gorgeous old stone building with a chuppah ceremony in Gan HaPisga, right near the site of my fateful wish. Yonatan was in Tel Aviv at the time, scouting out potential wedding venues (we were still bicoastal but had gotten engaged a month prior).
Our plan was for him to do the initial visits, narrow down a short list, and then when I came a month later, we would confirm our final decision. The moment Yonatan stepped into The Lawrence he knew it was the place and put a deposit down to secure our date. In the video tour he texted me, you hear him say, literally after 5 steps in to the building, “Beautiful. I think we got it.”
Having spent my career in brand development and marketing in the beauty industry, I have planned many press events, launch parties, and unique dinners, Yonatan nothing of the sort, but I think you know you’re with the right partner when you feel no hesitation what so ever confirming your wedding venue without seeing it in person. That, and, I kind of figured, if it’s good enough for Vogue, it’s good enough for me.
The Lawrence is like no other venue in Tel Aviv. Intimate, authentic and casually elegant. When I did visit in person, I immediately fell in love with the Ottoman-era structure. Its vaulted ceilings, stunning stone archways, and Moroccan-inspired brass lanterns, create a sense of warmth and coziness while still feeling airy and light. Two added benefits are the rooftop with its views over Jaffa and proximity to Gan HaPisga, where we held our ceremony. Also Amos, and the rest of The Lawrence team, are a simple joy to work with.
Fab Planners
Living in Los Angeles for most of our wedding planning, we simply could not have pulled it all together as relatively painlessly as we did without the gorgeous Naama and Yael of Naama Raicher Event Workshop. Not only did they set us up with some of the best vendors in Tel Aviv, but they really considered our special requests and needs to make sure we were getting exactly what we wanted for every aspect of the event. We had secured such a unique and story-filled venue that I wanted the evening not to feel like an event, but rather a casually elegant dinner party at a grand old home that roamed from one distinct space to another.
We kept our color scheme rather neutral with tones of cream, white and ecru accented with hits of metal, stone and natural textures. It was important for me to feel like we were enhancing the beauty around us as opposed to overtaking the space with a very specific theme or obvious pop of color. Neta and Arava of Tziporot Studio executed this inspiration very well.
Custom Invitations
I’m a big believer in investing in creative, thoughtful invitations. They set the stage for an event and give the invitee a glimpse into the mood, level of detail and experience they can expect on the day. From the moment we booked The Lawrence, I knew I was going to draw on the ethnic features and natural tones and textures of the building as the inspiration for our overall design. And conveniently, a few months prior, Yonatan and I had purchased a gorgeous Persian rug just a few blocks away in the Shuk Hapishpishim which we were now using in our living room. My idea was to use this rug as a key design element on the invite and then as the rug we would stand on during our chuppah ceremony.
Luckily my cousin Jacey Lucas, is a brilliant graphic designer. I remember when I saw her self-designed wedding suite a few years earlier, I knew I was going to want to ask if she would help with mine one day. Well, that day had finally come. Jacey immediately loved the concept and was able to home in on a design rather easily. We ended up using the rug pattern as a blind letterpress, giving a bit of texture to the main, double sided (English/Hebrew) invitation which we left rather simple and crisp with just a hit of copper foil, grey ink and copper edge painting. It then repeated in full color as the back of the RSVP card, envelope liner and custom postage stamp. To finish it all off we tied the invite and RSVP card with a simple bow of 1/16 inch navy satin ribbon. Of all of the elements created for the wedding, our invite is definitely the one I am most proud of for the story it tells and opportunity to collaborate with family.
A Mira Zwillinger Dress
Most gowns I had worn in the past were a mermaid silhouette and so I assumed it would be the style I would go with for my wedding. But it was important for me to get a sense of what Yonatan liked as well, so I took him for my first appointment ever trying on wedding dresses, at Saks Beverly Hills. They have a really good selection of Israeli designers. This was important to me, not only because they have some of the most gorgeous designs, but I wanted to actually buy the dress in Israel so as not to have to travel with it (and have a trusted seamstress close, should any last minute issues arise… hello week-of weight loss!). This was the second dress I tried on and Yonatan absolutely loved it. I was concerned it was a tad too angelic and sweet.
About two weeks later we were in Israel. When I finally saw our venue in person, I knew this dress was the one. The next day I had an appointment at Mira’s studio with my sister who had flown in from Paris. When I came out of the fitting room, the look on her face sealed the deal. Not only did this dress now feel unique, graceful and ethereal but it was one of the most comfortable dresses I have ever worn. Over the next few months it was fascinating to see the construction process come to life and watch how the team literally molded the dress to my body. It doesn’t come more bespoke than that. I can’t give enough thanks to Mira, Lihi and the whole team, for making the dress experience one of the calmest parts of wedding planning. I felt absolutely beautiful, confident and effortless on the big day.
For my late-night wardrobe change, I had a fun and flirty floral number from Zimmerman. I had tried on every little white dress or jumpsuit I could get my hands on but simply couldn’t shake the feeling that I was wearing an ice-skating costume. When I saw this cute, floral linen with its curvy shape and flounce I knew it was the one. While it wasn’t pristine white or traditionally bridal, I adored the pinks and greens in the print and loved how the rose design was a subtle nod to the appliques on my earlier gown.
Accessories
My veil was Mira Zwillinger, designed with the same rose and vine lace appliques as my dress. I borrowed diamond studs from my dear friend and post-college roommate, Rebecca, and a diamond bracelet from her mom. At the last minute, my hair stylist and I decided to add two vine-like crystal hair pins from BHLDN. I wanted to keep the whole look simple and classic and these pieces of subtle sparkle were the perfect finishing touches.
Alexandre Birman Shoes
For most of the day I wore Alexandre Birman Clarita 100 sandals in white. Yonatan is a foot taller than me, so I needed the height! Towards the end of the night, I took it down a notch and changed into a lower heeled Vince Camuto white ankle strap.
Hair + Makeup
Both of my sisters-in-law had their wedding day makeup done by Shiran Sheffler, so that was a pretty easy decision. Shiran has a gift for make you look like you, but better. Yonatan hates when I wear makeup, so it was important for me to not look too “made up” but still feel like this was my most gorgeous day ever. Shiran nailed it.
My hair came about serendipitously via Facebook. I was three months out from the wedding and admittedly was stressing a bit about the fact that I had yet to secure a stylist. When we arrived in Israel in June I posted something to Facebook and quickly got a comment “Welcome to the Holy Land,” from Amit Abraham. Amit and I had worked closely together many moons ago when I lead the development of a hair styling brand for L’Oréal Professionnel. Not only was he my go-to stylist for product how-tos and professional tips and tricks, but he had done my hair a number of times, so he knew how my thin, curly hair reacted to heat and humidity.
It turns out that Amit had moved to Israel about a year earlier and was now the Artistic Director at the L’Oréal Academy in Tel Aviv and in the process of opening his own salon. I loved the style he pulled together, inspired by Charlize Theron’s Dior ads, but even more so, Amit was there for my whole family with a bobby, safety pin or all-around helping hand and cool, calm energy on the day of the wedding.
The handsome groom
We had a fun shopping adventure and took advantage of the famous July sales in Paris for Yonatan’s wedding ensemble. After three days of trying on every suit imaginable we were afraid the trip was about to end fruitlessly. On our second to last day we passed De Fursac on Saint Germain and I spotted this gorgeous blue hued suit with an interesting texture. It was a bit more fitted than Yonatan traditionally wears but I knew it would look amazing on his frame.
When he put it on, it was like the suit was made for him, literally not a thing needed to be tailored. It took a bit of convincing but at the end of the day we walked out of there with the suit, a white shirt, pocket square and tie (which he would wear during the ceremony). A few days prior we had found these amazing hand-died shoes and belt at Bon Marche by the brand Le Calceophile. They could not have been more perfect with the suit. As a special touch, we had our wedding date embroidered on the underside of the jacket collar.
A Moving Ceremony
The ceremony was my favorite part of the whole day. For months I had been envisioning our sunset ceremony overlooking the Tel Aviv waterfront and skyline from Gan HaPisga and it turned out better than I ever dreamed.
We started the wedding celebration by inviting our guests for a welcome cocktail on the roof of The Lawrence. Guests were then led on a short stroll to the park (many with cocktail in hand) by a traditional Klezmer band.
Since the park is a public space and can’t technically be permitted, we had to hold the ceremony a bit “on the fly” and as such, no major construction or sound system could be installed. This absolutely worked for us and our desire for the emphasis to be placed on the beauty that surrounded us. We kept the décor and production for the ceremony very understated, and in fact it created a really warm sense of intimacy. We placed our special rug with a few candles and white and green florals at the center of the stone pathway which served as a natural aisle.
I loved the idea that our guests would enter the amphitheater from below and walk across the rug en route to their seats. From above Yonatan and I entered, each with our parents at our sides. We had a traditional handheld chuppah supported by Yonatan’s brother and brother-in-law along with two of my best girlfriends. I didn’t want to have a wedding party, so this was a unique way to honor some of my closest friendships.
Our fathers and Yonatan’s uncle blessed the ceremony with the Seven Blessings and our sisters were our ring bearers. One of the most special parts was our vows. Unbeknownst to anyone other than my sister and Hebrew teacher (who was sitting front and center), I planned to surprise Yonatan by reciting my vows not only in English but in Hebrew as well. I don’t know how I made it through, but this was the one and only time I was able to deliver them without absolutely breaking down. Seeing the joy in Yonatan’s eyes made me the happiest woman ever.
As the sky was just about to get dark, Yonatan smashed the glass and our guests rushed the chuppah (a cultural tradition I was totally unfamiliar with and happy I had the opportunity to witness a few months prior) as the band played ‘Mahapecha Shel Simha’.
Ketubah
As for our ketubah, I found a great Rothko inspired piece by the New York based artist Stephanie Caplan and The Ketubah.
Our music choice
Music was a big part of our celebration and Udi and the team at Caliente pulled it all together wonderfully. We had a traditional Klezmer band that led our guests through the streets of Jaffa, to and from our ceremony. They also acted as the acoustic music during the ceremony itself; a traditional Klezmer song for Yonatan’s processional and a jazzier vibe of ‘La Vie En Rose’ for mine.
We set a worldly mood at our cocktail reception with Caliente’s acoustic trio Fusion and then got the party started at dinner with our favorite Motown and Pop by the legendary Legend band. The night was then capped off when we were able to introduce our American friends to the energy of Mizrahi and Israeli pop music mixed in with some club classics by the amazing DJ Roi Tochner.
Photographer and videographer
Hands down one of the best decisions we made was LUZ who managed both our photo and video. I wanted wedding photos that were less traditional and more editorial yet still timeless; something you would see across the room and think, “Wow, that’s a beautiful shot,” and then as you approach closer “wait a minute, is that your wedding?”. Not only did the guys completely fulfill our expectations creatively but they were really fun to work with. Yonatan openly expressed that this was the one part of the day he was seriously not looking forward to. In the end, it turned out to be one of his most favorite.
Catering
Naama linked us up with a brilliant caterer, Lilach German who dazzled us and our guests with her wonderful hors d’oeuvres (guests couldn’t get enough of the lamb kabob and trio of ceviche), fresh and refined dinner spread, vibrant and creative dessert buffet and lick your lips tasty late night sabich.
A trip to Israel
When we decided that we were going to have our wedding in Tel Aviv (Yonatan’s home town), I knew immediately that I wanted to give our guests, nearly 80 of whom would be traveling from the US, Canada and Europe, a really authentic experience. While we decided against traditional favors at the wedding itself, we made certain to put together a fun and somewhat educational schedule of events with the help of Erez Landau of Erez Israel. On my first trip to Israel a year prior, Yonatan had organized a private tour of Jerusalem for the two of us with Erez and we had some much fun guided by his energy and demeanor. His love for the country is palpable and excitement for the food and its people is infectious.
Our wedding was mid-week and so most of our guests arrived on Saturday or Sunday, enough time to settle in and rest-off some of the jetlag. On Monday, Yonatan and I hosted a walking tour of Tel Aviv followed that evening by drinks on the water at Esperanto. We felt this was a great way to immerse our guests in the history and vitality that Tel Aviv has to offer. The next day, they got to experience the many dichotomies of Israel with a full day tour of Jerusalem and the Dead Sea. By our wedding on Wednesday, you could feel the camaraderie amongst the guests, and it lent an inclusive, fun and familial vibe to the whole evening.
A Local Honeymoon
Since it was almost like vacation having so many of our nearest and dearest join us in Tel Aviv and, we had spent the past seven months focused only on wedding planning, not honeymoon planning, we decided to hold off on our official honeymoon for a few months. But we did get a bit of R&R a few weekends later, when we took a “mini moon” at the tranquil Beresheet Hotel in the Negev.
Advice to couples currently planning their wedding
Try to remember that it is just one day of your life. Place the focus on the marriage, not just the wedding.
Also, if you are hosting a destination wedding, do what you can to make booking travel, preparing for cultural differences and filling up the time guests have in town, as rich and easy for them as possible. It will seriously lighten the questions and concerns you get from guests in the crucial week or days leading up to your wedding when all you should be focusing on is your and your partner’s sense of calm and happiness.
Over the months leading up to our wedding I sent a series of travel guides covering everything guests needed to know at that point in time, from our favorite movies and videos about Israel (‘In Search of Israeli Cuisine’ and ‘Conan Hits the Streets’ and ‘Beaches of Tel Aviv’), to hotels and flight recommendations, to what to expect upon arrival at Israeli immigration and how to deal with it, and of course some of our go-to bars, restaurants and walks about town.
Rachel & Yonatan’s little white book
Photography and videography – LUZ Weddings {offers 10% discount to all members of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club}
Wedding planner – Naama Raicher Event Workshop
Ketubah – The Ketubah {offers 10% discount to all members of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club}
Venue – The Lawrence
Bride’s dresses – Mira Zwillinger and Zimmermann
Bride’s shoes – Alexandre Birman and Vince Camuto
Bride’s headpiece – BHLDN
Groom’s attire – De Fursac and Le Calceophile
Hair + Makeup – Amit Abraham and Shiran Sheffler
Flowers – Tziporot Studio
Entertainment – Caliente
Catering – Lilach German
Invitation – Ten Eleven and Paper Meets Press
Israel Tours – Erez Israel
Honeymoon – at Beresheet Hotel
