In need of a little vacation from reality? We’ve got just the thing, in the form of the fantastic masquerade-themed Jewish wedding of Devorah, who (fittingly) works in theater, and Yitzchak, who works for GoDaddy and blogs on the side – where you can read his take on the wedding.
Because they got married on Rosh Chodesh Adar – the first day of the month of Purim, they decided their theme would be masquerade. With masks as favors and candelabras wrapped in roses on every table, this wedding could not have been more atmospheric – and how great that the guests totally got into the spirit, attending in masks and dress-up items of their own. The photos and video from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor aya-avi – a husband and wife duo, with Aya on photography and Avi on videography – are truly breathtaking, and we’re not at all surprised to hear the couple have been receiving an endless stream of compliments on them.
We’re also obsessed with Devorah and Yitzchak’s chuppah – and not just because of the stunning views overlooking Jerusalem’s Old City. Devorah crafted the chuppah herself, using her beloved late grandfather’s tallit for the canopy, draped over wooden poles wrapped in roses. So simple, and so perfect.
We love that the couple, who are Orthodox and had a traditional ceremony, went out of their way to make sure some of their female guests could participate in the ceremony, with four women who’d played important roles in Devorah and Yitzchak’s relationship holding the poles of the chuppah, and a close friend serving as MC. And both bride and groom spoke under the chuppah – just goes to show that even the most traditional of ceremonies hold plenty of space for personalization.
And how awesome is it that these two crafted their ketubah together, with the groom taking charge of the calligraphy and the bride handling the artwork?
There’s so much more we could say, but we’ll let the bride – who looked stunning in her Noa and Ayelet dress – take it from here…
HOW WE MET
Devorah, the bride: We met at a Shabbat meal of a mutual friend. I tried to get him to come see me perform, hoping I’d impress him and that would get the ball rolling. He never came to that run of the show. A few weeks later I invited him for a Shabbat meal I was hosting and we haven’t stopped talking since. He did make up for not showing up to my show. We did another run of the show a few months later and he proposed at the end of one of them!
A Jerusalem Wedding
We got Married at Beit Shmuel in Jerusalem. I always had a dream of my ketubah saying ‘Jerusalem’ on it as the location of marriage, so when we searched for a venue, we stayed within the city. When we went to look at Beit Shmuel they were setting up for someone’s wedding. We stepped out onto the porch and saw the chuppah overlooking the walls of the Old City and our breath stopped, we knew that this was the place we wanted.
Our contact person Lior, who was just so pleasant and easy to work with. We absolutely loved him. He was in charge of the logistics of the hall. We enjoyed working with him so much we asked him to join us for the wedding.
Masquerade
We spent a lot of time making our wedding unique to us. We got married on Rosh Chodesh Adar, so we took the opportunity to make it a masquerade wedding. We had candelabras wrapped in roses on every table, and masks as party gifts. We also asked our guests to come wearing masks and dress up items. We were happy that people really got into it! Especially during the dancing.
We tried to make the event as ‘us’ as possible. One of the best things we did was name the tables. We figured that numbering the tables never made sense anyway because so many times the tables aren’t set up in order. We decided to name the tables instead with concepts about us or our relationship with an explanation on the bottom. One of my favorites was ‘The multipotentialite’ table. A term coined in a Ted talk by Emily Wapnick. One of our guests happened to know her and send her a photo of the table.
Paperless Invitations
We decided to go paperless for the invites! We used Paperless Post and used one of the beautiful designs from their website. We were happy we did this. It helped with the budgeting, helped us invite our friends and family abroad in a quick and efficient manner and helped the environment too!
Hair + Make-up
I wanted my hair to have a bohemian, fairy tale look and my makeup to look natural but present. I was so happy with the women I chose. Both incredibly talented women. I had Makeovers by Meiny do my hair and Sheerel Haik MUA do my makeup.
A Noa and Ayelet DRESS
I spent hours online looking for dresses. I wanted something out of the box. I ended up finding a dress at Noa and Ayelet, a designer’s gown shop in Jerusalem. The designer’s are graduates of the prestigious art school ‘Betzael’ in Jerusalem. You can see in their work that they are artists! They have such a unique touch and worked with me to get every detail accurate. I knew this dress was the one the moment I tried it on. The beadwork was so detailed and beautiful, I felt like a princess. They supplied me with my veil as well.
Accessories
I wanted my accessories to match the bead work in my dress. I wore a head piece I got at Michal Negrin. I always loved forehead jewelry, and this piece was really special. My earrings were by Tamar Keny. I loved the beadwork.
Shoes
I found my shoes while my fiance and I were visiting the US. I wanted something elegant, but mostly comfortable! I knew we’d be dancing a lot. I found a great pair at DSW by Com and Sense. They were sparkly gold and had a small heel. Both beautiful and comfortable!
The handsome groom
His suit we bought during our US trip, at Men’s Wearhouse. The customer service was superb. He also wore a pocket watch I bought him at Winter Village in Bryant Park, Manhattan, a fair they have during the winter months. The biggest hunt was for his bowler hat! We searched far and wide and ended up finding the perfect hat at Sherlocks Hats here in Jerusalem.
Bridesmaids
I had two ‘Shomrot’, so kind of like bridesmaids. I didn’t ask them to match my theme, however, one of them was my sister – and I did ask my sisters to match each other. They all wore shades of pink and flowy, chiffon materials.
A Moving Ceremony
We are Orthodox but we really wanted to have women participate. Our good friend Amy was the MC and she did a wonderful job. One of the most moving parts was when she addressed Yitzchak’s kids. She told them that we are all creating a new family now, and you can never have too many people who love you. We were all in tears. We also had four women holding the chuppah, each one of them chosen because they had played a special part in our story. One of them was the woman whose house we met at!
Yitzchak and I made the ketubah together. He used to be a scribe, so he did the calligraphy and I’m an art school graduate, so I did the artwork for it. I did cutouts of the kruvim (cherubs) facing each other, to symbolize love and a close relationship.
I loved that Rabbi Riskin told us both to say ‘Shehechiyanu’. Usually the man will say it alone. We said it together and it was very special.
And it wasn’t all serious! There was a lot of laughing and jokes, we had a great time!
Chuppah
The chuppah was the most important part to us. We had a small wedding by Israeli standards, about 180 people. Yitzchak is a divorcee with four kids, I was 33, single and never married before. I think a lot of people were waiting for the both of us to finally meet someone. It was an extraordinary atmosphere. It was so quiet at the chuppah. You could tell people were really listening, it was amazing.
Both Yitzchak and I asked to speak at the chuppah. He spoke before giving me my ring, and I spoke before giving him his. It was very special to take an active part of the ceremony. Rabbi Riskin had said it was the first time he had a chattan ask to speak at a chuppah.
I made the chuppah, using my grandfather’s talit z”l. He was a Holocaust survivor, and a very important part of my life. I kept his talit since he passed away and decided to use it for our chuppah to make him part of this important night. It was connected to wooden poles wrapped in roses, made by our super talented designer, Sara Winter Design.
Our music choice
We used Shlomo Katz as our band. I walked down to his version as ‘Kol Dodi’, Yitzchak walked down to the Breslov niggun of ‘Lecha Dodi’ and the flower girls walked down to ‘Precious’ by the Moshav band. For the rest of the wedding we had Shlomo Katz play his own songs and except for a few requests, we let him choose the songs. He’s so talented, we knew he’d do an amazing job, and he did.
I had a dream of Shlomo Katz playing at my wedding since my early twenties. It took ten years for that to happen, but the minute we got engaged, we called him up to ask if he would play for us.
Flowers
I had a good friend make my bouquet. I asked her to use callas because those are my favorite flower, and she mixed them with roses and tulips. The rest of the flowers were chosen by our designer, Sara Winter Design. I explained my concept to her, and she got it right away. She was a real pleasure to work with.
Photographer and videographer
We chose aya-avi Photography as our photographers and videographers. They are a husband and wife duo, she does the photography and he does the videography. At first, I couldn’t find anyone unique enough for my taste. I found Aya and Avi from a facebook search. The minute I looked at their website I knew I was looking at exceptional talent. We have gotten so many compliments about the photos. I would choose them over and over again.
Food
The food was catered by Cezanne Group, which is the catering Beit Shmuel work with. We loved their food. We had salads served at the tables, with fresh bread baked at the venue. The main meal was served buffet style. We had Ravioli, Lemon Fish, herbed Chicken and Assado. It was all so good.
Favours
I had ordered masks from Party Oasis and Beyond Masquerade. My cousin brought them in for us from America. We set them out at each place setting and used them as decor in other areas as well, all for the taking! We also got Bride and Groom masks! We came out wearing them for the first round of dancing.
Honeymoon
We are planning a cross country trip across the United States. Visiting family and friends along the way. We discovered while we were dating that we both had ‘cross country’ listed on our bucket list and knew that that’s what we should do for the honeymoon.
Advice to couples currently planning their wedding
Throughout engagement I had gone back and forth about a wedding planner. We concluded that we don’t want one for the planning, but we do want one for the day of. It was a great decision. We used Ryan at Rimon Events. We loved him, he was totally on top of things and didn’t get in the way.
In fact, the best thing we did for the day of was have people we relied on to take care of the details and planning. I planned like crazy before that, but come the day of, I handed it over. My sister was a life saver. She is super reliable, and I knew I’d be able to relax and she’ll take care of the details about getting ready. My best friend was also there smoothing things out.
What ‘Smashing The Glass’ Did For Us
I loved getting inspired by other people’s weddings. I spent a lot of time looking at visuals trying to get new ideas. I loved seeing how beautiful the end result looked and it kept me going. Engagement could be stressful, but looking at what others had done made me feel uplifted again!
DEVORAH & YITZCHAK’S LITTLE WHITE BOOK
Photography and videography – aya-avi Photography {offers 10% discount to all members of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club}
Wedding planner – Rimon Events
Wedding designer – Sara Winter Design
Venue – Beit Shmuel
Bride’s dress – Noa and Ayelet
Bride’s shoes – Com and Sense
Bride’s accessories – headpiece Michal Negrin , earrings Tamar Keny
Groom’s attire – Men’s Wearhouse , Sherlocks Hats
Hair + Makeup – Makeovers by Meiny and Sheerel Haik MUA
Band – Shlomo Katz
Catering – Cezanne Group at Beit Shmuel
Ketubah – Devorah & Yitzchak
Stationery/Invitation – Paperless Post
Rabbi – Rabbi Riskin
Favours – Party Oasis , Beyond Masquerade
Smash Glass Pouch – Smashing The Glass Etsy Shop {or join Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club and get one for free!}
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Extremely beautiful wedding. The portraits of the bride are so magical.
Wow!!! This is very beautiful 🙂