We’re not sure what we’re more excited about in today’s Jew-ish wedding: the ultra-personal ceremony the couple crafted that blended their collective Italian, Israeli, and American backgrounds to perfection, or the jaw-dropping Tuscan scenery–and photographer Edoardo Agresti’s exquisite captures of the day, which somehow manage to be natural and artistic all at once.
Lital and Andrea, who run Padano Productions –providing sound, lighting, and AV for events (yes, that includes weddings!) in the LA area–knew their top priority was crafting a wedding that was totally them. That meant combining Andrea’s Italian heritage and Lital’s Israeli-American background, and making sure the Jewish traditions they incorporated into the day were meaningful and fit with their personal beliefs.
Our favorite example? They reworked the traditional seven blessings to put a unique, personal spin on the ancient text, and then had their closest friends and family read them aloud — 3 in Italian, 3 in Hebrew, and 1 in English.
And then there’s the ketubah. Lital and Andrea found the perfect combination — text that reflects who they are as a couple plus fabulous design — in mega-talented Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Stephanie Caplan from The Ketubah whom we ADORE!
On a less spiritual note, we also love the fun favor these two opted to hand out to their guests: hats! But not just any old junky hat to shade them from that midsummer heat during the outdoor ceremony. These were super nice, sylish straw hats that, Lital reports, many of the guests are still wearing to this day!
Now over to the bride, who looked totally gorgeous in her boho chic gown by Rita Vinieris — not to mention her epic flower crown!
How We Met
Lital, the bride: we met on J-Swipe (even though Andrea is not Jewish)!
Under the Tuscan Sun
We got married at the beautiful Villa Medicea di Lilliano, right outside of Florence, Italy. It was important for us to choose a location that all of our close family and friends would be able to come to. Italy seemed to make the most sense, as Andrea’s entire family still lives there, and it was much closer to travel to Italy for Lital’s family and friends from Israel. One of the first places we traveled to together as a couple was Florence, and we both fell in love with the city!
We stayed at the property with 25 family members for the three days around our wedding celebration. We also had our rehearsal dinner at the property’s villas, which are down the road from the main venue. We chose to have a pizza party out in the garden complete with a gelato mobile (provided by Miss500). It was such a magical evening under the Tuscan sun(set).
Fun fact! We booked the venue before seeing it in person! We did plenty of online research and crossed our fingers that it would be as beautiful in real life as it is in the photos… it’s even more beautiful in person! Photos don’t do it justice.
A Multicultural Wedding
Our wedding was very “us” in that we really tried to blend both of our backgrounds together, it was a true mix of Italian, Israeli, and American culture. The ceremony was definitely unique — my brother played the guitar and sang as everyone walked down the aisle.
We took the tradition of the seven blessings and rewrote them to make them more meaningful and more unique to us. We called upon our closest friends and family to read them aloud — 3 were read in Italian, 3 were read in Hebrew, and 1 was read in English. This was a very special moment for us.
Daniela Tripodi of The Tuscan Wedding was our wedding planner.
One of my favorite little touches was the alternating colored glasses on the tables. It added a little something extra and unconventional.
Lastly, we decided to drive to our venue in a turquoise Fiat 500! It was adorable and made for great photos, but we were thankful it was a short ride since we barely fit!
What ‘Smashing The Glass’ Did For Us
The Smashing the Glass community was super helpful! I also looked at the real Jew-ish weddings for inspiration, as well as any Italian destination weddings I could find.
Cartoon Invitations
Our invitation was unique! My brother-in-law is a graphic design artist, so he created and customized our invitations for us. He drew us as cartoon characters (bride and groom of course)! He also designed our map and rehearsal dinner invitation, as well as our ceremony program.
Hair + Makeup
I rarely wear makeup, so I wanted to keep things as natural as possible. It was important to me that I felt like myself. Giulia Cresci was my hair and makeup artist and she really understood the look I was going for and achieved it perfectly!
I have very curly hair, and most of the time I wear it in a top bun, so I thought that is what I wanted the day of the wedding. However, when it was time to get ready, I decided last minute to leave it down, and open up my curls for a more laid back look.
A Rita Vinieris Dress
I got my dress from Kinsley James Couture Bridal in Los Angeles. The designer is Rivini by Rita Vinieris. I was looking for something boho chic and comfortable. What I loved most was that you could see the bottom layer of lace through the top layer — it was just the right amount of lace for me. Simple with beautiful and subtle details.
A Flower Crown
There is nothing I love more than bold, colorful flowers! I knew I wanted to wear a large flower crown made of fresh flowers, and that is exactly what I wore! I wish I could wear it every day.
As far as jewelry, I borrowed my sister’s necklace and earrings. The necklace was a simple gold chain with a diamond pendant that used to belong to my grandmother and the diamond stud earrings were a gift from my grandfather to my sister.
Chloe Shoes
I am normally not a heel person, but I found a pair that I love and can actually see myself wearing again and again. They are See by Chloe, suede nude block heels with flowers embroidered all along the heel. Very boho chic and they matched my flower crown perfectly!
The handsome groom
Even though Andrea is from the fashion capital of the world, Milan, he dresses like a true laid back Californian, jeans and a t-shirt. When it came time to pick his suit, he wanted something to reflect that style. He wore a beautiful blue Theory suit, with a classic white dress shirt by Boggi. He chose not to wear a tie, since he normally doesn’t wear ties, and he looked classic and perfect!
Bridesmaids in Navy
My big sister was my maid of honor. She and I have very different styles, but we both fell in love with the dress she ended up wearing. It was a beautiful, (very) colorful, full skirted dress by Alexis and she matched all of the colors of the flowers we chose perfectly.
I also had my four best girlfriends and one of my cousins as my “bridesmaids.” They did not walk down the aisle, but they all read blessings during the ceremony, got ready with me, and were very much involved in the process. They all wore beautiful navy dresses. They each chose their own dress, and just made sure they looked cohesive. I wanted to feature them somehow, so they all (including my sister and niece, my flower girl) wore beautiful camomile flower crowns.
A Very Personal Ceremony
The entire ceremony was special for us, especially since it was officiated by a very close family member who lives in Israel. We worked with him for months on making our ceremony very personal and meaningful.
Andrea was not born Jewish, but has fully embraced Judaism and is on his own personal journey towards conversion. Therefore, it was very important for us to pick and choose which Jewish traditions we wanted to incorporate into the ceremony, and we really wanted to make it our own.
Having someone so close to us officiate the wedding was so special. As I mentioned before, the tradition of the seven blessings was also something that we wanted to represent us and our beliefs. We put a lot of thought into what we wanted them to say, and choosing who we wanted to say them. Ultimately, having the blessings read in three languages felt like the best decision.
I can’t forget to mention that Andrea was also very excited to smash the glass!
A Beautiful Ketubah
Choosing a ketubah was something that also took a lot of time, since we wanted the text to reflect our personal beliefs and traditions. Our ketubah was designed by the talented Stephanie Caplan from The Ketubah.
We love Stephanie Caplan’s designs and ended up choosing her “Yemenite” design, which fits our aesthetic and is a beautiful piece of artwork that we are thrilled to have hanging in our home. It is subtle and neutral and can really go with any decor.
A Rustic Chuppah
We wanted the chuppah to be simple and rustic, but colorful and inviting. We didn’t want anything over the top and too ornate.
Northern Sky
My brother, Doron, plays the guitar and sings beautifully, so we thought it would be so special to have him play and sing for us as we walked down the aisle. He played Horn by Nick Drake, which is an instrumental, as an introduction before anyone started to walk. He then transitioned into Northern Sky by Nick Drake, which is one of my favorite love songs, and then he ended with Calico Skies by Paul McCartney while I walked down the aisle. The lyrics to both songs are beautiful and meaningful (without being too cliche).
Andrea and I didn’t have a first dance, but I did have a father-daughter dance. We danced to Harvest Moon by Neil Young, which was very sentimental for me. He used to sing it to me to help me fall asleep when I was little, and I always knew I wanted it to be the song he and I danced to at my wedding.
Colorful Flowers
I wanted bold, colorful flowers to cover the tables and that is what we got! We basically had a floral runner made of chamomile, white veronicas, lavender, yellow spray roses, orange dahlias, white peonies and pink lisianthus. We also had beautiful glass candleholders of different heights spread out across the tables.
The same flowers were used for my bouquet. Andrea, my dad, and my nephew (the ring bearer) wore white veronicas, camelia leaves and lavender.
Flowers Living were the amazing florists that made our vision come to life!
Photography
We chose Edoardo Agresti to be our photographer and he was wonderful! We wanted someone who was going to capture the day as it happened without being told to much how to pose or where to look. He captured real, candid, natural photos in a beautiful artistic way. He uses the natural light and shadows and takes a lot of photos of reflections.
Italian Cake
Our cake was a traditional Italian millefoglie cake, which we and all our guests absolutely loved! Millefoglie–similar to its French name, mille-feuille–is Italian for “a thousand layers.” It’s the go-to dessert for any Tuscan celebration. It is made of layers of very thin puff pastry dough, custard, and fresh berries, topped with powdered sugar.
What made it extra special is that it was prepared in front of all of our guests! It was so fun to watch how it was made, and eating it felt more special. The table that it was on was beautifully decorated, and our favorite part was the floral hoops that hung over the table.
Falling in Love with You
We decided to have a trio play during before the ceremony as well as during cocktail hour. They played classic Italian favorites on accordion, violin, and guitar. They were so personable and charming and all our guests (Israel, Italian, and American) LOVED them.
We had no idea they would do this, but they played Falling in Love With You and it created the perfect spontaneous moment for Andrea and I to have our first dance, casually out in the garden. It was lovely!
We had a DJ play background music during the dinner, as well as for dancing. This is something that we talked about quite a bit, as the customs are very different at Italian weddings and Israeli/American weddings. I am used to dancing while dinner is happening, people getting up in between courses to dance the hora, etc.
Italian weddings are very different, and there is typically no dancing or even music during dinner, which often lasts between 2-3 hours! This was something I was nervous about, but we compromised and decided we can have a sit down (uninterrupted) dinner, as long as we have background music playing, which his exactly what we did! Everyone loved the idea and enjoyed sitting out in a beautiful garden eating good food in the company of friends and family.
We wanted a DJ because we wanted a mix of American, Israeli, and Italian music. We LOVED our DJ and most importantly, he played all the songs we requested!
Confetti Candies
Our ceremony took place at 5:15pm on a beautiful terrace overlooking the Tuscan hills and Florence, so we knew it was going to be hot and the sun was going to be quite strong at that time. Because of this, we wanted to make sure our guests would be as comfortable as possible, so we gave out hats and personalized fans that were displayed beautifully on a very old carriage when guests first entered the garden before heading upstairs to the terrace. Many of our guests kept their hats and still use them today!
For the rehearsal dinner, we gave all of the guests customized tote bags that said “That’s Amore” printed on them. We filled the tote bags with two bottles of wine – one white, and one red – and A LOT of Italian snacks and goodies. We ordered everything from Eataly in Italy.
For the wedding night, we gave all our guests little bottles of olive oil that was made locally at our venue. They had the classic Italian “confetti” candies attached to the bottle and a sweet thank you note along with an explanation of the symbolism of confetti.
That’s Amore
We kept our speeches to a minimum – Andrea’s mom spoke in Italian, my dad translated her speech into English and added a few words of his own, and my mom gave a quick speech in Hebrew. My best friends gave an incredibly sweet and emotional speech together at the rehearsal dinner the night before. My family from Israel wrote lyrics to the tune of “That’s Amore” and sang it to us at the rehearsal dinner, which was so much fun and it was hilarious!
An Italian Honeymoon
Andrea’s cousin got married in Rome in September, and since we didn’t really get to travel around Italy much after our wedding, we decided to come back for the wedding and our honeymoon. Even though Andrea is from Milan, I have travelled to and seen more of Italy than he has! We went to Rome, Massa Lubrense, Capri, and Positano. We stayed in the most amazing boutique hotel in Massa Lubrense, called Villa Art Hotel Fiorella – highly recommend!
Lital & Andrea’s little white book
Bride’s shoes – Chloe
Groom’s attire – Theory and Boggi
Favours – Eataly
Gelato mobile – Miss500
Hotel – Villa Art Hotel Fiorella
