Today’s gorgeous Jewish wedding is giving us some SERIOUS chuppah envy. Amanda and Danny went all in on their luxe garden theme – not to mention their commitment to making the most of their epic Provence setting – by incorporating a beautiful tree on the property into their chuppah design.
Together with their florist, the couple came up with a truly spectacular structure, with the tree’s leaves and branches served as our canopy (so all that wonderful sunlight could shine straight down on them!), with four floral garlands hanging down from the tree to serve as the columns. The stunning photos and video from Studio Ohlala are seriously giving us the urge to book the next flight to the South of France.
We also love that they treated their destination wedding as an opportunity for their friends and family to get to know each other, all while experiencing the best Provence has to offer over a super memorable wedding weekend, from a wine tour to a pool party – speaking of which, you’ve got to see the crystal chandelier they had hanging over the pool!
And did we mention there’s a totally breathtaking ketubah made in Israel by Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Danny Azoulay in the mix?
We’ll leave it to the bride to fill you in on the rest…
A Wedding in Provence
Amanda, the bride: We got married in the Provence region of France, in a charming village, Lourmarin. The venue was a private chateau. We both wanted to treat our family and friends to an experience for our wedding, where everyone would have the time to really get to know each other. I (Amanda) always loved France, great food and wine, beautiful lavender fields, sense of romance and wonder. Danny was happy to make my dream come true.
We contacted wedding planners, found Stephanie our wedding planner from Wedding Of Excellence in Provence, and she recommended our village and venue. There was a secret garden charm to our chateau that no other venue we toured had or that we thought we could find anywhere else.
Wedding Weekend
Our wedding was a three-day event centered around uniting our family and friends. We started with a wine tour in Chateauneuf du Pape, followed by a Corsican dinner at La Fontaine in Lourmarin. The following day was our wedding. We closed our celebration with a French BBQ and pool party the third day. That last night our guests cooked us a massive feast. Watching friends and family intermix as if they knew each for years that night was the perfect culmination of our wedding weekend.
The essence of the wedding was antique secret garden. The colors were subdued (lavender, pale cornflower, sage, rose quartz, cream, and grey) with lace accents. Our save the date, invitation, cake topper, and ketubah all had a lace element. My dress was floral lace and Danny’s jacket was floral brocade.
Our decorations were mostly flowers, brass candle holders, leafy plants, all with an antique flair. My favorites were the crystal chandelier over the pool and my chuppah. The chuppah was four garlands of flowers hanging down from a tree. We did use a wedding planner to help bring our vision to life and to communicate with our vendors, as we do not speak French and live in Manhattan.
A Traditional Dress
I had thought my dress would be more modern and sleek, with a sensual element. I ended up with a traditional wedding gown made by a small designer from Tennessee. I purchased my dress from Alegria’s Brides on Miracle Mile in Coral Gables.
There was this moment as I was being zipped in that I just started crying. It was not the dress I wanted or envisoned, but I could not imagine getting married in anything else. The second my parents and sisters saw me, there were more tears. Once the cathedral veil was added, I knew I had my answer. I felt ethereal.
An Intimate Ceremony
I loved every part of my wedding. The chandelier over the pool was a particular highlight. All of the wedding, except for the dancing and dessert, was outside. During dinner, the sun was setting over the mountains and the chandelier added another element of magic to the wedding. We had a longtime friend of Danny’s marry us, which was a beautiful personal touch. Our ketubah was made in Israel by the designer Danny Azoulay.
Tree Chuppah
Incorporating nature and the garden theme was important to us. Danny had proposed in Muir Woods, so trees and their history, roots, and symbolism are particularly special.
The venue typically does the ceremony on the lawn by a water feature. When we saw the large tree, we knew that was where we needed to get married. I worked with the florist to figure out how to incorporate the tree into our chuppah. The leaves and branches served as our canopy, letting the light shine down on us. I then designed floral garlands to hang from the tree to serve as the four columns. It was spectacular.
Photographer
We used two photographers and a videographer from the French wedding artists collective Studio Ohlala. Our wedding planner introduced us to Saya, who was our primary photographer. She arranged the second photographer and videographer. Saya, like all of our vendors, made us feel comfortable and as if we had known them forever. Each of them took a special interest in our relationship and worked with us to make our vision come true.
Phenomenal Food
Having good food was essential to our wedding. I still dream of our starting course of gazpacho with goat cheese sorbet. I loved our traditional croquembouche cake. The caterer did a phenomenal job adding sugar roses to it.
Moving Speeches
The video and pictures tell our story beautifully. During our welcome dinner, Danny’s brother, Jon, and his best friend, David, made speeches. David went out of his way to contact my two closest friends, Jenn and Lynlee, who were unable to attend due to the births of their beautiful daughters. He included anecdotes from them into his speech. My sisters, Melissa and Erica, also made speeches. At the wedding, our parents spoke, and we made a speech. We shared with our guests that our wedding was a long time in the making – Danny had bought my engagement ring three months into dating.
Three Fab Days
The intimate three-day affair really made our wedding special. All of our guests were included in every event each day of our wedding. The first day went from 10 am until 10 pm. Our wedding was from 6 pm until 4 am. The farewell party was from noon until 10 pm. It was a true celebration.
Although I loved every moment, the best day (after the ceremony of course) was the last day. Danny and I walked around the chateau just the two of us. We listened to the laughter of family and friends. We watched the sunset. We picked flowers from our ketubah. In that walk, we soaked in our celebration and hugged each other with anticipation of our wonderful future to come.
Advice to couples currently planning their wedding
There is no way around the stress. Once the big things are done, there are still all the minute details. I worked with my planner to build in extra time during the day of the wedding so that I would not feel rushed. I was even able to take a luxurious bubble bath and nap. My sister brought essential oils to help soothe my nerves.
I definitely recommend doing a first look without family or guests around to really soak in the moment that you are marrying the person of your dreams.
Throughout the wedding, we made sure to find time to be together and to watch the festivities. Those mental snapshots are irreplaceable.
After the wedding and honeymoon, my mother-in-law helped set-up an online photo album. We asked our guests to share their pictures of their trip to France and all the wedding festivities to the album. It was such a delight to see our wedding through their eyes. These pictures are some of my most treasured from the wedding.
The best advice I can give is that marrying couples need to remember that they are not just the guests of honor, but also hosts. This means not just providing for guests and feeling like everyone should cater to their whim, but realizing that every one is going to have an opinion or rely on you for information. Take their feedback, smile, and refocus.
A wedding is a wonderful party full of love and memories; more importantly, it is the start of your marriage and new family. As a newlywed and matrimonial attorney, plan for your marriage, not the wedding.
Amanda & Danny’s little white book
Photographer – Saya Photography for Studio Ohlala
Second Shooter – Anais for Studio Ohlala
Videography – Mikael for Studio Ohlala
Ketubah – Danny Azoulay {offers 10% discount to all members of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club}
Wedding planner – Wedding Of Excellence in Provence
Bride’s dress – Alegria’s Brides
Bride’s shoes – Badgley Mischka
Hair + Makeup – Ylva Langenskiold and Hisano for Studio Ohlala
Flowers – Laetitia C
Catering – Roland Paix
DJ – Discotechnik
