You’re dreaming of a destination Jewish wedding, but circumstances mean it makes sense to stay close to home. Sound familiar? That’s what Israeli couple Anastasia and Evgeny found themselves up against when they fell hard for southern Italy – the colors, the blue tiles, the lemons, all of it! – but needed to keep their big day in their home country.
The resourceful duo saw this challenge merely as an opportunity to bring the spirit of Capri to the beaches of Ashdod (their venue happens to be located on the same beach where they met – awwww!), going all out with the lemons and bougainvillea and even hiring in Italian opera singer to set the tone!
And we could easily believe some of Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Jossef Si’s wonderful photos were taken in the hills of Tuscany. As Anastasia says, he somehow managed to find just the right angles to turn every photo into a true work of art – while also managing to stay ever-so-perfectly on theme with the Italian vibes of the day. Videographer Happy Days captured all the gorgeous vibrancy of the day beautifully, too.
We’ll let the beautiful bride – who looked totally stunning in her floral gown by Zeta Bridal – fill you in on the rest…
How we met
Anastasia, the bride: Sounds like a cliché, but it was love at first sight.We met in a pub not far from where the wedding took place on Ashdod beach. The pub was called “It” and indeed surprisingly it was it. I remember it like yesterday, we were both dancing and then suddenly my gaze fell on a guy at the other side of the dance floor who was looking at me, our eyes crossed, and it was a really long and exciting moment. I really liked his looks, my heart started beating fast, and the rest is history.
The ring came after three years together and in the most surprising and spontaneous way.
We did not talk about it and he surprised me on our Christmas trip to Moscow. The atmosphere was magical, he brought me to a frozen lake in some Queen’s palace outside the city, and while he was skating, he kneeled for the proposal! In retrospect it turned out that Evgeny had purchased the ring a few minutes before our flight in Hstern at Duty Free and that was why he was almost late for the flight!
A Meaningful Venue
Ahuvat ha Sapan – located at the same beach we met on and being known for the best cuisine in town with unique design compatible with the concept we chose for the wedding.
Italian Vibes
A year before the proposal we toured southern Italy and fell in love with the Amalfi Coast, Positano and especially Capri. The colorful atmosphere, magical blue tiles and lemons that are basically everywhere, were constantly chosen for our theme wedding. Getting married in Italy wasn’t an option, so we brought Italy to us.
Design by the Bride
All the branding and design were focused on creating a Capri atmosphere. Bougainvilleas and lemons were chosen as trademarks appearing on the invitation, place cards, magnets and even dining tables. Since my passion and hobby is graphic design, I prepared all the branding visual materials by myself.
Hair + Makeup
The makeup artist Shiko Vun was recommended to me by my dressmaker. I was looking for natural super clean glow makeup. I would recommend him as the results were beyond all my expectations.
I encountered Ariel Ettedgi‘s Instagram profile by chance and loved the natural waves he styles. I always wanted long waves for my wedding day so my style would stand the test of time, and I wasn’t disappointed.
A Zeta Bridal Dress
The quest for the dress took me several months and I went to dozens of shops. I was looking for sophisticated yet romantic off the shoulder dress, yet couldn’t find anything that made me feel like me and not like a costumed version of me.
When I first arrived to Zeta Bridal with my mom, Zemfira the dressmaker was working on a new dress design and when she saw me she knew that it was just right for me. Indeed she was right. The moment I put the dress on my mom burst into tears – it was the one!
It looked like someone poured a basket of flowers on the dress, with the petals scattered randomly upon it. Each flower had a hidden pearl inside which added to the magical feeling I had each time I tried the dress on. That’s the reason I chose natural pearl earring from ASOS. The dress was originally designed strapless, later on we added bell sleeves for creating the off the shoulder effect.
A Colorful Chuppah
Our chuppah featured asymmetric lines and colorful flowers.
I Was Made for Loving You
The meaning of the songs was super important for us, therefore we were focused on the wording while choosing songs.
Walk to the chuppah song was ‘Berashit Olam’ by Shlomi Shabat. Singing about the forst love story of Adam and Eve.
Breaking the glass under the chuppah – ‘My Number One’.
First dance – ‘I Was Made For Loving You’ cover of the famous Kiss song.
Stilettos
Stiletto and slightly pointed closed shoes were a must for me. The 7 cm height was perfect, super comfy and served me on the dance floor till the end of the night.
Fabulous Flowers
Fabulous Hadas Hecht was our florist and came up with amazing ideas to combine tiles, boxes of lemons, and asymmetric flower arrangement on the tables.
Photographer
What was important for me in a photographer is the ability to tell a story and express an emotion with every photo he takes. I was impressed by Jossef Si‘s ability to do that and to capture moments with the kind of artistic angles that turn every photo into fine art. I believe that’s how you ensure you remember the little moments of your wedding in the very best way.
Italian Music
How is it possible to create an Italian atmosphere without an Italian singer! We invited Rafael to sing at our wedding after hearing his live performance and his enchanting opera voice. People danced and enjoyed their meals to the sounds of ‘O’sole mio’ and other classic familiar Italian songs. The guests talked about the performance and how different it was even a month after the wedding!
Lemon wish tree
The idea was to put a lemon wish tree on which every guest can put his congrats to the newlyweds on a lemon shaped card and hang it on the tree. I really was moved by my guests, who wrote plenty of touching wishes on our wishes tree.
Advice to couples currently planning their wedding
Even if something goes wrong remember that the next day, all the small problems will turn into funny wedding stories that you will love to share and laugh about with you friends. So don’t worry – no matter what happens you’ll enjoy your wedding and experience unbelievable emotions during the whole event!
Anastasia & Evgeny’s little white book
Photography – Jossef Si Photography {offers 10% discount to all members of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club}
Videography – Happy Days
Venue – Ahuvat ha Sapan
Bride’s dress – Zeta Bridal
Bride’s shoes – Nine West
Bride’s accessories – ASOS
Hair + Makeup – Shiko Vun and Ariel Ettedgi
Flowers – Hadas Hecht
Singer – Rafael
DJ – Panels DJ
Ketubah – Tzohar
Magnets – Sizilom
