Sometimes we encounter a wedding so jawdroppingly stylish it just blow us away. And that’s exactly what happened when we first set our eyes on the fabulous Jewish wedding of Tel Aviv couple Olivia, is director of partnerships at an AI startup, and Ohad, who runs a global e-commerce company.
Their wedding was full on Israeli chic in the best way possible, with every element – from the artful, unposed photos by Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Ben Kelmer (who the couple found right here on STG) to the epic design spearheaded by Yahav Green and beyond.
Olivia’s an American who made aliyah a few years back, and since many of the couple’s guests were visiting Israel for their first time, the pair wanted to pull out all the stops to showcase the magic of their home city of Tel Aviv. And between welcome drinks at a rooftop bar in the heart of Shuk HaCarmel, a food tour of the market, and a rehearsal Shabbat dinner catered by Israeli chef Eyal Shani, we’re pretty sure all attendees came away 100% smitten. Even the couple’s venue, The Lawrence in Jaffa, was picked in part for its uniquely Middle Eastern vibes.
As a design aficionado, it’s no surprise Olivia looked exquisitely chic in her simple, classic gown by Alexandra Grecco… read on to hear of the story from her!
How we Met
Olivia, the bride: We are actually a pandemic love story! Olivia made Aliyah to Israel 4 years ago and during the first Covid wave in spring 2020, she befriended a few other Americans in her Tel Aviv apartment building. One of her neighbours, Josh, invited a few people over one night and even though Olivia was a bit hesitant because everyone was just coming out of lockdown, she stopped out (after all, the apartment was one floor below hers).
Ohad was there but truthfully, Olivia doesn’t remember meeting him (or anyone else). A few weeks later, Josh called Olivia and asked if he could set her up with his “very Israeli friend with a huge heart.” Olivia didn’t even ask for a photo (very unlike her) and she met Ohad a few days later. Olivia was immediately charmed by his warmth, wit, and generosity (and it was their first time being inside a restaurant in months, thanks to COVID). Turns out, Ohad had been nagging Josh for Olivia’s number ever since they met at Josh’s house.
Our relationship was on fast forward thanks to a series of intense lockdowns in Israel that we spent together (and even one camped out at Ohad’s parents house in the south of Israel). Olivia is 35 and Ohad is 38 so we knew we wanted to lock it up fast – and we did! We got engaged 10 months after we met, on the eve of Pesach 2021.
Israeli Vibes
We got married at The Lawrence in Jaffa. We wanted a venue that felt Middle Eastern and because so many of our guests were from the US, we wanted to create a really unique experience for them. The Lawrence is a 300 year old Ottoman home in the heart of Old Jaffa that boasts beautiful architecture and sophisticated design.
Focus on Design
Design & aesthetics is really important to me and not just in terms of appreciating beautiful things but also in the way that a well designed room can really make or break a vibe. With our wedding, the #1 most important thing to us was the design – so we knew we had to work with Yahav Green whose impeccable taste just jumps off the screen in every event photo he posts (follow him for some design porn). We wanted the space to feel exotic, pay homage to its roots and for the design to accentuate the bones of the venue.
Yahav was a true joy to partner with and the vision that he brought to life – our JAFFA NIGHTS – was everything we wanted it and then some. Yahav’s attention to detail (i mean, tassled table lining, come on) and innate ability to know what complements a space resulted in the most stunning night.
Outside of the actual wedding, we planned an epic weekend for our American guests. Our goal was to get them to fall in love with the magic of Israel so we organized a few things to really show off the energy of Tel Aviv. We hosted welcome drinks on a grunge rooftop bar called The Prince in the heart of Shuk HaCarmel, and the next morning we did a food tour of the market, eating & drinking our way through the most dynamic place in Tel Aviv.
We love Shabbat, so we decided to do a rehearsal Shabbat dinner at Abraxas bar where the food was catered by Israeli chef, Eyal Shani. In typical Eyal Shani style, there were cardboard pieces instead of plates and piles and piles of meat & veggies. We also had our best friends give speeches and we did the traditional Shabbat blessings.
Invitations / stationery
Because we planned a Corona wedding, we weren’t sure the wedding was happening until literally three weeks before. So everything we did was via email 🙂
Hair + Make-up
I really wanted a classic, sophisticated look – sort of old Hollywood glamour. I had the very best hair and makeup team – Carly Landau Hair & Mel Bueno Makeup – who I didn’t even need to do trials with. They just made me look and feel my best.
An Alexandra Grecco Dress
I might be the only bride in history who bought the first dress she tried on. I knew I wanted simple and chic and stumbled upon the designer Alexandra Grecco out of Brooklyn. I was traveling back to the States for a family visit and went to a Lovely Bride store because I knew it had the Alexandra Grecco dress that I wanted. I tried it on and left the store within 15 minutes. I would encourage everyone to browse online beforehand and try find something you’re drawn to.
After the Jewish dancing at the wedding, I changed into a short, satin Galvan Sienna dress from Intermix that was.. wait for it.. TURQUOISE. I wanted something super comfy and fun because I knew the dance party was going to get crazy.
Accessories
I wanted to wear jewelry that had some sort of special meaning. I wore gold earrings from an Israeli designer that Ohad’s mom had bought me as an engagement present. And I wore a ring that my grandmother had given me years ago. The morning of our wedding, Ohad had a Tiffanys & Co bracelet I had been eyeing for months delivered to the hotel where I was getting ready – so I wore that as well.
Shoes
Wow I barely thought about what shoes to wear and just wore a nude pair of patent Steve Madden with a tiny, thick heel (because I’m super clumsy and had visions of me tripping down the aisle). When I changed into my short dress, I put on adorable white Kate Spade Keds.
The handsome groom
We went to Suit Supply in the US to buy Ohad his very dapper suit (which probably has the best collection of sophisticated, modern suits at pretty reasonable prices) – it was a dark blue with a deep blue tie – and he looked totally swoon worthy.
Bridesmaids
It’s not super common to have bridesmaids in Israeli weddings and it wasn’t something I was excited about doing because I have a lot of people I love and wouldn’t want to leave anyone out. My best friend, Emily, was my unofficial maid of honor and spent the day getting ready with me.
Ceremony
Well, I’m that girl that flew in her childhood Rabbi from the US to Tel Aviv.. even though Israel is the country of Rabbis. It was important to me that I had a Rabbi who knew us and was spiritual. Rabbi Kranz from Chabad of Virginia gave a beautiful speech that made the Jewish elements of the ceremony accessible to everyone (whether they were Jewish or not). Rabbi Naiditch from Chabad of Tel Aviv – Chabad on the Coast – also gave a beautiful blessings.
We also honored our best friends and close family with blessings during the ceremony – the Sheva Brachot. We paired them up and had them read the blessing in Hebrew and then offer a more fun or sincere blessing in English.
Ohad’s brother, Eran, came in from the US and MC’ed the ceremony which was super special. There’s a famous son in Israel that’s called (in English) “My brother is married” and he got the whole crowd to sing along with him. It was amazing.
Ketubah
We went a little overboard with the design so we wanted to try and reign in the budget where we could, so we opted for the ketubah from the Rabbinute in Tel Aviv (which is actually a beautifully designed book).
Chuppah
The chuppah design was part of the theme of Jaffa Nights – tassels and all!
Our Music Choice
We had the BEST wedding DJ, DJ Moshik, who played a mix of crazy Israeli party songs and classic US sing-a-longs. It was really important to us that the dance floor was a raging party – and thanks to Moshik, it lasted until 2 in the morning.
The songs for our processional we each chose ourselves and were both really meaningful to us. Ohad chose ‘Annie’s Song’ by John Denver, a super romantic song that was always playing in his house when he was growing up. And Olivia picked ‘Beresheet’ by Idan Raichel, a song with middle eastern vibes whose lyrics talk about how in the beginning there was love. Funny how we each picked a song not in our native language!
We struggled to decide on a song for breaking the glass and where everyone rushes to the Chuppa (a tradition in israel). We wanted something fun and upbeat and one day we realized that it had to be ‘As Long As You Love Me’ by the Backstreet Boys (obvi).
Flowers
Yahav Green did the spectacular flowers as part of the overall design. We wanted a sophisticated look so there was a lot of whites and greens. We also brought in a bunch of tall green trees to make the space feel even more exotic.
Photographer and videographer
I actually found our photographer, Ben Kelmer, after browsing Smashing the Glass and seeing how he uniquely and beautifully captures unposed moments. He was a joy to be with throughout the day, as was our videographer, Tomer Fuchs. Tomer was recommended by Ben (he was the videographer for Ben’s wedding) and his style is super unique – makes it look very funky and hip.
Food and Cake
The kosher catering was provided as part of the venue and the Americans went absolutely nuts for it. I don’t think they had ever seen so much food at a wedding before. The Kabbalat Panim was filled with delish focaccia with meat and colorful salads – and the main courses was a whole lot of meat (you could pick between short ribs or a steak).
Entertainment
Our main entertainment was a crazy dance party thanks to our DJ, DJ Moshik – and we did have our parents each give a short speech and we also welcome guests with a short speech.
Favours
We gave each guest a Chamsa ornament made by Autistic adults who live in a beautiful community called Kfar Ofarim, which helps give them dignified work. We wanted everyone to take home a little bit of Israel with them, and the chamsas were hanging on a huge wall at the entrance to the wedding with each guest’s table card and a cute note from us.
Extra details
We walked to the Jaffa port to take photos at sunset and as we’re posing a large group of tourists from Tanzania come over and ask if they can bless us. They surround us and starting singing a beautiful African tribal chant and just shower us with joy and love – it was so surreal and unexpected – definitely one of our favorite moments of the day.
Also at the dance party, our venue brought out a bunch of glowsticks and our rowdy guests set up a glowstick cat walk where everyone just started doing crazy poses and strutting their stuff. The night ended with Ohad & I being surrounded by 15 of our best friends and family singing “As Long as I Love you” at the top of their lungs. It was magical.
Honeymoon
Our honeymoon was delayed because of Omciron so we’re heading out for a two week adventure in South Africa (safari + Cape Town and wine country) in a few weeks. We have an amazing travel agent out of SA that I would definitely recommend.
Advice to couples currently planning their wedding
My best advice is to EAT before the wedding. Breaking it down on the dance floor is intense and I almost felt sick at times because I didn’t eat enough! Also, make sure you keep coming back to your partner throughout the night – dance with him/her and have little moments that you’ll remember being together for.
What ‘Smashing The Glass’ Did For Us
I actually found out about The Lawrence and found Ben our photographer thanks to Smashing the Glass. I scoured all the Tel Aviv weddings and got tons of ideas!
OLIVIA AND OHAD’S LITTLE WHITE BOOK
Photography – Ben Kelmer Photography {offers 10% discount to all members of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club}
Videography – Tomer Fuchs
Wedding planner & flowers – Yahav Green
Venue – The Lawrence
Bride’s dress – Alexandra Grecco found at Lovely Bride, Galvan Sienna found at Intermix
Bride’s shoes – Steve Madden
Bride’s accessories – Tiffanys & Co
Groom’s attire – Suit Supply
Hair + Makeup – Carly Landau Hair Mel Bueno Makeup
DJ – DJ Moshik
Rabbi – Chabad of Virginia Chabad on the Coast
If you’re a Jewish or Jew-ish bride-to-be, you’ll want to join Smashing The Glass’ Brides Club. Guided by the world’s number 1 Jewish wedding expert, Karen Cinnamon, Brides Club is the private community for Jewish and Jew-ish brides that removes wedstress and indecision and gives you what you need to plan with confidence during these uncertain times. Join our Brides Club here.
