Since the pandemic began, we’ve seen lots of backyard weddings. But we’re pretty sure Noam and Michael’s is our first front yard wedding. Why is that relevant, you ask?
Well, Michael just happens to live across the street from a playground, and on the big day, in addition to the couple’s invited guests, they ended up with a couple dozen little observers taking in the action – how cute is that?!
The couple, both students at Bar Ilan University, had originally planned a big wedding, but COVID forced them to rethink their plans (and date, thanks to Israel’s second lockdown). Michael’s garden may have been chosen because due to the circumstances, in the bride’s words, “it was the only place were able to legally get married!” – but luckily it happens to be totally gorgeous, and was really just about an ideal place to carry out the original theme, which was a magical forest combined with rustic elements.
In addition to their 50 in-person guests, Noam and Michael livestreamed their day to friends and family across the globe – at one point, 750 people were tuning in! And throughout the day, the pair took time to chat with their virtual guests through the livestream.
It goes without saying that we’re obsessed with the stunning photos by Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Herschel Gutman. Due to a last minute change of date, the couple ended up having to find a photographer in just a few days, and were they ever lucky that Herschel was available! As always, his photos are so full of love and emotion while also managing to capture all the details of the day absolutely exquisitely.
How We Met
Noam, the bride and Michael, the groom: Our story begins in 2015 when we both started new chapters in our lives. Michael had just immigrated to Israel and went to study Hebrew in the North of Israel where Noam had just started her national service in guess where? The exact same place! We became best friends, but duty called and Michael started the army while Noam went away to Australia for her second year of national service.
The friendship didn’t end and when both those experiences were over, our friendship turned into something a little more special and love blossomed. Since then, we’ve been together for the last 3 years.
A COVID Wedding
Before COVID, we booked a venue that looked like a magical forest, just as Noam had dreamt of. We started to book everything and then realised that COVID would sadly limit our options. Due to this, we came to the decision to do it in Michael’s front garden. The original date for the wedding was the 13th October, 2020, and then Israel introduced a second lockdown so we were forced to find a new date for our special day.
The date chosen was the 22nd October but we only found out about this new date 5 days before the wedding day itself. The venue of Michael’s garden was picked purely because it was the only place in the end that we were able to legally get married!
Rustic Forest Magic
Our original theme was a magical forest combined with rustic elements. Due to the situation, we had to completely change our plans but we tried to stick as much as possible to the original plan. Luckily Michael has an extremely green garden so we were able to make this a possibility.
Invitations / stationery
The invitations were designed by a spectacular graphic designer named Michal Kohl. Michal designed our save the dates, invitations, and zoom invitations too. The zoom invitation included a link for the live stream for the reception and chuppah. The design was elegant and modern with a handful of pink flowers dotted on the invitation. The zoom invitation was rather international as we have family all over the globe so we had the chuppah time for London, Paris, Tel Aviv, and New York.
Hair + Make-up
Both hair and make up was done by the talented Tiferet Lerman. For the makeup Noam went for a romantic, elegant look, but with a smoky twist. The hair was parted sideways with a beautiful flowery pin on the side and some romantic waves.
An Avital Saporta Dress
The dress was designed by Avital Saporta . Noam’s inspiration was an Anne Campbell dress. Originally Noam was supposed to go abroad with her mum to buy the dress. However, due to the situation, this became impossible. When I went to Avital Saporta, I tried on a few dresses with a similar style to the Anne Campbell dress. When I tried on the dress I eventually chose, right that second I knew the dress was the one for me.
I had to do some adjustments such as changing the upper body and adding sleeves. In addition, I wanted the dress to complement my figure so I made the dress a little tighter in the back and asked for it to be longer at the bottom of the dress. Avital and her team were extremely professional and made my dream come true.
Accessories
The hair accessory is mentioned above with the hair and makeup. On the night of the mikveh, Noam’s mum surprised her with a touching gift. Noam received beautiful diamond earrings and her mum said “this will be a reminder for her that she will always be her diamond and that she will always be there for her”.
Shoes
The shoes were bought in a store in Ramat Gan called Collins. Noam has a very slim foot and usually struggles finding good shoes. At Collins, they were extremely professional and fit the perfect shoe for her at the first attempt. The shoe was pearly white, with a heel of 6cm.
The handsome groom
Michael wore a blue suit with a burgundy-coloured tie. He bought it from a suit store in Bnei Brak in central Israel. Michael wore a white boutonniere in his suit jacket. His shoes were brown from John Lewis in England. When Michael saw Noam walking towards him near a beautiful kibbutz near Herzliya beach, he had a beaming smile on his face in anticipation of seeing his future wife for the first time in her dress that she had raved about for the last few months to him.
Bridesmaids
Noam had 4 bridesmaids and along with Michaels mum, Suzanne, they designed the dresses and Suzanne then sewed them beautiful light pink dresses for the special day. Noams image was of her bridesmaids wearing light pink dresses that would work and match with her bouquet.
Ceremony
The ceremony, due to the situation, was completely different to how we originally had planned. From the look, to the actual execution of the ceremony, our expectations had completely changed. Before the pandemic, we would have expected to see over 150 people standing watching us tie the knot. However, this way round we got something we didn’t expect at all.
We had around 40-50 guests at the ceremony, but as Michael lives across the road from the park, there were around 30 additional viewers from the ages of 3-10 years old. Our favourite part of the ceremony was when Noam’s grandfather and uncle did Birkat Kohanim under the chuppah. There wasn’t a dry eye in the street!
Ketubah
The ketubah wasn’t anything original as it was given to us by Tzohar, an organisation in Israel that helps with the marital process.
Chuppah
Due to the wedding being outside, we had some problems with the location of the chuppah which affected which sort of chuppah we needed to rent. Eventually we decided to have the chuppah on the pavement outside of Michael’s house which enabled us to have a bamboo chuppah. Noam bought white tulle that was wrapped around the bamboo and our florist added small flower bouquets on the upper corners of the chuppah. A white carpet was laid from the entrance of the house to the chuppah.
Our Music Choice
We went with a mix of Israeli, French, and English music. For the entrance towards the chuppah, we had a song by Idan Raichel called ‘Mi’ma’amakim’. We didn’t have a first dance together. Choosing a band was quite challenging as we needed a band who would cater to different styles and cultures, and who had the ability to sing in multiple languages. We managed to find a fantastic and professional band called Eliran Sade.
He made sure that everything went smoothly throughout the whole wedding process. At around 9:30 during the night, Eliran finished and set us up with a terrific DJ who made sure the party was enjoyed right until the end.
Flowers
Our florist was Sophie Vardi from Happiness through Flowers. Sophie managed to bring our dream to reality and turn the garden into something magical. The bouquets and arrangements were gorgeous and a delight to the eyes. It was a pleasure working with her and she was a top professional. The table centres were designed beautifully where some had long mirror boxes with flowers inside and some were square shaped boxes containing flowers and candles.
We had little plastic balls with flowers inside hanging down from the tree. On the bridal chair, which was under a tree, there was a sleeve of flowers on the right-hand side. All flowers were white, pink, and hot pink including the bridal bouquet.
Photographer and videographer
Due to last minute changes, we only had a few days to find a photographer. Fortunately for us, we were lucky enough to find out that Herschel Gutman happened to be available on the exact day we wanted. We highly recommend Herschel, who swiftly provided us with beautiful and stunning photos and was a true professional throughout the day.
Food and Cake
The food was provided by Chef Alon Cohen and the food was truly delicious and beautiful. Chef Alon Cohen put plenty of effort into each dish that was brought out from the kitchen and the effort didn’t go unnoticed. We didn’t have any sort of wedding cake, but the desserts were to die for, and it made sure that a cake definitely wasn’t missed. Chef Alon Cohen and his staff were brilliant professionals who took care of every single detail. The style of dinner that we chose was a buffet style and the food was outstanding.
Entertainment
Throughout the night we were surprised by two heart-warming gestures. Firstly, Noam’s cousins, along with her sister, parents, uncles, and aunts, wrote a song for us which was already known off by heart by the whole family. Something that was clearly practised multiple times. Secondly, Noam’s close friends had made a video for us of them dancing and singing a song they wrote specially written and recorded about us. There is nothing like family and friends 🙂
Favours
Due to the short planning, we didn’t have time to make favours.
Extra details
During the day, we took photos together before the chuppah and also took pictures with our groomsmen and bridesmaids. During the livestream, at one moment there were 750 people viewing at one point, something we didn’t expect at all. When we found out how many people were watching our wedding, we were in total shock and made us feel how loved we are and we really felt like all of our loved ones were with us at heart, even from far away.
Throughout our special day, we were able to talk to our family through the live stream and they would message our parents and loved ones who were at the occasion with photos of them and us.
Noam’s aunts, uncles, and cousins dressed up for the occasion even though they were on the other side of the world watching on their computers and it really made us feel like they were there with us. Noam had this incredible idea of having a book where people take pictures of themselves on a polaroid camera and then write a nice message to us in a book next to a picture of them celebrating our wedding. It is a book we will keep forever and it’s a great way of looking back on a wonderful day.
Honeymoon
We are yet to go on a honeymoon due to the situation. However, when it will be possible, we would like to go to an island destination.
Advice to couples currently planning their wedding
We saw our dream wedding completely falling apart week after week and even had to deal with the pain of postponing a wedding. Going through this challenging time strengthened what we already knew, which is how important family is. At the end of the day, we learnt that no matter what, things always turn out for the best and that on the day of the wedding, all the anxiety and stress disappeared, and it truly is a time to celebrate love. Our tip for other couples was to be mentally in the event because it really is an amazing day.
One of Michaels good friends who got married a year before us advised us to take 5 minutes out of the day to really appreciate what was going on, and we can honestly say that it made a massive difference to our day.
NOAM & MICHAEL’S LITTLE WHITE BOOK
Photography and Videography – Herschel Gutman {offers 10% discount to all members of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club}
Videography – Herschel Gutman
Venue – Home in Tel Mond
Bride’s dress – Avital Saporta
Groom’s attire – John Lewis
Hair + Makeup – Tiferet Lerman
Flowers – Happiness through Flowers
Band – Eliran Sade
Catering – Chef Alon Cohen
Ketubah – Tzohar
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.
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