Okay, we just can’t even with that sunset chuppah. Truly the stuff Jewish wedding dreams are made of. But would you believe it if we told you that wasn’t even the most remarkable thing about the incredible wedding of STG Brides Club member (and blogging bride) Lindsay, an insight manager at a media agency, to groom Dan, an account manager working in corporate events?
So first of all, we’re OBSESSED with Lindsay and Dan’s table plan: they got a polaroid of every guest, then wrote a personal note on the back. These were all laid out for guests to collect as they came in and find their table numbers. Genius!
We’re also super inspired that these two worked with non-profit Israel Blooms, an organization that will collect flowers leftover at the end of the wedding and repurpose them into small arrangements that they distribute in hospitals and old age homes. What a meaningful (and easy) way to spread the joy of your big day!
The couple’s photos from Idan Canfi and video from Ruslan Shane are simply sensational, and we love that Lindsay and Dan opted to have a separate couple’s photoshoot a couple of days after the wedding – this allowed them to get some dreamy portraits without them having to take time out of the wedding for photos. Such a smart idea!
Oh, and did we mention that Lindsay and Dan are working with the incredible Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Abby Taubman of Colletts Travel to plan their honeymoon to Australia and Thailand next year?
Now over to the bride, who looked lovely in her Essense of Australia dress…
How we met
Lindsay, the bride: We met through my cousin’s wife. She was an old school friend of Dan’s and decided that we would be a great match – and she was right!
A Wedding in Israel
We got married at Kochav Hayam in Caesarea, Israel. Dan vetoed getting married in Manchester (where I’m from) and I vetoed getting married in London (where he’s from), so Israel was our only agreeable option! I had grown up going on holiday to Israel and spent my gap year there, whilst Dan’s parents met whilst living in Israel – no brainer!
We visited Israel for two other weddings about a year before our date, and spent a few days going venue shopping. All venues in Israel look beautiful – if we had to choose the first one we saw, we could have done. However, I quickly discovered that my husband-to-be was an absolute groomzilla. Going from ‘I don’t really mind’ to ‘this can’t be the one’ within an hour springs to mind.
We were very close to choosing one but then found out that they had noise restrictions, and could only have a live band play until 11.30pm. We love music, especially live music, so this was a huge no no for us and thank goodness because our actual wedding ran late and we didn’t start the main bit of dancing until 11.30pm!
After a frantic midnight call to our wedding planner (the amazing Victoria Rosen), she suggested we go and see Cochav Hayam. It was a bit further out than we had wanted, which is why it hadn’t been suggested in the first place.
But seeing it for the first time didn’t even compare with how it was on our actual wedding day. Our ceremony was just before sunset, the sky was so clear, the beach was right behind the chuppah and the colours were absolutely unbelievable, to the point where our photographer, Idan Canfi, threw away the schedule to make sure our couple pictures had the best background – and they certainly did. It looked like an Instagram filter!
A Fab Planner
Our wedding planner was the fabulous Vicki Rosen. She took all of our ideas and turned them into a perfect day. She was calm and super responsive, all whilst managing to keep the peace between groomzilla and the parents. She made planning a wedding in Israel from England an absolute piece of cake.
Vicki brings her husband, Ben, along on the day of the wedding, and they make an absolute dream team, keeping the whole day running smoothly and not panicking when the coaches ran late, and allotted timings for speeches and grace after meals were completely ignored! They managed to do all of this, whilst staying completely out of the way and in the background – I’m amazed at how they don’t feature in almost any of our pictures.
We wanted to write personalised notes to all of the guests so decided to do that with the table plan, which had a polaroid picture of the guests and a handwritten note from us on the back. The guests could then take their picture and I’ve seen several of them on fridges since we got back! Our designer, Hadar displayed these absolutely beautifully at the entrance of the venue.
I had never grown up thinking about a theme or a style for my wedding, as some people do. All we knew was that we wanted to make it personal and fun. We’ve been to quite a few weddings over the past couple of years and we took notes from all of them!
What ‘Smashing The Glass’ Brides Club Did For Us
I also absolutely loved hearing about everyones weddings, especially the ones in Israel, at best they provided fresh inspiration and at worst they just helped build excitement for my own big day!
Invitations
Our invitations were created by my close friend Janina from Creative Design by J9. She did our save the dates too and did a fantastic job.
We sat down with Janina and went through all the ideas and narrowed it down to a romantic but rustic theme. She then created a pretty pink invitation with a velum cover and a rustic brown string bow, keeping a name tag attached. I absolutely loved our invites, and so did so many of our guests.
An Essense of Australia Dress
I bought my dress from Angelica Bridal in Islington. It was an Essense of Australia dress and I’m still completely obsessed with it. Originally it was a strapless dress, but I wanted straps. As I’m quite short, I obviously had to have the dress shortened – wedding dresses are made for 6 foot models, not 5 foot Jewish girls – and they made straps out of the leftover flower embroidery from the dress.
Originally I thought I would go for a light, cool, flowy dress that matched the beach wedding vibe that we were going for. However, after trying a couple on, I felt like you could put them in any other colour and they could have been just any old dress – and I wanted to be true to the inner princess/diva inside of me so I made peace with the fact that I’d be hot and moved on with my five-layered dress.
Accessories
I kept my hair simple and had no accessories in it, except for my veil. It was a short Pronovias one that my sister wore at her wedding five years ago (my something borrowed).
My mum bought my earrings which were little diamond ones from Pandora (my something new). She called me one day whilst out shopping and said she had found the perfect ones for me – maybe the quickest decision I had to make during the wedding planning!
I wanted simple earrings as I knew my necklace was going to be a big piece – my something old. It was my grandma’s that she had worn at her wedding, and both my mum and sister had both worn it at their weddings too – and as my grandma is no longer with us, I felt that I had a bit of her with me on the day.
Of course all of this was complemented by the new bling on my finger. One of Dan’s friends is a jeweller, DJH Jewellery based in Hatton Garden, London, and he provided the rings for both Dan and me. We told him what we were looking for and he found it for us at a very fair price!
Ted Baker Shoes
I wanted a pair of shoes that I could wear again and I found silver 4 inch heels from Ted Baker with a strap over the toes and around my ankle. I broke all the rules by going for style over comfort. I’d been told that even if I wore fluffy slippers, my feet would hurt by the end of the evening, so style it was.
My shoes went on at about 11 in the morning and it wasn’t until somebody pointed out how impressed she was that I was still wearing my shoes at 1.30am that I even noticed the pain I was in! We supplied flip flops for the guests so I changed into these for the last half hour.
Hair + Makeup
One of my mum’s oldest friends, Suzanne, is a makeup artist here in England, and she was coming to Israel for the wedding anyway, so it worked out really well that she did my makeup on the day.
I wanted to still look like me but just the most polished version of myself and she did that for me perfectly. The problem with getting married abroad, a week into my holiday, is that I’d had a skin break-out in the days leading up to the wedding (a mixture of suncream and stress I would say) but she covered everything up.
Hana Bloch from Hana’s Hair Designs did my hair. She’d been recommended by almost everyone I knew who had been married in Israel before me and I can see why. She was so organised and calming (despite having had a baby only a few weeks before) and made sure my hair was perfect.
Given the heat of an August wedding in Israel, I knew I wanted my hair up and it was only at the trial a few months before that she suggested a long ponytail. I loved it!
The handsome groom
My handsome hubby wore a grey Armani three-piece suit that he bought from Selfridges, and smart black trainers from Reiss (he likes to call them “trews” – trainer/shoes) – he definitely chose comfort on that front. I thought he was mad going for a three-piece, but he thought I was mad wearing a five-layered wedding dress so we just agreed to sweat/sparkle together.
He ended up taking the jacket off pretty quickly but the waistcoat kept him looking smart – until the Israeli dancing, of course, when after 15 minutes of being thrown around by his friends nothing could help him.
Bridesmaids
I had two adult bridesmaids, my oldest friend and Dan’s sister, who both wore light pink multi-way dresses from Monsoon. I had wanted to just give them a colour and let them go and choose a dress themselves, but with only two I thought they would just end up looking like two people who had worn the same colour to the wedding, so the multi-way dresses were perfect. They both wore them in a slightly different style so I still got the look I was going for, but it was clear that they were bridesmaids.
We had three flower girls, one aged 8 who also wore a light pink dress from Monsoon (she had just requested that she looked like a princess and the puffier the better, so that’s what she got) and two who were 18 months old, who wore little flower girl dresses from Next.
Groomsmen
Dan was in control of the ushers’ outfits. He went a bit rogue and bought them green chinos from M&S with white collarless shirts from Zara. To say I was slightly hesitant would be a bit of an understatement but when I saw them I knew he had 100% made the right decision.
Then we had three little page boys, aged 11, 4 and 2, who all wore grey shorts and white collarless shirts to match the ushers, with white Converse.
On paper, it shouldn’t have worked with all the different colours and outfits for the bridal party but in reality it did.
Chuppah
We wanted something fairly simple, as the backdrop of the sea and sunset was enough, and our designer, Hadar, made that happen. We had lanterns with candles going along the aisle and she created an asymmetrical design of greens, pinks and purples that was so gorgeous and completely took my breath away. The worst part was that I was under the chuppah and couldn’t actually see the design during the ceremony!
Ceremony
Our rabbi was a close friend of Dan’s grandparents and also had many connections to my family too.
For me, family is one of the most important things at a wedding. My grandpa, who was the only grandparent able to come all the way to Israel, gave us a blessing under the chuppah which meant the world to me, and as Dan’s grandpa was unable to join us, Dan chose to wear his tallis under the chuppah. We also used a kiddush cup that belonged to my great-grandpa, ensuring that all sides of our families were well-represented.
Aside from the basic ketubah that we had, we also had an artier one made to display at home, by Susie Lubell. She was so friendly, quick and was happy to make changes when they needed to be made.
Our music choice
Dan is not religious at all, so wanted to make sure the ceremony had meaning to him too. The way we did that was through the music. We had the Portnoy Brothers play – the worst part of this was that I missed most of their singing because I was the last one to come down the aisle!
Dan entered with his parents to an English/Hebrew version of ‘The Prayer’ by Celine Dion & Andrea Bocelli – his favourite song, and I walked in with my dad to ‘Mi Bon Siach’ to the tune of Leona Lewis’ ‘Footprints In The Sand’. For the seven circles they played ‘Boi Kala/Lecha Dodi’ to the tune of ‘Always Remember Us This Way’ from a Star is Born. They sang the Sheva Brachot for us to their own tune and of course the most amazing rendition of ‘Im Eshkachech’.
Our first dance was to ‘Say You Won’t Let Go’ by James Arthur.
Flowers
I have to be honest, I have literally no idea what type of flowers we had on the day! In Israel, they work differently to the UK, in that you tell them the colours you like and the style you want and then they choose whatever is freshest and prettiest on the day.
Much to my displeasure, we had prioritised the venue and the entertainment, ahead of the flowers which meant we had a smaller budget than we would have liked for the design. We used Cochav Hayam’s in-house designer, Hadar Ravid, and we set her the challenge of bringing my Pinterest boards to life, on a budget!
As we were not in Israel until 6 days before the big day, we heavily relied on Vicki to work with Hadar on our behalf – and she really made sure that all our requests were made into reality. We couldn’t have done it without her!
One of the best things we chose to do was to work with Israel Blooms. They are a non-profit organisation who come at the end of the wedding to collect a selection of the flowers which they then repurpose into small vases and give out in hospitals and old age homes. As most of our guests were not from Israel, no one was going to be making use of the flowers after the wedding so this was a perfect opportunity to brighten someone else’s day.
A few days after the wedding they sent us pictures and videos of them handing our flowers out, and as if I hadn’t cried enough, I was off again!
Photographer and videographer
Our photographer was Idan Canfi and he and his team were sensational! Choosing Idan was one of the best decisions we made.
He works very closely with Ruslan Shane who was the videographer we used on the day. The whole team were amazing, and managed to capture the atmosphere of the whole day without anyone even noticing they were there.
As well as being with us from 1pm on the day, a couple of days after the wedding Idan took us on a couple’s photoshoot where we walked around Neve Tsedek in Tel Aviv and took some of our favourite photos from the wedding.
We wanted a separate photoshoot as we knew the wedding started late and we wanted to make sure we had time to enjoy the wedding rather than missing an hour of it having pictures.
The day after the photoshoot, Idan sent us 75 edited pictures from the key moments during the day and from the photoshoot, and then the rest within 6 weeks of the wedding. We received the highlights video and a full 4 hour video of the wedding shortly after. We were so surprised and absolutely delighted when they landed in our inbox so soon – an excellent cure for wedding blues!
Food
In Israel most of the venues come with an in-house caterer and ours was the same. We used Indigo Kitchen, Cochav Hayam’s own caterer. The food was phenomenal and definitely plentiful. I’m so glad we managed to eat as much as we could at the food trial, because it’s so true what everyone says – you don’t eat at your own wedding!
Entertainment
Caliente provided all of the entertainment from the reception onwards. We had a sax player at the reception, their showband, Legend who were absolutely AMAZING and one of their DJs, Adam Lev, to dance us out to the end of the night.
Music was the most important thing to Dan – probably more so than me turning up – so he was very picky with what he wanted, and Legend dealt so well with all of his requests, including allowing him to perform with them, learning new songs for us and playing songs in between the Sheva Brachot after benching. We loved them; they built the atmosphere perfectly and kept the party going right until the end, when everyone was asking for more.
Despite being an Israeli band, so many guests thought we had flown them out from England as they nailed the English wedding vibe that we wanted.
Favours
We provided fans, flip flops, heel protectors and kippot.
In the lead up to the wedding we hosted individual Friday night dinners (we chose not to see each other from Friday until Sunday) and there we each handed out goody bags which included personalised Love Hearts and M&Ms, a ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign, hydration tablets, suncream, tissues and a poem that my parents had used at their wedding written by an old family friend.
Instead of a guest book, each guest had a ‘fill-in-the-blank’ card at their table place which they had to fill in. Many of these were done late into the evening, so we’ve got some very funny, drunken responses which I love!
Kids
We had quite a few young kids at our wedding who we wanted to keep occupied before they fell asleep so we had a toy and activity box made for us by Abeec Toys. It included colouring books, pens and crayons, balls and playing cards. The minute we put the box out, the kids dived straight into it.
Speeches
Quite early on in the planning process, we had decided that we wanted to limit speeches as much as we could. However, we ended up with way more than we had expected! Speeches are an excellent way to get as many people involved in the day as we could.
My brother and sister acted as chairmen for the evening. I had done the same with my sister for my brother’s wedding and with my brother for my sister’s wedding so it was nice for them to close the loop for me.
Both fathers chose to speak, and obviously the best man and the groom’s speech were both eagerly anticipated. We also wanted to ensure Dan’s sister was included too, so asked her to do the toast to the State of Israel.
It is a very English thing to do to have a toast to the Queen, and not a usual staple of weddings in Israel. However, I LOVE the Queen so it made perfect sense that Dan and I would give the honour of this toast to me. I knew I wanted to speak at the wedding, more than just a thank you at the very end (which I also did), and I couldn’t have been happier that I did this. For any brides debating whether or not to speak, you definitely should – your guests are the most supportive and loving audience you’ll ever have, and will enjoy your speech regardless!
Our guests were “blessed” with a few performances throughout the evening. One from Dan who sang a “set” of Lionel Richie songs, and another from the ushers. They surprised us with a dance to a whole medley of classic 90s pop songs (they’ve now dubbed themselves ‘No Sync’) – none of them will be winning Strictly anytime soon but they had the whole room on their feet and in absolute fits of laughter.
Honeymoon
A few days after the wedding, we went on a mini-moon to Beresheet Spa in Mitzpe Ramon, which was the perfect end to our holiday. We finally had some alone time and were able to go through all the messages, pictures and videos people had sent us. The hotel is in the middle of nowhere so it was pure relaxation. I also enjoyed my challenge of only eating yellow or brown foods there, and as many chicken nuggets as I could – I had literally been on leaves and air in the months leading up to the wedding!
Next year, we’re going on a big honeymoon to Australia and Thailand, planned by the super helpful Abby Taubman. Planning such a big trip at the same time as planning a wedding was a challenge I was not up for so getting help from a travel agent was absolutely necessary and Abby has been amazing.
Advice to couples currently planning their wedding
My biggest piece of advice is definitely to pick your battles. This is something I learnt from my new hubby – choose the things that are most important to you and stick to your guns. Unfortunately for anyone who came up against him, EVERYTHING was the most important thing for him. But if you don’t have a stubborn groomzilla as a partner then just stick to your guns on the key aspects!
Having a wedding planner (if your budget allows), either throughout the process or even just on the day, will make your life a million times easier. Vicki was the absolute best and made sure that the whole process was relatively stress-free for me, and it meant I could enjoy every second of the day.
Lindsay & Dan’s little white book
Photography – Idan Canfi
Honeymoon – Abby Taubman of Colletts Travel {offers a travel guide to the chosen destionation to all members of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club}
Videography – Ruslan Shane
Wedding planner – Victoria Rosen
Venue – Kochav Hayam
Bride’s dress – Essense of Australia found and fitted at Angelica Bridal
Bride’s shoes – Ted Baker
Bride’s accessories – Pronovias, Pandora and DJH Jewellery
Groom’s attire – Armani from Selfridges and Reiss
Bridesmaids – Monsoon and Next
Bestmen – M&S, Zara and Converse
Hair + Makeup – Hana’s Hair Designs and Suzy Makeup
Flowers – Hadar Ravid, reused by Israel Blooms
Chuppah music – Portnoy Brothers
Band – Legend from Caliente
Stationery – Creative Design by J9
Ketubah – Susie Lubell
Activity box for kids – Abeec Toys
Minimoon – Beresheet Spa
Smash The Glass Pouch – Smashing The Glass Etsy Shop {or join Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club and get one for free!}
