What. A. Wedding. We’re honestly STILL busy picking our jaws up off the floor from this one. One of our very favorite California venues, a truly breathtaking floral chuppah, colored smoke bombs, a magical, glittering gown from a fab Israeli designer… Jewish weddings don’t get much chicer than this.
Shaina and Shahab hit the bullseye when it came to combining their affinity for bold, bright, statement-making colors with the rustic-luxe vibes of the wonderful Hummingbird Nest Ranch. Their vibrant aesthetic really stands out from the pack — this is seriously one for the books! Photographer Katie Beverley did an epic job capturing all the gorgeous details and emotion of the big day.
Lucky Shaina just happens to be BFFs with mega-talented wedding planner Leora Soleymani of Best Bride (who did double duty as a bridesmaid on the day!), and we are totally blown away by how perfectly she pulled the vision for the day together.
Oh, and did we mention they picked the coolest ketubah from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Ketubah.com? They chose the beautiful papercut design because it features a gate that reminds them of the one at their venue! Love that.
There’s so much more we could say about this exquisite day, but we’ll leave it to the bride — who looked oh-so-stunning in the custom sparkly princess gown she worked with Israeli designer Idan Cohen to design — to fill you in on the rest.
Hummingbird Nest Ranch
Shaina, the bride: We got married at Hummingbird Nest Ranch in Simi Valley. From long before I was even engaged, I knew I wanted to get married there. I wanted something different, something magical, something natural. The ambiance and surroundings made me feel at peace, it had so much to offer.
I had also never been to a wedding there so it was exciting and unique to me. I wanted a blank canvas where I could design from scratch, and that’s exactly what Hummingbird gave me the opportunity to do. The entire property is breathtaking, from the mansion to the field, you can create whatever you dream. Shahab knew it would be a lot of work, but wanted a happy bride and went with the idea!
Modern Rustic
Our theme was modern rustic. We knew that the wedding would be completely outdoors, so we immediately thought rustic; however, a solely rustic wedding doesn’t really match our personalities, so we knew we needed to add an elegant, edgy touch to it. For example, our chairs were a mix of rustic, natural wood cross-backs and clear ghost chairs.
Our color scheme was inspired by my recently launched clothing line, Mars and Stars LA -that’s where all the personal touches came into play. I am all about vibrant colors and anything that pops. Everything was above and beyond what I could even imagine.
When Your BFF is a Wedding Planner
Nothing was more personal than my best friend being our wedding planner and my bridesmaid. Planning was much easier knowing that I had the best wedding planner in LA, Leora Soleymani of Best Bride.
She planned everything to perfection which made the day go so smoothly, her team had everything under control. She knows us both very well and made sure to incorporate our style, what we like, and everything about us because we grew up together. She helped create a wedding she knew everyone would love.
She added so many little touches and details that we would have never thought about. I didn’t realize what an essential piece wedding planners play and what a difference they can make to the planning process and ensuring everything is done right from the beginning, most importantly creating something so beautiful without any stress.
The design and colors used throughout my wedding just made me happy and I believe that it’s important to design your wedding true to who you are – this way your wedding itself can tell your story. For this, I am extremely grateful to my wedding planner Leora Soleymani from Best Bride Wedding Planning Agency who worked graciously day and night to bring my vision to life.
An Idan Cohen Dress
My dress was from Kinsley James Bridal in West Hollywood. It was the best experience of my life working with them from the first day to the very last. Everyone that worked there became family by the time my dress was completed.
My dress was designed by Idan Cohen, an Israeli designer based in Tel Aviv. I was attracted to his collection the most as I walked past each dress that was lined up on the rack! I wanted something with glitter and sparkle, and that is exactly what I found in Idan’s recent collection.
There were two dresses that I fell in love with, and I wished to have a combination of the two. That’s when the team at Kinsley James mentioned how Idan can also make custom gowns! From that point on, I knew he would be making my dress. Together with him, I was able to create the most magical, whimsical dress of my dreams by putting my vision and his vision together!
A Bright Floral Chuppah
I really wanted something that stood out and made a statement, full and lush with bright florals. When meeting with our floral designer, Inna from Butterfly Floral, I brought in printed images for inspiration. She took all my inspiration and created the most perfect harmony between everything I wanted.
My chuppah and all the florals were truly breathtaking and more then I could have ever imagined. The colors were very bold – at first I was worried it might be too much but she made it so perfectly that it became a statement that expressed my true personality and style.
I feel that a chuppah sets the tone for the wedding, it’s one of the first design statement pieces many guests see and it is such a focal point. I am so happy I put emphasis on the chuppah. We have so many photos under it and it really shaped everything. The ceremony and my chuppah definitely formed one of my favorite parts of the entire day.
Sunset Ceremony
We had planned to have our whole chuppah ceremony during daylight, but as so often happens, we were running behind our timeline. It ended up that the wedding party walked down the aisle just as the sun started to set.
Once it was my turn to enter, the colors in the sky started to change, creating a magical ambiance for this special moment. The beautiful colors of the early evening sun reflected my vision for the whole theme. My dress started sparkling even more and it was the most amazing moment. It went more perfectly than we had ever imagined.
The Perfect Ketubah
We scrolled through Ketubah.com in search of the perfect ketubah. We wanted something that went with the vibe of our wedding. We were excited when we found one that was a cut out of a large gate, and we both agreed that it was the perfect design. It reminded us of the beautiful gate at Hummingbird Nest Ranch.
Photographer
Katie Beverley was our wedding photographer. We had come across Katie’s Instagram page and loved how true to color her photographs are! Her photos capture exactly how everything looks in real life, and that is what we wanted. She and her team took us all over the Hummingbird Nest Ranch property to get all of the perfect shots to capture our memories.
Bright Bouquets
The flowers were mixtures of yellows, reds, pinks, and oranges – of my favorite colors – with plenty of greenery added. Our floral designer, Inna from Butterfly Floral did the most amazing job from the colorful chuppah to the lush centerpieces on our reception tables to all of the gorgeous bouquets.
All of the florals were so bright and warm and really created the most wonderful energy throughout the day. I let her know my colors and she created the most beautiful atmosphere, I almost felt as though the florals told a story… we incorporated fruits like lemons and grapes into our arrangements too, which added so much life.
A Very colorful wedding party shoot
We had so many moments that we loved from our wedding.
One of the highlights was our super fun shoot with our bridesmaids and groomsmen. We wanted something different, unique, and fun! We had colored smoke bombs go off in the middle of a field and the entire wedding party danced through the colors! It was perfect for the fun and colorful vibe of the entire day. The photos turned out amazing!
Another really unique part of the night was our photobooth by California Booth Bus! The cutest vintage blue Volkswagen bus held our photobooth, and our guests got to bring home printouts of the photos they had taken. It added a fun and whimsical touch, and everyone loved it!
We also loved the sparklers that we lit during the cutting of our cake! It was a special moment that our guests could be a part of and made for some super cute photos.
Signature drinks
Finally, our signature drinks were so fun and made the bar so personal! We created the Mangoli Mango and the Zaraberry Splash drinks that we personalized with our last names and fun flavors. Salute Bar Events made sure that everyone got to try our special drinks.
Advice to couples currently planning their wedding
This is a piece of advice a family friend of mine told me before I got married, and I would love to share it with everyone else: at some point during your wedding, take a moment and step “out” of your wedding.
Look at everyone who is celebrating your most special day and just repeat to yourself, “Wow, this is our wedding, and this is everything we’ve done. Everyone is here for us!” Oftentimes, we lose ourselves on this busy day, and it is important to ground yourself and be in the moment.
Shaina & Shahab’s little white book
Photography – Katie Beverley
Ketubah – Ketubah.com {offers 10% discount to all members of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club}
Wedding planner – Best Bride
Venue – Hummingbird Nest Ranch
Bride’s dress – Idan Cohen found and fitted at Kinsley James Bridal
Flowers – Butterfly Floral
Photobooth – California Booth Bus
Signature drinks – Salute Bar Events
