One of the many reasons we love a good Israeli wedding is that the laid-back, cool vibe is simply impossible to replicate. Nir and Zlil’s Jewish wedding juxtaposed bright, summery colors and the natural beauty of their venue with a chic, urban aesthetic, created by fabulous photographers and insanely talented Recommended Vendors, Luz.
Beautiful bride, Zlil, looked every bit the ethereal, fairy princess in her stunning wedding ensemble. We are ridiculously in love with Inbal Dror‘s designs – sexy, confident, glamorous – and Zlil wore her glittery, dreamy gown like she was born for it. We’re not ashamed to admit we all have a massive girl crush on Zlil here at STG HQ. The couple look simply incredible together, like a pair of movie stars.
We really enjoyed the special wooden wedding wall, made just for the occasion, with candy and bubble guns available for instant fun! Yes please! The resulting effect was a dreamscape of bubbles floating about the ceremony – absolutely magical.
It’s one of those weddings we wish we’d attended – even just to sample the incredible spread on offer by caterer Taste and Color!
Videographer Tovy Berkovich created an absolutely amazing, cinematic wedding trailer, showcasing the best bits of Zlil and Nir’s big day in such an effortless and elegant way.
Over to Zlil for the full wedding report – take it away, Zlil!
How we met
Zlil, the bride: We studied at the same high school, but we barely knew each other until we got to the army. Nir served in the air force in Haifa as a course commander, and continued to study engineering. During our service, our relationship developed.
A perfect venue for temperamental weather
We got married at a mansion in Beit Hanan. We wanted a banquet hall close to our home town, Ness Ziona, with a lovely garden and trees, in nature. The venue was perfect for us, especially because we got married in March, when the weather can be temperamental.
The venue provided the perfect solution: an indoor event garden with fruit trees scattered around. The mansion was built in the late 1920s, in a colonial style, so it was really beautiful.
A candy wall
We are a young couple, both of us are 27, and many of our friends are our age, so it was very important to us that the wedding be joyful, colorful, young and vibrant.
Our décor scheme celebrated our love of summer: lots of flowers and table arrangements in warm, summer colors, candy scattered all over the place, and, of course, a matching invitation.
Ravit, the designer, made a specially designed, unique wooden wall for us with names and colors that matched the atmosphere and overall design of the wedding. On the wall was candy, soap bubbles, accessories such as hats, whistles and flip-flops.
Invitations designed by the groom
Nir is a graphic designer, and therefore the invitation was a project in itself.
Nir designed us custom cartoon characters in the style of a computer game that he likes, bringing in his love of computer games. The colors also celebrated the start of summer, with flowery and nature motifs in a color palette of yellow, green and brown.
An Inbal Dror dress
My dress was by Inbal Dror. I was familiar with Inbal’s work and loved her style, so she was absolutely my first choice. The service and one-on-one attention was amazing. She got to work on the very first day.
Inbal has a huge selection of dresses in lots of styles, and everything can be customized. Her staff was great at picking out styles for me, and presented all of the best possible options, before helping to narrow it down to the best choice for me, personally.
The results spoke for themselves. I received so many compliments, both on the day and afterwards.
Classic, minimalist jewelry
I borrowed my sister’s diamond earrings, a tennis bracelet that was a gift from Nir’s father, an engagement ring and a headpiece by Ravit Avital.
It was very important to me to match the jewelry to the overall style of my dress. I added the headpiece after deciding on how I would have my hair. It was important that the jewelry be minimalist and classic, so that they wouldn’t draw attention from the dress.
Carefully chosen shoes
I left the shoes until the last minute, as it was the one thing I wasn’t quite sure about. A week before the wedding, I went to Shoez in Kikar Hamedina. There was so much selection, it was almost overwhelming, but after much deliberation, I chose a mid heel that was portable, classic and clean.
The handsome groom
Nir wore a light grey suit with a burgundy, elegant leather shoes. He bought his entire outfit at the Don Amor store in Yavneh, including a button-up shirt etc.
Beautiful bridesmaids
I had two bridesmaids, childhood friends, who chose their own outfits.
A chuppah covered with vines
One of the reasons that we chose our venue was the stunning chuppah, so there was no need to add anything!
Everything about the venue was perfect, especially the open chuppah, covered with vines.
A simple, traditional ceremony
The ceremony was simple and traditional. What was important to us was the choice of the rabbi. Rabbi David Rahimi is our family rabbi, and married Zlil’s sister, so it was very special to be married by him.
Our eclectic musical choices
Nir loves music, and it was very important for him to make sure there was someone who we could trust to react to the crowd’s tastes and keep the party going.
To be honest, our amazing team went above and beyond our expectations. The music, the atmosphere they created, the energy they kept going into the small hours of the night!
Our processional song as we entered the chuppah was Comeback Story by Kings of Leon
During the wedding there was a lot of eclectic music – from the mainstream, through to songs in Moroccan, Eastern music to trance. It was amazing!
Our fabulous photographer…
Right from the start, we prayed that Luz would be free on our wedding date. Luckily, our wishes came true, and we booked them.
We had seen their professionalism and talent at several previous weddings, and we know that they were right for us.
Luz have a unique style and vision. They chose the most gorgeous backdrops: quirky and urban! The pictures speak for themselves.
Of course, the attitude and the atmosphere they create is amazing. They relieved stress, and created an orderly schedule for the wedding day, so that there would be time to capture everything.
…and videographer
We had Tovy Berkovich as videographer. He was a real professional, who we chose through Luz’s recommendation, although we knew who he was before. During the event, they worked so well together – the synchronization between them was perfect!
Delicious catering
Our catering was provided by Taste and Color, a regular caterer at our venue. Even at the tasting stage, we felt like kings! There was a huge selection of perfect dishes, varied options for every taste.
We had a variety of dishes at the reception, two types of dishes for the first course (omelette and chestnut gnocchi or kadaif cake with meat and rice), an entrée with entrecote steak and parmesan, stuffed with chestnuts and mushrooms with side purée), and salads throughout the event.
We had loads of delicious desserts and an after-party dish – toast and sausage.
A special surprise video
Our close friends prepared a video where they parodied a song and changed the lyrics. It was a very funny video, with a lot of jokes and special moments.
Advice to couples currently planning their wedding
The most important tip for brides and grooms is, of course, to take pleasure in your wedding day, with as little pressure as possible.
For example, Nir likes order and it is important for him to know that everything is organized and ready for that moment, so on the first day, we wrote down verything that came to our heasd – things you have to do, buy, prepare, order, etc.
This calmed us down, and allowed us to get to our special day, safe in the knowledge that everything was is in order, and even if something went wrong, it had a solution.
In addition, we appointed one or two of our relatives (the two brothers-in-law on both sides) who would be there on the day to take care of anything that needed organizing.
It is also important to really celebrate the wedding, and not to think about anything. At that point, it will work out by itself.
Zlil & Nir’s little white book
Make-up – Inbal Margalit
