It’s always a treat when we get to blog the gorgeous Jewish wedding of one of our beloved Brides Club members, and Miriam’s fabulous Israeli-American celebration to groom Idan is no exception.
There’s so much to love about this wedding. Miriam, who’s American Ashkenazi, and Idan, who’s Yemenite Israeli, lead an international, multicultural lifestyle, splitting their time between Virginia and Israel, and their big day followed suit – read on to find out about some of the beautiful Yemenite traditions the couple incorporated into their celebration, and don’t miss the stunning photos by Reouven Ben Chaim.
Miriam and Idan worked with the wonderful Yana from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Craspedia Events (who the duo found right here on STG) to plan their wedding, and they loved how she and her team not only helped them enjoy wedding planning minus the stress but also helped them add in all kinds of special details reflecting their lives and love story.
Miriam and Idan also took advantage of a Brides Club discount in ordering a second ketubah with custom text (to complement the traditional one provided by their rabbi) from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor ketubah.com. They chose a paper cut design by artist Enya Keshet, and report that they were very impressed with ketubah.com’s speed and responsiveness.
There’s so much more to say about this joyous wedding – we love that Miriam chose to focus on her values of sustainability and ethical labor when making choices like her beautiful dress from Australian brand MLM Label – but we’ll let the bride herself fill you in on the rest…
How we Met
Miriam, the bride: Idan and I met about 7 years ago while both living in Israel, in an amazing coincidence – we met as the spontaneous ‘plus ones’ to our friends’ first date at a bar in Tel Aviv. My friend (also an American, who at that point I had only known for about a week, and is today one of my best friends!) had hit it off with a guy; she asked me to come to their first date to keep an eye out as she was nervous.
The guy (Idan’s best friend) asked Idan to come with him to help translate the date, as he was self-conscious about his English. I stood in the corner and hung out with other friends to keep “an eye out”, while Idan translated the date – until his friend kicked him out :). Idan and I met again the following week at a party, and have been together ever since. And our friends are now happily married with a beautiful baby girl!
Venue
We got married at a venue called Shalosh ((שלוש בית לאירועים in Or Yehuda, Israel. Like so many other couples, Idan and I had planned to get married a year ago when things seemed a bit more calm – but then the war in Israel hit, along with the Delta wave, and we decided to postpone. It was a heartbreaking decision at the time, but definitely the right one – we are glad we waited until it was safer to have our friends and family join us.
Shalosh was our original venue – it’s close to our home in Israel, was within our budget, and we just loved the team there from our very first conversation. Everyone was so kind and professional, and that was really important to us. We looked at some of the larger outdoor venues, and while they were absolutely stunning we didn’t feel the immediate “connection”. Shalosh has an outdoor chuppah and a glass walled indoor venue, but still has the feel of an airy, outdoor space. Plus, the food is INCREDIBLE!
What ‘Smashing The Glass Brides Club’ Did For Us
Being a part of Brides Club was such a great experience – not only are there so many resources that were very helpful while planning a wedding during Covid, but the sense of community was really comforting. Everyone was so kind and supportive (especially Karen!), and it was really rewarding to get to see how other women experienced their planning processes and weddings all over the world. I spent hours looking at pictures and blog posts (like this one!) while planning the wedding. We found our wedding planner (Yana at Craspedia Events), our engagement shoot photographer, and our ketuba from the STG vendor list and loved getting to use the discounts.
Theme
We worked with the wonderful Yana from Craspedia Events to create our wedding, and we loved how it turned out! It was important to me that Idan and I were reflected in the little details, and Yana (along with her team) helped us figure out exactly how to do that. A great example: the week before the wedding, my mom and I went to Nahal Alexander on the coast – a place that has a lot of significant to me, Idan, and my mom. We spent the afternoon doing a beach clean up (something we love doing together) and collecting these beautiful rocks with holes in them – I’ve had a rock collection since I was a kid, and lots of rocks from this specific place at our home.
We had a last minute idea to put the rocks on the tables at the wedding tied to little notes that thanked people for coming in both English and Hebrew, and Yana + Racheli (our florist) decided to add sprigs of rosemary to each one – something that represents both Idan and my grandmothers. Our friends helped us tie the notes to the rocks, and Yana made sure they were present at each and every place setting – it was so special, and they made it happen so beautifully.
It was a blast working with Yana – I felt a lot of stress leading up to the event (planning a wedding while not physically in Israel was challenging), and seeing how she navigated everything calmly and executed everything the way it needed to happen in the weeks leading up to the event helped me relax. Everything turned out so beautifully and with no glitches, so we were able to just focus on getting married 🙂
Invitations / stationery
I designed our invitations at home using Canva! We printed them at our local print shop, and decided to create special envelopes to bring some extra personality to them – my mom and I spent an afternoon picking out handmade papers at PaperSource and creating envelopes to fit the invitations before sending to guests. It was a really special way to spend time together, and we got to pick out funky papers that we thought our friends and family would love – we had a blast!
Hair + Make-up
Ela Ran did my hair + make-up. She’s incredible! She understood exactly what I wanted – a natural look with big waves that helped me feel elegant – and she made it happen in such a way that it lasted the entire day and night, despite the heat, wind, and lots of dancing.
An MLMDress
My dress was from MLM Label, a small clothing brand in Australia. It was really important to me that the things that often surround a bride at a wedding – rings, dress, flowers, etc. – were grounded in what I value; it can be so easy to get swept up in things when planning, and I wanted to be intentional about as much as possible. I care deeply about sustainability and ethical labor, so I knew that I wanted my dress to reflect both of those things. When I first ordered my dress in October of 2020 online, MLM (which is a brand dedicated to transparency and ethical production, which is a big challenge in fashion!) had just launched a bridal line.
I reached out to the company to learn more about what was entailed, and was able to speak with the founder about their materials, factories, and labor policies. MLM is women-owned and run, and my dress is made from bamboo silk – a more sustainable alternative to traditional silk. It was created in a family-run factory in Bali, and the MLM team is committed to living wages and safe, comfortable production spaces – as well as transparent, positive relationships with the factory.
The folks at MLM also were kind enough to make a few modifications to the dress, and when it arrived sight-unseen at my house a few months later I knew it was definitely the right dress… I just felt like “me” in it, which I hadn’t felt with anything else. Being able to learn about the process behind the dress was really meaningful for me, and I really enjoyed getting to create the connection with both the dress and the brand behind it.
I changed into a second dress for the later dancing. The second dress was a second-hand BHLDN dress from “Brides for a Cause”, a store that collects and resells wedding dresses, and raises money for various charities from the profits. Finding this dress was particularly serendipitous, as I had tried on the longer version at BHLDN several months prior but it was out of my budget. And then here it was – a second-hand version (which was ideal), on instagram, no less!
Accessories
I had a beautiful veil from Ofrenda Studio that I bought in 2020. A friend shared their Instagram with me and I fell deeply in love on the spot! The Nuit veil is hand embroidered with flowers that have special meaning for transitions, especially those based in love. I’m still so in love with it, and I’m really looking forward to incorporating the beautiful piece into other areas of our life in the future!
Shoes
I have never been happier to have a change of shoes on hand! I wore a pair of 4” white block heels that I bought on a whim online for pictures before the chuppah, which (despite having worn them around the house a bunch to “break them in”) hurt terribly about an hour into wearing them – seeing Idan, who also had blisters from his shoes, and I hobble around between pictures was quite funny.
Luckily I brought a few other options just in case, and I changed into a pair of cream low, strappy heels from Reformation for the chuppah, then a pair of light grey flat vegan sandals from TKEES for dancing. The sandals from TKEES were an absolute dream – so comfortable, and let me forget about the blisters for the whole night! I love them so much I’ve worn them already a bunch since the wedding.
The handsome groom
I love love love Idan’s suit – it was this awesome mint green color. A friend of his gifted him the suit before the wedding, and it was this perfect, unique fit for him. He wore white tennis shoes, a floral pocket square, and his favorite watch to complete the look, but what really made him shine was the confidence and happiness that was just oozing out of him – when I saw his enormous, beautiful smile when walking down the aisle, all the nerves just melted away. He looked amazing!
Bridesmaids
I didn’t choose formal bridesmaids, but I was lucky to be surrounded by nearly all of my best friends. I asked everyone to come wearing whatever they were comfortable and festive in, and to feel free to be inspired by colors of the desert (one of Idan and my favorite places)- and everyone came in outfits that reflected their personalities and felt like part of a larger story. We met up just before the wedding in Jaffa to spend some quality time together and take some fun pictures, and we had such a good time!
Ceremony
Idan and I lead a life of blended Jewish cultures and traditions; my family is Ashkenazi American, and his is Yemenite Israeli so we make a lot of effort to create a shared experience that honors both of our families and traditions – that’s true for our daily life, and also for our wedding! Since our wedding was in Israel and the majority of guests were Israeli, our ceremony ended up being entirely in Hebrew; it was special to see that even non-Hebrew speakers were moved and were able to follow along with English programs we printed.
After the bedeken, which we did just before walking down the aisle to the chuppa together, we took a moment to circle each other 3 times – a nod to the Ashkenazi tradition of circling under the chuppa.
Under the chuppa itself, our rabbi (who is also Yemenite, and a childhood friend of my husband) led a historical ceremony from Yemen commemorating the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem – a ceremony that fits nicely with the smashing of the glass, which comes right after. In the ceremony, the rabbi placed ash on Idan’s forehead where he typically wraps tefillin as a reminder to always reflect on the work of repairing and building our physical and spiritual worlds.
It was something Idan and I had never heard of prior, and felt meaningful to bring in to our chuppah. My mom also hand crocheted all the kippot for our family and friends in our favorite colors, and created a special ring pillow from the silk from her wedding dress – it was so meaningful to have these special pieces surrounding us. Racheli Rosenbach, our florist, created the floral design for the chuppa at the venue – it was beautiful!
Ketubah
We had two ketubot for the wedding: a traditional, halakhic ketuba in the Yemenite tradition that we used under the chuppa, and a second ketuba in English and Hebrew with a special text that we selected to reflect our relationship. The first ketuba was provided by our rabbi. The second was designed by Enya Keshet, an Israeli artist. It’s a paper cut piece that we ordered from ketubah.com using the Brides’ Club discount; they were incredibly responsive and very quick!
We needed a rush order, and they had the ketuba completed and shipped, with our personalization, within 2 days. We love it. We were lucky enough to have two special ceremonies with our ketubot; the first was a private signing ceremony with friends, and the second was according to a special Yemenite wedding minhag where the groom and witnesses sign the ketuba under the chuppa itself while our community sang.
Our Music Choice
Listen – we are OBSESSED with our DJ, May Gadasi. He is an absolute wizard. Before the wedding, we met with May to go over all the songs for the various parts of the wedding, and we had the best time sitting in his studio and listening to music – from that moment on, we knew that the music at the wedding was going to be amazing. Idan and I love music and have very eclectic taste – everything from Israeli Mizrahi music to bachata to American rock classics from the 70s.
He put so much effort and care into making sure that the music reflected what we love, and that the atmosphere of the night was just crazy fun for everyone. He’s not only a very talented DJ, he’s also a great guy – and having him with us for the entire night added so much simcha to our wedding!
For the processional, Idan selected a version of ‘Boei B’shalom’ sung by Gavriel Sharem as he walked with his family; I chose ‘V’ani Ashir Uzecha’ by Josh Warshawsky, a song that means a lot to both me and Idan. It’s a long song, and May figured out a way to play it so that the ‘peak’ of the song played exactly when Idan and I met for the bedeken before walking down the aisle together – I have chills thinking about it, it was so special.
We didn’t have a first dance, choosing instead to go straight into separate dancing with a mechitza for the first 30 minutes, then mixed dancing for the rest of the night. I’ll never forget a moment towards the end of the evening where May put on a Backstreet Boys remix, and everyone went absolutely wild – I remember looking around, and seeing so many friends and family from all areas of our life dancing and having fun. It was incredible!
Flowers
I wanted the flowers throughout the entire wedding – from table to bouquets, etc. – to feel “wild”; lots of texture and greenery with whites and creams and pops of colors. Racheli Rosenbach, our florist, just got it from the very first conversation with her, and she created such a beautiful space for us. She also created a gorgeous bouquet for me with peonies, my favorite flower, which were actually quite challenging to find! On the tables at the reception before the chuppa, we had pots of herbs (rosemary, mint, basil and the like) that people could take home with them – Idan and I love having spices and herbs at home in our kitchen, and we wanted people to be able to bring home their very own after the wedding.
Photographer and videographer
We cannot say enough good things about our photographer and videographer, Reouven Ben Chaim and Genadi Fumm. First and foremost, we loved how comfortable they made us feel on the day of the wedding – both of them are incredibly kind and fun, and Idan and I both felt instantly relaxed and comfortable in front of the camera (which is not easy for us! We’re both shy in front of cameras, and have had experiences in the past where we felt super awkward having our pictures taken – so it was a big task for them to help us feel like ourselves 🙂 ).
It felt like hanging out with two friends during the day of the wedding; we took photos at the Setai Hotel and on the streets of Jaffa before the chuppah, and having a chance to be together and have fun really helped Idan and I approach the chuppah itself feeling grounded, excited, and less nervous. We’re totally and completely in love with the photos Reouven took – it really feels like he was able to capture us naturally, and the atmosphere of the wedding itself. We haven’t gotten the video back yet from Genadi, but I’m sure it will be the same!
Food and Cake
Our venue provides the food, and it was fantastic Mediterranean style dishes – can’t say enough good things about the food. The space is set up so that the guests can see the open kitchen, and each dish is made to order so it felt very interactive. We decided not to have a cake, which was probably a good thing – we were so busy dancing, we missed the dessert that was served anyway!
Favours
We had the pots of herbs for people to take home, and the little rocks with a special note + sprig of rosemary. As is pretty typical at Israeli weddings, we also had an additional photographer come and take photos during dinner and dancing that were then printed right then and there on magnets, which people could take home – this was a big crowd pleaser, especially for our American guests! It’s been fun to get pictures in the weeks after the wedding of the magnets on people’s fridges at home.
Extra details
Our ‘wedding’ actually was a series of events leading up the wedding day itself, and I am so glad that we planned it this way – it gave us a chance to spend quality time in different environments with a lot of our guests, especially those that came in from abroad. It also was an opportunity for us to share our life here in Israel with family and friends who haven’t visited us here before, and we are so grateful for that time spent together!
We started off the week with a traditional Yemenite hina ceremony at Idan’s parents’ home; Dorit Hina Designs designed the event, Sweet Concept catered, and our families helped put it all together in the yard. It was really special to get to share Idan’s cultural traditions with my side, and to experience it myself! Everything from the decorations to the music to the outfits was so beautiful, and we had so much fun dancing and celebrating.
Next, we had a welcome dinner at West Side TLV for the guests who came in from out of town; this was an opportunity for our friends and family to share toasts and speeches. We spent all night together enjoying delicious food and wine – we’ll never forget the love we were surrounded by that night, and how amazing it was to have everyone in one room together.
The night before the wedding, I had a special evening with friends at the mikveh and at a surprise party organized by two close friends and my now-sister-in-law – it was so fun, and a great opportunity to get to spend some casual, festive time together before the craziness of the big day.
Finally, on the wedding day, we tried to spend as much time as possible with our loved ones – I had a quick breakfast at Puaa in Jaffa with my friends before getting ready, and Idan spent time with his brothers during the day. In the afternoon, the women in my family/friends stopped by; it was lovely to get to spend time with people who have known me since I was born as I prepared for the day :).
At the chuppah itself, we chose not to do “honors”, instead finding other ways to show our gratitude and love for people through the wedding event and the events before and after – for example, having a few friends sign our second ketubah as witnesses before; creating birconim with friends in the weeks leading up; asking a longtime family friend to represent my family in the meeting with the rabbi before the chuppa alongside Idan’s dad; and other things like that.
We also had a collective art project on display at the wedding, based on one of Yoko Ono’s pieces in her book, “Grapefruit”; we asked everyone to draw a circle on a piece of paper. At the end of the night, we had a piece of paper filled with all kinds of circles from all kinds of people, and we can’t wait to hang it up in our home!
Honeymoon
We went to Greece for a few days for a “mini-moon” after the wedding, and it was INCREDIBLE. We had the best time! Greece is just a skip over from Israel, so it made sense timing-wise for us. We stayed on Paros Island, at the Aloni Hotel – I cannot recommend this hotel enough. It is absolutely gorgeous, and the family that runs the hotel are the nicest, most caring people. We wish we could’ve stayed forever.
The island itself is amazing, and wasn’t crowded this time of year so we were able to have more of a private experience soaking up some sun, eating great food, and zooming around the beautiful island on an ATV we rented. It was absolute heaven. Sandy at A Premier Travel helped us do some of the planning; she’s lovely and very professional.
Advice to couples currently planning their wedding
Time does a funny thing at weddings… it just slips away so fast! Everyone told me before the wedding that it will go by fast, and wow they were right. I tried to mitigate this by taking a moment whenever I remembered to stand still, look around, and absorb all the incredible energy around me – and then move on to the next moment! The harder I tried to “grab” the moment and keep it, the harder it was to actually remain present; for me, just “flowing” allowed me to enjoy the most and feel the most connected to the people and moments around me.
The biggest lesson I learned is to worry less about what others’ experiences will be like. I was so caught up for so many weeks about how people will feel, what they will think, and if they will have a good time – these are good things to consider, but I let it consume me and it ended up taking away a bit from my experience leading up to the wedding. I would suggest to others that struggle with this: if you are grounded, happy, and relaxed, everyone else will be, too. At the end of the day, your experience is the one you will remember. Don’t try to over-manage the experience of other people, no matter how much you love them!
MIRIAM & IDAN’S LITTLE WHITE BOOK
Photography – Reouven Ben Chaim
Videography – Genadi Fumm
Wedding planner – Craspedia Events {offers 10% discount to all members of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club}
Venue – Shalosh
Bride’s dress – MLM Label
Bride’s shoes – Reformation TKEES
Bride’s accessories – Ofrenda Studio
Hair + Makeup – Ela Ran
Flowers – Racheli Rosenbach
DJ – May Gadasi
Catering – Shalosh
Ketubah – ketubah.com (Enya Keshet)
Rabbi – haRav Roei Avraham
Honeymoon – via A Premier Travel
Smash The Glass Pouch – Smashing The Glass Etsy Shop {or join Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club and get one for free!}
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.