When American couple Ayia and Christopher, both emergency room nurses, decided on a destination wedding in Israel, they knew they needed a stellar planner on the ground to make the day of their dreams a reality. They found the perfect fit in Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Bebke, led by dream team Inbar and Gev. To quote Ayia, Bebke is “a creative powerhouse,” and helped the duo with everything from finding the perfect only-in-Israel venue to incorporating the groom’s Cambodian heritage into the day.
Ayia and Christopher knew they wanted to get married somewhere with character and history – the kind of space that couldn’t be anyplace else but Israel – and Bebke delivered: hidden away in Jaffa’s artistic alleys, The Noor is an absolute stunner, the kind that really encapsulates the magic of Israel.
We also love the way Bebke worked with the couple to incorporate Cambodian culture into the day, culminating in a traditional Cambodian/Khmer string tie ceremony. Ayia and Christopher changed into traditional outfits and knelt on colorful pillows, with incense burning and traditional Cambodian wedding music playing in the background, as each guest approached them and tied a red string on both the bride and groom’s wrist, followed by a blessing for a happy and healthy marriage. Don’t miss Mor Elnekave and Ben Mizrachi’s exquisite photos of this unmissable moment.
How We Met
Ayia, the bride: We met on a dating app as it was the heart of Covid and everything was closed. We bonded knowing we were both working so hard, and dealing with so much sadness and stress in the emergency room. It bonded us. We met a month later and it was all history from there 🙂
A Wedding in Israel
The Noor in Jaffa, Israel. We chose this venue because we had a vision to get married somewhere that had a unique character, history and authenticity. Most of all, it was very important that our guests coming from the US and Europe, would feel they are at a destination wedding IN Israel, and not just another typical/basic wedding venue. We wanted to tell a story. The Noor was the right place. With historic stone walls, beautiful architecture, archways, velvet curtains, a 280 plus year old building with so much history, near the lively market and beautiful sea.
The venue had 6 rooms divided by the velvet curtains and arched doorways. One of a kind. It was hidden within the artistic alley ways, a building you would never imagine had such a beautiful space inside. The exterior has a beautiful large arched white door with green vines all over it. We chose this venue while living in California, thru pictures and videos. It was a risk, but we trusted our wedding planners. When we arrived in Israel and did the walk thru, we were blown away and truly felt the magic; everything we envisioned.
Theme + Planner
As for wedding planners, we worked with the company Bebke, an amazing power couple, husband and wife, Inbar & Gev. Inbar is an energetic, sweet woman who gets things done, and Gev is a creative, smart, cool calm and collected man. Together, they took care of us from A-Z. They made the process easy and gave us everything we wanted (plus more)! Always available for us and guiding us. They even took care of things for us while in. Israel for the welcome party (2 days before the wedding), and days after the wedding. They are a creative power house and create one-of-a-kind events! They were incredible. Became family.
We wanted a European vintage glamour theme. We stuck to whites, creams, beiges, golds and greens. Because, I, the bride, was born in Israel, we wanted to stick to the mediterranean (olive) colors. The Groom is Cambodian so we wanted to incorporate both Israeli/Jewish culture and Cambodian culture. The wedding planners incorporated oriental touches for the Cambodian part of our wedding. Thats where the gold touches came in to play.
Invitation
Our save the date and invitation was electronic. We chose this route because all of our guests are all over the world. They were so cute with the world map and a location pin heart on Israel, and with destination wording such as “Save the date and PACK YOUR BAGS! Fly with us… as we journey to Israel for our wedding”.
Hair + Makeup
Hair: I decided to go with an up-do, an elegant sleek low bun and loose hairs in front of my ears. I felt the dress was a statement and I didn’t want to take away from it. Later when I changes into my 3rd party dress, the hair went down and wavy! My hair stylist was amazing, the BEST. Almog Cohen. An Israeli hair stylist that does high fashion models and celebrities.
Make-up: I wanted to have an elegant simple look with smokey brown eyes that made the green in my eyes pop and nude lipstick. I looked flawless, like an IG filter! I had Adi Solomon as a makeup artist. The BEST as well!
An Ysa Makino Dress
When I found my dress, I felt it was the perfect combination of elegant and chic. Bold, yet classy. When I put it on, I felt like a queen. The bridal store I purchased at (J. Del Olmo Bridal on Miracle Mile in Miami, Florida), was the most accommodating, amazing team. I wore 3 different outfits on our wedding day. The traditional wedding gown for the ceremony, cocktail hour and dinner, a Cambodian traditional wedding outfit (along with the groom, bridesmaids and groomsmen who wore some as well), and lastly, a beautiful and fun short party dress for the reception.
Wedding Gown designer: Ysa Makino, a Japanese designer. The style is one of a kind, couture strapless mermaid design. Layered satin on top (like origami), and layered flow tulle at the bottom.
Traditional Khmer/Cambodian bridal: was custom made and brought from Cambodia. I was dressed in cream and gold. With layers and layers of gold jewelry from a head crown, ear crowns, anklets, bracelets all the way to the elbow, arm cuff, necklace and earrings. The groom was as well. Well, not as much jewelry as the bride.
The “Cloud” Bridal Party Dress: Custom hand made dress from WOMANCE. A company in Spain. A white short dress , long sleeves and deep low open back. The dress had a soft touch of sequins and white ostrich feathers at the end of the sleeves and bottom of the dress. Pure magic.
Accessories
For the wedding gown: I had a beautiful cathedral veil with small pearl details. Also from J. Del Olmo Bridal. Jewelry was simple and elegant. Vintage YSL statement earrings, tennis diamond bracelet and my diamond ring.
Jimmy Choo Shoes
My heels were beauties, and comfortable. Jimmy Choo. All pearl, open toe with a thick 3 inch heel. Pearls covered every part of the shoe. I wore these with my wedding gown and Cambodian outfit. With the 3rd dress, I wore white rhinestone mule pumps from Lulus, and then changed into white converse so I can dance the night away!
The handsome groom
The handsome groom wore a black paisley tuxedo for the ceremony, cocktail hour and dinner, then changed into the traditional Khmer/Cambodian outfit.
- The black tuxedo (local tuxedo store in California): Had a paisley design on the jacket with a subtle shine on the paisley, black pants hemmed just above the ankle, white button down shirt, black bow-tie and black velvet dress loafers.
- Khmer outfit: Cream and gold with gold necklace
Bridesmaids
Yes, I had 5 bridesmaids. They wore different shades of greens (olive, sage, olive-lime, army & forest green) for the ceremony, cocktail hour and dinner, then changed into the traditional Khmer/Cambodian outfits for the string ceremony and party, which were olive green, gold and cream colored.
The groom also had 6 groomsmen who wore black tuxedos with black ties, white button down shirt and Black dress loafers. They also changed into the traditional Khmer/Cambodian outfits for the string ceremony which were gold shirts and they kept their black pants and black shoes on.
Ceremony & Chuppah
The ceremony was in the outside/inside garden room. Upon entry we had individual tissue packets for the guests that stated “for your happy tears”, and personalized yarmulkas for the men. We wanted the ceremony to be a mixture of American and Jewish, so we started off with the bridesmaids and groomsmen walking down the aisle to the chuppa first. Then the groom was walked in/down by his parents who both wore traditional Khmer/Cambodian outfits. Then I was walked in and half way by my mother and father. Then the groom came to me for the badeken. Then once we were under the chuppa with our parents on each side of us and bridesmaids/groomsmen to the sides of them, the best part… the officiant said “Wait, I think we are missing the most important part, the rings!”
That cued the DJ to play the Mission Impossible theme song and our youngest son (my step son), 8 years old, walked in and down the aisle as the “ring security”! He had a briefcase that was labeled “Ring Security”, black aviator sunglasses, a CIA ear piece and an officer badge. He really took on the role and was in full character. Serious and on a mission 🙂 It made the crowd laugh and go wild. He brought us the rings and we continued. We had a ketuba that was very special which we created and had the help of Bebke to print it. It was unique for us to incorporate our life of blending families/cultures. We also practiced the breaking glass saying in Hebrew (although we both don’t read Hebrew, the groom does not speak Hebrew and I just speak and understand Hebrew), and we read it together during the ceremony before breaking the glass.
We then BOTH broke the glass together. We did some things our way, and not traditional, because we wanted to be united in the ceremony. We danced after and the guests moved over to the inside of the venue for the cocktail hour, while we took pictures in the streets and alleys of Jaffa.
For the chuppah, we stuck to the simple drapery, white flowers and greenery. The garden room had a glass ceiling, beautiful green foliage (plants) on the walls, with a long beautiful middle eastern style rug for the aisle and white chairs. It was still light outside so the room was beautiful with natural light.
Our music choice
For the groom walking down the aisle: ‘Lift me Up’ by Rhianna. For the bride walking down the aisle we played: ‘Can’t help falling in love’ – the version by Kina Grannis. Bride & groom first dance: ‘Lifetime’ by Just Bieber. Father daughter dance: ‘Isn’t she lovely’ by Stevie Wonder. Groom & mother dance: ‘Have I told you lately’ by Rod Stewart
Photographer
We decided on Mor Elnekave. He is so artistic and talented. We both love art and creativity, and knew he was the one. He is known for “No Face”. Where he takes creative photos of people with something covering their faces in addition to the traditional wedding photos. He brought his team, which were AMAZING. This included a second photographer Ben Mizrachi, a polaroid photographer Maria Elnekave with the company Analogit (Mor’s wife) and videographer Adam.
Food and dessert table
OMG the food! Was out of this world! The food at our wedding was most important. We wanted it it to be an experience. We stuck to the Israeli/Middle eastern/Mediterranean theme. We hired an amazing chef, Chef Haim Sabah Cutura. The cocktail hour had a long table of Jerusalem bagels with a variety of hummus, salads and dips, and small tapas from fresh vegetables, fresh sashimi,/fish, meat and chicken. For dinner, we wanted a “king’s feast” family style. 9-10 different dishes were served to all of the tables as we wanted everyone to interact and eat like a big family dinner. The food was colorful, delicious and top of the line.
We did not have a traditional cake, we had a dessert table by Chef Haim with approximately 9 different style of desserts. We then had a “late night snack” at midnight with pita, shawarma, vegetarian cauliflower pita/veggie option and French fries.
Entertainment
For the cocktail hour we had a 3 man band playing Middle Eastern music (no singing) with instruments and for the rest of the wedding we had DJ Uri Bronfman. The band was the perfect vibe for Jaffa and great for background music while people ate and talked. The DJ was so fun and experienced. We wanted to have certain songs play during the party and having a DJ, you can provide them with a list.
The polaroid pictures from Analogit were the favors during the wedding. They were given in little frames. We wanted something different than the typical Israeli wedding favors where they get magnet pictures. They were vintage and it tied in to the historic vintage glamour theme.
Extra Details
One of the most special parts of the wedding was a traditional Cambodian/Khmer string tie ceremony after dessert. This included the bride and groom changing into traditional outfits, kneeling on bright colored and gold pillows, with incense burning, gold bowls, gold buddha and flower petals everywhere, and lets not forget, traditional Cambodian wedding instrumental music in the background.
Each guest approached us and tied a red string on both the bride and groom’s wrist, and said a sweet blessing for a happy and healthy marriage. The ceremony ended with flower petals thrown on us by all of the guests. We danced to traditional Cambodian music with everyone. This was the most incredible blending of cultures. The delicate golds and Cambodian touches really flowed well with the white elegance. And the Cambodian string ceremony set up was magical. We felt like king and queen.
We had 4 specialty cocktails that represented both the bride and groom. They were beautifully presented with colorful flowers and herbs.
- Indian Smoke: Tequila- for a tropical palate. We chose this one for the groom’s Cambodian culture & for the bride’s closest friends & family from Miami (smoky pineapple vapor on coals, fresh mango juice, lemon and chili salt on the rim)
- Loco rose: Tequila: Bride chose this because she loves florals (mild hibiscus and rose syrup and lemon) light and refreshing
- Lychee-chee-chee: Vodka- We chose this for the bride because of her love for herbs and refreshing palate (homemade vodka, lychee syrup, basil and lemon)
- Bonanza: Whiskey: we chose this for the groom as he loves/prefers whiskey drinks. (Fresh pineapple, lemon and bitters.
Our wedding planners surprised us with signs in the venue that stated “Welcome to the wedding of Ayia & Chris” and “This is where Happily Ever After starts 11 July 2023.”
Our hashtag was #HolyMAKtrimony (holy because the wedding was in the holy land and MAKtrimony because the definition of matrimony is the ceremony of getting married, and our last name is Mak). So we had a neon sign made for that which was hung behind the champagne tower. The champagne tower had beautiful vintage glasses and it was a beautiful moment for the bride and groom to have a toast and thank our guests for coming from all over the world.
During dinner, we had many beautiful speeches. The groom’s brothers spoke beautifully, the bride’s maid-of-honor and best friend, the bride’s mother and groom’s mother, and lastly, our middle son (13 yo) who thanked me as his stepmother which showed us he was accepting me into the family. It was beautiful. We laughed, we cried and we raised our glasses in celebration.
Honeymoon
As for a honeymoon, we didn’t have one because we decided to stay in Israel and show our guests the beautiful country, as our honeymoon. We planned trips and tours to Jerusalem and the Dead Sea with family and friends. We arranged two full days with a large bus, a tour guide and lunch. It was important to us to make this wedding week, an experience in Israel, and a special memorable trip; not just a destination wedding. This made our hearts full, instead of a honeymoon getaway trip, which we can do any time. Time with our loved ones mattered most.
***Side note, we started the wedding week with a Welcome Party in Tel Aviv. This was Sunday July 9th (2 days before the wedding when all the guests flew in and arrived). We booked a speakeasy style bar called “The Back Door” At the Imperial Hotel. We had a private event with a photographer, open bar with specialty cocktails and tapas. We danced, hugged, laughed and celebrated everyones arrival.
Advice to couples currently planning their wedding
Enjoy the process of planning. It can be stressful and overwhelming, but at the end of the day, it is fun and that’s what you have to keep reminding yourself. Trust the process. Hire a wedding planner that wants the best for you, and that you can trust. The best part is, you get to plan your dream wedding. Exactly how you want it! When your vision comes to life, it is so fulfilling! On the wedding day, just relax. Surrender. I woke up in pure peace. I realized everything was done, out of my control at that point and will all fall into place. I enjoyed the process and trusted it.
What ‘Smashing The Glass’ Did For Us
I love reading the different experiences and ideas. It really helped me when I first started planning because I did not know where to start. I found our wedding planners on Smashing the Glass !! Thank you 🙂
AYIA & CHISTOPHER’S LITTLE WHITE BOOK
Photography – Mor Elnekave
Second photographer – Ben Mizrachi
Planner – Bebke {offers 10% discount to all members of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club}
Venue – The Noor
Bride’s dress – Ysa Makino found at J. Del Olmo Bridal
Bridal party dress – WOMANCE
Bride’s shoes – Jimmy Choo
Bride’s accessories – J. Del Olmo Bridal
Hair + Makeup – Almog Cohen, Adi Solomon
DJ – DJ Uri Bronfman
Catering – Chef Haim Sabah Cutura
Polaroid Photographer – Analogit
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.
“Love is love”. Eternal blessings to this lovely couple and their families and friends.