Suzanne & Doron | Beach Party Jewish Wedding Weekend at Bayit Al Hayam, Jaffa, Tel Aviv, Israel

Hello weekend party people — this is Captain Karen speaking. Welcome aboard Smashing The Glass Airways. Hope you’ve packed your flip flops and party pieces as we’re going to Tel Aviv for a weekend long wedding!

This is the perfect post for a Friday, Not only because it’s beachy and full of sunshine and smiles — perfect for lifting our spirits on this dull January day — but also because it will breeze you into the weekend party spirit. I’m telling you, this folks, this is how you do a beach party wedding!

Suzanne and Doron (or Dozanne as they branded themselves for their wedding) are the smiliest and most fun-loving couple, and both hailing from London, they decided to have themselves a total party-fest of an Israeli destination wedding. The main affair took place in Bait Al Hayam, in Old Jaffa, and furnished Suzanne and Doron with the stunning vistas they were after with breathtaking views of the Tel Aviv coastline and Mediterranean sea. But they also incorporated all sorts of activities outside of the wedding itself, like Beach Olympics a couple of days before the wedding to give all the guests a chance to meet and get to know each other, and a Bedouin Beach BBQ to soak up the hangovers, the day after!

Suzanne is one sexy bride – that hair, those shoes, the dress! Her frock fits her like a glove and she shines in every single photo. And that Doron is pretty cute too…

Liron Erel captured the party vibes and good energies brilliantly with both the incredible wedding film at the end of the post (you have to watch it), and all of the wonderful photos.

Happy Weekend Smash-ers!

A beach wedding in the heart of Tel Aviv

Suzanne, the Bride: We originally wanted to get married right on the beach, but you can’t do that in Tel Aviv. It was important for us that the wedding was in Tel Aviv, so it would be easy for our guests who were flying in from abroad, especially those only coming for a long weekend. We wanted to minimise their travel time and maximise the party time!

When we saw the view from the roof of Bait Al Hayam, we were sold. It was overlooking the beach, which was the next best thing to being on it!

A 3 day wedding comprising beach olympics, the wedding itself, and a Bedouin Beach BBQ

We turned the wedding into a 3 day event for everyone and branded it up ‘Dozanne Do Marriage’ and  created a wedding website, using Wix.

The wedding started off with Beach Olympics on Friday, to give everyone a chance to meet and get to know each other. We hired out 9Beach in Herzliya, they organised sun loungers and chairs for us on the beach and served us drinks all day and night! We got two of our friends with a megaphone and a suitcase full of props, to be games-masters and had an amazing time drinking and playing games on the beach.

We then had the wedding itself, and the next morning we took all our hungover friends on a coach to a Bedouin Beach BBQ. We had a tent set up on the beach, with achairs, music, a bar and a BBQ! The perfect cure for a hangover, and accidentally another massive party! That was amazing and organised by Adi Amar.

We didn’t use a wedding planner. I had Doron, who is known for his love of spreadsheets. He pretty much organised the whole thing on his own! He was so good at it, I’m sure he could make a career out of it!

A hotel for the whole wedding party

We hired out a hotel for the whole wedding party to stay in for the five days over the wedding. This was one of my favourite things. We stayed at Casa Nova in Jaffa. Guy Katzeff looked after us so well! the morning after our wedding their was a big bouquet of flowers waiting in the room. It was such a nice touch! It was so great getting ready in the hotel, and it felt like our own private house.

The dress: Hollywood Glamour, beach-style!

My friends Sophie Hill at Threads Styling was responsible for my bridal look. She’s amazing! I couldn’t go for traditional bridal, as it was obviously too hot, so the look we went for was Hollywood Glamour, with the dress by Amanda Wakeley and earrings by Shourouk.

Skyscraper heels

As I’m short I needed the height with my dress, so I went for some amazing skyscrapers by Charlotte Olympia. I got them in dusty pink not white… let’s face it, if you’re going to spend that much on shoes, you want to wear them again!

hair + make up

I can not recommend my make-up lady enough, Diana Frenkel — I just loved her. She was so nice to have around on the day, and I loved what she did. We didn’t even have a trail, I think she nailed it!

the handsome groom

Doron wore a Paul Smith suit and Oliver Sweeney shoes. We left it way too late to sort out Doron’s outfit , so it proved to be difficult to arrange!

bridesmaids

I had my sister and best friend as bridesmaids. My dress was very simple, so we joked that they had to be my bling!

the ceremony

What was nice was we mixed the Israeli and Jewish traditions with English ones! I think both nationalities really enjoyed it as it was a different experience for everyone there. The English guests particularly liked the open bar! I think it’s the only time the English have got one over on the Israelis, as we drank it dry!

music for the ceremony

Walking down to the chuppah we played Ho Hey by The Lumineers Last year I went away for 9 weeks travelling through Central America with my two best friends, and that’s the song I used to listen to as it would remind me of Doron.

Immediately after the smashing of the glass we played, Florence and the Machine’s You’ve Got The Love. It just seemed like a good song choice, and all the guests said it made the hairs stand on end!

our amazing photographer and videographer

Liron Erel was recommended to Doron by Maya Bechor at Zebra Music. Doron gave me a shortlist of four photographers but as soon as I saw Liron’s website, I didn’t look at the others. I said to Doron, we have to have Liron! That was the easiest decision we made for the entire wedding! There’s just something so captivating about his pictures. His style is incredible. Since our wedding, twoof our friends have booked him for their big days. He just blew everyone away.

the best wedding band who were not actually a wedding band!

I think our band was one of the most memorable and talked about parts of the wedding. We worked with Maya Bechor from Zebra Music and she really nailed it! In fact I think she was Doron’s secret weapon in the wedding planning! She made so many great suggestions. We saw a lot of traditional wedding bands, which were all great, but really not our style. Doron asked for ideas for something a bit more alternative. More like going to a gig then being at a wedding. Maya suggested Lucille Crew. They’re a nine piece funk band. The problem was they’re not a wedding band! But Doron and Maya convinced them to do it! They were literally amazing!! We had the best time dancing to them, and all the guests loved it!

first dance

Our first dance was Asaf Avidan’s One Day, that’s our song. Ironically it’s about breaking up, but I have my own spin on it. I love the idea that when you grow old together you have all these stories you can tell! In my mind I sub in ‘could’ve told’ for ‘will’ve told!’

advice to other brides

Film the day! I know everyone says it, but the day goes by so quickly , and looking back at the video Liron made, makes me remember the utter high of the whole wedding. It was like a fairytale — having everyone you love around you is the best high ever.

SUZANNE + DORON’S LITTLE WHITE BOOK

Photography + viedography — Liron Erel
Wedding venue — Bait Al Hayam
Beach Olympics venue — 9Beach
Bride’s dress — Amanda Wakeley
Bride’s earrings — Shourouk
Bride’s shoes — Charlotte Olympia
Groom’s suit — Paul Smith
Groom’s shoes — Oliver Sweeney
Hair + make up — Diana Frenkel
Entertainment organiser and DJ — Zebra Music
Band — Lucille Crew
Wedding hotel — Casa Nova in Jaffa