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The Pros and Cons of a Destination Wedding

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dara-intro-image
Having a destination wedding, just like any other choice in life — has it’s long list of pros and cons. When Alex and I first began the conversation of  where  we’d like to tie the knot, we we’re slightly overwhelmed with the possibilities. The world was ours. Would we travel abroad? Stay within the country? East or West Coast? In the end, only three options really made sense for us: Florida – where my parents live, Arizona – where Alex’s parents live, and Washington, DC – where we’ve built our home together.  

Two weeks after we got engaged, we flew out to Tucson, Arizona to visit his parents, as they threw us a lovely engagement party. At that point in the planning (only two weeks in), Alex and I barely had a grasp of what we wanted from the big day. Since we were already in Arizona, we figured we might as well take advantage of that, and explore some venues. The week prior to our trip, I contacted 5 different venues for fall / winter 2016 availability and pricing. Collecting a little binder of information prior to landing in Arizona. And good thing I did, since the moment we landed, wedding talk seemed to be the only conversational topic.

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Image: Julian Wainwright, taken from Melissa & Ishay’s Jew-ish destination wedding in Thailand

The morning of the engagement party, Alex’s dad drove us around the city to various appointments, narrowed down to 4 at that point. Once we stepped foot on Tubac Golf Resort, we knew we had found something really special. We loved the atmosphere, the ranch-style hotel rooms, the layout of the property, the ballrooms, the heated-covered patios, the gorgeous well kept lawns where we’d potentially hold our ceremony — everything.

For various reasons, Florida and DC were ruled out. So Arizona made the next most sense. And after our tour of Tubac, we felt it was the right place for us. We didn’t give it much more thought than that. I signed the contract that very week we returned home to DC. And then, the rest of the planning, booking, and arranging began!

Planning the wedding from 2,500+ miles away hasn’t been the easiest, I will be the first to say that, and in fact it’s caused a reasonable amount of stress. I wanted to share my pros and cons list with any future brides still deciding, or to any brides that have already settled on a destination wedding for them to relate to.

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Image:  Susan Stripling, taken from Natasha & Jez’s Jewish destination wedding in Cap Ferrat, South of France

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Bridesmaid Gift Guide – Gift Ideas for your bridal party + BFF’s

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Those of you who follow me on Instagram Stories know that I saw my first Christmas Tree of the year (or do we call it a Chanukah Bush?!) in central London this week. What does that mean? It might just mean that the season of gift giving is just around the corner… and with the first night of Chanukah and Christmas Eve falling on exactly the same day this year, I thought it might be fun to do some gift guides. I’ll be curating my fave picks for you, your best girls, fiancà©(e), hubs, wife, newlyweds, and more!

Kicking off the series, I’m picking out the loveliest gifts for your bridesmaids, BFF’s, mothers, sisters, sister-from-another-mister… you get the gist — Happy shopping everyone!

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1. Personalized Champagne Flutes by Fox Blossom Co.  £13  //  2. Personalised bracelet by Monica Vinader from £85  //  3. Rotating Stamp & Ink Set by Kate Spade £20  //  4. Engraved Bridesmaid Bangle by Kate Spade  £50  //  5. In Bloom Book Collection by Rifle Paper Co.  £52  //  6. Personalised Bridesmaid Make Up Bag by Not On The High Street £12.50  //  7. Fujifilm Instax Mini 8 Instant Camera £65  //  8. Personalised ‘The Adventures Of’ Memory Book by Not On The High Street  £19  //  9. Alphabet pendant by Monica Vinader from £150  //  10. Baies Scented Candle by Diptyque £42  //  11. ‘Same Mistakes’ Pencil Case by Kate Spade  £24  //  12. Personalised watch by May28th  £18  //  13. Eat Cake for Breakfast Thermal Mug by Kate Spade  £16  //  14. Charm + Alphabet pendant by Litzi from £70  //  15. Monogram Nail Polish by Not On The High Street  £7  //  16. Birchbox 12 month subscription  £100  //  17. ‘Bridesmaid’ Tote Bag by Not On The High Street  £13  //  18. Engraved personalised pendant by Monica Vinader from £35  //  19. Personalised Monogram Framed Print by Not On The High Street  £49

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Jewish weddings and the importance of the role of parents and family

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A thank you letter

Last week my parents celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary. My sister and I planned a surprise party for them and we decided to decorate the house with photos of their lives together. Sifting through the hundreds of photos made me realise how important my family is to me and also what an incredible relationship my parents have. It got me thinking about what makes a wedding so special. What can possibly make one day something you remember for an entire lifetime? And I realised that the answer is family. Our wedding isn’t just about celebrating our love for each other, but celebrating the love we’ve both been blessed with from the day we were born. Love is what makes the day special, it’s what binds soulmates, families and friends together.

I started to think about our wedding and the role that my family and Gideon’s family have had and will have in our wedding. From dress shopping to checking out the venue; from supplier searches to food tasting our parents have been involved every step of the way. For us it is really important that this wedding celebrates Gid and I just as much as it celebrates our two families coming together as one.

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At our last meeting with Rabbi Miriam Berger who is marrying us, we went through each part of the ceremony. As we are having a reform wedding we are able to choose different components and mix and match traditions. One thing that featured throughout the discussion was the importance of the role our parents and family will play in the ceremony. Gideon and I are walked down the aisle by both our parents. Unlike in other weddings where it is just the father I love the idea that both our parents present their child to everyone and we walk down the aisle as a family unit. Both parents play an equal role in our lives so both parents should be by our sides when we marry each other.

Together with them walking us down the aisle they also stand under the chuppah with us. I love the idea that the chuppah is meant to represent our first home together and I love that we stand under it with our parents. To me it symbolises the importance they have played in helping Gid and I actually get to our wedding day but also the bringing together of both families in our home where both families are always welcome and a central part of the building of it.

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When choosing my bridesmaids I made the decision to have only family members. Just my sister, Gid’s sister and Gid’s cousins who I consider family. Having them as the central people on my wedding day is really important and again symbolises to me the importance of family within our Jewish wedding. Of course I have the most wonderful friends who would make the most amazing bridesmaids but to me keeping it within the theme of family allows for everything to be close and really makes it feel like two families are coming together as one.

As our parents have been at the centre of our wedding planning this has at times caused some conflict and disagreements. As is the case in most Jewish weddings our guest list is split three ways; my family, his family and Gid and my friends. With a maximum capacity of 160, two semi large families this has been a sticking point throughout the process. Despite lists, new lists, and new new lists being produced we know that as long as our nearest and dearest are with us it will be an amazing day and as long as the list is sorted by the time we send the invites out it will be all be wonderful in the end.

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Real Jewish Brides: Choosing Our Wedding Stationery

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dara-intro-image
Right now, Alex and I are in that really fun stage of wedding planning. Meaning, our invitations have been mailed out (phew!) and we’re just now starting to receive our guests RSVP’s back in the mail. Which for whatever reason, makes wedding planning  that  much more exciting. (what is it about snail mail that’s so deliciously appealing?)

Currently, coming home to check the mail is my favorite part of the afternoon, and because of that, I thought I’d talk about the process of choosing our wedding stationary.  

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Save The Dates

This is essentially a piece of postage that formally alerts your friends and family, that at some point in the not-so-distant-future, they will be receiving an actual wedding invitation. An invitation for an invitation, if you will. Alex didn’t care much about it (or think it was necessary) so he let me take the lead on the design and the entire process. Which I was more than happy to do. The save-the-date is the first piece of tangible evidence that shows we are going to be wed (minus my engagement ring, of course)!  

I booked a quick 30 minute engagement shoot with a local DC photographer, and scheduled our shoot in Georgetown. It was a ridiculously cold morning in March, but at the end of the shoot, we had nearly 200 photos to choose from before we settled on the one we ended up using.  

I loved the various save-the-date options I found online, however the price and lack of flexibility of the designs offered was enough to steer me towards a DIY project. And that’s exactly what we did.

I browsed Etsy until I found something similar to my vision. I worked 1-on-1 with a designer who tweaked everything to my liking. She emailed me a template, which I then uploaded and printed it locally at a shop. 100 copies for just about $50 (not including postage or addressing labels).  

I was thrilled with how they came out. They were in the mail in the very beginning of April. Providing our guests with a full eight months of notice – which for destination weddings seems to be standard etiquette. Fast forward through the summer…

Save The Date

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10 Luxury Honeymoon Destinations that go above & beyond

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Wouldn’t it be great if a super-stylish crack team of travel experts scoured the globe and tracked down the best boutique hotels for you to choose from for your honeymoon? The best that is, according to the really important stuff, for this most romantic holiday of your life. How about the hotel with the most extravagant view from the pool or the most indulgent spa, the sexiest bedroom, the most intimate bar or those places that simply go above and beyond anyone’s expectations?

Well that’s what’s happening right now in the gorgeous, totally dreamy world of Mr & Mrs Smith. Believe me, they are your secret honeymoon weapon.

For those who haven’t yet heard me extol the many virtues of this extraordinary boutique hotel finding and booking site, let me fill you in here.

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Six Senses Yao Noi, Thailand

Mr & Mrs Smith Awards 2016

Ok, so they’re not technically looking for honeymoon destinations in this current global search but, Mr & Mrs Smith are running their annual awards to identify and reward the boutique hotels in their outrageously impressive portfolio – that create THE most special stays. They are singling out those utterly unique, personality-packed places that raise the bar in terms of design, food, service and all- round wow factor.

So that’s great news for us as we get to take a peek at those choice contenders – the best boutique hotels in the world in the most desirable destinations. This has to be the hottest shortlist in travel right now!

Nihiwatu, Indonesia
Nihiwatu, Indonesia

And the award goes to…

The awards are being judged on 12 different categories. Namely: Pool with a View, World’s Sexiest Bedroom, Best Dressed Hotel, Best Date-Night Bar, Best Gourmet Getaway, Most Spoiling Spa, Local Hotel Hero, Best Family Hotel, Above and Beyond, Coolest Creative Hub, Hottest Hotel Soundtrack, Best Smith Hotel 2016.

And reassuringly the top ten hotels in each category have been selected by none other that the King and Queen of Mr & Mrs Smith themselves — company founders James and Tamara Lohan, along with the amazing founding editor Juliet Kinsman. They know, live and breathe their stuff. So any hotel worthy enough to make their short list is good enough for me.

As you can see by the colourful categories of awards — this is a cool company that understands the changing boutique-hotel scene around the world.

There is a new order in what people are looking for and it’s moved on considerably from “how far to the beach?” and “is breakfast included?’. Mr & Mrs Smith recognise those unique aspects for the hotel experience that have particular resonance to today’s traveller. Be that acting as a hub for the neighbourhood creative scene; having the perfect date night bar; being a destination foodie spot or of course setting the stage for an out of this world, memory-making honeymoon.

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Aman Tokyo

Do Judge me

The chosen hotels will be put to a panel of three specialist judges in each category.

And the judging panel? It’s basically across the board cool — a network of travel experts from the fashion, music, food industries, including chef and author Tom Aitken, writer and broadcaster Lauren Laverne, singer Jessie Ware, legendary restaurateur Jeremy King, cocktail maestro Tony Conigliaro … take a look here at the impressive line up.

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Keemala, Thailand

Above and Beyond

For Smashing The Glass, I really wanted to feature a list of the best of the best — essentially the Above and Beyond category. These are Smith stays that are made even more special by seamless service and generosity of spirit — where going the extra mile is the starting point. Is there nothing this hotel won’t do?

They boast dedicated, flexible and helpful staff who totally rock at enhancing your stay, or maybe the hotel goes above and beyond in terms of products or services — full-size bathroom products, free laundry, transfers by speedboat?

Sometimes, it’s one individual who makes the biggest impact. The sommelier who helps you discover a new favourite wine; the concierge with an unbeatable book of contacts; the chef who keeps the kitchen open a little longer because your flight was delayed.

The Above and Beyond category is by far my favourite, and that’s what you really want for a honeymoon. Natural hosts who instinctively know how to spoil you, anticipate your every need and upgrade your trip beyond measure. Oh yes and it so happens that all the hotels are in sublime and wildly different locations.

A trad twenties hunting lodge on the banks of Waikato, New Zealand to the thoroughly modern English countryside manor with just a sprinkling of rock star style to a remote ecolodge on the rainforest clad coast of Nicaragua. Where would you even start to choose between them?

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Fasano, Rio, Brazil

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