Israeli Weddings Archives - Smashing the Glass

A Milla Nova Bride for a Multicultural Outdoor Jewish Wedding at Hatzer Netzer in Netser Sereni, Israel

17/08/2018 by Karen Cinnamon Leave a Comment

One of the things we love most here at Smashing the Glass is seeing the ways couples combine their cultures and traditions into their big days. It’s not always easy, whether you’re planning a Jewish wedding or a Jew-ish one, but we see couple after couple pulling it off in their own imitable style.

And today’s pair is no exception. Bronwyn, an occupational therapist and Tal, who is in sales, had two very different sets of traditions to combine: the bride is Ashkenazi and South African, while the groom is Sephardi and Israeli, with roots in India.

It was important to the bride and groom that both the ceremony and the party reflect their respective backgrounds, and we love the clever ways they made sure to give each other’s traditions equal billing on the big day.

During the ceremony, Bronwyn and Tal mixed and matched their favorite elements, holding a Sephardi chuppah with some key Ashkenazi elements: Bronwyn circled Tal seven times, and the duo took some time for themselves in a yichud room after the ceremony. At the reception, the DJ mixed South African beats with Indian tunes – plus some Israeli pop for good measure!

The other thing we adore about this wedding is Bronwyn’s dress: her long-sleeved lace gown by Milla Nova proves you don’t have to show a lot of skin to look dreamy as you walk down the aisle. We can’t get enough of this soft, romantic bridal style, and we love the way Smashing the Glass Recommended Vendor Herschel Gutman captured it – and everything else about this gorgeous day, from the emotion under the chuppah to the wild dancing at the reception (and he’s an amazing guy to boot!)

Bronwyn will fill you in on the rest…

How we met

Bronwyn, the bride: We met via Jswipe. Love at first swipe!

A Berta Bride for an Ultra-Chic Vegan Jewish Wedding at Mamilla Hotel in Jerusalem, Israel

10/08/2018 by Karen Cinnamon Leave a Comment

This Jewish wedding is just SO wonderfully chic. It also happens to be 100% vegan. Sara and Ronen, animal lovers and ethical vegans, planned the whole affair with zero animal products in sight. Everything from the menu to the attire was plant-based through and through.

That’s no easy feat – especially when it comes to finding a fab gown with no silk. But Sara pulled it off and then some. We absolutely adore her sexy, ultra-feminine dress from Berta Bridal (the eponymous designer of which just so happens to be Israeli!). Ronen looks pretty snazzy in his wool-free suit, himself.

Despite the marked absence of meat from the festive meal, venue Mamilla Hotel’s plant-based food service got rave reviews from nearly all the guests – many told the couple afterward it was the best wedding food they’d ever had!

We love that Sara and Ronen weren’t afraid to stay true to themselves and their values on their big day – and love even more that it paid off!

The other awesome thing about this wedding? The view. The rooftop of the stunning Mamilla Hotel, where the couple held their breathtaking ceremony, just happens to overlook Jerusalem’s fabled Old City, and the skyline is just BEYOND.

It doesn’t get much better than this – and the setting was extra meaningful to the couple, since Ronen grew up in Jerusalem. You’ve GOT to check out Ori Carmi‘s dazzling photos and Idan Hershko’s outstanding video of the day.

Now over to Sara…

A Jerusalem Wedding

Sara, the bride: My husband, Ronen, and I got engaged in Tel Aviv, Israel, in May of 2017, but his original plan was to propose at the rooftop restaurant of the Mamilla Hotel in Jerusalem. That plan was foiled by the US president’s visit, and we all had to leave Jerusalem. But once we were engaged, we decided to be married there.

Ronen grew up in Jerusalem and felt it was like coming full circle to be born and then married with the Old City as the backdrop. I had only been to the venue once, in the winter when the roof was enclosed. I did all the planning off of a few photos and a FaceTime walk-through with my boss, who was visiting the winter before our date.

A Romona Keveza Bride for a Glam Multicultural Destination Jewish Wedding at Ronit Farm in Kfar Shmaryahu, Israel

03/08/2018 by Karen Cinnamon Leave a Comment

We’ve blogged a lot of gorgeous multicultural Jew-ish weddings here on STG, from Jewish-Greek to Jewish-Japanese. But every once in a while we’re reminded that even a wedding where both partners were born Jewish can be a merging of cultures in its own right.

Today’s wedding is a prime example. American bride Jillian and Israeli groom Eliad brought their backgrounds together in their bilingual ceremony – most of the bride’s guests spoke only English, while many of the groom’s spoke only Hebrew – and combined the best traditions from their both their cultures to create one stunning day.

Jillian’s side fell in love with the Israeli tradition of guests coming into the chuppah to congratulate the couple following the ceremony, rather than the couple exiting in a procession!

The pair also came up with a few great traditions of their very own. One we think it just genius: they decided to reserve toasts and speeches for the pre-wedding welcome dinner, so that they could get some quality time in with family and friends beforehand and then focus on keeping the party going on the day. Such a smart way to break things up, rather than trying to pack it all into a few hours!

Oh, and did we mention that this wedding was ultra-glam and oh-so-romantic, with twinkly lights aplenty? As if you couldn’t tell from that gorgeous rose chuppah.

Photographer Ronen Boidek and videographer Itzik Elemelich captured everything about the day so exquisitely, from the details to the emotion. Jillian – who looked SO chic in her silk ballgown from Romona Keveza (purchased from Kleinfeld) – will fill you in on the rest.

How we met

Jillian, the bride: We met on JDate in NYC!

A Laid-back, Colorful Jewish Wedding (with two glass smashes!) at High& in Tel Aviv, Israel

27/07/2018 by Karen Cinnamon Leave a Comment

What’s better than smashing the glass at a Jewish wedding? How about smashing TWO glasses? Today’s fab couple, Yael, a travel coordinator, and Kfir, an enterprise manager, had a smash glass each at their free-spirited Tel Aviv wedding. What an awesome way to add some gender equality into the traditional Jewish wedding ceremony – and to double the drama of the big moment!

From start to finish, this Jewish wedding is full of one-of-a-kind touches like that, and we love that Yael and Kfir did so much to combine their tastes and personalities with tradition.

For example, Yael followed tradition and chose to wear white – but she went for a super simple, yet very sexy, dress, rather than an OTT ballgown. And to keep the all-white look from getting too cookie-cutter, she made sure to add in fuchsia shoes and an ultra-colorful flower headpiece in fuschia and violet – as brilliantly captured by photographer Lior Rotstein.

And the double smash glasses weren’t the only unusual thing about the ceremony, either. Yael and Kfir opted not to get married through the Israeli Rabbanut, opting instead for a customized ceremony that embodied their own values while remaining true to Jewish tradition. Our favorite (well, second favorite) bit? Their officiant opened the ceremony with a special speech he wrote based on things the pair had told him about themselves and their relationship. Aww!

Yael will fill you in on the rest…

How we met

Yael, the bride: We met on OK Cupid 🙂

A Chana Marelus Bride for a Pretty in Pink Fairy Tale Jewish Wedding at Ein Chemed, Jerusalem, Israel

20/07/2018 by Karen Cinnamon

We just cannot get enough of today’s Jewish wedding. We see a lot of beautiful weddings here at STG, but this one is really and truly unlike anything we’ve encountered before. Bride Daniella always wanted “a fairy tale princess wedding,” and she and groom Natan went ALL OUT to make it happen.

It didn’t hurt that this is pretty much the ultimate industry insider wedding – wedding planner Adena Mark at A to Z Events just happens to be the mother of the bride, and Daniella herself is a bridal makeup artist. So it’s safe to say this mother-daughter duo knew what they were doing.

Between the knockout pink flowers on the ultra-romantic chuppah, the pink chiffon arches lining the entrance, and the pink sweets table, this wedding really was, this was the kind of Jewish wedding that would do Cinderella proud. You’ve got to check out Shabi Kedem’s photos of it all.

And then there’s that dress. We love that Daniella wasn’t afraid to make a bold choice, bypassing traditional white for a sparkly pink princess gown she custom designed together with Chana Marelus. With intricate floral beading and a huge, poufy skirt, this is the kind of gown that absolutely takes center stage. Now over to lovely Daniella…

How we met

Daniella, the bride: Natan and I grew up in the same small community, so it’s amazing we didn’t meet earlier than we did. We met on my 15th birthday through some mutual friends. Through the years we were close friends and hung out in the same social groups but we both dated other people through high school.

During my post-high school year of National Service and while he was waiting for his draft date into the IDF, we found ourselves hanging out just the two of us more often and talking on the phone for hours until morning. One night rather than directly asking me out, he tricked me into a date. I thought we were meeting with our big group of friends but when he picked me up alone I discovered he had asked everyone else not to come. Unbeknownst to us, they followed us and joined us for sushi dinner and then just he and I went back to his place, watched a movie, and carved a watermelon into a shark.

We’ve been together through his entire 3.5 year army service, an earthquake in Nepal, too many family losses, and lots of celebrations, and throughout it all, we never doubted the strength of our relationship. Four and half years later he finally popped the question and, now, 5 years later we share a last name 😊