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An Alon Livne Bride for a Resort-Style Jewish Wedding at 5.91, Netanya, Israel

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LUZ Weddings does it again. We can never get enough of the edgy, stylish, architecturally inspired wedding photos and video from this beloved Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor, and Mor and Yotam’s gorgeous Israeli seaside wedding is no exception – if the idea of wedding photos that don’t feel like wedding photos appeals to you, scroll on to see what we’re talking about.

Granted, the LUZ team had great material to work with. Mor, an import coordinator at a business importing luxury brands to Israel, and Yotam, a customer success manager at an advertising startup, both have a thing about the sea, and so it was only natural that they chose a venue that made the most of Israel’s stunning coastline. To maximize the experience, they went for a resort theme for the whole day, sticking with a palette of oceanic blues, tropical greens, and sandy beige and white.

We also love that, to add a personal touch to their ceremony, these two decided they’d each write a note to the other, to be read for the first time – aloud for all the guests to hear – under the chuppah. What a sweet, memorable touch – whether you go the sentimental route, like Yotam, or take more of a comic turn, as Mor did in hers.

There’s so much more to see about this fab wedding, but we’ll let the bride – who looked ravishing in Alon Livne– fill you in on the rest…

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How we met

Mor, the bride: Yotam started communicating at the end of the first semester of university, and I didn’t really understand why… It was only by the end of the first year that we started dating, and the rest is a true love story.

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An Eisen Stein Bride for an Equality-Minded Jewish Wedding at Avigdor 22 in Tel Aviv, Israel

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We love it when a couple puts their values first when planning their Jewish wedding. That’s exactly what today’s gorgeous Israeli couple, Talia and Shawn, did. The pair didn’t feel comfortable marrying through Israel’s rabbanut, in light of the lack of marriage equality in the country, so they worked to craft an alternative that was in keeping with their values yet still incorporated Jewish tradition in a way that was meaningful to them.

Talia and Shawn opted to make things official via a City Hall wedding while on holiday in NYC (so fun!), and then back home in Tel Aviv worked with a secular rabbi to plan their Jewish celebration, which combined tradition – smashing the glass, a gorgeous chuppah that’s been passed down through the groom’s family ever since his grandparents made it for his parents’ wedding – with personal touches, like the vows the couple made to each other and the tailor-made blessings they received from their family and friends in place of the traditional seven blessings. We also love that they wrote their ketubah text themselves!

We’re obsessed with the couple’s incredibly cool, contemporary photography from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Ben Kelmer – the way he captures emotion and authentic moments while also somehow producing images that wouldn’t look out of place in a glam glossy magazine is really something.

Now over to the bride, who looked effortlessly elegant in her gown by Eisen Stein and party dress from Nili Lotan…

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How we met

Talia, the bride: We have been together for 9 years. I am a dentist and Shawn is a lawyer… We met through a good friend of mine from the army who went out with Shawn’s friend. They didn’t work out as a couple, but we’re still together! We asked both of them to greet us together (as part of the 7 blessings) as a token to their brief relationship that led us to meet and eventually get married.

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A Julie Vino Bride for a New Orleans-Meets-Israel Jewish Wedding in a Private House Outside Tel Aviv, Israel

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A New Orleans-meets-Tel Aviv wedding?! Yes, please – what’s not to love about a big day that combines the best of two of the world’s greatest party cities? Bride Laura, who runs her own English teaching business in Tel Aviv and teaches high school humanities, knew from the start she wanted to combine her American Southern background with the all-Israeli roots of groom Elad, a front end web developer for a start-up company.

Sounds like a tall order, right? But nothings’ too much for the team at amazing Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Bebke, who understood exactly what the couple wanted and fused together their vision of an eclectic New Orleans style meets funky Israeli vibe to create a one of a kind wedding. Even the catering got in on the game – Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Maasia worked New Orleans French style, American southern, and Mediterranean Israeli food into the menu, and scored a runaway hit with late-night corndogs that guests are still raving about!

As if the theme weren’t awesome enough, we’re equally obsessed with all of the personal touches these two put into their big day. Laura and Elad wanted their brothers – four between the two of them – to hold each corner of their chuppah, so they went with a simple hand-held bamboo setup to make it happen. They also had a “dog of honor” – their beloved Kimchi – join them under the chuppah! We’re in love with Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Ronen Boidek’s breathtaking photos of it all – as Laura said herself, he is just so skilled at capturing “not only the big moments but the small ones as well.”

Now over to Laura, who looked so beautiful in her Julie Vino dress…

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How we met

Laura, the bride: We met on Tinder believe it or not, when it was brand new in Tel Aviv. We both were receiving hundreds of matches but somehow I ended up answering his message. Our first conversation was about our music taste which wasn’t the standard topic when Tinder first began. I had a gut feeling there was something there. We went on a date a few weeks later and took off from there. That was almost five years ago.

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A Zeta Bridal Bride for an Italy-meets-Israel Jewish Wedding at Ahuvat ha Sapan, Ashdod, Israel

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You’re dreaming of a destination Jewish wedding, but circumstances mean it makes sense to stay close to home. Sound familiar? That’s what Israeli couple Anastasia and Evgeny found themselves up against when they fell hard for southern Italy – the colors, the blue tiles, the lemons, all of it! – but needed to keep their big day in their home country.

The resourceful duo saw this challenge merely as an opportunity to bring the spirit of Capri to the beaches of Ashdod (their venue happens to be located on the same beach where they met – awwww!), going all out with the lemons and bougainvillea and even hiring in Italian opera singer to set the tone!

And we could easily believe some of Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Jossef Si’s wonderful photos were taken in the hills of Tuscany. As Anastasia says, he somehow managed to find just the right angles to turn every photo into a true work of art – while also managing to stay ever-so-perfectly on theme with the Italian vibes of the day. Videographer Happy Days captured all the gorgeous vibrancy of the day beautifully, too. 

 We’ll let the beautiful bride – who looked totally stunning in her floral gown by Zeta Bridal – fill you in on the rest…

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How we met

Anastasia, the bride: Sounds like a cliché, but it was love at first sight.We met in a pub not far from where the wedding took place on Ashdod beach. The pub was called “It” and indeed surprisingly it was it. I remember it like yesterday, we were both dancing and then suddenly my gaze fell on a guy at the other side of the dance floor who was looking at me, our eyes crossed, and it was a really long and exciting moment. I really liked his looks, my heart started beating fast, and the rest is history.

The ring came after three years together and in the most surprising and spontaneous way.

We did not talk about it and he surprised me on our Christmas trip to Moscow. The atmosphere was magical, he brought me to a frozen lake in some Queen’s palace outside the city, and while he was skating, he kneeled for the proposal! In retrospect it turned out that Evgeny had purchased the ring a few minutes before our flight in Hstern at Duty Free and that was why he was almost late for the flight!

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A Calla Blanche Bride for a Jewish Wedding at Al Hayam Caesarea, Israel

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Is there anything better than an outdoor Jewish wedding by the ocean in Israel? We’re betting on no… and so did Sophie, a primary school teacher, and Elliott, a financial advisor, who opted for an epic destination wedding at Caesarea’s always stunning Al Hayam. This is one seriously stunning day – you don’t want to miss the splendid photography and videography by Camellia Art (who used a drone to capture some seriously awesome landscape shots).

This is a venue that really speaks for itself, and these two let the natural beauty of the location speak for itself, timing their chuppah for sunset, and going for a beautiful green and white chuppah that made a statement yet didn’t distract from the natural splendor of the surroundings.  

We love that the couple opted to follow the tradition of doing the badeken on the aisle, honoring Elliott’s Sephardi heritage, so that the groom AND all the guests all got their first look at the beautiful bride as she walked down the aisle.

Speaking of that beautiful bride – who totally smashed it bridal style-wise in Calla Blanche – we’re going to turn you over to her now for the rest of the story…

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A Wedding in Israel

Sophie, the bride: Back in October 2016, Elliott proposed to me by the Bahai Gardens in Haifa which is his favourite place in the world. He is half Israeli and with his family living there, he would go there throughout his childhood to visit them, and so Israel is a very special place to Elliott. Getting engaged there, we knew straight away that was where we wanted get married. We got married at Al Hayam, Caesarea, Israel – the minute we heard about the venue we instantly feel in love with it.

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