Israeli Weddings Archives - Page 33 of 37 - Smashing the Glass

Helene & Benjamin | Destination Jewish wedding in the Old City of Jaffa at Beit Andromeda, Israel

22/09/2015 by Karen

In my book, making your wedding day into a holiday is an absolutely brilliant idea. Not only do you get to throw a wonderful party for all your loved ones, but you also get to do it in a place where the weather stands a better chance of behaving on the big day!

Parisians, Helene and Benjamin, did just that with their destination wedding in Israel and organised a whole heap of pre-wedding festivities for their guests as well as the big W-Day itself. So not only did they create an utterly sublime wedding day in Old Jaffa (with the help of much-loved Smashing Suppliers RS Eventime), they also put together a mountain of events for their guests so that they could get a flavour of the city of Tel Aviv. This was a really thoughtful gesture as many of their guests had never visited the city before.

There was a cocktail party, a beach party (I *so* want one of those Keep Calm and Play Matkot tote bags) and a third pre-wedding party at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art. Such wonderful ideas and all expertly planned by the lovely Sophie and Ravit from RS Eventime.

Helene’s Rosa Clara dress is amazing, and both the bride and groom look like celebrities. The light that Pierre Mikael Cohen has captured is sensational as are his beautiful cityscapes.

I must also single out Helen’s ‘rock princess’ Jimmy Choo‘s. Er… wow. And that she secretly took singing lessons in the months prior to the wedding so that she could surprise her groom with a rendition of ‘their song’. Double wow. Every single element of this wedding ties in together so perfectly and I’m so thrilled to be bringing you this well deserved ray of sunshine this rainy Tuesday morning

Thank you to Helene and Benjamin for sharing their delicious destination with us. Let’s hand over to the gorgeous bride…

how we met

Helene, the Bride: Benjamin and I met in New York five years before we got married. Ben lived in New York and I was looking for a new flatmate… I was coming to NY for an internship and was looking for an apartment… that’s how we met! We were roommates to start with, but one month later we became a couple, and since then we’ve always lived together — in New York and back in Paris. The funny thing is that we’d attended the same high school in Paris but didn’t know each other back then…Continue Reading

Natalie & Olivier | Elegant Jewish wedding at the Waldorf Astoria Jerusalem, Israel

11/09/2015 by Karen

Today I’m blogging a beautifully elegant affair from the heart of Jerusalem that shows you that you don’t necessarily have to incorporate a rainbow of colour or an abundance of details to have the wedding of your dreams. A destination wedding in Israel’s historical capital city, Natalie and Olivier’s white-on-white minimal theme is thoroughly timeless and perfectly set against the glorious backdrop of Jerusalem.

Minimal it may be, but will you just look at that custom-designed Inbal Dror wedding dress? I give you full permission to be green with envy over it — it’s absolutely gorgeous.

Not only is Natalie an incredibly beautiful bride, all glowing skin and glossy locks, but her and her French husband Olivier were one of the first couples ever to hold their wedding at the brand new Waldorf Astoria Jerusalem, the city’s latest luxury venue.

Simple, elegant, fun, and relaxed — this wedding is perfectly executed in every way. Photography is by Chiko who’s making his debut appearance today on STG. Welcome to ‘Club Smashing’ , Chiko!

Choosing to marry in Jerusalem

Natalie, the bride: I was born in Jerusalem and it is a very special place to me, it has a lot of sentimental value and is a really unique place. We loved the idea of the Waldorf Astoria Jerusalem because it was brand new. We were the first or second wedding there and the decor is just fabulous so there wasn’t much that we needed to do in terms of styling.

Carmel & Aviv | ‘love carnival in a green house’ DIY Jewish wedding at the groom’s rose farm, Northern Israel

27/08/2015 by Karen

Carmel and Aviv knew that they wanted to make their wedding as personal to the two of them as they possibly could, so what could be better then doing everything (and I mean everything!) themselves? Oh yes — once these two had decided on a DIY W-day, it was full steam ahead, and then some. Get ready to admire what is probably one of the most DIY’d weddings I have ever featured on Smashing The Glass. It truly gives new meaning to the phrase, ‘labour of love’.

For 6 months, this gorgeous pair made the drive every weekend from Tel Aviv, to the groom’s family farm in Northern Israel to renovate an old greenhouse from the bone. They straightened the ground, laid a concrete dance floor, and planted literally thousands of flowers and trees. (To give you an idea, they planted about 400 sunflowers in one field alone!).

And it didn’t stop there. Once the space was ready, Carmel and Aviv made everything themselves from the decorations to the flags to the signage, not to mention hand-crafting their invitations, table numbers and place names. There was also a flower booth on the day, with live flower weaving to decorate the guests. Genius.

The most personal thing they incorporated though, was a wonderful heirloom — their chuppah canopy. It has been used in the groom’s family for two generations for every wedding in the family, and Aviv’s grandmother weaves the names of every new couple into it. How magical is that?

A immense amount of time and effort has clearly gone into this incredible wedding, so enjoy all the wonderful details and get ready for some serious pinterest-induced mania! Both the bride and the groom have written the report today, and why wouldn’t they when there was so much joint involvement with the wedding planning ? One of my favourite quotes from the groom is:

Our wedding was full of happiness and love. We guess that when people see how much love you’re putting into it, they return it with extra.”

I love that.

Their day is exquisitely photographed by the super talented Shai Franco and don’t miss the highlights film at the end by the equally accomplished Shahar Lev.

Continue Reading

Naama & Ezri | Urban Jewish wedding in a bar, at Jem’s Beer Factory, Tel Aviv, Israel

21/08/2015 by Karen

When this first picture (above) of Naama and Ezri landed in my inbox, I knew that this would be a brilliant wedding to blog on Smashing The Glass.

First off, I have a soft spot for any kind of unusual Jewish wedding venue, and their choice is certainly different: a beer factory (yes beer factory!) with the most gorgeous decor and an intimate, homely feel.

Second of all, will you just look at those two?! One of the best things about this job is how uplifting it is to look at images of people in love, and I think it’s fair to say that Naama and Ezri are truly, madly, deeply in love. Their deep affection for each other literally radiates from every one of the fashion magazine-worthy images by Simsisters.

Naama and Ezri two are free-spirited souls who incorporated all sorts of personal touches into their big day, and it must be said that this is also the first W-Day I’ve ever blogged that includes a ‘spoken word’ session!

Let me hand you over to Naama, to tell you all about her and Ezri’s story… Have a great weekend everyone!

Continue Reading

Tammy & Tom | An Inbal Dror dress for a wedding by the sea, with a very special story, at Kochav HaYam, Caesarea, Israel

10/08/2015 by Karen

I don’t know where to start with this wedding, it has absolutely knocked me for six. When I first clapped eyes on the stunning photographs and video highlights of Tammy and Tom’s wedding, I was captivated by this ridiculously good looking couple, the chuppah set against a picture-perfect Israeli seascape, the high octane, carefree celebrations, the loved-up gazes between bride and groom and of course THAT Inbal Dror wedding dress – and just when I thought it couldn’t get any more breathtaking, I heard the incredible tale about the rabbi who officiated the wedding.

Many years ago as a young boy of eight, Sharon Shalom, the rabbi, was among a group of refugees making the arduous journey from Ethiopia to Sudan, where planes were on standby to help them flee to Israel. They travelled the entire distance to Sudan on foot, lead and protected by the IDF and Mossad agents.

At one point it all became too much for the youngster. Terrified, he was hugged and encouraged to keep going by one of the agents, who just happened to be Tom’s father. This shared experience helped forge a lifetime’s friendship, so much so, that when the young boy had grown and become a rabbi, he was told by Tom’s father that “one day you’ll be the rabbi for my son”. This wedding made that wish come true.

Understandably the tears flowed under the chuppah that day as the family and rabbi Sharon Shalom stood together for such a special and poignant moment in all of their lives. Truly beautiful.

So whilst it’s a very cool, stylish, fun, fun, fun wedding – complete with a flash mob dance – and did I mention the disarmingly attractive bride and groom? It’s a wedding with a huge heart. And given the incredible and humbling back-story of courage and kindness, the brides advice resonates very loudly “The whole point of the day is to be happy – stressing defeats the purpose. Your hubby and the meaning of the day is much more important than the napkins or your dress!”

Hear hear! (Even though her dress is actually perfection!)

The stunning photography is by Herschel Gutman one of our much-loved Smashing Suppliers, who can always be relied upon for beautiful images. The wedding film at the end of the post is by the superb Tal Herman

how we met

Choosing to marry in Jerusalem

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Rabbi Sharon Shalom (far right) with Tom’s father (second from right) under the chuppah, beside Tammy & Tom

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