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A Laduree-inspired Jewish Wedding of Two Amazing Event Designers at Pekan Garden, Kibbutz Ramat Hakovesh, Israel

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So on Monday we saw a gorgeous destination Jewish wedding where the event planner bride decided to take a hands-off approach, turning the bulk of the work over to her amazing planner to ensure the wedding stayed stress-free. Today, we’ve got the wedding of not one but TWO mega-talented event designers/planners where the couple decided to go all in on their big day.

When we say all in, we really do mean all IN! Bride Tom and groom Matan, who together run Tomka Designs in Israel, were on the job 24/7 in the weeks leading up to the wedding, and even the day before they put in a 12-hour session at the venue.

But all that hard work paid off in a BIG way. The couple’s ultra-romantic Laduree-inspired wedding was nothing short of magical, with epic flowers, candles, soft pastels, and, of course, some seriously impressive macaron towers.

We’re totally obsessed with Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Ran Bergman’s photos — and to look at them, would you ever guess the wedding fell on a day with absolutely appalling weather? It rained nonstop on Tom and Matan’s wedding day, meaning their original plans for an outdoor photo session were out. But like the true pro he is, Ran stayed calm and scouted out an alternate location for the portrait session that just might have turned out even better than Plan A would’ve: a local patisserie! Okay, so it’s not Laduree, but it’s still pretty adorably on theme.

It just goes to show that a really talented photographer (which Ran most certainly is!) will be able to take amazing photos on even the most dismal of days — so don’t be so quick to snub that winter date your dream venue has open.

Now over to Tom, who looked simply smashing in her gown by Israeli designer Gali Karten…

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How We Met

Tom, the bride: Matan and I have been best friends since the age of 15. We were in the same class in high school, lived together in an apartment through our bachelor’s degrees, travelled all around the world together etc…

What seemed to be obvious to everyone around us took us 15 years to realize.

2.5 years ago, alongside a beautiful friendship, we became business partners — we are the proud owners of Tomka Designs, a company for wedding designs in Israel. This partnership turned to be the best decision we ever made as it led to a beautiful love story.

After a year of working together, something we can’t really explain happened and a close friendship turned into a strong relationship. At the age of 30, we both knew “this is it” and that we were heading for a wedding.

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An Amy Kuschel Bride for a Jewish Wedding at the American Visionary Art Museum, Baltimore, Maryland, USA

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We love a good museum wedding. We also can’t get enough of edgy post-industrial venues. Today’s Jewish wedding — in a super cool whiskey factory-turned-art museum — combines both, so we’re doubly into it! Exposed brick for daaaaays — don’t miss Sachs Photography‘s pics!

Allison, a nonprofit strategic communications consultant and speechwriter, and Andy, a postdoctoral fellow, also had a super clever idea to make sure their Hora ran smoothly: they assigned three of the bride’s cousins as “hora captains”! The captains were tasked with things like making sure no one brought out chairs too early, using the good chairs that the caterer provided when it was time, and bringing the couple water at the end. Highly recommended!

Oh, and did we mention their stunning ketubah from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Ruth Mergi, combining a fantastic modern papercut design with a lovely watercolor background in soothing blues and greens?

We’ll leave the rest to the bride, who looked beautiful in her petal pink strapless dress by Amy Kuschel…

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How We Met

 
“The two met as high school seniors in 2005 while waiting for a flight to an event for prospective Brown University students. The two were at BWI Marshall Airport.

“It was the only place close to Norfolk that offered a direct flight,” Allison said.

There were four prospective students on the flight that day, according to Allison. “He was the only cute one,” she said.

Upon landing, Allison asked her aunt and uncle if they could give Andy a ride to campus with her. They agreed. The two met up again in the fall. By Valentine’s Day, they were an official couple. They have been together since.”

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A Pronovias Bride for a Jewish Wedding with a Flashmob at Sefton Park Palm House, Liverpool, UK

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There’s not much we like better than hearing from couples that we’ve helped them plan the wedding of their dreams. So naturally we were thrilled to hear from Hannah and Jude that they booked Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor XS Showband on our founder, Karen’s recommendation!

Hannah, soon to be qualifying as a corporate lawyer, and Jude, a sales account manager, even squeezed in one of XS’s trademark wedding flashmobs — at the start of the ceremony, after the guests took their seats, instead of the groom walking down the aisle they found themselves in the midst of a flashmob performing Marvin Gaye’s ‘How Sweet It Is’! We’re so pleased (but not at all surprised) that the couple thought their band, who kept everyone dancing ALL night long, was “incredible beyond words” — some seriously high praise!

And it’s no surprise that a wedding as fabulous as this one was planned to perfection by Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Qube Events and Productions, who, in addition to sorting the gold-themed dà©cor and sourcing appropriate florals to complement the palm house venue the couple report, “took all the stress off” them on the day. Can’t ask for much more than that!

And speaking of that palm house venue — it’s a seriously stunning backdrop, captured to perfection by photographer Rob Clayton and videographer Stefan of YSD Media.

Hannah, who looked radiant in her mermaid fishtail Pronovias, will walk you through the rest, from picking the perfect exotic venue (without leaving home) to selecting flower girls and pageboys from their collective 31(!) nieces and nephews to smashing two glasses – but probably not for the reason you think…

Pssst want to ensure your wedding is as memorable as Hannah & Jude’s? Then make sure you’re signed up to Smashing The Glass’ FREE online event for Jewish and Jew-ish Brides, happening this Monday 21st January – sign up here!

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How we met

Hannah, the bride: I went to Manchester University. I grew really close with the Aish campus family, which was Jude’s brother, Benji, and his wife, Shiffy, and their children. I spent alot of time with them over 4 years and had met Jude in passing but that was it.

I lost touch with Benji and Shiffy and then bumped in to Benji in Manchester 3 years later and he said I had to catch up with them. I went to see them the next week which was when they mentioned Jude to me.

Jude got in touch with me a couple of weeks later and that was it. We got engaged the day after our 1 year anniversary and married 9 days after our 2 year anniversary. Jude’s Auf Ruf was actually on our 2 year anniversary.

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A Black Tie Glam Jewish Wedding at The Grove, Cedar Grove, New Jersey, USA

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This is one seriously glam wedding. Between the luxe setting and that chuppah — an absolute vision in white roses and hydrangeas –  we’re seriously sold on this couple’s Jewish luxe wedding style, so beautifully captured by photographer Pat Robinson and videographer Live Picture Studios.

With such grand surroundings, it would have been easy for Sofia, an anesthesiologist, and Mitch, an internal medicine physician, to leave it at that — but they went the extra mile with so many fun details like a cigar roller, fun coaster place cards that guests took home as favors, and, best of all, wedding programs that doubled as confetti envelopes for the couple’s grand exit!

The front listed the standard names and order of service, and the back had some helpful info about Jewish traditions to make sure everyone could follow along, and the semi-translucent envelopes were stuffed with bright, colorful confetti — such a fun and unexpected touch!

Sofia and Mitch had a super fun dance party, too, thanks to their reception band, Brooklyn Sound from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Hank Lane. For their first dance, the band played an acoustic version of Rihanna’s We Found Love, the couple’s song because they “we found love in a hopeless place”: the ICU, where they met during training.

We’ll let Sofia, who looked stunning in her glam custom gown from CT Bridal Couture (with a detachable overskirt to provide that wow factor for the ceremony, without causing any trouble on the dance floor)…

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How We Met

Sofia, the bride: We met in training while working in the intensive care unit together.

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An Alexandra Grecco Bride for a City Chic Jewish Wedding with Bright Florals at Tribeca 360, New York City

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There’s nothing like an NYC wedding. The views. The awesome streetscape photo ops. The cobblestones. And did we mention the views?!

Alie and Mike’s downtown Manhattan wedding at Tribeca 360 does not disappoint — they really did get views of the city from every angle, and we can’t stop swooning over the NYC-perfect portraits Kathleen Fox Photography shot of the couple in the beyond picturesque neighborhood surrounding the venue.

The views inside were pretty fantastic too, especially with that lovely floral chuppah — we love the bright playful colors, and it just goes to show that you don’t need an unlimited floral budget to craft a memorable floral design for your canopy.

They also had a gorgeous papercut ketubah from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Ruth Mergi, and rather than the traditional text Alie and Mike went for a modern version that focused on marriage as entering into a partnership — we love that they were able to incorporate their own values this way!

We also love that Alie emphasizes a topic we feel pretty strongly about: day-of coordinators. Even if you’re a Type A DIY-er like Alie, a day-of coordinator can give you that extra reassurance to enjoy the big day worry-free. From dealing with the venue to making sure the day ran to schedule to saving some of the (delicious) wedding food for the coupe in their bridal suite afterward, these two can’t stop singing the praises of their coordinator, and they say hiring her was some of the best money they spent in planning the wedding.

Now over to Alie, who looked beautiful in her dress by Alexandra Grecco…

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A Manhattan Venue

Alie, the bride: We got married at Tribeca 360 in downtown Manhattan. We live in NYC and are both from the area, so we knew we wanted to get married in Manhattan or Brooklyn.

We loved the views of the city from every angle, and liked how the space was set up to flow easily from ceremony to cocktail hour to reception. We also liked that food and tables, settings, etc. came with the venue, so that we didn’t also have to find a caterer. (And people are still telling us how good the food was!)

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