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A Rubin Singer Bride for a Musical, Autumnal Jewish Wedding at the Great Synagogue of Florence and Villa Corsini, Italy

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Sveta-Sasha-Villa-Corsini-Italy

Get ready to be blown away by today’s Jewish wedding in beautiful Florence, Italy! Toronto-based couple Sveta and Sasha dreamed of making it official in the majestic Great Synagogue of Florence, and with the help of their wedding planner, Luba of Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Primavera Dreams, crafted the most exquisite fall harvest-themed celebration in one of the world’s most unforgettable locations.

Luba worked with the duo to source their fabulous team of vendors – seriously, you MUST scroll through the elegant photos by Elena Foresto to take it all in – and brought their autumnal dreams to life, with a fabulous décor scheme incorporating pomegranates and apples – love it!

In her professional live, bride Sveta is the founder, president, and producer of Show One Productions, which organizes tours for famous musical and theatrical groups across the US and Canada. So naturally, when planning her own wedding, music was a big deal.

And indeed, she and Sasha put together an epic lineup, from Klezmerata Fiorentina, who played traditional Jewish music for the ceremony and then for the kiddush, to Maria Dal Rovere band for the cocktail reception and the after-party, to opera performances by Anna Sanchina and Georgy Chkareuli over dinner and roaming band Gypsy Queens. The couple also had their friend, the fabulous DJ Vamos, fly in from Ontario to perform during their multi-day celebration.

This wedding was chock full of so many wonderful touches – including Sveta’s bespoke  dress by New York fashion designer Rubin Singer, clowns flown in from Paris, fireworks, and even a late night gelato cart – but we’ll let the bride fill you in on the rest…

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How we Met

Sveta, the bride: Thanks to some lucky stars, we met in Toronto a few years ago.Continue ReadingContinue Reading

A Michal Motil Bride for an Intimate Destination Jewish Wedding at Cayo Exclusive Resort & Spa, Elounda, Crete, Greece

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Dyana & Asaf, Cayo Exclusive Resort & Spa, Elounda, Crete

Buckle your seatbelts and get ready for a trip to beautiful Crete, where Israeli couple Dyana, a private chef and entrepreneur, and Asaf, who works in tech, tied the knot with 33 of their nearest and dearest.

In addition to picking an absolute knockout of a location for their Jewish wedding, Dyana and Asaf also did the most amazing job crafting a one-of-a-kind day that was totally them. Though neither are religious, the pair wanted to incorporate Jewish customs into their civil ceremony in a way that felt authentic to who they are – and we adore how they handled the custom of the Seven Blessings.

Rather than go the traditional route, Dyana and Asaf opted to assign 7 loved ones each to create a blessing for the couple in their own words, inspired by the original. Needless to say, the honorees came up with some truly beautiful remarks, and Dyana and Asaf loved how personal these bespoke blessings made their ceremony!

Another wonderful personal touch was Dyana and Asaf’s hand painted ketubah by Rachelle of Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor The Delicate Brush! The duo loved working with Rachelle, and can’t stop raving about how helpful she was in working with them to customize the text to be specific to their relationship – plus, obviously, the finished product is totally stunning! Don’t miss it in the photos from Alex Dobrovolsky.  

There’s so much more to say, but we’ll leave the rest to Dyana, who looked so boho chic in her dress by Israeli designer Michal Motil…

Dyana & Asaf, Cayo Exclusive Resort & Spa, Elounda, Crete Dyana & Asaf, Cayo Exclusive Resort & Spa, Elounda, Crete Dyana & Asaf, Cayo Exclusive Resort & Spa, Elounda, CreteDyana & Asaf, Cayo Exclusive Resort & Spa, Elounda, Crete
How we Met

Dyana, the bride: Asaf and I met June 2015 on birthright. He was the Israeli soldier and I was the young American who just graduated college looking for a summer adventure. We met and pretty much the rest is history. Continue ReadingContinue Reading

A Rani Weinstein Bride for a Destination Jewish Wedding Weekend on the Beach at Atlantis Gardens, Larnaca, Cyprus

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Angelina & Dor, Atlantis Gardens Resort, Larnaca, Cyprus

Given that they met working on a cruise ship, it’s only fitting that today’s couple chose the dreamiest of destinations for their Jewish wedding. Hailing from different continents, Angelina, an influencer marketing and partnerships manager, and Dor, a digital advertising account manager, now live in Tel Aviv, and their big day brought together loved ones from Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and beyond.

The perfect spot for everyone to converge for a luxe wedding weekend? Atlantis Gardens, a dreamy seaside resort in Larnaca, Cyprus. The couple’s fabulous wedding planner, Noam of Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Kai Wedding Planners, guided them toward their dream venue – and so many of the other fabulous vendors they worked with on the big day!

In Angelina’s words, “If you want to tie the knot in a different, beautiful, surprisingly affordable, truly once-in-a-lifetime kind of way, Noam is your guy. He and his team go above and beyond for you to make your wedding dreams come true. There is NO ONE, absolutely no one, who does destination weddings like Kai Wedding Planners.”

Angelina and Dor worked to combine the bride’s German-Namibian-South African roots with the groom’s Israeli background, and they crafted a ceremony that was totally them – conducted by Dor’s older brother in Hebrew and English, and incorporating some beloved traditions like the 7 blessings and smashing the glass. And it all took place under the dreamiest chuppah right on the beach – don’t miss it in the luminous photos and video by Little Sparrow Stories.

There’s so much more to say about this awesome wedding – like how chic Angelina looked in her Rani Weinstein gown – but we’ll turn you over to the bride for the rest of the story…

Angelina & Dor, Atlantis Gardens Resort, Larnaca, CyprusAngelina & Dor, Atlantis Gardens Resort, Larnaca, CyprusAngelina & Dor, Atlantis Gardens Resort, Larnaca, Cyprus Angelina & Dor, Atlantis Gardens Resort, Larnaca, Cyprus
How we Met

Angelina, the bride: We met over 10 years ago (June 2012), when we both worked on MSC Cruises. Dor worked as a security officer and I worked in the Kids Club onboard MSC Splendida. I was 18 and Dor was almost 22. Fast forward a few years of a long-distance relationship consisting of many flights, plans, holidays and love, and I finally moved to Israel in 2016. Since then we’ve both graduated from our Masters degrees, survived a pandemic and many other obstacles in between, and (finally) got engaged in July 2021.Continue ReadingContinue Reading

A Heartfelt Jewish Wedding filled with Emotion at Psagot Winery, Israel

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Saul & Yehudith, Psagot, Israel

Get ready to be blown away by today’s STUNNING Jewish wedding – exquisitely captured by Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Jossef Si. Israel-based couple Yehudit and Saul, who both work in high tech, chose to make it official at the ultra-romantic Psagot Winery.

With gorgeous surroundings ticked off the list – a place like Psagot doesn’t need anything extra to shine – Yehudit and Saul were free to focus on their top priority: crafting a day that truly reflected them and their values. And did they ever! The challenges the pair faced along the way – most notably Yehudit’s parents being denied at the airport – only served to bring them closer together.

But back to those incredible photos – in Yehudit’s words, Jossef Si was “incredible, professional, creative, and a pleasure to work with,” and his images do such an amazing job of capturing all the love and emotion of the day, and in high style too.

There’s lots more to say about this very special wedding – Yehudit and Saul have quite the how-we-met story – so read on for all the rest…

Saul & Yehudith, Psagot, IsraelSaul & Yehudith, Psagot, IsraelSaul & Yehudith, Psagot, IsraelSaul & Yehudith, Psagot, Israel
How we Met

Yehudith, the bride: We met on my first Shabbat in Jerusalem, I sublet a room for 2 week and one of the girls who lived there was Saul’s friend. She invited him for Shabbat dinner and when he saw me he thought “wow this girl is tall! I need to talk with her”, but to his surprise I didn’t know English.

So, he invited me and his friend for lunch the next day and he told his friend that he wanted to ask me out, but …we could not communicate, and I was converting (guiur process) so I could not go out with anyone.

It was very cold that day and I forgot to bring a jacket so he gave me his jacked from the army (he served in Golani) hopping that it would make us to meet again.

I never gave the jacket back…Till the day I finished my guiur and learned English (1 and half years later). I texted him “Hey do you remember me? I have your jacket, I would like to give it back to you.” And he answered “lets make a deal, you can stay with the jacket if you go out with me.” So we started dating.Continue ReadingContinue Reading

A Colorful, Multicultural Colombian-Israeli Jewish Wedding with Garden Vibes at Bustan Abu Ghosh, Israel

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We are absolutely in love with today’s gorgeous multicultural Jewish wedding – not to mention the awesome globetrotting love story of Laura, who’s in business administration, and Daniel, a lawyer, whose relationship took them from Madrid to New York to Israel, where they now live!

Celebrating the merging of their two backgrounds – Laura originally hails from Colombia, while Daniel is Israeli – was the theme for this very special day, and the couple carried it through in everything from their flowers to their music to their ultra-personal ceremony to their venue: they chose to make it official at Bustan Abu Ghosh, which is not only stunning but also happens to be run by a Muslim owner who loves Jewish weddings! In the couple’s words, “We thought it would be fitting to exchange our vows in a place where two different religions and cultures came together to create something magical, as this was precisely what happened with our relationship.” How special is that?!

Laura and Daniel chose Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Ben Kelmer to document their big day – as an amateur photographer herself, Laura knew she wanted someone who could take natural, authentic photos capturing special moments in time. And no one does that better than Ben Kelmer!

There’s so much more to say about this fabulous wedding, but we’ll turn you over to the couple for the rest of the story…

How we Met

Laura, the bride and Daniel, the groom: We met in January 2018, the day we started our MBA at IE Business School in Madrid, Spain. From there, it took a while for us to formally become a couple. Laura was immensely scared of commitment due to previous experiences and did not come to the MBA with any plans to fall in love, let alone to be in a serious relationship. She was also very scared of getting involved with someone from a different religion (Laura is  Catholic and Daniel is Jewish). Laura  thought she would expose herself to being hurt if she fell in love with someone whose family might not accept her.

After we did get together, we applied and got accepted to Yale School of Management, for a dual degree program. We left Madrid together in August 2018 and graduated from Yale in May 2019. We then moved in together in New York City and got engaged in January 2020. We were planning to get married in October 2020, before COVID changed all of our plans… Continue ReadingContinue Reading