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A Beachy Jewish Wedding Weekend at Nautical Club, Limassol, Cyprus

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Hila-and-Tamir-Nautical-Club-Larnaca-Cyprus

Israeli couple Hila and Tamir wanted the magic of their Jewish wedding to last more than a few hours – and so they decided to make a magical destination weekend of it! With the help of their fantastic planner, Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Moran Goldstein, the couple settled on Limassol, Cyprus, a breathtakingly beautiful spot just a 30-minute flight from Tel Aviv.

The celebration was spread out over four days, with different activities each day – including fun stuff like a boat trip to a blue lagoon (complete with DJ!) and a pool party – with the centerpiece being Hila and Tamir’s gorgeous oceanfront outdoor ceremony. We love that the pair had two of their best friends officiate, and instead of the traditional Seven Blessings, they had friends and relatives come up and give brief original speeches.

We’re in love with photographer Chen Belachnes’s vibrant images, and we bet you will be too.

Now over to Hila…

Hila-and-Tamir-Nautical-Club-Larnaca-CyprusHila-and-Tamir-Nautical-Club-Larnaca-CyprusHila-and-Tamir-Nautical-Club-Larnaca-Cyprus
How we Met

Hila, the bride: We met at a 24h cross-country relay race. Continue ReadingContinue Reading

A Liron Partouche Bride for a Jewish Pandemic Wedding Inspired by China at Yama, Herzliya, Israel

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Michal and Sam, Yama, Hertezlya, Israel

Israeli couple Michal and Sam, both of whom work for hi-tech start-up companies, first met in Chinese class at university. They got engaged at the end of a year spent living and studying the language together in Shanghai. So it was only natural that when it came to planning their Jewish wedding, they turned to their shared love of the language as inspiration for their Jewish wedding – along with the best of their home country, of course!

The pair made table numbers out of Chinese characters they wrote themselves and used the character 囍 (which symbolizes wedding in Chinese, meaning double happiness) on each napkin and on the wedding invitations. They even had the Chinese character for love embroidered on their chuppah canopy!

Michal and Sam dreamed of getting married by the sea at sunset – what better way to showcase Israel’s natural splendor? – and though COVID forced them to postpone twice (and change venues), in the end they were still able to have the wedding of their dreams at a gorgeous seaside venue in Herzliya (albeit with fewer guests than originally planned, and further-flung loved ones tuning in via livestream).

As always, we’re absolutely in love with the luminous photography by Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Jossef Si – an incredible talent Michal had had her eye on since before getting engaged.

Now over to the bride for all the details…

Michal and Sam, Yama, Hertezlya, IsraelMichal and Sam, Yama, Hertezlya, IsraelMichal and Sam, Yama, Hertezlya, IsraelMichal and Sam, Yama, Hertezlya, Israel
How we Met

Michal, the bride: We met in my first Chinese class of my first year at university. It was so coincidental because it’s not Sam’s major (he was taking the class as an enrichment class) and I switched my major to Chinese at the last minute. We became friends and after a year of friendship we began to date.Continue ReadingContinue Reading

An Avital Saporta Bride for a Front Yard Jewish Pandemic Wedding in Tel Mond, Israel

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Noam-and-Michael-Israel

Since the pandemic began, we’ve seen lots of backyard weddings. But we’re pretty sure Noam and Michael’s is our first front yard wedding. Why is that relevant, you ask?

Well, Michael just happens to live across the street from a playground, and on the big day, in addition to the couple’s invited guests, they ended up with a couple dozen little observers taking in the action – how cute is that?!

The couple, both students at Bar Ilan University, had originally planned a big wedding, but COVID forced them to rethink their plans (and date, thanks to Israel’s second lockdown). Michael’s garden may have been chosen because due to the circumstances, in the bride’s words, “it was the only place were able to legally get married!” – but luckily it happens to be totally gorgeous, and was really just about an ideal place to carry out the original theme, which was a magical forest combined with rustic elements.

In addition to their 50 in-person guests, Noam and Michael livestreamed their day to friends and family across the globe – at one point, 750 people were tuning in! And throughout the day, the pair took time to chat with their virtual guests through the livestream.

It goes without saying that we’re obsessed with the stunning photos by Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Herschel Gutman. Due to a last minute change of date, the couple ended up having to find a photographer in just a few days, and were they ever lucky that Herschel was available! As always, his photos are so full of love and emotion while also managing to capture all the details of the day absolutely exquisitely.

Noam-and-Michael-IsraelNoam-and-Michael-IsraelNoam-and-Michael-IsraelNoam-and-Michael-Israel
How We Met

Noam, the bride and Michael, the groom: Our story begins in 2015 when we both started new chapters in our lives. Michael had just immigrated to Israel and went to study Hebrew in the North of Israel where Noam had just started her national service in guess where? The exact same place! We became best friends, but duty called and Michael started the army while Noam went away to Australia for her second year of national service.

The friendship didn’t end and when both those experiences were over, our friendship turned into something a little more special and love blossomed. Since then, we’ve been together for the last 3 years.Continue ReadingContinue Reading

An Acquachiara Bride for a Magical Pandemic Jewish Wedding at Villa Miani, Rome, Italy

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Diletta and Stefano, Villa Miani, Rome, Italy

How gorgeous is this incredible chuppah?! We’re totally and completely obsessed with the all-white floral masterpiece Diletta, an architect, and Stefano, a consultant, dreamed up for their big day. Everything looks SO perfect, you’d never guess they had to drastically change their plans midstream due to COVID – including a change of venue to better accommodate their reduced guest list.

Luckily, the pair ended up at beautiful Villa Miani, one of our very favorite Roman venues, and with some help from their wedding planner, Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Deborah di Castro, and their vendor team, everything came together perfectly – despite the uncertainty that came with planning amidst fears of a new lockdown. (As it happened, Diletta and Stefano’s wedding date fell at a time when cases were low in Italy – but one month later, Rome was back in lockdown.)

Diletta had a strong vision for her wedding from the get-go: a sophisticated all-white look, carried out in her florals, that fabulous chuppah, and of course her Acquachiara gown, adorned with hundreds of white fabric “petals.” Don’t miss all the exquisite details in Azeta‘s photos and Sesame Films’ trailer.

Diletta and Stefano, Villa Miani, Rome, ItalyDiletta and Stefano, Villa Miani, Rome, ItalyDiletta and Stefano, Villa Miani, Rome, ItalyDiletta and Stefano, Villa Miani, Rome, Italy
How we Met

Diletta, the bride: We met at a friend’s party.Continue ReadingContinue Reading

A Liz Martinez Bride for a Last-Minute Pandemic Jewish Wedding at Villa Nova, Beit Nehemiah, Israel

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May & Shachar, Villa Nova, Israel

It’s safe to say that pretty much no 2020 couple had smooth sailing when it came to their wedding. But the Jewish wedding planning journey of May and Shachar, Israelis living in NYC, was even bumpier than most.

These two started off planning a destination wedding in Tuscany. Then COVID hit Italy – hard. So they decided to shift everything back home to Israel. No small feat, but the couple managed to book their venue and vendors (all while living on the other side of the world in New York, of course).

In the midst of all this chaos, May and Shachar decided to pack up their life in NYC and head back to Israel to ride out the pandemic. Finally, living in the same country as their wedding – that should make things easier, right? Well, not quite – just a couple weeks before their wedding date of September 22, May and Shachar were faced with the prospect of a three-week lockdown.

Unwilling to postpone yet again, the duo opted to do the opposite, and move their wedding up to September 15 so they could make things official before the start of the new lockdown. By the time they closed on a new venue, they were left with just two days to pull everything together.

Luckily, May and Shachar had a stellar team on their side. To look at Shai Ashkenazi’s incredible photos, you’d never guess it all came together on such short notice – every single detail is picture perfect, and, like May says, the images look like they came straight out of a glossy fashion magazine.

There’s so much more to say about this incredible day – but we’ll leave the rest to the bride, who looked stunning in her Liz Martinez dress (followed by a custom glittery jumpsuit by Mor Morstein she changed into for the reception)!

May & Shachar, Villa Nova, IsraelMay & Shachar, Villa Nova, IsraelMay & Shachar, Villa Nova, IsraelMay & Shachar, Villa Nova, Israel
How we Met

May, the bride: Our story begins a little bit before New York. Before I moved to New York, I posted on a Facebook group called “Israelis in New York” that I’m moving to the city and looking for help with some information about the work I’m starting and some information about the city. I got a message from a guy who was familiar to me from his picture, and it turns out he is the brother of a friend who worked with me, and I met him in the past (about 5 years ago) at her house when he was visiting his family in Israel.

Since I recognized him, I decided to answer his message and we started talking, he really helped me with some questions and asked if I could bring something for his business with me to New York, of course I agreed (by the way – he didn’t link me to his sister and had no idea about our little meeting a few years ago). When I arrived to NY after the long flight I realized, that from all of Manhattan neighborhoods, the hotel I got from work was right next to his apartment! So he arrived really quickly to get his delivery – just a few minutes after I arrived at the hotel with my luggage. And from that day we never parted. We have been together for more than 3 years, living together in New York.

Shachar planned the marriage proposal in the summer, in New York. He toured locations in central park and ordered me an engagement ring from Israel based on a photo I once showed him.  It turns out that when the ring arrived on delivery to New York, I showed him a picture of another ring that I liked more, which is not similar to what he ordered for me.  He decided to change the ring and make another one exactly according to what I liked, and the whole procedure of preparing and sending the new ring took time. Until the winter.

Of course I didn’t knew there was a ring before. We arrived to Central Park on a really cold day, claiming that his brother had to choose a location for a photoshoot there.  We walked around Central Park to get to the “photoshoots” place, which turned out to be the place for the proposal – the Central Park lake.  The place was just beautiful and pastoral, and the proposal was exciting and intimate. Of course I immediately said yes!  And I cried. His brother documented everything and it was just perfect!Continue ReadingContinue Reading