Smashing the Glass | Jewish Wedding Blog

Inspired Jewish Weddings

Home > Real Jewish Weddings > Jewish Destination Weddings > Page 50

Blue and yellow DIY Jewish beach wedding in Crete, Greece

by

Crete-Jewish-wedding
How about we all jet off this morning to Crete to revel in the big blue and yellow day of Meline and Damon? These two are just the cutest pair and their couple portraits are so full of warmth and affection that I’ve snuck a fair few into this post.

It’s the first time I’ve blogged a Jewish wedding from the beautiful Greek island of Crete, and the first where the bride is wearing yellow! There’s so much to love about this delicious destination wedding — the ceremony took place on the beach right by the shore, under a stunning talit chuppah overlooking the breathtaking sea views, and there are lots of creative DIY touches throughout the festivities that you’re going to love.

The couple decided to do away with many wedding traditions in favour of creating a day that reflected them as a couple as well as making it an amazing experience for all their friends and, family and I have to say that looking at the wonderful photos by Newman Photography (one of our much-loved Smashing Suppliers) it definitely made for a very special destination W-Day.

I’m totally in awe of Meline’s yellow wedding dress. The girl totally rocked that sunshine shade! She actually wanted to get married dressed up as an Elf princess or Princess Leia from Star Wars but Damon thought that was a bit too cheesy… In the end she went for this absolutely magnificent yellow gown, and in my mind it’s the perfect accompaniment to that scenic backdrop of blue skies and sandy beaches.

Get ready for an intimate, laid back wedding with sublime weather and an even more sublime couple.

Jewish Wedding Crete
how we met

Meline, the Bride: We met on the lawn on the University of Pretoria campus in South Africa over 10 years ago. I was embarking on a veterinary degree and Damon a mathematics degree (such nerds!). Damon had an apartment right next to the campus so people would hang out there a lot. We were friends for a few months before we got together. A few months later we moved in together and the rest, as they say, is history…

Jewish Wedding CreteJewish Wedding Crete
Continue ReadingContinue Reading

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

by

Jaffa-Wedding
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…

Jaffa Wedding
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 ReadingContinue Reading

Liora & David | Italian Jewish wedding at the Great Synagogue of Rome and Villa Miani, Rome, Italy

by

Italian-Jewish-Wedding
Liora and David met through their parents, when David’s family invited Liora and her family over for Friday night dinner. That sabbath meal led to romance and an even more romantic wedding in Italy.

The magical city of Rome provided the inspiration for Liora and David’s chic destination wedding and there are some really wonderful touches. Take the Italian vespa for their wedding transport, a smorgasbord of Italian desserts instead of wedding cake (hello, lashings of tiramisu), and the choir of the Great Synagogue of Rome providing the music for their ceremony. Oh my!

Mr STG and I traveled to Italy for our honeymoon and it really is one of the most gorgeous places on earth. The landscape, the buildings — what an amazing place to be married. Liora and David held their ceremony at the breathtaking Great Synagogue of Rome followed by a BIG party at Villa Miani with breathtaking 360 ° views over the Rome skyline(and can we all just take a moment to appreciate their entrance song — the super fun A Far l’Amore featured in Paolo Sorrentino’s movie, The Great Beauty, set in Rome).

The whole affair was beautifully planned by our much loved Smashing Supplier, Stefania Zen from the Italian Wedding Company. Liora says that Stefania was literally her right arm throughout the planning process, and knowing how wonderful the Italian Wedding Company are, I can very much vouch for that. Big thanks also to Vinicio Ferri and Alessandro Zingone for the wonderful photos.

Come on, let’s take a look…

Jewish Wedding Rome
Continue ReadingContinue Reading

Yael & Or | An astronomical party for an Israeli wedding at Tel Yah, Tel Yitzhak, Israel

by

Israeli-wedding
Sometimes you just know when two people are made for each other and this is most definitely the case with Yael and Or.  Together since high school, this fabulous couple decided to celebrate the start of their married life –   the first step in building their own Jewish home –  not far from the small town in Israel where they both grew up and where their families still live. Theirs is a totally sweet, and totally stylish tale.

You can’t get much better than a wedding by night in Israel.  It’s hot, fun, life-affirming and just good for the soul and oh my how beautifully this is captured by Chrisman  Studios.

Yael and Or had been crazy about these photographers for a long time and made damn sure that they had them snap up some of the most impactful wedding photographs I’ve ever seen.

I mean really, some of these images are just ridiculously beautiful — and characterful.   The shots of the swimming pool in particular look like they belong in a Taschen coffee table book.   They’re almost theatrical in their vivacity and vibrancy — which perfectly sums up an Israeli wedding. And that final shot… the  bride sure knows how to party like a rock star. Amen to that!

My other stand out love of Yael and Or’s wedding is their unique ceremony.   After cocktail hour, all 300 guests stood, yes stood, in front of  the chuppah — which just so happened to be on stage —   singing along to the Jewish prayers and songs, creating a completely engaged and loved-up atmosphere.  Perfect.

And before I hand over to the bride, it would be churlish of me not to mention  that apart from Or, there is in fact another  “the one” in Yael’s life — and that is her wedding dress.   Theirs was also a match made in heaven and one that was also approved by the whole family… even the groom!

Israeli wedding
Continue ReadingContinue Reading

An Ines Di Santo bride for a destination Jewish wedding in the Italian countryside at Relais Sant’Uffizio, Monferrato, Piedmont, Italy

by

Jewish-Wedding-Italy
Today we are heading to the region of Piedmont in Italy for a sunshine-soaked destination Jewish wedding. Piedmont is not only breathtakingly beautiful, it’s also  a gastronomic gem and famous for its wine production. It was therefore the perfect location for the wedding of self-proclaimed foodie couple, Jacqueline  and  Florian, who live in  New York City.

Theirs is a wedding  of pure elegance, creativity and authentic Italian touches. Those touches range from  a team of local Piedmont Flag Throwers greeting them at their recessional, to having an actual Nutella bar at the party! Yes, Piedmont is the birthplace of Nutella — the region  is full of hazelnut fields and as a tribute to this, there was an actual  Nutella bar (I die), and additionally a local bakery made the region’s famous Torta alle nocciole e brindisi con  — essentially a hazelnut-filled wedding  cake.

I adore  the “Recipe for Love” screen printed tea towel save-the-date  too — such  a great idea for a foodie couple. And I haven’t even begun to tell you about the florals (you need to see the  bouquets!), or the  fact that these two  were actually married by Italy’s first female  rabbi, Barbara Aiello.

I think what Jacqueline  and  Florian  teach us is that even if you get married abroad, it can still be a really personal affair, filled with the most important things  to you  — in their case, that’s family, friends, fantastic  food and wine, great music, and an appreciation and respect for a variety of bridged cultures and traditions.

The whole affair was planned lovingly and meticulously by our much loved Smashing Suppliers,  Valentina and Ernesto Troncarelli from the  Italian Wedding Company. Jacqueline has so much love for them, and rightly so.

Without further ado, I’ll let the beautiful bride  transport you to Italy with her detailed report, alongside  Gianluca and Mary Adovasio‘s  beautiful photography and  Riccardo Lavezzo‘s film.

Jewish Wedding Italy
Continue ReadingContinue Reading