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A BHLDN Bride for a Desert Jewish Wedding at La Quinta Resort, California, USA

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Darah-Yoni-La-Quinta-Country-Club-California-USA

Here at Team STG, we love a good desert Jewish wedding… and even better when it’s a full-on wedding weekend full of sun, palm trees, and mountain views for days. So naturally we’re pretty obsessed with our Brides Club member Darah Wagner Boaz’s wedding to groom Jonathan (aka Yoni).

Darah, a television producer and certified coach, and Yoni, director of alliance partnerships for Shure Inc, opted to make things official right where they spent their very first weekend away as a couple – lucky they picked somewhere as gorgeous as La Quinta, right?!

The pair planned a wedding weekend so their guests could retreat into vacation mode and take in the surroundings, just like Darah and Yoni had on that first magical weekend. And honestly, who wouldn’t be thrilled to spend a couple of days in such stunning environs, captured perfectly by our photographer Michael Segal?

You can tell we’re pretty taken with the scenery, but that’s far from the only noteworthy aspect of this wedding! The day was full of special personal touches – for instance, the couple wrote a personal thank you note to every guest that they could pick up along with their escort card! – and we also love the Israeli-style aisle badeken, where Yoni came to meet Darah halfway down the aisle.

Oh, and did we mention how absolutely ravishing Darah looked in her gown from BHLDN?!

Darah-Yoni-La-Quinta-Country-Club-California-USADarah-Yoni-La-Quinta-Country-Club-California-USADarah-Yoni-La-Quinta-Country-Club-California-USADarah-Yoni-La-Quinta-Country-Club-California-USA
A Desert Getaway

Darah, the bride: We absolutely love the desert and La Quinta was our first weekend away together when we first started dating in the summer of 2019. We stayed overnight at La Quinta Resort and over brunch the next morning we looked at each other and both said “ I could get married here” and we weren’t even engaged yet! So when we got engaged, we both knew where exactly we were meant to have our special day. 

We invited all of our guests to stay with us at La Quinta Resort and Spa and had our Welcome Party at the La Quinta Brewery Taproom and our wedding at La Quinta Country Club, just across the street. We kept it very La Quinta local! We wanted a weekend event where our guests felt like they were on vacation and could enjoy themselves and get to know each other poolside, playing golf, tennis all while sipping a Margarita. 

We loved the La Quinta Country Club for our wedding day  and what won us over was their mountain view and the gorgeous pavilion. Getting married under the mountains of the desert at sunset was our vision. Not to mention their incredible hospitality, the delicious  food and the gorgeous space. Our guests enjoyed our ceremony at sunset, cocktail hour under the stars continuing by dancing the night away with us. Continue ReadingContinue Reading

A Jenny Packham Bride for a Greek Island Fantasy Jewish Wedding at the Royal Myconian Hotel, Mykonos, Greece

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Claudia & James, Royal Myconian Hotel, Mykonos, Greece

Ok, who could use a sunny island getaway about now? Yeah, we thought so. For those of us not lucky enough to be jetting off to beachy paradise, do the next best thing and live vicariously through the fabulous Jewish wedding of UK couple Claudia, who works in advertising, and James, who works in affordable housing, who tied the knot in their favorite holiday destination, Mykonos.

We’re not sure what we love more, the totally epic locale, or the fact that Claudia and James worked with an amazing team of beloved Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendors to make their dream day a reality. Their first port of call was Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Elegante by Michelle J, who was, as always, “a dream to work with and took a lot of the stress off us in the planning process and the day.” Michelle helped the duo translate their island-perfect color scheme of crisp whites an blues into the fabulous day you see in the wonderful photos by Anna Roussos.

The couple’s stationers, Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Cartalia, designed the most exquisite pocket-style invitation suite in coordinating blues and whites, and the couple’s chazzan, Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Jonny Mosesson – who they flew out from London along with two of his musicians – performed in their trademark unforgettable style at the chuppah and again for the Israeli dancing.

And we haven’t even mentioned the fact that Claudia was lucky enough to have a bespoke wedding dress designed for her by a close friend of her mum’s – none other than Jenny Packham herself! We’ll turn you over to the bride for the rest…

Claudia & James, Royal Myconian Hotel, Mykonos, GreeceClaudia & James, Royal Myconian Hotel, Mykonos, Greece
How We Met

Claudia, the bride: We met through mutual friends in 2013, James had just finished his masters and Claudia had just finished her second year at university.Continue ReadingContinue Reading

A Reem Acra Bride for a Sophisticated Garden Interfaith Jewish Wedding at Annadel Estate Winery, California, USA

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Alexandra & Alec, Annadel Estate Winery, California, USA

Okay, HOW amazing is today’s chuppah?! Is it dreamy, or is it dreamy? For that matter, today’s entire floral scheme is pretty much #goals. Bay Area couple Alexandra, a manager of product operations, and Alec, a data scientist and product manager, have got seriously impeccable taste when it comes to flowers.

The pair’s whole vision for their day was “sophisticated dreamy garden,” and did they ever execute it to perfection! Even Alexandra’s stunning Reem Acra gown featured 3D floral embroidery. The incredible photos of the day from The De Jaureguis are truly unmissable – and how cool is it that Alexandra and Alec repurposed their chuppah after the ceremony by moving it to the dessert lounge and adding seating underneath?

As a counterpoint to all this floral splendor, we love that the duo chose an elegantly simple ketubah from the amazing Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor The Ketubah – with artist Stephanie’s exquisite hand calligraphy, you don’t need much else.

There’s so much more we could say about this incredible wedding, but we’ll leave it to Alexandra to fill you in on the rest…

Alexandra & Alec, Annadel Estate Winery, California, USAAlexandra & Alec, Annadel Estate Winery, California, USAAlexandra & Alec, Annadel Estate Winery, California, USAAlexandra & Alec, Annadel Estate Winery, California, USA
How we Met

Alexandra, the bride: We met on the dating app Hinge in 2017 in San Francisco. Our initial messages were standard, then I was struck at how communicative we continued to be even before meeting for our first date. We went to dinner and continued the night at a cocktail bar across the street, all the while talking and discovering more about one another. Most importantly, we realized we wanted to spend more and more time together, to share our families and celebrations, and to build a future together.Continue ReadingContinue Reading

A Fresh, Beachy Jewish Pandemic Wedding at Caesar Yam, Caesarea, Israel

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Planning a wedding during COVID isn’t easy. You’ve got to be prepared to roll with the punches, make last-minute changes, and generally have a wedding that might look pretty different than the one you’d had your heart set on.

But even with all that, some of the Jewish weddings we’ve seen that have been most affected by the pandemic have also been among the most stunning – ever. Take the fabulous Israeli nuptials of Tash, who works for an online glasses company doing customer service, and Nick, who does marketing and events for a healthcare software provider. These two made aliyah in 2021, and while they wanted to celebrate in their new home, travel restrictions made it uncertain as to whether overseas loved ones would be able to make it.

And even though plenty of things didn’t quite go to plan – the couple went through several changes of venue before settling on the fabulous Caesar Yam; their guest list went from 200 to 65, and some friends and family joined in via livestream rather than in person – this day was nothing short of magnificent.

We’re in love with the beachy, nautical décor – and how gorgeous is that stunning white floral chuppah? – and for all the challenges leading up to the day, there was clearly so much joy and love. Don’t miss the incredible photos from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Herschel Gutman, who the couple report was a delight to work with, as always.

Now over to Tash…

Tash-Nick-Caesar-Yam-Caesarea-IsraelTash-Nick-Caesar-Yam-Caesarea-IsraelTash-Nick-Caesar-Yam-Caesarea-IsraelTash-Nick-Caesar-Yam-Caesarea-Israel
How we Met

Tash, the bride: We met on an app called J Crush in November 2014. Nick was on a year abroad in Paris as part of his degree with Aston University in Birmingham, and I was in my second year at University of Leeds. We spent the first year of our relationship meeting in either Paris, Leeds, Scotland (Nick’s hometown) and London (my hometown) so it was an adventure from the start.Continue ReadingContinue Reading

A Limor Rosen Bride for an Autumnal Bohemian Jewish Wedding at Aix La Chapelle Farm in Poolesville, Maryland

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Ally & Barry, Aix La Chapelle Farm in Poolesville, MD, USA

We can’t get enough of all the glorious personal touches Ally, an enrollment manager for SoCal Food Allergy Institute, and Barry, a commercial real estate agent, threw into their gorgeous Jewish farm wedding in Maryland.   

Incorporating friends and family into the ceremony was a priority for the pair, and we love what they came up with: for starters, Ally’s grandparents were part of the processional, and her grandmas were the “flower women” –  and it was such a hit that some of the groomsmen even took on the role of “flower men” and adorned the aisle with dried flower petals!

Israel is near and dear to Ally and Barry’s hearts – and Ally was able to not only buy her gown from a fabulous Israeli designer, she bought it at the flagship store in Tel Aviv on a work trip to Israel! Limor Rosen herself helped Ally pick out her dress – how special is that?!

The couple also opted to work with mega-talented Israeli ketubah artist and Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Noa Attias to create their exquisite Love Ketubah. Ally and Barry wanted some cohesiveness to all the decor, invitations, and the ketubah, so they worked with Noa to have fonts the same as their wedding invitation on the ketubah!

There are so many more fabulous details of this special day – don’t miss the incredible photos from An Endless Pursuit and Strand of Light, and video from Shutter and Sound!

Ally & Barry, Aix La Chapelle Farm in Poolesville, MD, USAAlly & Barry, Aix La Chapelle Farm in Poolesville, MD, USAAlly & Barry, Aix La Chapelle Farm in Poolesville, MD, USAAlly & Barry, Aix La Chapelle Farm in Poolesville, MD, USA
How we Met

Ally, the bride: We met 7 years ago when Ally was working at Indiana University Hillel and Barry was working for Hasbara Fellowships, an Israel advocacy organization. He came to IU to lead a workshop with some of Ally’s students and the rest was history. We dated long distance for 2 and ½ years and eventually Ally moved to Los Angeles to be with Barry.Continue ReadingContinue Reading