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An International Egalitarian Waterfront Jewish Wedding at Two Rivers Country Club, Williamsburg, VA, USA

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Chag sameach, smashing readers! We hope you’re having a wonderful Rosh Hashanah, however you choose to celebrate – to paraphrase our tag line, your Rosh Hashanah, your way!

Speaking of which – we just love it when a couple merges their backgrounds into a Jewish wedding that’s so perfectly them it couldn’t possibly be anyone else’s. Like Lauren and Josh. American bride Lauren, who works in communications, and English groom Josh, can accountant, wed in the most beautiful waterfront spot in Lauren’s home state of Virginia.

Combining the bride’s Reform Ashkenazi background with the groom’s Sephardi Orthodox upbringing was paramount for these two – as was crafting a fully egalitarian ceremony – and we think they did a fantastic job working both of their traditions plus their shared modern values into their beautiful ceremony. For instance, their gorgeous ketubah from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Ketubah.com displays the traditional text with the Liebermann clause included, alongside an English translation of the couple’s choosing. And while mostly keeping the ceremony traditional, the pair opted to exchange rings and to skip out on circling. We’re obsessed with Maria  Grace Photography’s joyous, emotional shots of  the chuppah – and the whole fantastic day.

And how sweet is it that Lauren’s father built the couple’s simple birch chuppah, which Lauren and Josh covered with both of their tallitot from growing up!

We can’t let you go without mentioning how much we love that Lauren found her fab dusty rose bridesmaids’ dresses right here on STG – we’ll let her take it from here…

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How we met

Lauren, the bride: We met one summer during university; Josh decided to do a summer work program in America and somehow ended up working as a lifeguard at a water park in Virginia. We became friends later in the summer and decided to go traveling together the following year once we finished uni. We ended up dating shortly after the start of our travels and spent our first year of dating traveling around Europe, Australia and the US.

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An Alon Livne Bride for a Resort-Style Jewish Wedding at 5.91, Netanya, Israel

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LUZ Weddings does it again. We can never get enough of the edgy, stylish, architecturally inspired wedding photos and video from this beloved Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor, and Mor and Yotam’s gorgeous Israeli seaside wedding is no exception – if the idea of wedding photos that don’t feel like wedding photos appeals to you, scroll on to see what we’re talking about.

Granted, the LUZ team had great material to work with. Mor, an import coordinator at a business importing luxury brands to Israel, and Yotam, a customer success manager at an advertising startup, both have a thing about the sea, and so it was only natural that they chose a venue that made the most of Israel’s stunning coastline. To maximize the experience, they went for a resort theme for the whole day, sticking with a palette of oceanic blues, tropical greens, and sandy beige and white.

We also love that, to add a personal touch to their ceremony, these two decided they’d each write a note to the other, to be read for the first time – aloud for all the guests to hear – under the chuppah. What a sweet, memorable touch – whether you go the sentimental route, like Yotam, or take more of a comic turn, as Mor did in hers.

There’s so much more to see about this fab wedding, but we’ll let the bride – who looked ravishing in Alon Livne– fill you in on the rest…

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How we met

Mor, the bride: Yotam started communicating at the end of the first semester of university, and I didn’t really understand why… It was only by the end of the first year that we started dating, and the rest is a true love story.

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An Eisen Stein Bride for an Equality-Minded Jewish Wedding at Avigdor 22 in Tel Aviv, Israel

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We love it when a couple puts their values first when planning their Jewish wedding. That’s exactly what today’s gorgeous Israeli couple, Talia and Shawn, did. The pair didn’t feel comfortable marrying through Israel’s rabbanut, in light of the lack of marriage equality in the country, so they worked to craft an alternative that was in keeping with their values yet still incorporated Jewish tradition in a way that was meaningful to them.

Talia and Shawn opted to make things official via a City Hall wedding while on holiday in NYC (so fun!), and then back home in Tel Aviv worked with a secular rabbi to plan their Jewish celebration, which combined tradition – smashing the glass, a gorgeous chuppah that’s been passed down through the groom’s family ever since his grandparents made it for his parents’ wedding – with personal touches, like the vows the couple made to each other and the tailor-made blessings they received from their family and friends in place of the traditional seven blessings. We also love that they wrote their ketubah text themselves!

We’re obsessed with the couple’s incredibly cool, contemporary photography from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Ben Kelmer – the way he captures emotion and authentic moments while also somehow producing images that wouldn’t look out of place in a glam glossy magazine is really something.

Now over to the bride, who looked effortlessly elegant in her gown by Eisen Stein and party dress from Nili Lotan…

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How we met

Talia, the bride: We have been together for 9 years. I am a dentist and Shawn is a lawyer… We met through a good friend of mine from the army who went out with Shawn’s friend. They didn’t work out as a couple, but we’re still together! We asked both of them to greet us together (as part of the 7 blessings) as a token to their brief relationship that led us to meet and eventually get married.

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A Lee Petra Grebenau Bride for an Exuberant Jewish Wedding at Cavalli Estate, Cape Town, South Africa

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If we had to pick one word to sum up Isa and Daniel’s Jewish wedding, it would be “exuberant!” From the bright colour palate to that gorgeous chuppah, to the abundant florals to the joyful expressions on the face of the bride and groom – not to mention the wild dancing and the spirited beachside couple’s shoot captured so beautifully in photographs by John Armstrong and on video Vision on Fire – South African couple Isa, a doctor, and Daniel, a solicitor, went all in on their big day.

We’re obsessed with their vibrant colour scheme – the couple wanted to use warm, bright shades to create an inviting atmosphere reflecting the spirit of love and celebration that embodied the day, with liberal use of the bride’s beloved bright pinks. Even Isa and Daniel’s gorgeous ketubah by Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor ByTessa incorporated the bright pink floral theme, and it could not be any lovelier.

And these two had a chuppah unlike any we’ve seen before – sure, there were stunning bright florals, but what really bowled us over is not the outside of this chuppah but the inside: Isa and Daniel decorated the underneath of the canopy with photos of their families through the generations, including those who couldn’t be physically present on the day – what a special way to literally envelope yourselves in the people who love you most!

There’s so much more to say about this wonderful wedding, but the time has come to turn you over to Isa, who looked nothing less than ravishing in her gown by beloved Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Lee Petra Grebenau, working with the designer herself at her studio in Israel – we’re totally not surprised to hear Isa say that getting to work with the wonderful Lee made the dress decision a non-brainer…

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How we met

Isa and Daniel, the bride and the groom: In 2016, Isa was busy with her medical internship and Daniel was running around the court rooms with his law practice. A mutual friend sent Daniel Isa’s number. They had never crossed paths before their first date and it took Daniel an entire weekend to come up with “Hi Isa, a mutual friend sent me your number, would you like to go for a drink this week?” We eventually met on our first date and we ended up talking for hours and Isa had that smile. Daniel had to leave for Hong Kong but the talking continued. 

One year later Daniel arranged for Isa to meet him in Cape Town and they went to Babylonstoren wine farm under the false pretence that Daniel was on a media panel talking about high profile legal cases. Instead, Daniel popped the question and Isa, although a little suspicious, responded with Daniel’s favourite words “of course yes”

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A Julie Vino Bride for a New Orleans-Meets-Israel Jewish Wedding in a Private House Outside Tel Aviv, Israel

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A New Orleans-meets-Tel Aviv wedding?! Yes, please – what’s not to love about a big day that combines the best of two of the world’s greatest party cities? Bride Laura, who runs her own English teaching business in Tel Aviv and teaches high school humanities, knew from the start she wanted to combine her American Southern background with the all-Israeli roots of groom Elad, a front end web developer for a start-up company.

Sounds like a tall order, right? But nothings’ too much for the team at amazing Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Bebke, who understood exactly what the couple wanted and fused together their vision of an eclectic New Orleans style meets funky Israeli vibe to create a one of a kind wedding. Even the catering got in on the game – Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Maasia worked New Orleans French style, American southern, and Mediterranean Israeli food into the menu, and scored a runaway hit with late-night corndogs that guests are still raving about!

As if the theme weren’t awesome enough, we’re equally obsessed with all of the personal touches these two put into their big day. Laura and Elad wanted their brothers – four between the two of them – to hold each corner of their chuppah, so they went with a simple hand-held bamboo setup to make it happen. They also had a “dog of honor” – their beloved Kimchi – join them under the chuppah! We’re in love with Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Ronen Boidek’s breathtaking photos of it all – as Laura said herself, he is just so skilled at capturing “not only the big moments but the small ones as well.”

Now over to Laura, who looked so beautiful in her Julie Vino dress…

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How we met

Laura, the bride: We met on Tinder believe it or not, when it was brand new in Tel Aviv. We both were receiving hundreds of matches but somehow I ended up answering his message. Our first conversation was about our music taste which wasn’t the standard topic when Tinder first began. I had a gut feeling there was something there. We went on a date a few weeks later and took off from there. That was almost five years ago.

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