• About
  • Find a Vendor
  • Submit
  • Advertise
  • Brides Club
  • Your Jewish Life
  • Contact

Smashing the Glass | Jewish Wedding Blog

Inspired Jewish Weddings

  • Real Jewish Weddings
    • City Chic
    • Fashion Forward
    • Outdoor
    • Destination
      • Israel
      • Italy
      • Spain
      • France
      • Beach Weddings
    • Super Luxe
    • Budget
    • DIY
    • Same Sex
    • Covid Weddings
  • Jew-ish Weddings
    • Real Jew-ish Weddings
    • Jewish-Catholic Weddings
    • Jewish-Chinese Weddings
    • Jewish-Christian Weddings
    • Jewish-Greek Weddings
    • Jewish-Hindu Weddings
    • Jewish-Humanist Weddings
    • Jewish-Irish Weddings
    • Jewish Japanese Weddings
    • Jewish-Muslim Weddings
    • Same Sex Jew-ish Weddings
  • Inspiration + Guidance
    • Engaged? Start Here
    • Ceremony
      • Chuppah ideas
      • Jewish ceremony music
      • Jewish wedding ceremony 101
      • Jewish ceremony traditions
      • Ketubah Ideas
      • Jewish wedding legalities
      • Jew-ish ceremony ideas
    • Reception
      • Music
      • Speeches
      • Entertainment
      • Venues
    • Food & Drink
      • Kosher catering
      • Wedding cakes
      • Drinks
    • Decor
      • Decorations
      • Favours
      • Floristry
      • Guestbooks
      • Stationery
    • Style
      • Brides dresses
      • Shoes & accessories
      • Grooms
      • Bridesmaids
    • Advice
      • Converting to Judaism
      • Real blogging brides
      • Dear Karen…
    • Honeymoons
    • STG Live
    • Five Minutes With
    • Wedding Must-Haves
    • Wedding Consultancy
  • Jewish Brides Club
  • Find a Wedding Vendor
Home > Yael & Micha | Destination Jewish wedding (planned in just 2 weeks!) at the Spanish synagogue and Ca’ Nigra, Venice, Italy

Yael & Micha | Destination Jewish wedding (planned in just 2 weeks!) at the Spanish synagogue and Ca’ Nigra, Venice, Italy

22/12/2015 by Karen

Jewish-Wedding-Venice
George Clooney and Amal Alamuddin  did it. And so  did today’s super cool couple,  Yael & Micha!  Yes, Venice was the chosen setting  for today’s  Tel Aviv-based bride and groom, and in true Venetian style all the wedding guests together with  the bride and groom, rode  the gondolas of Venice for an incredible and intimate Jewish wedding (only 15 people). The whole affair was planned  in just TWO WEEKS (surely that’s some kind of destination wedding record?!) thanks to the  the wonderful  Amber from  Angel Lion Wedding & Events.

Smashing The Glass  is all about making  your day, your way so I love the essence  of this wedding. EVERYTHING reflects the bride and groom, and if you take a moment to read through Yael’s report, you’ll see why. Oh.. and for some fun, look out for the stories about Micha’s suit, and the ‘sporty’ finish to their wedding!

Yael also hands out  some really useful tips and a generous helping of advice at the end.

Swoon over  the perfectly captured images by Mauro Pozzer  and dream of being in the Venetian sunshine.  Happy Tuesday everyone!

Jewish wedding Venice
how we met

Yael, the Bride:  We met the old fashioned way… at a sleazy bar in Tel Aviv! Just kidding, it was a  regular bar 🙂 I went there with a new friend of mine, and as we entered she noticed Micha, who was, in  hindsight, a friend of hers, so she  introduced him to me. I had just come out of a long relationship whilst he had been single for many years. We chatted for a while that evening and I gave him my number after he asked for it (in a very  noble  way, of course). Two days later we went out to a nice Tapas Bar and the beach, and the rest is  history…

Jewish wedding Venice

Why we chose to get  married in Venice

We wanted a small intimate romantic wedding (with just 15 guests) and very much wanted to spend  quality time with close family and friends. Venice and Ca’ Nigra (the venue) seemed ideal for this. Had we had our wedding back home in Israel it would have had to be a much larger, and less intimate, affair.

Being from Israel it’s not entirely  acceptable to get married abroad and most couples who do, go or to Cyprus to have a civil wedding (and  ditch the religious  Jewish  wedding) – Not many people in Israel know that you can have a Jewish wedding in Venice and no one would know how to go about the procedure, which is actually pretty simple!

My husband  is an avid  reader of Daniel Silva’s spy novels featuring an Israeli spy and his  Venetian  girl friend/wife Chiara so my husband had a thing for Venice because of the books he read!

In hindsight, It was such a  unique experience to have the mikveh  and ceremony in Venice, such a  special,  beautiful and romantic city! Overall, it  was one of the best weekends I’ve ever had, having my best friends and family enjoying our wedding altogether in Italy.

Jewish wedding Venice
Organising the wedding in just two weeks!

We had a wedding planner, Amber Rist Mollison, from  Angel Lion Wedding & Events, who was super helpful having been put in a position to organise a Jewish wedding in just  two weeks! We chose not to have a theme  or colour scheme but we did include a few personal touches, such as mask,  gifts for the guests, and a surprise gondola ride for everyone from the synagogue to the  reception  venue.

Jewish wedding Venice
An invitation created by the bride and groom

As our wedding was a small intimate one  we prepared the invitation ourselves and sent it by email to our guests. The invitation was a kind of a ‘weekend agenda’ of things to do before and after the wedding: restaurants, bars, cafe’s, parties, parks etc. The invite was supposed to ignite a little holiday spark amongst the guests.

Jewish wedding Venice
hair +  make up

Whilst I was still  in Israel, Amber asked me to describe how I wanted my hair and makeup, so she could find me the right make up artist in Venice. I emailed  her a few pictures of images I liked and she straight away knew to  to connect me to  Letizia Cordella  who was perfect!

It only took one email from me to Letizia  for her to understand how I wanted my hair, and on the big day she came well prepared with the photos I had sent her, including additional photos she found on Facebook and other ideas which were spot on!Letizia was great and knew exactly what I wanted, even though we didn’t speak the same  language  🙂

Jewish wedding Venice
A boho  wedding dress

My  dress was designed by the amazing designer Anat Manos. When I was searching  for my dress I still wasn’t sure what kind of wedding  we would be having, but it was important to  to have a dress that would be delicate, yet bohemian and fairytale-like.

When I tried on the dress for  the first time, I liked how it was sweet and princess-like. I especially loved the contrast between the emblazoned  tight fitted corset and the loose silk skirt. But most of all I liked the open back.

Jewish wedding Venice
shoes

I wore simple cream  coloured  heels which I already owned  and loved. I didn’t feel the need to buy a new pair for the wedding…

Jewish wedding Venice
The handsome groom

Micha of course left his suit to the very last minute, and  he literally purchased a suit four days before the flight, from the nearest shop near out house in Tel Aviv! He tried on three suits and picked a  perfect navy blue one.

One day before we left Israel he got cold feet and went and bought a different suit, by himself,  which he would not show me until the big day 🙂 To seal the deal, he picked a perfect (albeit  kitsch!) tie in Venice, which had cute little gondolas decorated on it!

Jewish wedding Venice
accessories

I wore  a small delicate golden hair clip which belonged to mum when she was younger.

Jewish wedding Venice Jewish wedding Venice
favourite part of our  wedding ceremony

I was so moved when I walked  up the aisle  accompanied  by my siblings, waiting for Micha to walk me to the chuppah. That  moment absolutely took my breath away.

Jewish wedding Venice Jewish wedding Venice
chuppah design

The synagogue prescribed it’s own custom chuppah which is a couple of hundred years old. We both liked the idea that the chuppah  had seen many weddings before ours.

Jewish wedding Venice Jewish wedding Venice
music for the ceremony

Before the chuppah we had several kitsch  songs from the Forest Gump sound track because its my husband’s favourite  movie — it makes  him really emotional! As we walked down the  aisle the  beautiful  Gladiator song Now We are Free played.

After we broke the glass we played  Crazy  Mary to signify our Italian  wedding…

Jewish wedding Venice
fabulous flowers

I only really cared to have lots of colours and yellow flowers during the event  with  a bright sunny feel to it. I trusted our amazing  florist, La Dogaressa to pick the right florals. The perks of getting married in Italy, is that you can trust the various designers’ good taste.

Jewish wedding Venice
our fantastic photographer

We love  Mauro Pozzer!  I am actually an avid photographer myself so I spent a lot of time surfing the web looking for the right photographer and when I saw Mauro’s compositions, colours and contrast in his photos, I knew he was the right guy, and  different form the usual photographers.

Jewish wedding Venice
Cake!

We actually didn’t  think a cake was that important, but Amber suggested we have a cake and she also picked the cake for us and could not have chosen better (we  don’t  remember the Italian name of the cake but it was  delicious!). Cutting the cake  together added a very special moment to our  wedding.

Jewish wedding Venice
entertainment

During the  party and celebration we had a FANTASTIC live band  called  Spazio Zero  that played an “unplugged” version of some wonderful  rock classics.

We had the live band that really rocked and we also surprised our guests with a short Gondola ride after the ceremony in the synagogue to the party venue.

Jewish wedding Venice

Venetian mask favours

At Amber’s good suggestion we handed out masquerading masks to our  guests with a little note from us on  the back.

Jewish wedding Venice
A sporty finish

Our wedding happened to be  on the weekend of the Final Four  European League Basketball Championship, played in Milan, and our local team Maccabi Tel Aviv actually won the two dramatic games (!!). Therefore our guests were rewarded for making the journey, and in addition to celebrating our  wedding, they enjoyed the games and were in very positive spirits!

The final game took place two hours after the wedding, so together with our  guests, we quickly  changed our  clothes and ran to the nearest sports bar to watch it altogether!

Jewish wedding Venice
Advice to brides and grooms currently planning their wedding

Plan ahead and  don’t  leave things to the last minute!  But really, my best tip is to take it easy and enjoy everything no  matter how it all turns out.  You’re simply  celebrating your love with close family and friends who want to make you happy. Essentially  there is nothing that can  really “go wrong”. And another tip… check your lipstick every once in a while, so it wont look faded in the pictures!

Jewish wedding Venice

Yael & Micha’s LITTLE WHITE BOOK

Photography — Mauro Pozzer
Wedding Planners —  Angel Lion Wedding & Events
Ceremony venue — Spanish synagogue
Pre-ceremony aperitif venue —  Upupa Ristorante Pizzeria
Reception Venue —  Ca’ Nigra
Catering — La Dogaressa
Bride’s  Dress —  Anat Manos
Flowers — La Dogaressa
Hair + Make Up —  Letizia Cordella
Entertainment —  Spazio Zero (band)

Share this post:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)

Filed Under: Jewish City Chic Weddings, Jewish Synagogue Weddings, Jewish Destination Weddings Tagged With: Italy, Neutrals, Italian wedding, Venice wedding, Ca' Nigra wedding, Anat Manos, Spanish Synagogue Venice, Angel Lion Wedding & Events, Mauro Pozzer

You might also like...

  • ‘Old Hollywood’ destination Jewish wedding at The Great Synagogue of Florence and Villa Di Maiano, Florence, Italy‘Old Hollywood’ destination Jewish wedding at The Great Synagogue of Florence and Villa Di Maiano, Florence, Italy
  • Natalie & Oren | Spectacular Jewish wedding at The Great Synagogue + Villa Cora, Florence, ItalyNatalie & Oren | Spectacular Jewish wedding at The Great Synagogue + Villa Cora, Florence, Italy
  • Daphna & Godwin | Tuscan Castle Jewish Wedding, Tuscany,ItalyDaphna & Godwin | Tuscan Castle Jewish Wedding, Tuscany,Italy
  • A Watters bride for an ‘all white’ destination interfaith Jewish Wedding at Masseria Le Carrube, Puglia, Italy.A Watters bride for an ‘all white’ destination interfaith Jewish Wedding at Masseria Le Carrube, Puglia, Italy.
  • A Carolina Herrera bride for a destination Jewish Wedding in a castle at Castello di Vincigliata, Florence, Italy.A Carolina Herrera bride for a destination Jewish Wedding in a castle at Castello di Vincigliata, Florence, Italy.
  • Michaela & Zac | Destination Jewish Wedding at the Great Synagogue of Rome and the St Regis, Rome, ItalyMichaela & Zac | Destination Jewish Wedding at the Great Synagogue of Rome and the St Regis, Rome, Italy

About Karen

Loves great design, cityscapes, berry cocktails, and the word “yes”. Founder and editor of Smashing The Glass. Follow me @SmashingTheGlass

Jewish Weddings by Country

Vendors We Love

Weddings by Colour


Jewish Wedding Gift List


Awesome Jewish Gifts

Vendors We Love

Get posts directly into your inbox

Enter your email address below and get the latest posts delivered straight to your inbox.

Kate Spade UK Limited
Mr And Mrs Smith Honeymoons
Liberty London
Biscuiteers Baking Company
Monica Vinader

Today’s Top Posts

  • A Made with Love Bride for an Autumnal Jewish Wedding Weekend in the Catskills at Stone Tavern Farm, New York, USA
    A Made with Love Bride for an Autumnal Jewish Wedding Weekend in the Catskills at Stone Tavern Farm, New York, USA
  • Jewish Wedding Traditions Explained - The Badeken
    Jewish Wedding Traditions Explained - The Badeken
  • Win a Luxury Three Night Stay for Two in Kosher Paradise at Grand Hyatt Baha Mar, the Caribbean’s Ultimate Jewish Wedding Destination
    Win a Luxury Three Night Stay for Two in Kosher Paradise at Grand Hyatt Baha Mar, the Caribbean’s Ultimate Jewish Wedding Destination
  • Dates in 2023, 2024 and 2025 to avoid for a Jewish wedding plus a 12 Month Wedding Planning Monthly Checklist
    Dates in 2023, 2024 and 2025 to avoid for a Jewish wedding plus a 12 Month Wedding Planning Monthly Checklist
  • Vendors We Love
    Vendors We Love

Subscribe by Email

Enter your email address below and get the latest posts delivered straight to your inbox.

Connect

Instagram
TikTok
Facebook
Pinterest
YouTube
Twitter
Advertise
Mailing List
Email Karen

Receive Smashing The Glass posts via Email

Enter your email address below and get the latest posts delivered straight to your inbox.

closeWin a Luxury stay at Grand Hyatt Baha Mar, the Caribbean’s Ultimate Jewish Wedding Destination

All content © Smashing The Glass 2023