I’m really excited about today’s wedding, not just because it’s epitomises my idea of simple beauty, but also because Liron Erel was the photographer, and I’ve been dying to get his work up again on the blog.
It also contains a few firsts: It’s the first Jewish wedding that I’ve blogged on Smashing The Glass to take place in a real bone fide forest, it’s the first to feature a Jewish bride proudly (and resplendently!) showing off her tattoos, and it’s the first to feature my favourite boutique hotel in Tel Aviv, The Montefiore, which is where today’s lovely couple got ready.
Here is what the beautiful bride, Michaela, had to say about her Israeli wedding in the woods.
how we met
Michaela, the Bride: We met whilst we were working together in the same bar (in fact, our first dance was to We found each other in the dark because we met in a bar!). Nothing happened between us for a long time until we were both invited to a friend’s wedding. Maybe it was the magic air of a Jewish wedding, but I started to see something between us…
A forest wedding venue!
We picked Ben Shemen Forest for it’s raw beauty. Both my husband and I wanted to get married in the forest and wanted our wedding to feel really natural, like a school trip to the forest! We wanted to keep everything cool and easy going, and the nature spoke for itself.
the perfect dress… and fuschia peep toe heels
I bought my dress “accidentally” in the kibbutz near where we had our wedding even though at the time we didn’t know we were going to get married there! I didn’t try many dresses but this dress, by a designer called Eva Al Kanrash, was totally unique and simple all at the time…. just like us!
I matched the dress with a veil by the same designer that was the perfect length and made from a very beautiful fabric. The outfit was finished off with fuschia peep toe heels!
the handsome groom
Aviad wore a black three piece suit. He looked very handsome and most importantly- he wore a bow tie. Just lovely!
the ceremony and chuppah
My favourite part of the whole day was the ceremony. It had a very spiritual vibe and I was so excited to stand there surrounded by my beloved family.
For our chuppah, we wanted something simple and natural. so we decided on vine leaves which looked just gorgeous.
music for the ceremony
We walked down the aisle to Ultraviolet by The Killers. It was our song since day one.
forest flowers
For the bouquet and my head piece I chose very fresh and colourful flowers made to look like I picked them in the forest. The lady who assisted with the flowers was a lovely woman from a florist in a kibbutz near where we live.
Our fantastic photographer
It was simply was love at first sight with Liron Erel‘s work. His photos and his style, and colours, basically everything was like it meant for us! And the results are truly amazing.
advice to other brides
My age-old advice is be calm and take it easy. The day goes by so fast, try and enjoy every minute.
Michaela & Aviad ‘s little white book
Photography — Liron Erel
Wedding venue — Ben Shemen Forest, Israel
‘Getting Ready’ Hotel — Hotel Montefiore, Tel Aviv
D J — Liron Teeni from Zebra Music
wow, gorgeous wedding pictures. love the bride’s floral headpiece.
Thanks for your comment Stacey! Michaela does indeed have the most awesome bridal style. A truly smashing bride!
Beautiful images, love the style.
Thanks for your comment, Allister! Liron Erel is a bit of a legend and I’m so thrilled that he’s back with a bang on STG with this wedding.
Next up, I’d love to feature your work!
I am in love with this wedding – the location is incredible. I can’t seem to find it online or how to go about organising a wedding in this venue? Where do the permissions come from?
Hi Mary! I will contact the bride – Michaela – and ask her to email you and let you know. Glad you loved the post ! Karen x
Hey Mary
This is the link for the place where we did our wedding: neot-k.co.il
The site is in hebrow but their phone number is written there.
Good luck!
If you need anything else you can contect me here: michaelaarava@gmail.com
Thank you so much for letting Mary know! xxx
Thanks Michaela and thanks team for your help!