Michaela & Aviad | A Jewish wedding in the woods in Ben Shemen forest, Israel

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