Olya + Yossi | Hand-crafted, rustic, bohemian ‘Instagram’ Israeli wedding at Duce Villa, Tel Aviv, planned in just 3 months!

Oh this is such a beautiful wedding. I’m so very excited to be blogging it, and what’s more, the story of how Olya and Yossi met is quite simply a modern day fairytale, with good ol’  Instagram at the epicentre of their tale!

Olya was looking for a vintage hebrew typewriter and posted a picture on  Instagram of what she was looking for. Yossi saw the  picture after one of his friends ‘liked’ it, and he then dropped her a message telling her he owned one that she might just be interested in. Originally from  Israel, Yossi had just moved to Los Angeles, but that didn’t stop the two of them from carving out a beautiful love story via email, Skype and all manner of 21st century technologies.

Olya says. “We are still wondering how this all magically happened, but here we are now together, sharing the same last name and that turquoise vintage typewriting machine.”

Super creative Olya  (the blogger  behind the à¼ber-cool boho  TLV Birdie  blog) handcrafted so many beautiful elements for her  wedding, and believe it or not, organised the whole thing  in just  3 months! This girl knows a thing or two about originality and artistry so look no further for your D.I.Y. inspiration! Take note of her wise advice the end too.  I  found myself nodding along in agreement like one of those dogs you find on the back shelf of a car. But I digress… read on for a beautiful story, and some sensational  imagery by  Irina Yakobson.

PLANNING OUR ENTIRE WEDDING IN JUST 3 MONTHS
Olya, the Bride: When it came to planning the wedding,  we had a vision of a simple, cosy, small  bohemian wedding. We organised the entire do in  just 3 months, and the wedding day fell upon the beautiful date of 4/4/14.

THE FIRST AND ONLY VENUE WE SAW!
As soon as I saw our  venue I fell in love with it (Yossi was still in Los Angeles whilst I was planning the wedding in Tel Aviv). It was actually the only venue  I saw and I knew it was the right one the moment I clapped eyes on  it.

I wanted it to  be cosy and warm, with a rustic vibe, and I didn’t want it to have any elements  that I couldn’t  handle (I’m not a fan of  plastic, neon lights and what I consider to be other bad taste wedding venue decor!).

A RUSTIC, RELAXED THEME
We went for country-inspired, touch-of-bohemian, with a sprinkle of  ‘Mother Nature’ style feel! And the most important thing was for it to be super relaxed. Nothing fancy….

LOTS OF  HANDMADE  DETAILS
It was important for me that our guests (who were only close friends and family — around 100 people all in all) would feel our vibe and that meant handmade touches on everything. So I took great joy in designing and planning many of the details.

First, of course was a corner for THAT typewriter, complemented with craft papers and custom stamps of our wedding on each sheet, inviting  guests to ‘Leave Us a Love Note’ in a  cosy quiet  corner of the venue. Other handmade touches  included  a seating  plan made of paper feathers in a bird cage, with golden birds and rosemary greenery inside the cage; a big dream catcher of white crochet, leather and turquoise stones in the guests’ seating area; gold-dipped real feathers and a piece of rosemary that decorated each guests’ silverware; and  pictures of our love story hand-printed on wood were all over the place.

Each table was decorated with candles, jars with wild flowers (also handmade decorated with burlap and vintage crochet), and burlap runners, and we placed  a disposable camera on each table too.

INSTAGRAM TOUCHES…
Seeing as we met via Instagram, we  also had to  have an  instagram tag #soulywedding (that actually helped us to collect some cute photos and videos next morning). We also hung  polaroid-sized Instagram pictures on a tree, maybe for some  it’s a wedding clichà©, but for us it’s the real story of how we met…)

HAND-CRAFTED STATIONERY WITH FEATHERS, VINTAGE LACE, AND CUSTOM STAMPS
Yossi and I designed the stationery together. He is a graphic designer and animator,and I am his muse! We actually have very differing tastes: he’s more urban, whereas I am more of a free spirit, so our invitation design was our compromise.

Having printed all the invitations, I added handmade touches to each and everyone of them with gold-dipped feathers, vintage lace and custom stamps that we also designed especially for the wedding. By the way, our wedding rings are Yossi’s design as well.

‘BOHEMIAN ROMANCE’ BRIDAL STYLE
My wedding look was totally inspired by bohemian romance, it was super relaxed and full of free spirit. Just as I am in a daily life with my ‘gypsy outfits’, I turned my usual style into an effortless bridal look.

I could never imagine myself wearing a huge wedding “meringue” dress, or something fancy decorated with tulles and rhinestones, it’s just not me.

My perfect wedding dress was waiting for me at my favourite brand’s online store – Free People. The dress was simple and chuppah-appropriate being cotton crochet and 3/4 sleeve.

ACCESSORIES TO COMPLETE MY LOOK
I knew what I was looking for to complete my look, and I found those pieces in the most unexpected and  ‘un-wedding-y’ places you could imagine. I wore  a gold boho chic headpiece, that I accidentally found in H&M. The classic veil I needed for the chuppah ceremony was a present from my mum and it was a perfect fit for my wedding dress,  with its  light crochet pattern. I didn’t really care about wearing a  veil… just how it would look!

SHOES
I am not a heels person (and I mean AT ALL!) so  I ordered a gorgeous pair of golden boots with a worn-out look from Anthropologie, but at the last minute I bought a pair of high heels, which matched the dress crochet details on the dress, from Forever 21.

DOING MY OWN HAIR + MAKE UP
I did my own wavy hair and natural light make up. I was not only an effortless bride, but also a budget-friendly one!

THE HANDSOME GROOM
As I already mentioned, Yossi is super  urban, and there was no chance ( and need) to put him into a black suit and tie kind of attire. So we found some cool pieces that worked out really well: a Zara jacket and trousers, a Stussy shirt with print of tiny birds, and Vans shoes.

CHUPPAH DESIGN
The chuppah was provided by our venue, it was a hand-held  chuppah, and four  of our  closest family members  held it. It created a really cosy, intimate atmosphere for the wedding.

MUSIC FOR THE CEREMONY
We wanted to choose a  romantic song yet we wanted it to be ‘us’. So  after the glass was smashed, we chose to play  Y.A.L.A by M.I.A.

FLOWERS
It was a pretty hard mission to find  a floral  designer in Israel who would feel my vibe and do the  arrangements I envisaged for a reasonable price, but I got unbelievably lucky to find  Chrissy Yahav. She not only foresaw  what I wanted for my bridal bouquet and forest flower arrangements, she managed to find lavender for me too. Needless to say, our guests were truly amazed by the decoration and special feel of the wedding, and I loved how Chrissy brought  all my DIY plans to  life for the flowers, centrepieces, and table decor.

PHOTOGRAPHER
I chose my  good friend  Irina Yakobson. She is on of those rare photographers who cares about transforming emotions into pictures and catches all the right ones.

FLORAL FAVOURS IN JARS
We asked everyone to take home flower jars by putting a Take Me Home tag on each jar. Every jar went!

ADVICE TO OTHER BRIDES
It  doesn’t matter if your wedding is as little and simple as ours, or if it’s the fanciest wedding on the planet,  stay true to yourself, and to what your partnership  is all about. If you try  to recreate the  atmosphere you’re living in your daily life to your wedding day, you can’t go far wrong. For us, this is what made our wedding day so very special.

OLYA  + YOSSI’S  LITTLE WHITE BOOK
Venue —  Duce Villa
Photography —  Irina Yakobson Photography
Flowers + decor  —  Chrissy Yahav
Bride’s dress —  Free People
Bride’s shoes —  Forever 21
Bride’s headpiece  —  H&M
Groom’s attire —  Zara,  Stussy  and Vans
Stationery  —  Taboo Plus