Smashing the Glass | Jewish Wedding Blog

Inspired Jewish Weddings

The Best Israeli Wedding Band Ever!

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We love an Israeli wedding here at STG and have covered everything from spectacular to super casual Big Days, as well as more recently, a heart-achingly gorgeous Jerusalem tale.

For many, Israel is the ultimate Jewish destination wedding; it is the most spiritual place on earth that you could choose to make this special commitment to your partner. And while it carries momentous cultural meaning, that’s just one side of its nuptial allure. Israel is also a place where east meets west, where the sun shines eight months of the year, it’s beautiful, exotic, energetic and FUN. You’d be hard pushed to match the vivacity and heady enjoyment of an Israeli bash — and where there’s a party, there’s music!

If you’re thinking of heading to Israel to marry your beloved, I implore you to follow this amazing Tel Aviv based party band, The Live Band.

This eight-to-fourteen piece outfit really is THE Israeli wedding band. Incredibly professional, energetic, charismatic and super glamorous (think tailored suits and glittery cocktail dresses), The Live Band know exactly how to create a performance that builds energy and excitement throughout the night.

They can whip the crowd up and have them eating out of the palm of their hand with their belting tunes, incredible stage presence and outstanding repertoire. From Hava Nagila to Uptown Funk they will find a playlist to suit you and your guests perfectly. Don’t believe me – just watch!

Have Atmosphere — Will Travel

Luckily The Live Band are set up to do international gigs, so whilst they are Tel Aviv-based, fret not as they can, will and have travelled anywhere in the world to bring the party. So you can have the big band Israel-style delivered to you wherever you are.

Live Band vs DJ

Traditionally, an Israeli wedding is more about the DJ but increasingly people are now turning to bands – as an alternative or as an addition – to give their wedding that extra pizazz, the real showmanship and explosive atmosphere that only live music can bring. And that’s where (aptly named) The Live Band. step in.

The Live Band’s musical signature, lead by founding members Yuval Niv and Yonatan Fridge, in collaboration with incredible vocalists and super talented instrumentalists, is a polished, upbeat sound, delivered with incredible energy and performance. There’s no singing from song sheets like the dreaded wedding singers from films. They are experienced, professional musicians who love what they do and have played with the top singers and bands in the Israeli music industry — Rita, Shlomo Artzi, Idan Raichel, Ivri Lider …

You just cant replicate that magical moment when all your favourite people in the world are all on their feet, dancing to the same (perfectly chosen, well-timed) tune, smiling, singing, hands in the air and of course one of two with their eyes closed, lost in the moment. And that’s what this Tel Aviv band bring. If there is one thing The Live Band knows how to do, it’s how to make a party explode!

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Yvonne & Craig’s rustic chic, beautifully personal Jewish wedding at Micklefield Hall, Hertfordshire ,UK

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Some weddings are a feast for the eyes — some are a treat for the heart. And some weddings are beautifully both! Yvonne and Craig’s contemporary rustic chic wedding at Micklefield Hall  in Hertfordshire, UK, shot by our inimitably talented Smashing Supplier  Laura Babb, was a beautiful blend of eye-catching dà©cor and eye-dabbing personal detail.

Bride Yvonne, who recently converted to Judaism, works in design and boy can you tell. The wedding was dotted with perfectly pulled together design details; a colour scheme in soft blush pinks and whites, rustic ladders, chalkboards featuring gorgeous typography, a naked Victoria sponge — and then there was that stationery.

Yvonne took on the brave and loving task of designing and creating her whole stationery suite: from her box-set themed table signage to the 150 lovingly handcrafted (and hand gilded) invitations received by her guests.

Oh, and adorable favour idea alert: Yvonne and Craig treated each guest to a hand-decorated personalised mini bottle of pink champagne and stripy straw so they could be enjoyed during the festivities. How cute is that?

Yvonne and Craig’s big-hearted wedding also involved some astoundingly touching personal details, including a framed photograph of Yvonne’s late mother, which took pride of place during the ceremony. Yvonne and her father made the chuppah together from materials from both sides of the family, and don’t even get me started on the lovely personalised gift that Yvonne sent to Craig on the morning of the wedding…

I hope you love staring at this divine, detail-laden dream as much as I did — and make sure you check out the quirky and cool Marryoke video at the end? What’s that, you ask? I won’t ruin it for you. Enjoy!

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How We Met

Yvonne, the bride: Craig and I met in a pub in Islington after Craig walked over to me and announced that he ‘had to  introduce  himself’! Craig played it very cool after that and waited another three  weeks until he  asked me out on our first date. We  have been together for six  years now and have made some incredible memories together.  I decided to convert to Judaism a couple of years ago and although it was extremely hard work, it really was the most incredible experience and really  brought me and Craig even closer together. Craig was a great support  and  spent hours helping me to revise and learn all the Jewish customs he was familiar with.

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The Pros and Cons of a Destination Wedding

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Having a destination wedding, just like any other choice in life — has it’s long list of pros and cons. When Alex and I first began the conversation of  where  we’d like to tie the knot, we we’re slightly overwhelmed with the possibilities. The world was ours. Would we travel abroad? Stay within the country? East or West Coast? In the end, only three options really made sense for us: Florida – where my parents live, Arizona – where Alex’s parents live, and Washington, DC – where we’ve built our home together.  

Two weeks after we got engaged, we flew out to Tucson, Arizona to visit his parents, as they threw us a lovely engagement party. At that point in the planning (only two weeks in), Alex and I barely had a grasp of what we wanted from the big day. Since we were already in Arizona, we figured we might as well take advantage of that, and explore some venues. The week prior to our trip, I contacted 5 different venues for fall / winter 2016 availability and pricing. Collecting a little binder of information prior to landing in Arizona. And good thing I did, since the moment we landed, wedding talk seemed to be the only conversational topic.

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Image: Julian Wainwright, taken from Melissa & Ishay’s Jew-ish destination wedding in Thailand

The morning of the engagement party, Alex’s dad drove us around the city to various appointments, narrowed down to 4 at that point. Once we stepped foot on Tubac Golf Resort, we knew we had found something really special. We loved the atmosphere, the ranch-style hotel rooms, the layout of the property, the ballrooms, the heated-covered patios, the gorgeous well kept lawns where we’d potentially hold our ceremony — everything.

For various reasons, Florida and DC were ruled out. So Arizona made the next most sense. And after our tour of Tubac, we felt it was the right place for us. We didn’t give it much more thought than that. I signed the contract that very week we returned home to DC. And then, the rest of the planning, booking, and arranging began!

Planning the wedding from 2,500+ miles away hasn’t been the easiest, I will be the first to say that, and in fact it’s caused a reasonable amount of stress. I wanted to share my pros and cons list with any future brides still deciding, or to any brides that have already settled on a destination wedding for them to relate to.

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Image:  Susan Stripling, taken from Natasha & Jez’s Jewish destination wedding in Cap Ferrat, South of France

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Romantic, Designer Weddings in Spain – planned to perfection by Reviva Weddings

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If you’re considering casting the biggest day of your life in a romantic sun-drenched destination and are fancy a trend setting, stylish and contemporary vibe – bespoke but definitely twinkly – then you simply must be introduced to Reviva Weddings. I’ve been following them for a while now and am totally impressed with this Marbella- based team of wedding planners, known for creating cutting edge weddings across Spain.

Jewish Weddings in Spain

Reviva Weddings has built up an extraordinary network of suppliers and has become one of the most established and popular wedding planners in Spain. And importantly for STG readers, they have created many beautiful Jewish weddings.

Having organised epic Jewish weddings for up to 400 guests, and with an understanding of the requirements for Jewish and mixed faith marriages, you’ll be in very capable hands with British-born Reviva founder, Laura Charles and her team. From beautifully dressed chuppahs to venues who can offer kosher catering, they’re on it.

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You had me at “Interior Designer”

Apart from the planning and coordination services you’d hope for, Reviva is holding a major trump card — Laura Charles, the  owner, is an interior designer. This is the first time I’ve come across an interior designer turned wedding planner and it’s like music to my ears. After all, this is one day when you need someone to really take charge of the mise en scà¨ne, to craft the stage and create the atmosphere and oh my, she is darn good at it.

Laura, who has lived in Spain for years, started Reviva in 2007 originally as a wedding stylist. There was a real demand for super stylish weddings in Spain but it didn’t seem like anyone was renting out any decor or equipment at all. You couldn’t even hire a chair sash, let alone sequin table runners and a neon bar.

So she started Reviva,  doing both wedding styling (including equipment/props hire) and the full wedding planning service. Because of her background and passion for the visual, Laura has formed an extremely accomplished, design-focused company. And to help – she has a fabulous team of trained wedding planners behind her who are brilliant, bilingual, and supremely creative. All ready to organise and style your day.

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A BHLDN bride for a brunch-style Jewish wedding at Park Tavern in Piedmont Park, Atlanta, USA

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It’s a Big Day in America today (erm… understatement!) and I couldn’t possibly let the day pass without posting a gorgeous real American Jewish wedding, if nothing else, to divert us from all the madness!

Menucha & Austin are just the cutest and I’ve got an extra special treat in store for you today in terms of the bride’s FABULOUS frockage from BHLDN, one of my favourite bridal fashion brands — super sassy and achingly cool.

Austin isn’t Jewish, but is going to convert to Judaism and in the meantime, Menucha wanted to find a way to show that he was included and invited into the Jewish tradition.

So he had a tisch before the ceremony, and when they danced Austin in to see his bride for the badeken, he carried out the act of placing her veil over her face, but then she carried out her own really special addition to the short ceremony — she placed a white kippah on his head, to symbolise his future conversion to Judaism. It’s personal details like this that make for a truly smashing wedding…

The wedding ceremony itself was jam-packed with intimacy, personality and so much joy. Menucha’s father was the officiant, and the bride’s and groom’s siblings held the chuppah poles. Menucha’s mother also made the ketubah. Truly a family affair.

The images today come from Alyssa Kapnik Samuel — thank you for submitting this gorgeousness, Alyssa!

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How We Met

Menucha, the bride: Austin and I met in college. He was roommates with my best friend from high school. And it was a long journey from there!

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