Lindsay, a member of Smashing The Glass’ Brides Club, will be marrying Dan on 25th August 2019 at Kochav Hayam in Caesarea, Israel. Click here to read all Lindsay’s planning posts to date.
THREE FACTS: (1) Lindsay and Dan were set up by Lindsay’s cousin! (2) They are planning an English-style destination wedding with a few modern twists in Caesarea, Israel. (3) Even though they are both Jewish, Lindsay is more interested in the religious element of the day than Dan, so they are working to balance tradition with their personal style – our favorite!
Ceremony is the most important thing to me
Whilst the most important aspect of the wedding for Dan is music, for me it’s the ceremony. It’s safe to say I’m slightly more in touch with my religious side than Dan is (he’s only just agreed to go prawn-less post-wedding), so when it came to choosing a rabbi it was so important we found someone with a connection to us – if anything just to keep Dan awake during the ceremony!
Image by Andreas Markakis from Nitsan and Oren‘s wedding
Meeting with a former rabbi in Israel
My future in-laws told us about an old family friend of Dan’s grandparents, who used to be the rabbi at Kingston Synagogue and now lives in the hills of Jerusalem, so when we were in Israel last summer, we trotted off to meet him.
We pulled up to the most beautiful retirement village I’ve ever seen. After a tour of the dining room, gym, library and, of course, the synagogue, both Dan and I enquired about how early we could move in!
Image by The Love Hunters from Georgia and Joel‘s wedding
He was such a sweet man, so genuinely happy to meet me and see Dan again. It was an absolute joy to hear him speak. He was asking us questions and as we were getting deeper into the conversation it turned out that I had a lot more in common with him than I expected.
He asked which synagogue we were planning on joining. I told him Mill Hill East in North London, and he told me he knew one of the founders – who is my cousin! It turned out he knew my whole family.
Whilst living in London he was also an active member of the Hampstead Garden Suburb synagogue, after he left Kingston, where my uncle’s family were also active members.
Image by Noam Salach from Lee and Roy’s wedding (soon on Smashing The Glass!)
Many Connections
The story kept on unravelling. He had married my aunty and uncle in Manchester, and therefore had known my grandparents in the planning of that occasion. He had married my cousin and his wife – the person who introduced Dan and me. By the end of the meeting, it transpired that I had more connections with him than Dan did!
As I’ve mentioned in a previous post, I’m a crier. There’s no way of hiding it. Our photographer has an absolute challenge on his hands to make sure I don’t have ugly crying face in all the pictures. Anyway, it took every ounce of energy for me to stop myself from crying when talking through all of these connections with our rabbi.
Image by LUZ from Rachel and Yonatan‘s wedding
The fact that he knew my grandparents was the icing on the cake. Sadly neither of them are with us anymore so it’s extra special for me to know that he knew them. We had barely stepped foot out of there and I absolutely burst – and basically didn’t stop crying for the rest of the day. I sat in a cafe crying over a sandwich. The waitress did not know what to do with herself.
Thankfully, I’m now slightly more composed, we’ve got a great idea of where we want to spend our retirement and even Dan is now looking forward to our ceremony – as if he needed a better reason than getting to marry me!
Image by Claudine Hartzel from Jasmin and Brett‘s wedding
Click here to read all Lindsay’s planning posts to date.
Lindsay & Dan’s Wedding Vendors booked so far:
Photography – Idan Canfi
Chuppah music – Portnoy Brothers {offers 10% discount to all members of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club}
Wedding planner – Victoria Rosen
Venue – Kochav Hayam
Band – Legend from Caliente
Bride’s dress – found and fitted at Angelica Bridal
Stationery – Creative Design by J9
Hair – Hana’s Hair Designs
