Ben Kelmer Photography Archives - Smashing the Glass

An Eisen Stein Bride for an Equality-Minded Jewish Wedding at Avigdor 22 in Tel Aviv, Israel

20/09/2019 by Karen Cinnamon

We love it when a couple puts their values first when planning their Jewish wedding. That’s exactly what today’s gorgeous Israeli couple, Talia and Shawn, did. The pair didn’t feel comfortable marrying through Israel’s rabbanut, in light of the lack of marriage equality in the country, so they worked to craft an alternative that was in keeping with their values yet still incorporated Jewish tradition in a way that was meaningful to them.

Talia and Shawn opted to make things official via a City Hall wedding while on holiday in NYC (so fun!), and then back home in Tel Aviv worked with a secular rabbi to plan their Jewish celebration, which combined tradition – smashing the glass, a gorgeous chuppah that’s been passed down through the groom’s family ever since his grandparents made it for his parents’ wedding – with personal touches, like the vows the couple made to each other and the tailor-made blessings they received from their family and friends in place of the traditional seven blessings. We also love that they wrote their ketubah text themselves!

We’re obsessed with the couple’s incredibly cool, contemporary photography from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Ben Kelmer – the way he captures emotion and authentic moments while also somehow producing images that wouldn’t look out of place in a glam glossy magazine is really something.

Now over to the bride, who looked effortlessly elegant in her gown by Eisen Stein and party dress from Nili Lotan…

How we met

Talia, the bride: We have been together for 9 years. I am a dentist and Shawn is a lawyer… We met through a good friend of mine from the army who went out with Shawn’s friend. They didn’t work out as a couple, but we’re still together! We asked both of them to greet us together (as part of the 7 blessings) as a token to their brief relationship that led us to meet and eventually get married.

An Industrial Romantic Jewish Wedding at Teppich Fabrik, Halbinsel Stralau, Berlin, Germany

23/01/2019 by Karen Cinnamon

Super exciting day for us here at Smashing The Glass, as this is the first ever Jewish wedding we’ve blogged from Berlin, Germany, and we absolutely LOVE it! Anna and Assaf easily picked one of the coolest Jewish wedding venues we’ve seen yet: Teppich Fabrik (“Old Carpet Factory”), which, as its name suggests, is an old carpet factory loft building near the city center of Berlin (which automatically gives it some edginess cred right there).

The couple loved it for its industrial yet romantic vibes, and we are totally, totally with them — check out the effortlessly glam shots from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Ben Kelmer (in the words of the bride: “Nobody has ever made us look this good!”) to see for yourself.

As a very secular couple, Anna, a lawyer, and Assaf, a carpenter and project manager working in real estate, knew a traditional ceremony wasn’t for them, and we love the way they crafted a laid-back, individual ceremony mixing Jewish customs with the duo’s own personal touch: there was a chuppah (built by the groom and his friends!), blessings by friends, children running around, and, of course, a smashing of the glass!

We also love that these two organized a kids’ corner with babysitters, movies, games, and even a few beds, so that parents could dance all night worry-free (and we really do mean all night — the dance floor didn’t close up until 5 a.m.!).

Now over to Anna, who looked super chic in her dress from local designer Chiton…

How we met

Anna, the bride: We met at a hummus restaurant in Berlin Prenzlauer Berg in 2011 and started dating a few days later.

A Hagit Kassif Dress for the Designer’s Own Purim Street Style Jewish Wedding in Tel Aviv, Israel

05/10/2018 by Karen Cinnamon

Okay, Hagit and Tom are officially our new favorites. They merged two wonderful things, Jewish weddings and the super fun holiday of Purim, into — wait for it — a Purim costume wedding taking advantage of Tel Aviv’s epic street party in honor of the holiday. We’ve never seen anything like it before. But we hope we will again, because it’s the actual best.

Bride Hagit a bridal fashion designer, heading up Hagit Kassif Bridal in Tel Aviv, while groom Tom is a wedding photographer, so it’s safe to say these two know Israel’s wedding scene inside and out. Naturally, the bride designed her own super cool boho dress (and the bridesmaids’ — all in fuchsia!).

In keeping with the free-spirited nature of the day, Tom passed on smashing the traditional glass in favor of… a Kinder egg!! Love it.

Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Ben Kelmer took the most stylish (yet ultra-natural) photos — seriously, if you want gorgeous documentary photos that don’t scream “wedding” (and might, perhaps, look at home in, say, the pages of Vogue), he’s your man.

Take it away, Hagit!Continue Reading

A BHLDN and Mordechai Avraham Bride for a Magical Forest Egalitarian Jewish Wedding at Tzel Hadumim, Neot Kdumim, Israel

24/11/2017 by Karen

We are totally in love with Esther and Yoni’s magical forest wedding venue, Neot Kdumim, which we’ve featured before on STG. Saying “I do” under the stars just sounds too dreamy and romantic — we can’t even!

Beautiful bride, Esther, couldn’t decide between a beautiful BHLDN number and a vintage lace boho gown by Mordechai Avraham – so she chose both! We are very much on board with this decision, and it perfectly tied together their laid-back-meets-formal vibe.

Esther accented the bohemian vibe with natural-look makeup and fresh flowers in her hair, making her the walking centerpiece of the whimsical forest wonderland. Guests were also adorned with flower crowns, which doubled up as favors, making everyone who attended a living part of the dà©cor. Divine!

Surrounded by natural beauty, Esther and Yoni kept things simple, with sweet floral accents adorning the chuppah and a much bigger focus on their egalitarian, highly personalized Jewish ceremony. We love these priorities, and it’s no secret that we’re always huge fans of consciously gender-equal weddings.

Phenomenal photographer, and much-loved Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor, Ben Kelmer, captured the story of the day, and was met with absolutely glowing praise by the happy couple and their families. Looking over the stunning spread of images below, it’s easy to see why.

The vibe was also beautifully captured in the spine-tingling wedding video below, provided by Studio Polly.

It’s Esther’s turn to take over the blog to tell us all about her and Yoni’s unbelievably beautiful big day. Take it away, Esther!

Getting married under the stars

Esther, the bride: We got married in Tzel Hadumim; the wedding venue in Neot Kdumim. We wanted a place that was relaxed and fun, but also worked with the more formal direction our families were into, and this place perfectly combined the best of both worlds.

I also really wanted to get married outside and not in a hall. Tzel Hadumim has all the amenities of a hall, but it’s in the middle of a forest, under the stars. We also live in Jerusalem and it was only 40 minutes away, so it was pretty convenient.
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An Elegant, City-Chic Monochrome-with-Metallic-Accents Jewish Wedding At The Roundhouse, Beacon, New York, USA

22/09/2017 by Karen

Start spreading the news – we’re leaving today… to head to NYC for Julie and Noam’s city chic Jewish wedding!

Shot by extraordinarily talented photographer and our fabulous recommended vendor, Ben Kelmer, the happy couple opted for an elegant monochrome theme with metallic accents and a hint of a rustic aesthetic.

Beautiful bride, Julie, a fitness and wellness brand strategy consultant (which, incidentally, is how she met fitness instructor to the stars, Noam), looked like a Hollywood A-lister in her stunning lace-illusion Pronovias gown, and meaningful family heirloom jewelry.

The wedding was filled with heart and soul, particularly with the attention paid to the meaning of the ceremony, and the importance of having three generations of family under the chuppah.

There’s so much to love about this perfectly cohesive and wonderfully themed big day (we’re looking at you, magnificent, florally adorned chuppah!) but one thing that really stood out for us was the absolutely fantastic idea of having a note jar for a guest book, for the couple to read on their first anniversary. We’re sure plenty of couples will be stealing that one for themselves.

We’ll pass you over to Julie now for the full writeup of her and Noam’s very special day. Take it away, Julie!

How we met

Julie, the bride: We met through a friend who asked me if I knew him because we worked and lived in similar circles. It started as me trying to get Noam/TS as a client, but at our first meeting it was clear that we had a connection and the rest, as they say, is history.

We realized we both grew up close to each other, we both lived in Israel at one point, had family there and actually at one point lived on the same street in NYC and never knew each other.