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

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Jewish wedding best friends apartment in Purim, Tel Aviv, Israel_0056
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.

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

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Jewish wedding Tzel Hadumim, Neot Kdumim, Israel_0063
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! 

Jewish wedding Tzel Hadumim, Neot Kdumim, Israel_0015

Jewish wedding Tzel Hadumim, Neot Kdumim, Israel_0015

Jewish wedding Tzel Hadumim, Neot Kdumim, Israel_0015  Jewish wedding Tzel Hadumim, Neot Kdumim, Israel_0015
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

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Jewish wedding The Roundhouse, Beacon, New York, USA
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!

Jewish wedding The Roundhouse, Beacon, New York, USA

Jewish wedding The Roundhouse, Beacon, New York, USA

Jewish wedding The Roundhouse, Beacon, New York, USA

Jewish wedding The Roundhouse, Beacon, New York, USA

Jewish wedding The Roundhouse, Beacon, New York, USA
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.

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“My best Jewish wedding photo” by Ben Kelmer

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A weekly series where  I ask some of the world’s best wedding photographers to pick out their favourite shot from their Jewish wedding portfolio. This week it’s the turn of  Ben Kelmer.

Ben Kelmer

‘Excitement’ by Ben Kelmer

I  always try to capture the real moments in weddings. I love this photo because it shows the real excitement that Tal and Gal felt  after their wedding ceremony, en route to their reception. Gal, in a moment of happiness, grabbed Tal and lifted her in the air. The excitement is palpable…”

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A super cool bride wearing bridal separates for a minimalist wedding at Caliph in the Old City of Jaffa, Israel

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bridal-separates
Today’s Australian bride, Emma,  is breathtakingly  beautiful  and thoroughly  rocks her two piece ready-to-wear wedding outift  and bridal accessories to match. I mean you just can’t help but gawp at her stunning good looks, super chic wedding separates and gold heeled Prada sandals.

The whole day is  simplicity done perfectly. If you don’t want anything fussy  on your day you can’t go wrong with following their raw, minimal style. It’s all so simple, elegant, pretty, and relaxed, and perfectly executed in every way.

Emma is from Australia and Yoni comes  from Israel, and the couple chose to get married at  Caliph in the Ancient city of Jaffa, near Tel Aviv  in Israel.  The stunning but uncomplicated  venue provided a jaw-dropping  coastal back drop for their neutral  colour scheme and minimal  decor.

If you’re a contemporary bride who wants to push the envelope on your wedding day, take a cue from Emma’s chic bridal style and consider ready-to-wear trends like bridal separates. The best part? Unlike a traditional  wedding dress, you can wear bridal separates again and again!

The  gorgeous set of images, as crisp and cool as the big day itself, are by Ben Kelmer.

Without further ado, I give you the à¼ber cool Emma and Yoni.

Jaffa Israel wedding
how we met

Emma, the Bride:  Yoni used to own a cafe that was my local coffee shop. He asked me out numerous times and eventually I said yes! After our first date, we basically saw each other every single day right up until this day…Continue ReadingContinue Reading