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Home > BHLDN

A BHLDN Bride for a Laid-Back American-Israeli Jewish Wedding with a Touch of Glam at Al HaYam, Sdot Yam, Israel

16/10/2025 by Karen Cinnamon

Kelly and Guy, Al HaYam, Sdot Yam, Israel

We love a multicultural Jewish wedding – and American bride Kelly and Israeli groom Guy, who both work in the Tel Aviv tech scene – had one of the best!

The couple wanted to use their big day as a chance to share their love of Israel with loved ones from abroad, and Al HaYam in Sdot Yam was the perfect place to do just that. With some help from their wedding producer Vanessa Events, they crafted a day that perfectly blended the duo’s Israeli and American backgrounds, from the food to the music to the traditions. Don’t miss it all in the wonderful images by Tzahi Shemesh.

One thing we especially love is the unique touches Kelly and Guy’s rabbi helped them add into their ketubah signing: each family member shared one word they wanted to bless the marriage with, then poured their glass of wine into a shared carafe that the pair drank from during our ceremony. How special is that?

This day was filled with so many beautiful details – read on for the full story in Kelly’s own words…

Kelly and Guy, Al HaYam, Sdot Yam, IsraelKelly and Guy, Al HaYam, Sdot Yam, IsraelKelly and Guy, Al HaYam, Sdot Yam, IsraelKelly and Guy, Al HaYam, Sdot Yam, Israel

How We Met

Kelly, the bride: I moved to Tel Aviv from the U.S. almost seven years ago, planning to stay for just three months. But as my dad said in his wedding speech, I ended up falling in love twice — once with Israel, and once with Guy.

About three years after the move, we matched on Bumble. It was still during covid, so for our first date, we took an illegal walk around the block. From the moment we started talking, we never really stopped. We’re both night owls, so we’d walk or sit in the park for hours, talking until nearly sunrise. Three years later, Guy proposed on a trip to Greece.

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A BHLDN Bride for an Egalitarian Orthodox Jewish Wedding Filled with Personal Touches at the Chicago History Museum, Chicago, Illinois, USA

24/06/2024 by Karen Cinnamon

Ranana-and-Binyamin-Chicago-History-Museum-Chicago-USA

We just love it when a couple really makes their Jewish wedding their own – and that’s exactly what Chicagoans Ranana and Binyamin did.

They chose the Chicago History Museum as their venue, in honor of their shared love of  art and history, and artistic bride Ranana designed the invitations herself – taking inspiration from the Frank Lloyd Wright window in the room where the chuppah took place. She also did her own ketubah art, featuring night and day water scenes inspired by Chicago’s Lake Michigan.

An egalitarian ceremony was important to the couple, and their officiant, Rabbanit Leah Sarna, helped them design one that was both Orthodox and incorporated many feminist and egalitarian touches. Ranana and Binyamin also wrote their own brit ahuvim, a document using  liturgical verses to outline their values and commitments to each other outside of the more legalistic language of the ketubah.  

We love that, rather than having traditional floral arrangements, Ranana and Binyamin opted for mini orchids potted in tea tins (which they collected leading up to the wedding) on the tables, allowing them both to save money and celebrate their shared love of tea!

The couple’s photographer, the spectacular Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Eliana Melmed Photography, captured the day so perfectly. In Ranana’s words,

We knew Eliana from our synagogue community and when we met with her about our wedding we knew we wanted to hire her because she was someone we could imagine spending hours with on the day of our wedding, having fun. Also we knew she would 100% understand what was going on in our very traditional, very feminist Jewish wedding, which was not something we could take for granted with our other (mostly non-Jewish) vendors. Not to mention her photography is beautiful – colorful, joyous, true to life. She was the best! (Ranana’s dad is still raving about how well she handled our big family during the torrential downpour that happened the day of our wedding.) 

We’ll turn you over to Ranana for the rest of the story!

Ranana-and-Binyamin-Chicago-History-Museum-Chicago-USARanana-and-Binyamin-Chicago-History-Museum-Chicago-USARanana-and-Binyamin-Chicago-History-Museum-Chicago-USA Ranana-and-Binyamin-Chicago-History-Museum-Chicago-USA
How We Met

Ranana, the bride: and Binyamin, the groom: The simple answer for how we met is “in our synagogue.” In reality we had met a year prior to Ranana moving to Chicago (and joining the same synagogue as Binyamin) at a Shabbat lunch in Jerusalem, hosted by a former teacher of ours (for Ranana from middle school, for Binyamin from grad school). Once Ranana moved to Chicago she and Biny recognized each other and became friendly acquaintances.

True friendship blossomed during the pandemic and we began learning Daf Yomi (the practice of studying a page of Talmud a day) together. That gave us an excuse to talk all the time and eventually we moved from being chevrutas (study partners) to dating. Ranana is a PhD candidate at the University of Chicago in religious ethics. Biny is the Director of Jewish Life at Rochelle Zell Jewish High School in Deerfield IL.Continue ReadingContinue Reading

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An Alyssa Kristin Bride for a Very NYC Jewish Wedding Inspired by Art Deco and Old Hollywood at Carnegie Hill, New York, USA

15/01/2024 by Karen Cinnamon

Kara and Ian, Carnegie Hall, New York, USA

Today’s Jewish wedding is just so quintessentially NYC, and we are obsessed! Kara is the Sr. Manager of Video Programming Operations at Vogue & British Vogue, and Ian, who’s in property management, adore the city, and their choice of Carnegie Hall as their venue allowed it to play a starring role.

The couple dreamed of a chic, elegant day inspired by Art Deco and Old Hollywood – with a few musical odes to Carnegie Hall thrown in for good measure. Their amazing planner, Andrea from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Nylux Events, brought the vision to life SO perfectly – Laura Huertas captured all the details exquisitely in her photos.

We’re in love with Kara and Ian’s minimalist, architectural chuppah – and we love that they chose to sign their ketubah, which they purchased from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Ketubah.com, in front of all their guests right before the ceremony began!

There’s so much more to say about this fab day – we’ll leave it to Kara, who could not have looked chicer in her Alyssa Kristin gown, to tell you all about it…

Kara and Ian, Carnegie Hall, New York, USA Kara and Ian, Carnegie Hall, New York, USAKara and Ian, Carnegie Hall, New York, USA Kara and Ian, Carnegie Hall, New York, USAHow We Met

Kara, the bride: We met in college, no crazy story 🙂Continue ReadingContinue Reading

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A Sachin and Babi Bride for a Beachy Jewish Wedding Weekend at Guemes Island Resort, Washington State, USA

04/11/2022 by Karen Cinnamon

Lucia-Jared-Guemes-Island-Resort-Washington-State-USA

There’s something so special about bringing all your nearest and dearest together to celebrate your nuptials not just for a few hours but for a full-fledged wedding weekend – which is exactly what today’s couple, Lucia and Jared, did.

The pair rented out Guemes Island Resort in Washington State from Friday-Monday so their guests could enjoy a whole weekend together with them – and what a place to do it! The venue was RIGHT on the water with majestic views of the San Juan Islands in the background, which inspired the décor for the day.

How special is it that Jared’s dad and cousin built the couple a chuppah, using driftwood from the beach?! Even the couple’s ketubah by Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Brit Colors was totally on theme. Lucia and Jared loved Brit’s unique designs and personal touches, and they picked her Sea Glass Ketubah design for its beachy feel and calming colors. They loved the process of working with Brit, and are even planning to meet up with her when they next travel to Israel! Don’t miss it in the beautiful photos by Mio.

We’ll turn you over to Lucia, who looked so elegant in her Sachin and Babi dress from BHLDN, for all the rest of the details of this very special day…

 

Lucia-Jared-Guemes-Island-Resort-Washington-State-USALucia-Jared-Guemes-Island-Resort-Washington-State-USA Lucia-Jared-Guemes-Island-Resort-Washington-State-USA Lucia-Jared-Guemes-Island-Resort-Washington-State-USA
How we Met

Lucia, the bride: Jared and I met through mutual friends at Stagecoach music festival in Indio, California. After teaching me a country dance in the honky tonk tent, we were inseparable all day. A few days later Jared went to Las Vegas for a work trip and offered to fly me out for the weekend. After “thinking about it” for a few days, aka consulting my girlfriends, I agreed to go. It was such a fun weekend, and we have been inseparable ever since! He proposed in 2019 in Kauai, Hawaii at Hanakapiai Falls, a beautiful and secluded waterfall.Continue ReadingContinue Reading

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A Jewish Wedding Worth the Wait at Boston Exchange, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

29/08/2022 by Karen Cinnamon

Rebecca-Benjamin-Boston-Exchange-Boston-USA

There’s something so special about all the gorgeous Jewish weddings of couples whose big days were disrupted by the pandemic – like Rebecca, a health economist, and Benjamin, a software engineer, who were originally slated for a May 2020 wedding at the historic Boston Exchange. Needless to say, things didn’t go to plan.

When the pair first got engaged, they booked Luba of Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Primavera Dreams to help them plan their wedding – they knew they wanted someone who knew Jewish weddings and could help them craft a meaningful day centered on a traditional ceremony, pick the right vendors, and take the stress out of planning.  That last bit proved extra important as the couple navigated the rollercoaster of multiple reschedules leading up to their eventual May 2022 wedding.

Pandemic or no, Rebecca and Benjamin strongly believe choosing to work with Luba was one of the best wedding planning decisions they made. In Rebecca’s words, “We always thought of a wedding planner as an extravagant extra… [but] our planner introduced us to amazing vendors whose prices were more competitive than those we found ourselves. She also negotiated contracts on our behalf and helped us effectively prioritize where to cut and spend money. Having her organize last minute details and communicate with vendors in the days and weeks leading up to the wedding allowed us to focus on our families and enjoy the wedding.”

One thing Rebecca and Benjamin did that we love: they set up a Judaica registry (in addition to their traditional Zola gift list)! They registered at Kolbo Fine Judaica Gallery in Brookline, MA, and loved being able to add handmade Judaica to their list online. The duo also purchased their gorgeous ketubah, crafted in Israel by Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Danny Azoulay, at Kolbo.

There’s so much more we could say about this fab wedding – for starters, don’t miss the wonderful floral chuppah in Lynne Reznick’s luminous photos – but we’ll turn you over to the bride for the rest…

Rebecca-Benjamin-Boston-Exchange-Boston-USARebecca-Benjamin-Boston-Exchange-Boston-USARebecca-Benjamin-Boston-Exchange-Boston-USARebecca-Benjamin-Boston-Exchange-Boston-USA
How We Met

Rebecca, the bride: We met in Boston in 2014 and had our first date at a coffee shop in Harvard Square! Four years later (to the day), we got engaged after having dinner in the same building.Continue ReadingContinue Reading

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