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A BHLDN Bride for a Jewish Wedding with a Remarkable Love Story at The Folly, Capistrano Beach, California, USA

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With Valentine’s Day coming up this week, we thought it was the perfect time to share this beautiful Jewish wedding with a very special love story behind it.

Just after they got engaged, Deborah  and Adam found their commitment put to the ultimate test when Deborah was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a blood cancer.

For four years, Deborah endured surgeries, chemo, radiation, and a bone marrow transplant — all with Adam by her side. And when the couple got the amazing news that Deb was cancer-free in July 2018, they knew it was time for the wedding of their dreams.

Believe it or not, they planned this beautiful, meaningful wedding in just three months! We’re in love with the quintessentially California vibes, from the enchanted garden beachside setting to the Spanish Colonial architecture, all captured so beautifully by photographer This Modern Romance.

And we are totally and completely obsessed with the couple’s low-key yet elegant chuppah, which they designed themselves with some inspo from Smashing The Glass! With dark wood, simple lines, sheer fabric, and some asymmetrical pops of color courtesy of florals, it’s effortless yet totally memorable.

Now over to Deborah, who looked epically elegant in BHLDN… 


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How We Met

Deborah, the bride: We’d been looking for each other our whole lives… we just didn’t know it. We’d kissed our share of frogs, but none were our prince or princess. On our first date, in a beautiful sandy-beached cove, as the setting sunlight sparkled on the water while dolphins splashed just offshore, we thought “Oh! Well this is definitely a sign…”

So much so, that when the time was right (and Adam could turn it into a big surprise!) we went back and got engaged there on “our” beach!

By the way, we met on JDate.com. 

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A Suzanne Neville Bride for a Destination Jewish Wedding at the Great Synagogue and Villa Miani, Rome, Italy

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We always love seeing what wedding pros choose for their own big days. On one hand, they’ve got a leg up knowing all the ins and outs of the industry. But on the other, when you’re surrounded by amazing wedding vendors day in and day out, how do you choose?!

Today’s beautiful bride Laura is a London-based wedding planner, and we’re not surprised that she and Moshi, a financial adviser, picked a whole roster full of Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendors for their beautiful destination wedding in Rome: from ultra-creative videographer Denee Motion (love that drone footage!) to a 10-piece band by the amazing Totem to a beautiful, colorful ketubah by artist Veronique Jonas from Ketubah.com, they went for some of the very best of the best.

And then there’s Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Italian Wedding Company. Being a planner’s planner is no easy job, but Stefania and Vanessa handled it with aplomb, helping Laura realize the wedding of her dreams despite her planning from abroad and speaking not a word of Italian.

Photographer Paul Toeman captured all the emotion of the day — not to mention the gorgeous setting — so perfectly, and we can’t get enough of the couple’s adorable wedding hashtag, #moshandbecks.

We’ll let Laura, who looked stunning in Suzanne Neville, fill you in on the rest…


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Jewish wedding at Great Synagogue and Villa Miani Rome Italy_0038

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How We Met

Laura, the bride: He was sitting next to a friend’s husband one year and asked who was sitting next to his wife. After cancelling what would have been our first date and re-connecting a year later, we met up and the rest is history!

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A Made With Love Bride for a Luminous Jewish Wedding on the Beach at Kochav Hayam, Caesarea, Israel

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What is it about beach weddings? Whether they’re in Israel, Florida, or somewhere further afield, we just cannot get enough of them. That blue water, the sound of the waves… throw in a palm tree (or several) and we’re sold.

And oceanside venues don’t get much dreamier than Kochav Hayam, where Milen who works in HR, and Arad, an accountant who also owns a judo club, held their stunner of a Jewish wedding.

From the exquisite sunset ceremony to the magical twinkly lights in the indoor reception hall to the lovely floral chuppah decked out in white flowers and greenery, it’s a seriously beautiful day — captured so exquisitely by Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Herschel Gutman, who worked his photographic magic to capture the most luminous, elegant images.

Videographer Roey Harazy was no slouch either — he surprised the couple with a drone (!) on the day, which he used to capture some absolutely breathtaking footage of the Caesarea coastline.

Milen was the epitome of a radiant bride in her two dresses — one for the ceremony that she custom designed from a simple gown with the help of a seamstress, and the other (for the reception) from Made With Love — and we’re delighted to put you in her capable hands for the rest of the story…

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How we met

Milen, the bride: We both graduated from IDC – we met in the cafeteria!

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A Same-Sex Air Travel-Themed Jew-ish Wedding at Kings Place, London, UK

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We are totally and utterly obsessed with today’s air travel-themed Jew-ish wedding. It’s really like nothing we’ve ever seen before, from the departure board seating charts to the drag act dressed up as cabin crew! (Yes it’s THAT good!)

Unusual? Absolutely. But when you find out that Ewan and Greg were in a trans-Atlantic long-distance relationship for 7 (!) years, with all the shuttling back and forth between Ewan’s home in London and Greg’s in New York that entails, it all makes sense. (Greg, an HR manager for a public relations firm, eventually made the big move across the pond to be with Ewan, a solicitor who works in-house for a Hollywood studio.)

We love how much effort Ewan and Greg went to with all the details, from the place cards — folded paper airplanes made from New York and London street maps — to the monogrammed air sickness bags (in case the wedding speeches got too nauseating!), beautifully captured by Ross Willsher Photography.

But there’s no question that the piece de resistance was the elaborate in-flight safety video the duo filmed as a surprise for their guests during the reception — they even hired out a real plane for a few hours for the filming! Yes, it’s EXACTLY as hilarious as it sounds — make sure you check it out below!

There’s so much more to say about this awesome day, from the way the couple worked to combine Ewan’s Scottish and Greg’s Jewish heritage to the lovely (and STG-inspired!) chuppah, but the time has come for us to hand you over to the grooms to hear the rest!

Before we do, though… if you want some practical tips on crafting a wedding that is just as you as Ewan and Greg’s was them, make sure you sign up to our unmissable FREE online event: ‘The secrets to an unforgettable Jewish wedding with our founder and editor, Karen, happening on Monday November 12.

Jewish wedding Battlebridge room at Kings Place, London, UK_0051

Jewish wedding Battlebridge room at Kings Place, London, UK_0051

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How We Met

Ewan and Greg, the grooms: We met at a Jewish-Episcopal, black-tie optional/fancy dress lesbian wedding in New York in 2007. The rest is history.

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A Limor Rosen Bride for a Playful DIY Jewish Wedding at Ikea and Alma, Even Yehuda, Israel

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We’ve got two words for you: Ikea. Wedding.

Okay, maybe we’re exaggerating just a tad. Today’s couple didn’t literally hold their Jewish wedding inside the Swedish furniture giant. They did that at Alma, a beautiful venue set amidst a lush garden (where they held their fab outdoor chuppah, natch).

But bride Carmel, a computer science student, and groom Etai, an education and political science student, did do their photos amidst the Billy bookshelves and Malm beds. They went for Ikea Israel due to its abundant A/C on an unexpectedly hot day, but the photos Flea Studio shot there turned out just wonderfully — such an unexpected and cool (in all senses!) location, and we love that this pair wasn’t afraid to have fun with their wedding pics.

The Ikea photoshoot wasn’t Carmel and Etai’s only cool idea. This wedding is chock full of heartfelt DIY touches, our favorite being their DIY patchwork chuppah canopy, assembled from squares inscribed with messages, quotations, and drawings by their family and friends.  

Oh, and did we mention that this duo has a super touching how we met story? We’ll leave it to Carmel, who looked so stunning in her off-shoulder Limor Rosen gown, to fill you in on the rest…

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How we met

Carmel, the bride: We first met in the army, and we were good friends but not a couple. We served together on the same base, when we came home only once every two weeks. After a year in the Israeli army I transferred to another base and a month after that Etai discovered that he was sick with leukemia.

Since I was in a closer base I had a chance to visit him a lot, and during this time I saw him every night, took care of him, and tried to make him happy. We fell in love at the hospital, and after a few month Etai got a bone marrow transplant, which luckily was successful. After he beat the cancer it was clear to us that we were in love and we decided to be a couple. 7 years later we got married <3

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