Caliente Archives - Smashing the Glass

A Mira Zwillinger Bride for a Casually Elegant Destination Jewish Wedding at The Lawrence, Old Jaffa, Tel Aviv, Israel

20/05/2019 by Karen Cinnamon Leave a Comment

Planning a wedding from 7,000 miles away isn’t easy. But you’d never know it looking at this gorgeous Jewish wedding, which LA-based Rachel and Yonatan planned all the way on the other side of the world in Tel Aviv.

Their secret? Amazing wedding planners. Specifically, Naama and Yael of Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Naama Raicher Event Workshop. These two not only set the couple up with some of the best vendors Tel Aviv’s got to offer, they enabled the pair to actualize their vision of a wedding that felt less like a formal event and more like a casually elegant dinner party.

Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor LUZ, who managed both photo and video, did an awesome job capturing the vibe. Rachel and Yonatan say booking LUZ was one of the best wedding planning decisions they made, and we love Rachel’s description of LUZ’s stylish work as “something you would see across the room and think, ‘Wow, that’s a beautiful shot,’ and then as you approach closer ‘wait a minute, is that your wedding?’”

We’re obsessed with the pair’s Rothko-inspired ketubah by Stephanie Caplan of Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor The Ketubah, and we love Rachel and Yonatan’s tip for making a destination wedding as painless as possible for your guests: over the months leading up to the big day, they sent a series of custom travel guides covering everything guests needed to know at that point in time, from favorite movies about Israel, to hotels and flight recommendations, to what to expect upon arrival at Israeli immigration, and go-to bars, restaurants and walks about town. Such a great idea!

There’s so much more to say about this stunner of a wedding – from the enchanting venue to the sunset ceremony held on the fly in a public park – but we’ll leave it to Rachel, who looked smashing in her Mira Zwillinger gown (followed by a fun, non-traditional floral party dress from Zimmerman) to tell you about all that…

&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;span data-mce-type=”bookmark” style=”display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;” class=”mce_SELRES_start”&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/span&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;

How we met

Rachel, the bride: I am in brand development and global marketing for the beauty industry and Yonatan is in finance and real estate. Although we had offices on the same hallway at the original WeWork location in Soho, it took us a few years to finally meet. We would often say “Hi, there” as we would pass each other but we both were so absorbed in our budding start-ups that there wasn’t much more than that.

Sometime later, I moved to a larger office on the other side of the floor and Yonatan finally felt compelled to knock on my door, introduce himself, and congratulate me on growing my team. Again a few months passed and nothing came of it. Then one day he popped up on my Tinder account. I swiped right and we’ve been together ever since. I came to find out later that I was also the first swipe to come up when he first opened his Bumble account. I guess we are just a match made in the social media stars 😉

2019 Real Jewish Brides: Introducing Lindsay + Dan: How They Met To The Present Day…

18/12/2018 by Smashing The Glass

Today on the blog we’re introducing our 4th gorgeous bride from our crop of 2019 Real Jewish Brides! Please give a warm welcome to Lindsay, who will be marrying Dan on 25th August 2019 at Kochav Hayam in Caesarea, Israel.

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!

How We Met To The Present Day

Dan and I were introduced by my cousin. We’d both tried swiping, but after a long list of terrible dates, neither of us had been particularly lucky.

I was on a big family weekend away, and was kindly told that I must find a boyfriend because I was the next in line to get married — no pressure! This meant that I spent the whole weekend being shown pictures and Facebook profiles of all my potential “future husbands.” Dan was the one who got the seal of approval from me (and of course the rest of my family).

At the same time, Dan was at a friend’s wedding, surrounded by couples and received a text from an old school friend he’d only just got back in touch with (my cousin). She had the “most amazing girl” (definitely an exact quote) for him. After he did some of his own Facebook stalking, he agreed to take me out.

We planned to go on a date later that week, and on the day he told me he had been offered two tickets to see James Bay that evening. I panicked. Who goes to a concert on their first date?! But my colleagues convinced me that even if he was terrible, at least I’d get to see James Bay. Fortunately, it was a success, and here we are two and half years later, planning a wedding!

A Yolan Cris Bride for a Dreamy Outdoor Destination Jewish Wedding at Givat Brenner in Rechovot, Israel

22/06/2018 by Karen Cinnamon

Where to begin with today’s positively divine Jewish wedding? This one is chock full of clever ideas and sweet traditions — and did we mention that the couple are basically models? Oh, and the venue’s not bad looking either! Eye candy all around today!

Robyn, an area manager and one half of @tworealfoodies, and Josh, a property surveyor, live in Manchester but had their hearts set on an Israeli wedding with a fairy tale garden vibe, and that’s exactly what they got at Givat Brenner. Take one look at Ronen Boidek’s breathtaking photos and we think you’ll agree.

Beautiful Robyn, who looked just like a fairy tale princess in her lace gown from Yolan Cris, is lucky enough to have grown up with some of the best Jewish wedding musicians around: Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor The Portnoy Brothers, who specialize in performing at chuppahs. Naturally, they sang at Robyn and Josh’s — and their father, who happens to be a rabbi, married the couple!

Speaking of keeping it in the family, Robyn’s family has the most beautiful chuppah tradition: when her parents got married, her mum handmade a canopy from her own mother’s wedding dress. Afterward, the couple embroidered their initials on it. From then on, the canopy was passed from relative to relative, with new initials added each time it was used. Robyn’s and Josh’s are the latest additions. Wouldn’t this be a wonderful tradition to start?

We haven’t even gotten to the sweet “message in a bottle” favors/place cards Robyn handwrote (and stuffed!) for every single guest, but we’ll let her tell you more about that — along with all the rest of the details of this dreamy day…

How we met

Robyn, the bride: We met when we were 12 years old at Habonim summer camp. We went to summer camp every year together until we were 16, when we went to Israel on tour for a month. Those were definitely some of the best summers, with friendships and memories that last a lifetime. We stayed close but didn’t become “official” until after we finished University in Nottingham in 2012 and have been together ever since.

A Jewish Destination Wedding with a Surprise Flashmob at Beit Andromeda, Jaffa, Israel

01/09/2017 by Karen

There is no better introduction to Israel than a good Israeli wedding – and that’s exactly how Molly and David lured their friends and family out to the Holy Land!

Their Mediterranean-themed big day combined the laid-back Israeli attitude with some of the more formal elements of an American wedding, and perfectly married the two cultures. So much so, that they managed to source peonies for Molly’s bouquet – in December – in Israel!

As you all know, at STG, we LOVE a twist on tradition, and we adore gorgeous bride Molly’s choice to have her own Tisch, a great way to get pumped up and energetic before the ceremony.

And STG Recommended Vendor Caliente rocked the party to perfection with their live music entertainment with everything from Jewish music to Latin Jazz to Israeli pop – we love these guys — they are SO good!

Of course, it wouldn’t be a Jewish wedding without a few surprises, and thoughtful groom, David, surprised his lovely bride with a flashmob, getting friends and family involved to honor her favorite musical! Superb!

The sensational spread of pictures was taken by none other than our wonderful STG Recommended Vendor and top Israeli photographer, Idan Milman, for whom the couple had nothing but gushing praise.

Bride Molly loves the lost art of letter writing, and that shines through in every word of her articulate and moving writeup below. We’re you’ll enjoy reading it as much as we did!

How we met

Molly, the bride: I had been working as a fundraiser and program planner at Boston’s Jewish Federation for years before David got a job there, also as a fundraiser.

When he came in for an interview, a friend said, “Oh Molly, your type just walked in the door!” We became fast friends especially when the office cubicle rearrangement put our desks right across from one another — our coworkers assumed we were dating long before we were.

In the years since, we’ve taken family to Israel, started new jobs, built a life in Tel Aviv and are now moving back to Boston for the next few years to get second degrees.

A few years ago, before I convinced my then 82-year-old grandfather to come to Israel (getting my cousins on a Birthright trip at the same time was key), he had said to me, “Molly I’ll only come to Israel if you get married there!” A few years later, challenge accepted!

David and I had both spent time living in Israel before we met and when David found a job here that he loved, he convinced me to move here too. We got engaged in Israel and, even though we’re both from the same suburb outside of Boston, we knew we wanted to get married in Tel Aviv.

A Tuscany-meets-Israel floral Jewish wedding with a Vera Wang bride at Baya’ar, Israel

07/04/2017 by Karen

Friday is finally here – and we’re celebrating the imminent arrival of the weekend in style, with a proper feast for the eyes: Italian couple, Tania and Micael’s, enchantingly floral Tuscany-meets-Israel real wedding.

There’s so much to love about this impeccably designed, dreamy celebration that we’re not sure where to start. First of all, a big round of applause is owed to groom, Micael, for his romantic surprise Paris proposal. We’re even clapping loudly enough to drown out the collective huffy sighs of all the partners for whom the bar has just been spectacularly raised. Well done, Micael!

We’ve featured the absolutely enchanting Israeli venue, Baya’ar, many times on the blog now and with good reason. Every single one has been simply magical, and Tania and Micael’s day was no exception. Every detail, from the breathtaking floral arrangements (including the Chuppah to end all Chuppahs) was simply perfect and captured beautifully by photographer Ilan Mor.

Gorgeous Tania was a picture of fashion-forward bridal style in her show-stopping Vera Wang gown and to-die-for Yves Saint Laurent heels.

The couple did so much to ensure their guests had the time of their lives, including booking our amazing Smashing Supplier, Legend Band, from Caliente, and setting up a flower station, where guests were treated to custom-made flower bracelets and flower crowns! What a brilliant idea!

Don’t forget to watch the incredible work of art created by videographer, Camellia at the foot of the post. We particularly enjoyed the unforgettable shot of Micael smashing the glass – well worth sitting down for a proper watch!

Over to Tania now for the full story on her and Micael’s beautiful nighttime wedding.

How we met

Tania, the bride: I am a fashion buyer and my husband, Micael, is an accountant. We met five years ago and we immediately connected. But after two years, we decided to go our separate ways, until May 2015 when we decided we couldn’t be apart. We started dating again and this time was different. On December 24th at five in the morning, I received a call from Micael telling me that I had to wake up and be ready in 10 minutes.

He covered my eyes and took me to the airport! I didn’t know where we were going until we landed in Paris, where he took to the front of the Eiffel Tower and proposed in the classic way… the rest is history.