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A Luce Sposa Bride for a Rustic Jewish Wedding at HaAgam, Jerusalem, Israel

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Rachel and Tani, HaAgam, Jerusalem, Israel

There’s no place like Israel for a Jewish wedding. And we love that New York couple Rachel,  a program director at a Jewish non-profit running children’s programs, and Tani, a software engineer, opted to make things official at beautiful HaAgam, the Jerusalem Botanical Gardens.

Planning a destination wedding in Israel post-October 7 meant a lot didn’t go to plan. Most of the couple’s family and friends weren’t able to attend due to the war, and even up till the big day Rachel and Tani weren’t sure everything would be able to go ahead. But in Rachel’s words, the experience “taught us to focus on each other and bringing our immediate families together knowing that our wedding would be special no matter what challenges came our way” – and isn’t that really what it’s all about?

When it came time to choose a photographer to capture their special day, Rachel and Tani turned to Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Herschel Gutman, and they couldn’t be more thrilled with the outcome – don’t miss the epic pics from their end-of-night couple shoot in the Old City!

Now over to Rachel, who looked like a princess in her Luce Sposa gown…

Rachel and Tani, HaAgam, Jerusalem, IsraelRachel and Tani, HaAgam, Jerusalem, IsraelRachel and Tani, HaAgam, Jerusalem, IsraelRachel and Tani, HaAgam, Jerusalem, Israel

How We Met

Rachel, the bride: We met on the dating app Hinge in the summer of 2021 right after I moved from Toronto, Canada, to NYC. Tani is American but made Aliyah to Israel in 2006. He served in the IDF and moved back to the States in 2022.

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A Laid-Back, Gluten-Free Pizza Party Jewish Wedding Full of Personal Touches at Bait B’Guy, Israel

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Jazzie-Moshe-Bait-BGuy-Israel

We’re obsessed with the fact that Jazzie and Moshe’s vision for their Israeli Jewish wedding was “a massive pizza party with our nearest and dearest!” How fun does that sound?!

In keeping with their theme, Jazzie and Moshe kept things low-key and casual, with lots of involvement from family and friends. One of the most special touches: Jazzie’s grandparents served as flower girl and boy!

We also love that Jazzie upcycled her mother’s wedding dress for her bridal look – she had the lace of the gown turned into a top and had a skirt custom made by a local seamstress, and then when it came time for dancing she switched into a pair of fun bridal shorts!

Jazzie wanted to work with as many local female businesses as possible, and one of those was beloved Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor The Delicate Brush, who designed the couple’s stunning eucalyptus ketubah – don’t miss it in the wonderful photos by Sabres!

And we can’t go without mentioning the food: you see, this wasn’t just any pizza party, but a 100% gluten-free one! In addition to artisan pizzas, the menu featured lasagna, salads, bruschetta, hummus, and ice cream, and the couple got compliments on the fab menu for weeks afterward, with most guests not even realizing it was all gluten-free!

Now over to the bride…

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How We Met

Jazzie, the bride and Moshe, the groom: It would be great if we could say we met, fell in love, and the rest is history- but the story doesn’t quite go like that. In the spring of 2021, amidst a global pandemic and a lot of uncertainty our very good mutual friends moved into the apartment next door to Jazzie. Who helped them move in? Well, Moshe of course.

Fast forward a few months and the 4 of us had become like family. We began to spend most Shabbat meals together and spent nearly every Saturday night watching movies, cooking, and playing games. Eventually, we began to also go out just the two of us (Jazzie thought they were dates, apparently Moshe did not.)

After many months of “dating not dating” Jazzie finally decided to just come out and ask Moshe what the heck was going on between them- and that is when we finally decided to stop fighting it and start dating. A year later Moshe asked Jazzie to marry him in one of her favorite places on earth and now the rest really is history.Continue ReadingContinue Reading

An Avital Saporta Bride for a Front Yard Jewish Pandemic Wedding in Tel Mond, Israel

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Noam-and-Michael-Israel

Since the pandemic began, we’ve seen lots of backyard weddings. But we’re pretty sure Noam and Michael’s is our first front yard wedding. Why is that relevant, you ask?

Well, Michael just happens to live across the street from a playground, and on the big day, in addition to the couple’s invited guests, they ended up with a couple dozen little observers taking in the action – how cute is that?!

The couple, both students at Bar Ilan University, had originally planned a big wedding, but COVID forced them to rethink their plans (and date, thanks to Israel’s second lockdown). Michael’s garden may have been chosen because due to the circumstances, in the bride’s words, “it was the only place were able to legally get married!” – but luckily it happens to be totally gorgeous, and was really just about an ideal place to carry out the original theme, which was a magical forest combined with rustic elements.

In addition to their 50 in-person guests, Noam and Michael livestreamed their day to friends and family across the globe – at one point, 750 people were tuning in! And throughout the day, the pair took time to chat with their virtual guests through the livestream.

It goes without saying that we’re obsessed with the stunning photos by Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Herschel Gutman. Due to a last minute change of date, the couple ended up having to find a photographer in just a few days, and were they ever lucky that Herschel was available! As always, his photos are so full of love and emotion while also managing to capture all the details of the day absolutely exquisitely.

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How We Met

Noam, the bride and Michael, the groom: Our story begins in 2015 when we both started new chapters in our lives. Michael had just immigrated to Israel and went to study Hebrew in the North of Israel where Noam had just started her national service in guess where? The exact same place! We became best friends, but duty called and Michael started the army while Noam went away to Australia for her second year of national service.

The friendship didn’t end and when both those experiences were over, our friendship turned into something a little more special and love blossomed. Since then, we’ve been together for the last 3 years.Continue ReadingContinue Reading