Smashing the Glass | Jewish Wedding Blog

Inspired Jewish Weddings

Home > Galia Lahav > Page 4

A Galia Lahav Bride for a Luxe Disney-Inspired Jewish Wedding at Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel, California, USA

by

Aliza & Nathan, Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel, California, USA

This isn’t the first Disney-themed Jewish wedding we’ve seen, but we’re pretty sure it’s the one with the most wow factor! Aliza, a freelance Casting Associate Producer who’s worked on shows such as Love is Blind and Married at First Sight, and Nathan, a stay-at-home-husband with a background in the non-profit world, are big Disney fans, and they knew from the start they wanted their big day at Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel to feel like a magical fairy tale come true.

And did it ever! The pair dreamt up an elegant-yet-whimsical enchanted forest wedding featuring a Mickey head made of rose petals, a real-life Cinderella carriage, and mango sorbet served in “Glass Slippers” carved out of ice!

To make their magic mirror meets “through the looking glass” motif a reality, Aliza and Nathan hunted for rare collectable Disney figurines and memorabilia to incorporate into their centerpieces and spent countless sleepless nights DIYing favors and decorations. All their hard work paid off big time – you don’t want to miss a single stunning detail in the luscious images by Michael Anthony Photography and cinematic video by Custom Made Productions.

Naturally, when it came to Aliza and Nathan’s ketubah only the best would do. And so they turned to Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Rachelle Tchiprout of The Delicate Brush, who crafted a custom watercolor creation featuring flowers and ivy to match the couple’s wedding décor. Rachelle worked closely with Aliza and Nathan to bring their vision to life, and they were totally bowled over by the results!

This mega-luxe wedding is chock full of details, but we’ll turn you over to Aliza – who looked simply ravishing in of Galia Lahav – to fill you in on the rest…

Aliza & Nathan, Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel, California, USAAliza & Nathan, Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel, California, USAAliza & Nathan, Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel, California, USAAliza & Nathan, Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel, California, USA
How We Met

Aliza, the bride: In 2014, we matched on JSWipe, bonding over having several unlikely and random mutual friends. After exchanging long messages about everything from music and tech to travel and languages, we had our first date at the Santa Monica promenade, which lasted 12 hours! I left that date knowing that I had just met “The One.” We went on to have our second date at Disneyland, which, as a hopeless romantic, was a dream come true. Admittedly, our relationship wasn’t always smooth sailing.

As we each navigated our early twenties and found ourselves living in different places, we dated on and off for a few years. It wasn’t until 2017 that we reconnected once and for all at a Shabbat dinner & the rest was history! In 2019, Nathan proposed to me in front of Sleeping Beauty’s Castle, making our engagement extra magical. My engagement ring features a hand cut diamond from the early 1910’s. Nathan worked with Steve from Korshak Diamond Corporation to custom design both my engagement ring and my diamond wedding band!

Full of excitement and imagination, we began planning for a July 5, 2020 wedding, We chose July 5th as our wedding date because it was the day after Nathan’s grandparents’ wedding anniversary – July 4th. At the time of our choice, they had been married for 65 years and we felt it would be good luck! (They made it to 68 years, before Nathan’s grandma sadly passed away in January 2023.) When the pandemic hit in early 2020, we were left with no choice but to postpone our celebration.

While a party can wait, we felt that we didn’t want to put our love story on hold, so we decided to still get married as planned on our original date in a beautiful intimate ceremony in my parents backyard in Boca Raton, FL. What we lost by having to postpone also afforded us an extra year to fully bring our dream wedding celebration to life. We spent the months leading up to, what would now be our July 4th, 2021 “vow-renewal” and belated reception, planning out every unique detail!Continue ReadingContinue Reading

A Galia Lahav Bride for a Relaxed Jewish Wedding with Party Vibes at the Wallace Collection, London, UK

by

Today’s wedding is a special one for me to feature is it’s at the Wallace Collection where I got married!

And I love that when Daniella, a Lagree instructor, and Adam, who works in finance consulting, set out to plan their Jewish wedding, their top priority was for it to feel relaxed, like a big party.

And with the help of their amazing wedding planner, Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Elegante by Michelle J, the couple were able to make their big day at London’s Wallace Collection feel like exactly that! In Daniella’s words, Michelle “not only understood exactly what we wanted from our wedding but also managed to pull everything together in a very short time frame” – plus she helped make the less formal setup of the day (Daniella and Adam opted not to have a formal seated dinner and instead to have food stations and seating areas) flow perfectly.

Also key to those party vibes was the pair’s band, Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Totem. Daniella and Adam opted for their DJ live offering, which kept everyone on the dance floor until the very end! As evidenced by Paulo Santos stunning photography, a fabulous time was indeed had by all.

Oh, and did I mention Daniella’s Galia Lahav gown yet? Read on for full details about it, and so much more…

 

 

 

 


How we Met

Daniella, the bride: We met over six years ago both working on the same consulting project in Manchester and two years later we moved together out to Hong Kong where we live now.Continue ReadingContinue Reading

A Galia Lahav Bride for an Intimate Destination Jewish Wedding Weekend on the Italian Riviera at the Belmond Caruso, Ravello, Italy

by

Marianna-Ari-Belmond-Caruso-Italy

Get ready to be blown away by one of the most exquisite Italian destination Jewish weddings we’ve seen in, well, ever! Travel lovers Marianna, an artist and handbag, footwear, and accessory designer, and Ari, a hospitality entrepreneur, worked with Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Infinity Weddings to plan a truly unforgettable multi-day celebration with 50 of their nearest and dearest, making the most of the Amalfi Coast’s incredible food, vibrant culture, and stunning landscape. 

Being a designer herself, Marianna wanted to be closely involved in the design process, yet she and Ari also wanted to work with a planner who could help them execute their vision with as little stress as possible. Sara of Infinity Weddings was the absolute perfect fit, executing the couple’s vision perfectly and allowing them to be fully present to enjoy the day.

We couldn’t be any more in love with the couple’s venue, the Belmond Caruso, which Marianna calls “the epitome of Italian Riviera.”  The whole thing looks like a dream, and the amazing Nakutis Photography captured it all so artfully.

There’s lots more to say about this exquisite wedding – we haven’t even mentioned the bride’s unreal Galia Lahav gown – but we’ll leave it to Marianna to fill you in on the rest…

Marianna-Ari-Belmond-Caruso-ItalyMarianna-Ari-Belmond-Caruso-ItalyMarianna-Ari-Belmond-Caruso-ItalyMarianna-Ari-Belmond-Caruso-Italy
How we Met

Marianna, the bride: Ari reached out to me on Facebook when I came up for him as a suggested friend. After a few unanswered message and pick up lines about “sending me a kiss” (my last name is Senderkis), I finally replied. A few days later he surprised me by calling me through the Facebook app. I was pleasantly surprised and enjoyed our conversation. I agreed to meet him for lunch near my office. Although we only had 20 minutes together before I had to rush back to work, we were both instantly attracted to one another. We became a couple very soon afterContinue ReadingContinue Reading

A Galia Lahav Bride for a Tropical Jewish Wedding at Casali Del Pino, Rome, Italy

by

Hannah-and-Oscar-Casali-del-Pino-Rome

The fabulous Italian Jewish wedding of Hannah and Oscar, who both work in the clothing business and are launching their own jewellery line, combined two of our very favorite styles: Roman luxe and tropical boho.

While the couple’s gorgeous venue, Casali Del Pino, is pure classic Roman splendor, with all the elegance, muted tones, and gently verdant outdoor spaces that entails, their décor was all exotic flowers and enormous topical leaves. Don’t miss the couple’s chuppah in the photos by Roberta Perrone – Hannah and Oscar wanted it to make them feel as if they were standing in the midst of a tropical jungle, and we think they hit the mark exactly right!

We’re also obsessed with Hannah’s stunner of a gown from Galia Lahav, the Georgia dress. As you’d expect from the beloved Israeli designer, it’s uber-glam, and we can’t get enough of the floral detailing, not to mention ALL the sparkles.

We’ll let Hannah fill you in on the rest…

Hannah-and-Oscar-Casali-del-Pino-RomeHannah-and-Oscar-Casali-del-Pino-RomeHannah-and-Oscar-Casali-del-Pino-Rome
How we Met

Hannah, the bride: We met years ago, when we were little kids during a summer camp in Italy! I arrived from Rome and he arrived from Milan.. it was love at first sight, but it took us a few years to get closer.Continue ReadingContinue Reading

A Galia Lahav Bride for an Ultra-Personal Israeli-American Jewish Wedding at Alma, Even Yehuda, Israel

by

Rachael and Yuval, Alma in Even Yehuda, Israel

There’s nothing quite like an Israeli wedding. Today’s American-Israeli couple used that to their advantage as they planned their big day with the overarching aim of “showing the Americans a real Israeli wedding” – and did they ever!

American Rachael, an elementary school teacher who made Aliyah from Atlanta, and Israeli Yuval, who owns his own marketing company and sells products on Amazon, had friends and family attending from all over the world – many of whom had never attended an Israeli wedding or even visited the country before. So the bride had the great idea to prepare a guide to things that guests from abroad might find different from the weddings they’re used to – like how you will see the bride and groom before the ceremony and how once the groom smashes the glass, you’re supposed to run up to the chuppah to congratulate the couple. Such a smart thing to do!

We love that the two were married by Rachael’s family rabbi from Atlanta, who partnered with a local Orthodox rabbi to perform the ceremony in alignment with Israel’s legal requirements. And how special is it that the gold wedding band they used in the ceremony originally belonged to the bride’s great-grandmother?!

Speaking of family heirlooms – Rachael’s grandparents wanted to gift them with something really special that would be used for years, maybe even generations, to come. After going through lots of ideas, Rachael and Yuval decided a ketubah would be just the thing. But not just any ketubah – these two opted for a gorgeous handpainted nature-inspired piece by Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor The Delicate Brush that they now hang proudly in their home. Don’t miss it in Ariel Aricha Photography’s gorgeous pics.

Now over to the bride, who looked radiant in Galia Lahav…

Rachael and Yuval, Alma in Even Yehuda, IsraelRachael and Yuval, Alma in Even Yehuda, IsraelRachael and Yuval, Alma in Even Yehuda, IsraelRachael and Yuval, Alma in Even Yehuda, Israel
How we met

Rachael, the bride: Yuval and I swiped right on Tinder and met in October 2017, 2 months after I made Aliyah from Atlanta, Georgia. We chatted for a few hours before he asked me to meet him at Tamara in Tel Aviv for a smoothie. I accepted and that was our first date – smoothies and a walk on the tayelet. We got engaged a little after a year of dating and then married 9 months later.

Continue ReadingContinue Reading