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A Dorit Izbizki Bride for a Pandemic Jewish Wedding at Xanadu, Petach Tikva, Israel

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When they first started planning their wedding, Eliana and Pinny, both Americans who made aliyah on their own, put a premium on choosing a date that would allow their parents and siblings to fly in for the simcha.

However, the Omicron variant had other plans, and the week before the wedding, Israel shut its borders – even to first-degree relatives. As devastating as it was for the couple to accept that so many important family members wouldn’t be able to make it, they decided to forge on – and despite the sadness that comes with being far away from loved ones (though Eliana and Pinny did find some clever ways for their long-distance siblings to participate via Zoom!), the pair pulled off a truly amazing day. And that was largely thanks to the incredible network they’ve grown in their time in Israel – so much so that, even with international guests out of the picture, they still had a 300-person wedding!

Lucky for Eliana and Pinny, one key VIP who was able to make it was their photographer, Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Herschel Gutman Photography. From the moment they got engaged, these two knew Herschel was the only photographer for them – so much so that, in Eliana’s words, “I wouldn’t have considered a date that we couldn’t have had Herschel Gutman as our photographer!” And Herschel and his team didn’t disappoint – in addition to being a total delight to work with on the day, they also did an incredible job capturing all the emotion and energy of this very special day.

There’s so much more we could say about this wonderful Jewish wedding, but we’ll leave it to the bride – who looked radiant in Dorit Izbizki – to fill you in on the details…

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How we Met

Eliana, the bride: Mine and Pinny’s older sisters, Shosh and Yael, have been friends for years now. Ever since I moved to Israel, 2 years after Pinny did, my sister has been saying “You have got to go out with Shosh’s little brother!” For years though the timing was never right. He’s in his fourth year of the army, and I just began law school. Finally, last May, my sister brought up his name again and we both said yes.

The day after his first text to me we went out on our first date… and we just clicked right away. Six months later, on my 21st birthday, he proposed!

After our engagement, with both of our parents and most of our siblings living in America, it was important to choose a date that everyone would be able to fly in and share in the simcha! (We had no idea of the impending omicron variant…at the time, it really seemed like we arrived at the light at the end of the tunnel with the third vaccine open for everyone in both Israel and America.) We then chose a date in December that would be the last time all of our siblings can fly in for a while, with that said, we had a pretty short engagement.Continue ReadingContinue Reading

A Fresh, Beachy Jewish Pandemic Wedding at Caesar Yam, Caesarea, Israel

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Planning a wedding during COVID isn’t easy. You’ve got to be prepared to roll with the punches, make last-minute changes, and generally have a wedding that might look pretty different than the one you’d had your heart set on.

But even with all that, some of the Jewish weddings we’ve seen that have been most affected by the pandemic have also been among the most stunning – ever. Take the fabulous Israeli nuptials of Tash, who works for an online glasses company doing customer service, and Nick, who does marketing and events for a healthcare software provider. These two made aliyah in 2021, and while they wanted to celebrate in their new home, travel restrictions made it uncertain as to whether overseas loved ones would be able to make it.

And even though plenty of things didn’t quite go to plan – the couple went through several changes of venue before settling on the fabulous Caesar Yam; their guest list went from 200 to 65, and some friends and family joined in via livestream rather than in person – this day was nothing short of magnificent.

We’re in love with the beachy, nautical décor – and how gorgeous is that stunning white floral chuppah? – and for all the challenges leading up to the day, there was clearly so much joy and love. Don’t miss the incredible photos from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Herschel Gutman, who the couple report was a delight to work with, as always.

Now over to Tash…

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How we Met

Tash, the bride: We met on an app called J Crush in November 2014. Nick was on a year abroad in Paris as part of his degree with Aston University in Birmingham, and I was in my second year at University of Leeds. We spent the first year of our relationship meeting in either Paris, Leeds, Scotland (Nick’s hometown) and London (my hometown) so it was an adventure from the start.Continue ReadingContinue Reading

A Dorit Izbizki Bride for an Elegant Jewish Wedding at Psagot Winery, Israel

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There’s nothing like an Israeli wedding… and the nuptials of Eliana, a student, and Naftali, who just finished his army service and is currently in yeshiva, just tick all our boxes!

These two got married at the stunning Psagot Winery in the Shomron. In addition to the gorgeous natural scenery, the couple – who got engaged during COVID – loved the fact that Psagot was flexible and worked wonderfully for both smaller and larger weddings.

Like so many couples getting married in Israel, Eliana and Naftali knew from the get-go that they wanted to work with Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Herschel Gutman as their photographer – so much so that they chose their wedding date around his availability! As always, Herschel and his team were fantastic to work with – and naturally, the couple is over the moon about their beautiful photos (just scroll through this post and we’re pretty sure you’ll see why).

And how special is it that the couple got married under Naftali’s family chuppah?! What a wonderful tradition to have a family chuppah that can be brought out for all the weddings!

Now over to the bride, who looked so elegant in her dress by Dorit Izbizki…

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How we Met

Eliana, the bride: We both grew up in Beit Shemesh but only knew of each other. We officially met at a mutual friend’s wedding when Naftali sat with Eliana’s brother. We first spoke there and the rest was history….Continue ReadingContinue Reading

A Rustic Israeli Jewish Wedding at Ein Yael, Jerusalem, Israel

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Dana & Chaim, Ein Yael, Jerusalem

There’s nothing like a good outdoor Jewish wedding. And we’re especially in love with the one Dana, a graduate student in linguistics at Hebrew University, and Chaim, a lawyer, pulled off – no matter that their initial decision to opt for an open air affair was driven by COVID restrictions.

Luckily, Israel is chock full of stunning outdoor venues – and we’re obsessed with Dana and Chaim’s choice of Ein Yael, a breathtaking archaeological park right next to a forest and packed with Jerusalem stone, history and lots of nature. The rustic, outdoorsy vibe was perfect for their day – aside from a few carefully placed flowers, the pair opted to let the natural beauty speak for itself rather than laying on the décor.

And, as always, we’re totally and completely in love with the couple’s exquisite photos from the amazing Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Herschel Gutman. Herschel is such a popular photographer among STG couples getting married in Israel – and between his incredible talent and calming presence on the day, it’s easy to see why! Don’t miss the couple’s post-wedding Old City photoshoot, either – Herschel got some positively magical shots of the newlyweds wandering around Yemin Moshe at 2 AM!

Now over to the couple…

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How we met

Dana, the bride: Her version: A mutual friend

His version: I had just gotten back from a 6+ month trip to South America and wasn’t yet looking for a serious relationship. Finding a new job and getting settled again were priorities for me. But then again, man plans and God laughs…

A friend messaged me with a “random question”, which translates to “are you seeing anyone?” when you’re a single religious guy in Jerusalem between the ages of 23 and still alive.

I told my friend that I wasn’t really looking at the moment, but was happy to hear about her friend and maybe grab drinks. She told me about Dana and I was obviously immediately interested. After a few more messages my friend came back with “I know you’re taking it slow, but don’t drag this out… like she knows you have her number”. Great.

So I called her.

“Ken?! MAH?!” (yeah?! WHAT?!)

“Uh, hi…it’s Chaim. Ariella gave me your number….?”

“Oh, uh, hi!”

Apparently I was tenth in line after nine straight spam calls. Not exactly the smooth start I was looking for, but we then spoke for a good few minutes, had some laughs and I asked her out to drinks. That was almost three years ago, and it was the best intro call I’ve ever made.Continue ReadingContinue Reading

A Michal Taylor Bride for a Colorful Jewish Wedding at Bezzela Hahar, Machasiya, Jerusalem, Israel

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Even though Israeli couple Elinoa and Yonah held their Jewish wedding during the pandemic, they were lucky enough not to have to make major changes to their plans. Sure, they changed venues two weeks(!) before the big day – but, happily, they made that change in order to be able to invite MORE guests (including Yona’s entire army unit), not because they had to cut their list down.

As always, we’re totally and completely blown away by the couple’s incredible wedding photos by Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Herschel Gutman. Like so many couples, Elinoa and Yonah knew they wanted him as their photographer before they were even engaged. In Elinoa’s words, “Herschel has this magical way of just capturing moments – being truly in them with you but also making you feel like it’s only the two of you. There was not a moment throughout the wedding where I noticed a camera on me or in my face and I think that’s a testament to the true skill Herschel has.”

There’s so much more to say about this gorgeous wedding – just for starters, we love that Elinoa designed all the wedding stationery herself! – but we’ll let the bride, who looked exquisitely elegant in Michal Taylor, fill you in on the rest…

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How we met

Elinoa, the bride: We’ve both always sort of been in the background of each other’s lives. Our parents were all part of Bnei Akiva in England, which if you’re familiar with anyone who grew up in England and went to BA – everyone knows everyone. My father-in-law was a madrich to both my parents, Yonah’s uncle was my dad’s madrich & my mother in law was a good friend of my uncle through-out high school. The four of them made Aliyah around the same time & lived in the “merkaz klita” in Ra’anana. Our families both settled down in Ramat Beit Shemesh and we grew up always sort of aware of each other but were never necessarily friendly (although we have got a few pictures of us together from when we were little). Eventually my family moved to America and then to Ra’anana meaning the next time we crossed paths was when they would come to stay with us for Shabbat.

Yonah’s second cousins live in Raanana and they are good friends of ours so every time they had a simcha, Yonah’s family would stay with us. In August 2016 they came to stay with us and Yonah and I sort of caught each other’s attention. A few days later I noticed he had FB messaged me wishing me good luck in my year of sherut leumi in Jerusalem. Turns out he was just being nice and not flirting but I took it as flirting and told him to let me know next time he was in Jerusalem and we would hang out. 9 months later he texted me asking if I was free, May 26th 2017 we went on our first date and we’ve been together ever since. Our relationship has spanned 2 year of sherut leumi, Yonah’s army service (and subsequently many, many drives to his base), almost an entire degree, traveling, and much, much more.Continue ReadingContinue Reading