Israel Archives - Smashing the Glass

A Nitzan Krispil Bride for a Laid-Back Seaside Wedding at Beit Andromeda, Tel Aviv, Israel

31/05/2019 by Karen Cinnamon Leave a Comment

We’re always obsessed with Israeli oceanside weddings…. especially when they’re smack dab in the middle of picture-perfect Old Jaffa. Like the gorgeous Jewish wedding of Olga, a graphic designer, and Chen, a programmer, which we’re totally and completely obsessed with.

It’s hard to go wrong when you’re starting out with a venue like Beit Andromeda. Throw in cool, contemporary photography with just a little bit of edge from mega-talented Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Gamba Photographers (the couple have known Gamba’s Avihai since their military service!), and you’ve pretty much got a slam dunk.

And that’s before we even get into the awesome touches the couple added to reflect the fact that their wedding was the day before Rosh Hashanah – in honor of the holiday, Olga and Chen adopted the themes of blossoming and new beginnings, and added sweet details from honey jar favors to fun dancefloor props embellished with floral and fruit motifs (handmade by the bride and her friends in the buildup to the big day – love that!).

We also love the couple’s commitment to making sure they crafted a wedding that truly reflected who they are – so in line with what we believe her at STG, and what we want to make sure all brides (and grooms) to be have the tools to accomplish for themselves. That’s why we’re so excited about our first-ever FREE Jewish Wedding Planning Bootcamp, starting this Monday, June 3 – it’s going to be truly unmissable, so if you’re planning a Jewish or Jew-ish wedding, do sign up!

Now back to Olga, who looked effortlessly romantic in her two-piece Nitzan Krispil…

How we met

Olga, the bride: We met during our military service at a mutual friend’s birthday party, and got married 6 years later.

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

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…

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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 😉

A Samantha Sleeper Bride for an Enchanted Garden Winter Jewish Wedding at Olmaya in Jerusalem, Israel

17/04/2019 by Karen Cinnamon

Every so often we come across a Jewish wedding that’s truly unlike any we’ve seen before. And that describes fashion designer Jordana (while she works on launching her own line, Luzhi, she’s running travel-inspired Etsy shop Luzhi Foudre) and IT worker by day, foodie by night Uri’s big day to a tee. We know words like “magical” and “enchanted” get thrown around a lot in the wedding biz, but this one truly is all that and more.

The lucky bride just happens to be the daughter of a phenomenal wedding planner, Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Penny & Co. Events, so it’s no surprise Jordana’s “out of the box” (in her own words) celebration was one for the books.

First off, we’re totally obsessed with the flowers – from the bride’s big, bold, bright bouquet to the show-stopping table centers, the lush, wild vibes are off-the-charts amazing. This wedding took place in the middle of winter, but you’d never know it thanks to mom’s ingenuity – which encompassed everything from hanging greenery to custom green velvet tablecloths.

And the couple’s enchanted garden chuppah is truly like no other we’ve seen (and we love that the couple were seated underneath it during dinner afterward – such a smart way to make the most of this special structure). You’ve simply got to see Sigala Photography’s inimitably stylish snaps and Reouven Photography’s moving trailer for yourself.

As a bona fide fashionista herself, it’s no surprise that Jordana went for something totally unique – and totally gorgeous – for her big day. Mega-talented NYC-based designer Samantha Sleeper created a bespoke two-piece design consisting of a simple slip dress and a detailed overlay, inspired by the bride’s favorite designers, Valentino and Rodarte. We’re obsessed with the cool capelet back – and the couture feathered headband the designer gifted Jordana to complement her wedding day look.

Take it away, Jordana!

How we met

Jordana, the bride: Uri and I were very close friends for a few years prior to dating. I always saw him as being exceptional in every way and would even often set him up! It took me some time to open up to the idea of us being together, but as soon as I did I knew he was the exact right guy for me. You never know 🙂

A Noa and Ayelet Bride for a Super Stylish Israeli Wedding at Gan Vradim, Rishon LetZion, Israel

10/04/2019 by Karen Cinnamon

Beautiful wedding, beautiful photography, beautiful couple… this gorgeous Jewish wedding really is a blogger’s dream!

Granted, it would be hard to go wrong in a setting as stunning as Hadas and Idan’s choice, Gan Vradim in Rishon LetZion. It’s a totally breathtaking urban garden, packed with plenty of romance and just a little bit of edge.

That same description could be applied to the totally breathtaking photos by Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Jossef Si . Artistic, creative, full of emotion – what more could you ask for in your wedding photography? It’s easy to understand why Hadas reports that she and Idan immediately fell in love with his work. Yep, we’re just a little bit obsessed…

Another thing we’re obsessed with is the fact that Hadas and her future MIL came up with the design for her stunning wedding dress together! Noa and Ayelet Wedding Dresses brought the dream dress to life, and we are just so in love with the outcome.

Now over to the bride…

How we met

Hadas, the bride: We are both building engineers, we met in chemistry class the we were in school together! We’ve been together ever since.

A Monique Lhuillier Bride for a Daytime Jewish Wedding at Ronit Farm, Kfar Shmariyahu, Israel

25/02/2019 by Karen Cinnamon

We can spot a Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Luz Weddings Photography Jewish wedding a mile away. Their trademark combination of architectual urban shots with emotion and romance is unmistakable — and we can’t get enough of it.

Neither could Mayan, a lawyer, and Dan, a construction engineer, who can’t stop raving about their photographers — in addition to being mega talented at capturing artsy shots, the couple report they were a dream to work with on the day and couldn’t have made even the photo-hating groom more comfortable.

There was certainly plenty to capture, what with the stunning Ronit Farm setting and an unbelievable floral chuppah. And we love how the couple opted to get married at the unconventional-for-Israel hour of noon, allowing them to make the most of that amazing Israeli sunshine.

They also opted for a Friday date, which meant they could throw in some fun pre-Shabbat touches, like their Shabbat flower bouquet favors that each guest picked up from a “flower shop” they had set up!

Over to Mayan, who lived out all her princess dreams in Monique Lhuillier…

How we met

Mayan, the bride: We met in the army, where we both served in intelligence. When I got to the office on the first day he came to sit next to me and started talking to me.

Soon we kissed but because Dan is from Eilat and I am from Jerusalem (a 4 hour drive) he wasn’t sure he wanted to be my boyfriend! So I made him jealous a little bit and soon we fell in love.

We’ve been together for 7.5 years already and I can’t remember my life without him anymore. He is my best friend and we have so much in common, like our love of travelling around the world.