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A Boho bride in cowboy boots for a DIY rustic Jewish wedding at Moshav Mevo Modi’im, Israel

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DIY-wedding-Israel
Nikki and Gavriel met via the power of Google search (no kidding… read their ‘how we met’ story below!) but their Jewish wedding was far from hi-tech. It was a super cool, relaxed rustic affair set in Gavriel’s home town in Israel with an abundance of lovingly crafted DIY details.

So much of the wedding was DIY’ed straight from the heart, from the stunning florals organised by the couple and their families (no pro florists involved at all!) to the home-made wooden signs, hay bale seating, BBQ menu and the beautiful bride’s jewellery all made by Gavriel’s mother. She also created Nikki’s stunning baby’s breath flower crown. Is she one talented mama or what?

I absolutely love Nikki’s bridal style and how she accessorised her dress with that deep green sash. And she totally rocks those cowboy boots of hers. I’ve always loved a bride in cowboy boots — such a cool look for a country style affair.

The whole W Day is full of natural and rustic details — unfussy and relaxed, but ever so pretty. Perfect for a venue surrounded by wonderful nature.

Enjoy this treat of a Friday wedding with images by one of our ever-talented Smashing Suppliers, Herschel Gutman Photography, who captures the essence of the day perfectly.

DIY wedding Israel
How we met

Nikki, the Bride: A friend and I were looking for a new experience and for whatever reason googled “religious farms in Israel”. We found a little family farm on a moshav and helped out a here and there with the farm duties on our stay. The daughter of the family asked if we wanted to hang out with her and her friends. We said yes and through her we met a group of guys. The mother of the family told us, “be careful — moshav boys are dangerous!” But over the course of the weekend I hung out with Gavriel on the moshav.. we talked and I listened to him playing the guitar and singing (as well as admiring his devastatingly good looks!) I couldn’t not give him my number…. Well the rest is history and here we are about two years later…. as husband and wife!

DIY wedding Israel
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Helene & Benjamin | Destination Jewish wedding in the Old City of Jaffa at Beit Andromeda, Israel

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Jaffa-Wedding
In my book, making your wedding day into a holiday is an absolutely brilliant idea. Not only do you get to throw a wonderful party for all your loved ones, but you also get to do it in a place where the weather stands a better chance of behaving on the big day!

Parisians, Helene and Benjamin, did just that with their destination wedding in Israel and organised a whole heap of pre-wedding festivities for their guests as well as the big W-Day itself. So not only did they create an utterly sublime wedding day in Old Jaffa (with the help of much-loved Smashing Suppliers RS Eventime), they also put together a mountain of events for their guests so that they could get a flavour of the city of Tel Aviv. This was a really thoughtful gesture as many of their guests had never visited the city before.

There was a cocktail party, a beach party (I *so* want one of those Keep Calm and Play Matkot tote bags) and a third pre-wedding party at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art. Such wonderful ideas and all expertly planned by the lovely Sophie and Ravit from RS Eventime.

Helene’s Rosa Clara dress is amazing, and both the bride and groom look like celebrities. The light that Pierre Mikael Cohen has captured is sensational as are his beautiful cityscapes.

I must also single out Helen’s ‘rock princess’ Jimmy Choo‘s. Er… wow. And that she secretly took singing lessons in the months prior to the wedding so that she could surprise her groom with  a rendition of ‘their song’. Double wow. Every single element of this wedding ties in together so perfectly and I’m so thrilled to be bringing you this well deserved ray of sunshine this rainy Tuesday morning

Thank you to Helene and Benjamin for sharing their delicious destination with us. Let’s hand over to the gorgeous bride…

Jaffa Wedding
how we met

Helene, the Bride: Benjamin and I met in New York five years before we got married. Ben lived in New York and I was looking for a new flatmate… I was coming to NY for an internship and was looking for an apartment… that’s how we met! We were roommates to start with, but one month later we became a couple, and since then we’ve always lived together — in New York and back in Paris. The funny thing is that we’d attended the same high school in Paris but didn’t know each other back then…Continue ReadingContinue Reading

Natalie & Olivier | Elegant Jewish wedding at the Waldorf Astoria Jerusalem, Israel

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Today I’m blogging a beautifully  elegant affair from the heart of Jerusalem  that shows you  that you don’t necessarily have to incorporate a rainbow of colour or an abundance of details to have the wedding of your dreams. A destination wedding  in Israel’s historical capital city, Natalie and Olivier’s  white-on-white minimal theme is thoroughly  timeless and  perfectly set against the glorious backdrop of Jerusalem.

Minimal it may be, but  will you just look at that custom-designed  Inbal Dror  wedding dress?  I give you full permission to be green with envy over it — it’s absolutely gorgeous.

Not only is Natalie  an incredibly beautiful bride, all glowing skin and glossy locks, but her and her French husband Olivier were one of the first couples ever to hold their wedding at the brand new  Waldorf Astoria Jerusalem, the city’s latest luxury venue.

Simple, elegant, fun, and relaxed — this wedding is perfectly executed in every way. Photography is by  Chiko  who’s making his debut appearance today on STG. Welcome to ‘Club Smashing’ , Chiko!

Waldorf Astoria Jerusalem wedding
Choosing to marry in Jerusalem

Natalie, the bride: I was born in Jerusalem and it is a very special place to me, it has a lot of sentimental value and is a really unique place. We loved the idea of the  Waldorf Astoria Jerusalem because it was brand new. We were the first or second wedding there and the decor is just fabulous so there wasn’t much that we  needed to do in terms of styling.

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Carmel & Aviv | ‘love carnival in a green house’ DIY Jewish wedding at the groom’s rose farm, Northern Israel

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DIY-wedding
Carmel and Aviv knew that they wanted to make their wedding as personal to the two of them as they  possibly could, so  what could  be better then doing everything (and I mean everything!) themselves? Oh yes —  once these two had decided on a DIY W-day, it was full steam ahead, and then some. Get ready to admire what is probably one of the most DIY’d weddings I  have ever featured on Smashing The Glass. It truly gives new  meaning to the phrase,  ‘labour of love’.

For 6 months, this gorgeous pair made the drive every weekend from Tel Aviv, to the groom’s  family farm in Northern Israel to renovate an old greenhouse from the bone. They straightened the ground, laid  a concrete dance floor, and planted literally thousands of flowers and trees. (To give you an idea, they planted about 400 sunflowers in one field alone!).

And it didn’t stop there. Once the space was ready,  Carmel and Aviv made  everything themselves from  the decorations to the flags to the  signage, not to mention hand-crafting their  invitations, table numbers and place names. There was also  a flower booth on the day, with live flower weaving to decorate the guests. Genius.

The most personal thing they incorporated  though, was a wonderful heirloom — their chuppah canopy.  It has been used  in the groom’s family for two generations for every wedding in the family, and Aviv’s grandmother weaves the names of every  new couple into it. How magical is that?

A immense amount of time and effort has clearly gone into this incredible  wedding, so enjoy all the wonderful  details and get ready for some serious pinterest-induced mania! Both the bride and  the groom have written the report today, and why wouldn’t they when there was so much joint involvement with the wedding planning ? One of my favourite quotes from the groom  is:

Our wedding was full of happiness and love. We guess that when people see  how much love you’re putting into it, they return it with extra.”

I love that.

Their day is exquisitely photographed  by the super  talented  Shai Franco  and don’t miss the highlights film at the end by the equally accomplished  Shahar Lev.

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Naama & Ezri | Urban Jewish wedding in a bar, at Jem’s Beer Factory, Tel Aviv, Israel

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Beer-Factory-Wedding
When this first picture (above) of Naama and Ezri  landed in my inbox, I knew that this would be a brilliant  wedding to blog on Smashing The Glass.

First off, I have a soft spot for any kind of unusual Jewish wedding venue, and their choice is certainly  different: a beer factory (yes beer factory!) with the most gorgeous decor and an intimate, homely feel.

Second of all, will you just look at those two?! One of the best things about this job is how uplifting it is to look at images of people in love, and I think it’s fair to say that Naama and Ezri are truly, madly, deeply in love. Their deep affection  for each other literally radiates from every one of the fashion magazine-worthy images by  Simsisters.

Naama and Ezri  two are  free-spirited souls who incorporated all sorts of personal touches into their big  day, and it must be said that this is also  the first W-Day  I’ve ever blogged that includes a ‘spoken word’ session!

Let me  hand you over to Naama, to tell you all about her and Ezri’s story…  Have a great weekend everyone!

Beer Factory wedding
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