It’s quite a feat planning a Jewish wedding when you’re living between two countries – which is exactly what jet setting couple Meital, a software engineer, and Gilad, a strategy and technology consultant, did. The pair live between London and Tel Aviv – and to add some extra international flair, Meital’s family is from Brazil.
Despite not being on site in Israel full-time, Meital and Gilad opted to plan their day themselves – and they ended up with the perfect laid-back Israeli wedding, drawing on the gorgeous natural surroundings of their outdoor venue, Mata’im.
Meital and Gilad are both passionate about gender equality, and from the beginning they knew they wanted an egalitarian ceremony. Working with Rabbi Dr. Avital Hochstein, an officiating Rabbi at Chuppot, a Liberal-Orthodox organization that challenges the monopoly of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel on religious services, the pair crafted the perfect ceremony to reflect their values. Both bride and groom signed an equal rights ketubah and exchanged rings, and the duo received the traditional seven blessing from female and male family members.
Above and beyond all this, Meital and Gilad’s wedding was just plain fun – you can tell from Shani Zadiakario’s photos that everyone was having a blast from start to finish. And we love that the couple opted to work with Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Dana from Colorfool for videography. In the couple’s words, “Throughout the day, Dana demonstrated professionalism, creativity, and a keen eye for detail. In addition, she was easy going and very open to our ideas and edits. In just a few minutes, her video captures important moments from start to end.”
Read on for the full story of this fabulous day!
How We Met
Meital, the bride and Gilad, the groom: It was another long Yom Kippur in Jerusalem. I sat outside and Gilad, wondering too outside the Shul, came along and approached me. We started chatting and got through some of the hardest hours of the fast. A few days later, Gilad texted me and we started dating. 
