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A Colorful, Multicultural Colombian-Israeli Jewish Wedding with Garden Vibes at Bustan Abu Ghosh, Israel

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We are absolutely in love with today’s gorgeous multicultural Jewish wedding – not to mention the awesome globetrotting love story of Laura, who’s in business administration, and Daniel, a lawyer, whose relationship took them from Madrid to New York to Israel, where they now live!

Celebrating the merging of their two backgrounds – Laura originally hails from Colombia, while Daniel is Israeli – was the theme for this very special day, and the couple carried it through in everything from their flowers to their music to their ultra-personal ceremony to their venue: they chose to make it official at Bustan Abu Ghosh, which is not only stunning but also happens to be run by a Muslim owner who loves Jewish weddings! In the couple’s words, “We thought it would be fitting to exchange our vows in a place where two different religions and cultures came together to create something magical, as this was precisely what happened with our relationship.” How special is that?!

Laura and Daniel chose Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Ben Kelmer to document their big day – as an amateur photographer herself, Laura knew she wanted someone who could take natural, authentic photos capturing special moments in time. And no one does that better than Ben Kelmer!

There’s so much more to say about this fabulous wedding, but we’ll turn you over to the couple for the rest of the story…

How we Met

Laura, the bride and Daniel, the groom: We met in January 2018, the day we started our MBA at IE Business School in Madrid, Spain. From there, it took a while for us to formally become a couple. Laura was immensely scared of commitment due to previous experiences and did not come to the MBA with any plans to fall in love, let alone to be in a serious relationship. She was also very scared of getting involved with someone from a different religion (Laura is  Catholic and Daniel is Jewish). Laura  thought she would expose herself to being hurt if she fell in love with someone whose family might not accept her.

After we did get together, we applied and got accepted to Yale School of Management, for a dual degree program. We left Madrid together in August 2018 and graduated from Yale in May 2019. We then moved in together in New York City and got engaged in January 2020. We were planning to get married in October 2020, before COVID changed all of our plans… Continue ReadingContinue Reading

An Arava Polak Bride for an Indoor/Outdoor Jewish Wedding at Bayaar, Hadera, Israel

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Samantha & Tsach, Bayaar, Hadera, Israel

There’s nothing like an Israeli wedding. And Samantha and Tsach’s is Exhibit A as to why! The duo, who own their own gym in Haifa, called Fitbox, crafted the most magical Jewish wedding that brings out the best Israel has to offer with a little help from a fantastic planner, Yana Andreev from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Craspedia Events.

In Samantha’s words, Yana “quickly became more like a best friend who helped me make my Pinterest dreams come to life!” She listened to the couple’s ideas, used her planning and design genius to bring their dreams to life, and soled problems right and left all through planning. Samantha and Tsach wanted an effortless, natural look to bring out their venue Bayaar’s beauty – and Yana did the best job bringing it all to life. She even went wedding dress shopping with Samantha, helping her find her dream gown from Arava Polak!

We’re in love with the indoor/outdoor vibes of this wedding, and we can’t get enough of the exquisite photos from Haim Afriat!

Read on for more details – plus Samantha’s great advice for all Jewish brides-to-be!

Samantha & Tsach, Bayaar, Hadera, IsraelSamantha & Tsach, Bayaar, Hadera, IsraelSamantha & Tsach, Bayaar, Hadera, IsraelSamantha & Tsach, Bayaar, Hadera, Israel
How we Met

Samantha, the bride: We actually met in the gym! I had showed up to Tsach’s gym 3 days after opening in 2019 and signed up for an annual membership and became his 2nd client. We began working out together and realized we both share the same passions and interests in life. Shortly after meeing, our friendship grew into the beautiful relationship we have today. It was love at first sight for lack of a better cliche and now we do what we love together.Continue ReadingContinue Reading

A Mirror Mirror Bride for an Ultra-Romantic Jewish Wedding on the Beach at Caesar Yam, Caesarea, Israel

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Leanna-Mottie-Caesar-Yam-Israel

Get ready to be blown away by today’s Jewish wedding – absolutely everything about Leanne and Mottie’s big day is pure #weddinggoals, from their incredible venue RIGHT on the beach in Israel (don’t miss their chuppah!) to the ultra-romantic photos by Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Ori Carmi Photography to Leanne’s exquisite gown found at Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Mirror Mirror in London – bridal style doesn’t get any more classically elegant than this!

Leanne and Motttie were initially supposed to marry in summer 2020 – and while they didn’t end up making things official until 2022 thanks to the pandemic, we’re pretty sure you’ll agree that the finished product was more than worth the wait. So was Leanne’s beautiful Mirror Mirror gown in London – she fell in love with the dress at first sight just after getting engaged back in 2020, and two years later she adored it just as much!

And we haven’t even gotten into the sheer perfection that is Ori Carmi Photography! His photos are the perfect blend of authentic emotion and good old wedding day glitz – and of course he did a fab job capturing the breathtaking setting too. Leanne and Mottie can’t stop raving about their photos – and neither would we!

We’ll let the couple take it from here…

 Leanna-Mottie-Caesar-Yam-IsraelLeanna-Mottie-Caesar-Yam-Israel
How we Met

Mottie, the groom: We met on Instagram! Leanne was a bridesmaid at a wedding of a mutual friend and when I saw a picture of them, I asked my friend who Leanne was as I thought she was gorgeous. I sent her a message and that was that. We made Aliya together in 2020 and both work in HiTech now, Leanne in finance and myself in sales.Continue ReadingContinue Reading

An MLM Label Bride for an American-Israeli Jewish Wedding with Yemenite Traditions at Shalosh, Or Yehuda, Israel

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It’s always a treat when we get to blog the gorgeous Jewish wedding of one of our beloved Brides Club members, and Miriam’s fabulous Israeli-American celebration to groom Idan is no exception.

There’s so much to love about this wedding. Miriam, who’s American Ashkenazi, and Idan, who’s Yemenite Israeli, lead an international, multicultural lifestyle, splitting their time between Virginia and Israel, and their big day followed suit – read on to find out about some of the beautiful Yemenite traditions the couple incorporated into their celebration, and don’t miss the stunning photos by Reouven Ben Chaim.

Miriam and Idan worked with the wonderful Yana from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Craspedia Events (who the duo found right here on STG) to plan their wedding, and they loved how she and her team not only helped them enjoy wedding planning minus the stress but also helped them add in all kinds of special details reflecting their lives and love story.

Miriam and Idan also took advantage of a Brides Club discount in ordering a second ketubah with custom text (to complement the traditional one provided by their rabbi) from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor ketubah.com. They chose a paper cut design by artist Enya Keshet, and report that they were very impressed with ketubah.com’s speed and responsiveness.

There’s so much more to say about this joyous wedding – we love that Miriam chose to focus on her values of sustainability and ethical labor when making choices like her beautiful dress from Australian brand MLM Label – but we’ll let the bride herself fill you in on the rest…


How we Met

Miriam, the bride: Idan and I met about 7 years ago while both living in Israel, in an amazing coincidence – we met as the spontaneous ‘plus ones’ to our friends’ first date at a bar in Tel Aviv. My friend (also an American, who at that point I had only known for about a week, and is today one of my best friends!) had hit it off with a guy; she asked me to come to their first date to keep an eye out as she was nervous.

The guy (Idan’s best friend) asked Idan to come with him to help translate the date, as he was self-conscious about his English. I stood in the corner and hung out with other friends to keep “an eye out”, while Idan translated the date – until his friend kicked him out :). Idan and I met again the following week at a party, and have been together ever since. And our friends are now happily married with a beautiful baby girl!Continue ReadingContinue Reading

The Ultimate Guide to Planning a Destination Wedding in Israel

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Laura and Elad‘s Jewish wedding in Tel Aviv | Photo by Ronen Boidek

Laura and Elad‘s Jewish wedding in Tel Aviv | Photo by Ronen Boidek

Some of my very favorite Smashing The Glass real weddings have taken place in Israel. I always dreamed of getting married there myself, and even though in the end we decided to get married in our hometown so that my husband’s 97-year-old grandmother could be at the center of our celebration, I love living vicariously through all our gorgeous Israel brides.

In addition to being such a meaningful place to hold a Jewish wedding, Israel also happens to be pretty unbeatable when it comes to sunny weather, unbeatable food, great views – from lush green forests to pristine beaches, vast deserts to stunning mountain – and the best parties I’ve ever been to. Just check out our real Israeli weddings section if you need any more proof!

Photo by Valeri Prochin

Photo by Valeri Prochin

The downside? It can be more than a little overwhelming to plan a wedding long distance, in a country whose language you might not even speak, and with somewhat different cultural norms than the US or UK. There’s also some tricky bureaucracy to contend with. But never fear! I sat down with Gev Rotem of Bebke, one of the very best Israeli destination wedding planners around, to demystify the process of planning the Israeli destination wedding of your dreams, one step at a time.

Bebke are known for planning some of the most creative, vibrant Israeli destination weddings around – you can see some we’ve featured on Smashing The Glass here – and there’s no one I trust more than Gev to be on top of all the up-to-the-minute ins and outs of crafting your perfect wedding in Israel from abroad. 

Photo by Moran Mayan

How Do You Find Vendors?

It can be really daunting trying to find vendors overseas, especially when there are language/cultural barriers, although most Israelis do speak good English. When you’re less familiar with the landscape, it can also be trickier to make sure you end up with a trustworthy team you can depend on to bring your wedding dreams to life. 

Recommendations from friends and family can certainly be helpful, but we also have a handy list of Israeli Recommended Vendors, carefully vetted to get you started, and, again, our past Israeli real weddings come with a vendor list at the end of each post, so if you see something you like, you can get in touch.

Even better is working with a trusted planner like Gev, who can not only source fantastic vendors you can trust who’ll be the perfect fit for your version, but will also make sure you get the best rates possible. 

Photo by Jen Sladkov

How About a Venue?

When it comes to nailing down that perfect venue, Gev shared some great insights – including one reason for working with a planner that you may not have considered: “There are lots of great villas and private properties open to hiring themselves out for weddings, but the problem with these tends to be that after a couple of events, their neighbors start complaining and they end up needing to shut down. For this reason, we hold lots of weddings at one-off locations where we can fly under the radar – and we have a team constantly looking for new options.”

Photo by Jen Sladkov

While there are also plenty of gorgeous established venues in Israel, Gev notes that your typical Israeli venue holds an average of 250(!) events per year – which means they tend to offer only set packages geared toward Israelis, leading to cookie-cutter events  which may not be quite in line with what couples from abroad are looking for. These venues often aren’t open to the kinds of bespoke touches those of us coming from the US and UK might want to include to craft a wedding that truly reflects them as a couple. 

Laura and Elad‘s Jewish wedding in Tel Aviv | Photo by Ronen Boidek

What Kinds of Unique Venues Can I Find in Israel?

Gev loves to help connect his couples with unique, only-in-Israel venues like olive and pecan groves, open fields, glamorous villas, old houses in Jaffa or ancient structures in Jerusalem, and locations amidst atmospheric archeological ruins. Israel’s got so many fabulous spots so full of character that are unlike anything you’d find at home, and Gev strongly believes that if you decide to get married there you should take advantage, rather than try to find a venue that imitates a New York club or an English garden.

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