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A Mia Pava Bride for an Ultra-Personal Family-Focused Jewish Wedding at Tur Sinai, Jerusalem, Israel

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We love it when a couple has their Jewish wedding, their way… and that’s exactly what today’s couple did! Laura, a photographer, and Ray, a public health consultant, made it their top priority to craft a wedding that was “so incredibly us,” and they put their own stamp on everything from the color scheme to the vibe, the music to the souvenirs.

Laura and Ray even designed the invitation themselves, along with matching programs and seating cards! And when it came to the ketubah, they opted for a gorgeous design by Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor The Delicate Brush.

Laura is a mother of six mostly grown kids, and it was important to her that they all had major roles in the wedding ceremony. Two of the kids were the emcees, Laura’s oldest daughter was her attendant, two kids sang Laura down the aisle, and her youngest daughter was her maid of honor – so special!

Given that Laura herself is a professional photographer, she naturally wanted only the best when it came to photographing her wedding – and so she opted for none other than Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Herschel Gutman! His images of the day are so full of emotion and love, we can’t stop scrolling through them.

Read on for more fabulous details of the day in the couple’s own words…

 

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How We Met

Once upon a time there was Ray, a public health professional living in the US with no plans to move anywhere. And there was Laura, a divorcee, mom of 6, living in a settlement in Israel. Their mutual friend, Shoshanna, came up with the crazy idea that these two people should date each other. She told them. They were unimpressed… And did nothing about it at the time.

When Covid took Laura’s dad summer of 2020, just a few months after it took Ray’s dad, Ray reached out to Laura via Facebook messenger with a really kind message and even followed up a few weeks later to see how she was. Laura was impressed. With the ice broken they began speaking occasionally via Facebook messenger. Laura was charmed by Ray’s unique sense of humor and skill at SongPop. Ray was astounded by Laura’s seemingly endless cocktail concoctions and her ability to stay up later than God…

Their conversations grew more frequent and deeper and by October they were messaging daily, and starting to add phone calls and FaceTime as well. And yet, they had never met in real life. Because of covid, they could not even entertain the idea of travel for months. Finally, in April 2021, Laura flew to the US and they met for the first time at the airport when Ray came to pick her up. That first date lasted 11 hours and started two weeks of what they dubbed ‘concentrated craziness’.

Since then Ray and Laura have been back and forth to Israel and the US numerous times, documenting it all with a steady stream of photos. They even managed to meet in ‘neutral territory’ with a trip to Switzerland. Finally, on July 8, 2022, on a bluff overlooking the Sea of Galilee, and over a glass of cabernet, Ray proposed to Laura and the rest is history 🙂 (Meanwhile, there’s no doubt that their dads have met up in heaven and are kvelling together over this beautiful turn of events…)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…

Dana & Chaim, Ein Yael, Jerusalem Dana & Chaim, Ein Yael, Jerusalem Dana & Chaim, Ein Yael, Jerusalem Dana & Chaim, Ein Yael, Jerusalem
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

A Tali Shurin Bride for a Jewish Wedding with a View at Olmaya, Jerusalem, Israel

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We’ve heard of so many couples who’ve had to scale back their Jewish weddings last-minute due to changing COVID restrictions. Not so much couples who’ve been able to upsize their weddings at short notice because restrictions were relaxed – but that’s exactly what happened to Israeli couple Adina, a social worker in a hospital in Jerusalem, and Aaron, who works in high tech as a solutions architect.

They’d initially planned a small wedding in the groom’s parents’ garden, because that’s what was permitted when they firmed up their plans. But then, ten days before the wedding, some of Israel’s restrictions were lifted, and the couple’s wedding planner, Debbie Nussbaum, managed to move the proceedings to Jerusalem’s stunning Olmaya, which is not only a gorgeous venue with stellar views but also allowed the Adina and Aaron to double their guest list!

Still, not all the important people in the couple’s lives could be there in person – most of all, their beloved grandparents in London and Sydney. However, thanks to the wonders of Zoom, the far-flung grandparents on both sides were able to livestream a bracha to the couple during their ceremony!

As always, we’re absolutely blown away by all the energy, emotion, and love shining through in every single image from the couple’s photographer, Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Herschel Gutman – Adina was so impressed after seeing pictures he’d taken at friends’ weddings, she knew she wanted him to photograph her wedding even before she met Aaron!

Now over to the bride, who looked so elegant in Tali Shurin…

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How we Met

Adina, the bride: We met at a mutual friend’s wedding a month and a half before the first corona lockdown. The next wedding we went to together was our own!Continue ReadingContinue Reading

A Vera Wang Bride for a Multicultural Jewish Wedding where the Jerusalem Lion Meets the Chinese Lion at Kedma Mamilla, Jerusalem, Israel

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Monica-and-David-Kedma-Mamila-Restaurant-Jerusalem-Israel

We are absolutely in love with the joyous multicultural Jewish wedding of Smashing The Glass Brides Club member Monica to David! Monica, who has a background in design, is Chinese American, David, who has a manufacturing company, is Israeli; they live in London; and they opted to wed in Jerusalem – so they had some seriously great material to work with.

The couple’s amazing wedding planner, Vanessa Ohayon of Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Vanessa Events, helped the couple pull everything together to create the wedding of their dreams – complete with swoonworthy views overlooking the Old City walls – do chuppah backdrops get any better than that?!

One of our very favorite things about this gorgeous wedding is the fact that, with Vanessa’s help, Monica arranged a surprise Chinese Lion Dance, which is performed during major celebrations. Once the guests were seated for the reception, Monica and David made their entrance – followed by a bright yellow Chinese Lion, who wove in and out among the tables before giving the couple a marriage blessing. Then, the music changed, and it was hora time – what an awesome contrast in traditions! In Monica’s words, “it was the Jerusalem Lion meets the Chinese Lion moment.”

We also love that Monica put her design background to work in implementing the pair’s chosen theme of geodes and geometrics in blue and gold, learning modern calligraphy and hand-crafting the exquisite blue agate place cards. There was a spectacular geode-themed cake to match, and the floral centerpieces, designed by Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Craspedia, continued the geometric theme and blue color scheme too. It wasn’t easy to find locally grown flowers in the right colors during the Israeli summer, but Yana of Craspedia took Monica on a scouting trip to a flower market where together they were able to find the perfect blooms.

There’s so much more to say about this beautiful day, but we’ll let Monica – who looked so elegant in Vera Wang – take it from here…

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How we Met

Monica, the bride: We met online in London, but it took 5 months for us to meet up due to conflicting travel schedules. Instead, we had an old fashion email and skype correspondence until our first date at the Holland Park Opera. The rest is history!Continue ReadingContinue Reading