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A Kyha Studios Bride for a Modern Jewish Wedding Bringing the Spirit of Tel Aviv at Island Art and Taste – Residence, Athens Riviera, Greece

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New Yorkers Allison, a Physician Assistant in dermatology, and Shane, a dentist, originally planned to hold their Jewish wedding in Tel Aviv. Due to the war, they made the hard choice to pivot to a new destination – but we love that they brought most of their original Israeli vendors along for their July 5th, 2024 celebration at Island Art and Taste – Residence in Greece’s Athens Riviera.

Due to the change of location, Allison and Shane were unable to tour new venues themselves – but luckily they had an amazing planner, Tel Aviv-based Liad from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor LBI Productions, on their side. Liad and his team helped them work through their pivot, even doing a venue tour for them and sending tons of photos and video so Allison and Shane could make an informed decision.

In Allison’s words, “Liad Bar Ilan and his team are truly incredible and I couldn’t recommend him more. He made the planning process so smooth even with the obstacles that occurred with switching our wedding to Greece.”

We also love that Allison and Shane found their perfect ketubah from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Ketubah.com, featuring a blue ocean background  that reminded them of Greece and their venue.

†he couple’s photographer, Yoni of Haim Afriat & Co., captured the day exquisitely, and you can really feel the fun and joy in each of his wonderful candid shots.

 Read on for all the details in Allison’s own words!

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How We Met

Allison, the bride: We met through a mutual friend and the rest was history!Continue ReadingContinue Reading

A Miri Couture Bride for an Ultra-Moving Jewish Wedding Bringing Light to Dark Times at Gioia Mia, Kibbutz Nachshonim, Israel

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Amidst the sorrow, anger, and heartbreak, we will never stop celebrating Jewish continuity because that is exactly what we are fighting for. Today’s real wedding is all about bringing Jewish joy into a dark time – something we could all use more than ever this week. 

Israeli couple Dalya, a data analyst, and Zach, a student and sales advisor, were originally scheduled to make things official on October 22, 2023. After October 7, they knew they had to postpone – but when their new Jewish wedding date rolled around in January, they were more focused than ever on bringing the light.

Dalya and Zach’s wedding was an emotional reunion with loved ones from abroad and friends serving in the army who got the night off to join their celebration. A highlight of the chuppah was a special prayer for the protection of the state of Israel and IDF soldiers – including Zach’s beloved brother.

Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Herschel Gutman photographed the day and captured every moment of joy so perfectly. In Dalya’s words, “Herschel delivered on all fronts, capturing candid, dramatic, fun, and natural shots. He was also fantastic at improvising. On the day of our wedding, it was pouring rain, and he creatively used umbrellas to give us some of our favorite shots. He made sure the photos looked stunning despite the weather, capturing the moment and the beauty of the hall perfectly.”

This was such an incredibly special and meaningful day – in the bride’s own words,  “Being able to have a wedding during some dark times in Israel was the greatest way to show our enemies that we will always win and overcome anything they want to challenge us with.” Now over to Dalya…

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How We Met

Dalya, the bride: I moved to Herzliya, Israel on October 22, 2022. During my first weeks in Herzliya, Zach would come up and make small talk. When Chanukah arrived, Zach and his roommates hosted a community event. My roommate messaged me, asking if I was coming. I decided to join my friends at the event. There, Zach approached me, we started talking, and the rest is history. About a week into dating, Zach told me he would marry me, and little did I know that a month into our relationship, we would already be meeting each other’s parents.Continue ReadingContinue Reading

A Berta Bride for a Desert-themed Sunset Jewish Wedding at Al-Hayam, Caesarea, Israel

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Have we got a spectacular Jewish wedding to share with you today! Ella, who works in real estate investment, and Curtis, a senior recruiter, live in the UK, but they always knew they wanted to get married in Israel – and they found the perfect spot in stunning seaside venue  Al-Hayam in Caesarea.

This wedding is just so full of phenomenal energy, and the couple’s photographer, Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Ronen Boidek, captured every single moment so perfectly. In Ella’s words, “We absolutely love his style of photos and I have been part of weddings who have used him before. He is so professional and made everything stress free – he even knew the correct way to tie my dress after we forgot the instructions!”

We can’t turn you over to Ella without raving about how absolutely exquisite she looked in her dress from beloved Israeli designer Berta! Read on for more in the bride’s own words…

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How We Met

Ella, the bride: Curtis and I met in first year of University at the University of Birmingham. I am from Liverpool and Curtis is from Glasgow.Continue ReadingContinue Reading

A Luminary Bride for a Multicultural Irish-Israeli Jewish Wedding in Chaldika, Greece

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We love a multicultural Jewish wedding, and today’s is really something special. Bride Or is Israeli, while groom Paul is Irish – so they decided to split the difference by making things official in Greece!

The pair turned to Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Sirtaki Events to help them craft the perfect wedding weekend, combining both their traditions plus the vibrant local culture of Greece. Anat and Yonathan of Sirtaki helped Or and Paul find their dream venue, an intimate hotel by the sea with beautiful grounds and an epic pool that the couple secured for exclusive use through the weekend.

In Or’s words,

Working with Anat and Yonathan from Sirtaki Events was incredible. They immediately understood our vision and the vibe we wanted for our wedding, which significantly simplified the process. Their suggestions perfectly aligned with our tastes, even introducing us to ideas we hadn’t considered.

Anat and Yonathan introduced Or and Paul to their photographer, George from Papacharalampous Photography, and they absolutely adore the way he captured the love, joy, and fun of the day.

There’s so much more to say about this very special day – like, how gorgeous did Or look in her dress from Israeli designer Luminary Studio by Lihi Shamrich Cohen? – but we’ll turn you over to the bride for the rest…

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How We Met

Or, the bride: Paul is Irish and I am Israeli, we met in 2012 while traveling in Thailand! We ended up spending 2 weeks together there exploring the country and another year doing long distance, but at that point we decided to end the relationship as long distance was too difficult. Many years later, we serendipitously met again in Amsterdam.

I was visiting with a friend and Paul was on a work trip in the Ukraine, he wasn’t meant to be in Amsterdam at the time but he got stuck there because of a big storm in Ireland where they had closed Dublin airport. We got reunited and the rest is history.Continue ReadingContinue Reading

A Laid-Back, Rustic Same-Sex Jewish Wedding at Allenby Farms, Nezer Sereni, Israel

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There’s nothing like an Israeli wedding, and we’re absolutely in love with the same-sex nuptials of Nina, a customer success manager at a medical education company, and Tali, who is protocol manager at the British Embassy.

The couple wanted something simple and rustic, with the focus kept squarely on celebrating their love surrounded by their nearest and dearest.

We love that Nina and Tali hung up photos of themselves throughout their relationship at their venue, Allenby Farms, so that guests could get a glimpse of their life together.

When it came time for their wedding photos, the pair chose Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Herschel Gutman. In Nina’s words, Herschel 

was absolutely amazing. He really listened to our needs and didn’t overwhelm us. He was super professional, was a great communicator and was just overall lovely to work with.

Read on for the rest of the story in Nina’s own words…

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How We Met

Nina, the bride: We both swiped right on Tinder AND OKCupid.Continue ReadingContinue Reading