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An Awesome Gay Jewish Wedding at Cultura, Tel Aviv, Israel

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Gay Jewish Wedding Israel

For those who aren’t aware, Tel Aviv is renowned for its thriving gay scene, with a wide selection of fantastic bars and club, and it’s against this backdrop that Aaron and Lotan met through a dating app (apt, for two software engineers) and fell in love.

Their beautiful same-sex Jewish Masorti wedding took place at a garden venue in the heart of Tel Aviv, with the pair planning every last detail themselves. 

We love that Aaron and Lotan designed their invitation together, with motifs that reflected their shared life and interests, and the theme ran throughout their entire stationery suite. They made everything themselves, even pulling together their own centerpieces for the guests to take home. 

We also adore the story of the kiddush cup used in the ceremony, but particularly the (coincidentally) rainbow tallit, which was just perfect and carried so much personal meaning. 

All of the divine images and film below were captured by Gilad Mashiah, and Gili & Lily Films, and the writeup was provided by both grooms! We hope you love this gorgeous pair’s W Day as much as we did! 

Gay Jewish Wedding IsraelGay Jewish Wedding Israel

Gay Jewish Wedding Israel

Gay Jewish Wedding Israel
How we met

Aaron and Lotan, the grooms: Aaron moved to Israel six years ago from Cincinnati, Ohio where he was born and raised, while Lotan is native Israeli from Barkan.

We met three and a half years ago, on a dating app, where we chatted for about three months before actually meeting each other in person.

Finally, we we decided to go on a proper first date at a bar, and the rest is history.

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Sarah & Anne | Super stylish Same Sex Jewish Wedding at Hart House, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada

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I couldn’t name this blog anything but smashing the glass. It is THE moment of a Jewish wedding and images like the one above just make me so happy. Two beautiful women, crazy in love, performing this hugely symbolic tradition under a gorgeous chuppah. I’m telling you, one of the best things about this job is definitely how uplifting it is to look at images like these.

And like all the real Jewish weddings on Smashing The Glass, this W-Day is completely refreshing. Both brides chose to forgo the traditional wedding dress style in favour of a two super sleek and contemporary creations by Carolina Herrera and Judith and Charles respectively, accessorised in Anne’s case by the most delicate headpiece.

And that’s not the only thing that has me swooning. There are gorgeous dainty florals and rustic table runners by GLP Events that not only look delightful (Anne wanted a simple arrangement of flowers that reminded her of the fields in the small French village where she grew up), they’re cost-effective too.

And the guests…well if the photos at the end of the night are anything to go by, then it’s clear that everyone had a darned good time!

Back with a bang for his 3rd feature on STG, Niv Shimshon has captured the mood perfectly with these terrific shots. Prepare to swoon.

Lesbian Wedding at Hart House, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada
how we met

Sarah and Anne, the Brides: We met one cold winter’s evening in Montreal and have been together nearly every day since. On the night we met, Anne was sick with a nasty flu. Sarah, a germophobe, knew it was love at first sight because she didn’t want the date to end despite Anne’s coughing, sneezing, and significantly high fever. Anne is calm, cool and collected, and Sarah is witty, funny, and shows pictures of her dog to strangers every time she has a chance.

Lesbian Wedding at Hart House, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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Rachel & Nikki | Jewish lesbian wedding with a nature-inspired theme, at Temple Emanuel in Kensington, Maryland, USA

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Jewish-lesbian-wedding
Rachel and Nikki put together a Jewish wedding full of warmth and love with a very personal vibe. Their day was all about sharing, loving and being together, and they designed their entire ceremony so that every part of it was intentional and meaningful.  It was based on a traditional Jewish wedding ceremony, with adaptations for their progressive values and the fact that they were two women.

One element I particularly love is that their processional to the chuppah was led by Nikki’s and Rachel’s 97-year-old and 87-year-old (respectively) grandmothers walking hand in hand down the aisle. Apparently there wasn’t a dry eye in the room from that moment on.

Sustainability was also central theme of their big day. For the centrepieces they chose bamboo, orchids, bonsai trees and succulents planted in driftwood. Guests were able to take these home with them and Nikki and Rachel said how wonderful it has since been to visit family and friends after the wedding and see the plants in people’s homes.

Rachel and Nikki are here to tell you more about their special day, along with images from Michael Temchine.

Temple Emanuel wedding
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Yana & Archita | Jewish-Hindu-Indian-Russian multicultural lesbian wedding at Trust, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

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Jewish-Hindu-Wedding
Now this wedding is not just special, stylish or merely a good day out – it’s a totally spectacular cocktail of uber-chic modernism, elegant traditionalism, multi-cultural funkiness and fun, all blended and shaken to perfection.

For any of you who are wondering how to mix two completely different backgrounds into one smooth and stylish day — get ready for some serious pinning action.

Yana and Archita seamlessly melded their loves, tastes and cultures together to create a unique day at Trust — a neoclassical styled art and event space gallery in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

An art event in itself, our two gorgeous brides amalgamated a colourful and awesome blend of Russian, Jewish, Hindu and Indian traditions against the ridiculously gorgeous, all white, architectural splendour of a soaring 10,000 square foot, turn of the century building.  Simple.  Ahem.

What could have been contrived or clunky – trying to shoe horn different traditions and styles together — is instead thoughtful and elegant.

But the simplicity really lies in their motivation — to unite two families into one, representing both cultures.  Even more, what underlined and defined the wedding was FUN. They wanted a huge, huge party and they got it, right down to the last few bars of Bohemian Rhapsody.

I’m still grinning from ear to ear at the image of the couple being raised high on chairs by friends and family, old and young — all partying together with the help of some homemade “traditional” vodka — to the Black Eyed Peas’ I Got a Feeling!

Even their choice of traditional wedding dresses had a twist… Archita wore a sari, whilst Yana wore a white wedding gown but with a sash around her waist made from the same material as Archita’s sari — a beautiful and subtle symbol to truly demonstrate the bond between the two.

All of the fantastic photography is by Michael and Melissa at M2 Photography. Now over to our beautiful brides…

Jewish-Indian-Lesbian-Wedding
How we met

Yana & Archita, the Brides: We met in undergrad at Penn at the largest party of the year called “Spring Fling”. To this day we debate about who made the first move. Chita’s friends were having a small party in a dorm room, and Yana crashed it. It was only three weeks before summer break began, so this was supposed to be just a fling… but we fell in love before the summer.

Jewish-Indian-Lesbian-Wedding
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Danny & Aaron | Extraordinary Gay Jewish Wedding, with the Couple Arriving on a Unicorn, at Paramount Studios, Hollywood, Los Angeles, USA

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Gay-Jewish-Wedding
OK guys, we are starting the week at TRULY EPIC on the wedding spectrum. Are you ready for what I have in store for you?

The truth is, I actually don’t know where to start with all the love that I have for Danny and Aaron’s immense Jewish wedding. And by the time you lot are through you won’t know what to do with yourselves either.

To begin with these two rode down the aisle to their chuppah atop a tallit-wearing horse dressed as a unicorn (or Jew-nicorn, as they dubbed it!) to the tune of Madonna’s Like a Virgin. What’s more Joss Stone (yes, the Joss Stone) undertook the role of cantor, singing Circle of Life as Danny and Aaron circled each other under the chuppah, and a 16 person gospel choir was on hand for a few of the ceremony songs as well.

When I asked Danny and Aaron what advice they’d give to brides and grooms currently planning their Jewish wedding, they told me, “be unique to your personalities. You can create new Jewish traditions by adding a personal flare to more traditional Jewish rituals, making your wedding unique to you as individuals and as a couple”, and boy did they live up to their own advice!

Danny and Aaron certainly know how to throw a phenomenal party. And throw a party they did. At their reception, John Legend, Ciara, Joss Stone, and Korean rapper, Psy (aka Mr. Gangnam Style!) performed live  keeping guests entertained till well into the small hours. But as much as there was world-class entertainment and flamboyant gestures, Danny and Aaron’s W Day was absolutely all about sharing, loving and being together. An ethos that the pair stood from the very start as they decided not to uphold the traditions of being apart until the ceremony, instead opting to get ready together — sharing every single moment of their wedding day.

Thank you to Danny, Aaron and Maya Myers Photography for letting me give you the most incredible start to your Smashing The Glass week!

Gay Jewish Wedding at Paramount Studios, Hollywood, Los Angeles
Choosing Paramount Studios in Hollywood as our wedding venue

Danny and Aaron, the Grooms: We both work in the music and television industries. We wanted to have our guests experience a Hollywood studio and wanted to create a grand overlaying look of our wedding and so Paramount Studios was a perfect fit for us. We wanted to design the whole room.

Gay Jewish Wedding at Paramount Studios, Hollywood, Los Angeles
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