Jossef Si photography Archives - Smashing the Glass

A Mordehai Avraham Bride for a Last-Minute Jewish Wedding at Ohel Moed, Tel Aviv, Israel

28/06/2021 by Karen Cinnamon

In the COVID era, lots of weddings come together at the last minute. But Israeli couple Tal, a textile designer at Terminal X, and Eldar, a marketing manager at Ikea, didn’t set their date until just a week before their Jewish wedding! It was a must for the couple to plan their celebration around Tal’s sister’s visit from abroad – so when she finally made it to Israel, they made it happen, FAST.

Not that you’d be able to tell – the venue, Ohel Moed TLV Synagogue, was so spectacular it didn’t need much added in the way of décor, and the photos by Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Jossef Si Photography are pure magic, full of emotion and love.

This being a pandemic wedding, Tal and Eldar were only allowed 40 in-person guests. But they worked with videographer Itay Bar Weddings to broadcast the proceedings live on YouTube for their friends and family around the world, so they could experience it all in real time.

We’ll let Tal, who looked perfectly boho chic in Mordehai Avraham, fill you in on the rest…

How we Met

Tal, the bride: We met two years ago when working together at IKEA.Continue Reading

A Liron Partouche Bride for a Jewish Pandemic Wedding Inspired by China at Yama, Herzliya, Israel

19/04/2021 by Karen Cinnamon

Israeli couple Michal and Sam, both of whom work for hi-tech start-up companies, first met in Chinese class at university. They got engaged at the end of a year spent living and studying the language together in Shanghai. So it was only natural that when it came to planning their Jewish wedding, they turned to their shared love of the language as inspiration for their Jewish wedding – along with the best of their home country, of course!

The pair made table numbers out of Chinese characters they wrote themselves and used the character 囍 (which symbolizes wedding in Chinese, meaning double happiness) on each napkin and on the wedding invitations. They even had the Chinese character for love embroidered on their chuppah canopy!

Michal and Sam dreamed of getting married by the sea at sunset – what better way to showcase Israel’s natural splendor? – and though COVID forced them to postpone twice (and change venues), in the end they were still able to have the wedding of their dreams at a gorgeous seaside venue in Herzliya (albeit with fewer guests than originally planned, and further-flung loved ones tuning in via livestream).

As always, we’re absolutely in love with the luminous photography by Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Jossef Si – an incredible talent Michal had had her eye on since before getting engaged.

Now over to the bride for all the details…

How we Met

Michal, the bride: We met in my first Chinese class of my first year at university. It was so coincidental because it’s not Sam’s major (he was taking the class as an enrichment class) and I switched my major to Chinese at the last minute. We became friends and after a year of friendship we began to date.Continue Reading

A Last-Minute Jewish Micro Wedding in the Forest, Eshta’ol, Israel

08/03/2021 by Karen Cinnamon

Today’s gorgeous Jewish wedding took place right at the start of the pandemic last year (hard to believe it’s been a year, right?), when we were just starting to hear about micro wedding and minimonies. But Mayan, a student in dance and movement therapy, and Mola, an animation student, pulled off their intimate celebration so expertly you’d never guess they were COVID wedding pioneers.

The Israeli couple had initially planned a big wedding in Jerusalem for May 2020, but as the situation started getting more serious they realized their Plan A was unlikely to work. Instead of waiting it out, Mayan and Mola decided to bump their wedding up, so they could make things official before Israel’s first lockdown began.

With just a few days’ notice, the pair planned a whole new wedding for an intimate crowd of 18, set outdoors in a beautiful forest near Jerusalem. Since their surroundings were so naturally gorgeous, they didn’t need to do much – the groom set up a little décor the morning of, and the couple opted for a simple chuppah with white cloth atop wooden poles, held by Mola’s brothers and cousin. Luckily, the couple’s amazing photographer, Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Jossef Si, was able to make it – and we are absolutely in love with his dreamy photos of the day.

Being such a last-minute affair, there were a few challenges along the way – the groom’s suit wasn’t ready in time, and the bride’s got an amazing only-in-Israel story about how she sourced her wedding shoes on short notice when most shops had already closed due to COVID. But in the end, Mayan and Mola say they wouldn’t have had their wedding any other way. In the bride’s words, “I am glad that our wedding ended up being very simple and modest. Sometimes the stress of planning a large event takes out the fun and excitement of just getting married!”

We’ll let her take it from here…

How We Met

Mayan, the bride: We were introduced to each other through a mutual friend who Mola met travelling in India and I met in a group with which I studied in “Nefesh Yehudi” in the campus of the Hebrew University. Gali and Adi who were in my group thought of the ‘Shiduch’ together, and that’s how we started dating.Continue Reading

An Asaf Dadush Bride for an Ultra-Personal Summer Jewish Wedding at Luca, Israel

20/11/2020 by Karen Cinnamon

Can’t you just feel the love seeping out of Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Jossef Si’s photos of bride Stav, an M.Sc student in biomedical engineering, and groom Ran, a CPA?

This beautiful Israeli Jewish wedding was SO full of emotion, and we are here for it! We love that Stav and Ran read letters they’d written to each other aloud during their ceremony – and how sweet is it that the couple’s families and friends wrote new lyrics to a favorite song all about the pair’s relationship, along with a cute video?! Possibly even more adorable, Stav’s father wrote new lyrics to‘What a Wonderful World,’a song they’d often danced to together when Stav was little, and which turned into the soundtrack to their father-daughter dance – awwwww!

Back to those incredible photos by mega-talentedSmashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Jossef Si – it’s worth saying again that we just can’t get over how dreamy these pics are. And we’re not at all surprised to hear that on the day, Jossef was a calming presence who made the camera-shy couple feel totally comfortable.

Now over to Stav, who looked ravishing in her Asaf Dadush gown…

How we Met

Stav, the bride: We have been dating for the past 5 years, but we know each other from before. It all started ten years ago, in 2010. Ran had just resigned the army and I was a senior in high-school, we met at the beach in Eilat city, where we both went on vacation with friends. Ran played the guitar and sang funny songs with his friends, and we all bonded. Since then, I had my eye on him, and tried to start a little conversation afterwards on Facebook but it didn’t go well.

A year after I decided to do the SAT test before joining the army, and Ran took the same course at the very same time. We met again, started learning together, had a very good time (very platonic I must say) and when I joined the army the connection faded. 5 year later when I came back from my after-army trip around the world and Ran was a CPA student, he sent me a message, we went out and from that point on it’s all history.Continue Reading

A Limor Rosen Bride for a Festival Chic Jewish Wedding at The Q, Glil Yam, Israel

03/02/2020 by Karen Cinnamon

When a bride who’s a design talent in her own right joins forces with a fantastic wedding planner to create an ultra-personalized destination wedding at one of Israel’s most gorgeous venues… well, you know you’re in for something special.

Designer bride Amy and groom Richard, who works in technology finance (#AmyGetsRich), opted to theme their big day around their shared love of music and festivals, and while festival-inspired weddings are by no means uncommon, these two really took theirs to the next level. They combined the basics – candles, gentle lighting, greenery – with some unexpected touches – Amy designed festival wristbands for guests, as well as making over 200 personalised mini dream catchers to use as the table plan/seating cards! And in true boho chic style, the couple’s chuppah was styled like a tent with lace dream-catchers hanging at the back.

That’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to all the lovely details incorporated into this Jewish wedding, and the couple’s photographer, Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Jossef Si, captured each and every one of them – not to mention the love between Amy and Richard and the action-packed party following their beautiful ceremony – in his trademark artistic style. As always, we’re obsessed with his stunning work. And videographer Guy Siman Tov’s trailer makes us feel as if we were right there experiencing it all alongside the guests.

Amy and Richard knew it wouldn’t be easy implementing their creative ideas all the way from their home in England, and so they decided to work with beloved wedding planner and Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Vicki Rosen (described by Amy as “the most organised lady you will ever meet”) to make sure everything went to plan, as well as to source the perfect vendors to make the day a success.

Now over to the bride, who looked stunning in her gown by Israeli designer Limor Rosen…

How We Met

Amy, the bride: Our lives have been intertwined for many years – unbeknownst to either of us we went to Leeds University and graduated on the same day. We even stayed in the same halls of residence in first year. It’s extremely likely we had been in each other’s flat at some point.

However, our paths didn’t quite cross. In our mid 20s we both lived opposite each other in West Hampstead without realising it. But most bizarrely, about four years ago Richard made an offer for a small flat in Kilburn. It turned out someone else had already been successful and had trumped him. Guess who that was? We were in each others lives all along, the world was just waiting for the right time.