KBY Designs Archives - Smashing the Glass

A Vine-themed Gay Jewish Wedding with a Grapevine Chuppah at Chalk Hill Estate, Healdsburg, California, USA

18/05/2018 by Karen Cinnamon

Today’s wedding makes us want to book a one-way ticket to California, stat. Would you just look at that light? Those rolling hills? And the grapevine chuppah?!

Yes, Adam, a real estate developer, and Lowell, who owns and operates a group dental practice, had a grapevine chuppah. The dapper duo married at Chalk Hill Estate, a winery in Sonoma County – just north of their San Francisco home – and their forest floor-themed wedding was basically an ode to the stunning venue.

The couple mixed traditional wedding flowers in favor of vines, branches, and forest foliage, and nowhere did they put this policy into better use than in choosing to have their chuppah constructed from vines and grapes from Chalk Hill’s vineyards. I just can’t get over how cool it looks – you’ve got to check out the close-ups. And if you were too nervous to eat pre-ceremony and found yourself feeling a little peckish, chuppah grapes to the rescue! Bonus?!

Photographer Belathée and videographer Dareen Baca of Reel Eyes Media captured everything about this day so beautifully, from that wonderful golden autumnal sunlight to the love between the couple.

On a poignant note, the devastating 2017 Northern California wildfires started on the night of Adam and Lowell’s wedding, and several towns surrounding their beautiful venue were destroyed in the course of the disaster. As the couple put it, “Like smashing the glass, this was a reminder that even at our happiest moments, there is struggle and hardship all around us.”

With that, we’ll turn you over to Adam and Lowell…

A Winery Venue

Adam and Lowell, the grooms: We were married at Chalk Hill Estate, a winery in Sonoma County. We’d always envisioned a fall wedding in Napa or Sonoma for a number of reasons – the food, the colors, the serenity, and because, for us, it’s a local “destination.” We toured many venues in Napa and Sonoma and were drawn to Chalk Hill because its vast landscapes had a rugged elegance that felt right for us.

A Lee Petra Grebenau Bride for a Super Luxe Jewish Wedding with a Performance by THE Gipsy Kings at David Citadel Hotel, Jerusalem, Israel

26/02/2018 by Karen

Today’s super luxe Jewish wedding contained plenty of surprises, from the astounding floral arrangements throughout the reception to the insanely gorgeous chuppah, the violinists during cocktail hour to Moshe Peretz and the ACTUAL Gipsy Kings playing the reception!

The couple chose to have a religious ceremony, conducted by none other than the Chief Rabbi of Israel, in Jerusalem, originally home to bride Natalie. Careful nods to their faith were included throughout the celebration, honoring the history and atmosphere of the incredible surroundings.

Beautiful bride Natalie looked a million bucks in her TWO(!) divine, sexy and gorgeous Lee Petra Grebenau gowns, with a see-through leg and gorgeous illusion embellishments. We. Are. In. Love!

Wedding planner and florist, Kby Design, created an incredible aesthetic, as you can see from the beautiful spread of images below from none other than our fabulous Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor, the one and only Ran Bergman.

This is the kind of divine big day that can only really be described through the medium of pictures, so we’ll now pass you over to Ran and to Natalie for the full story.

How we met

Natalie, the bride: We met on Rosh Hashana three years ago at a mutual friend’s house.

A Pnina Tornai Bride for a Family-Oriented Jewish Wedding with a Stunning Chuppah at Al Hayam, Caesarea, Israel

26/01/2018 by Karen

Brothers Alexander and Jason chose to have their weddings back to back in Israel, so it was only fitting that we should feature their weddings back to back on Smashing The Glass! Jason and Nicole’s big day went live on Wednesday – and Melissa and Alexander’s is featured right now – today!

The decision was made to have the two Jewish weddings in quick succession as the brothers shared many guests and wanted to ensure that they didn’t have to fly to Israel twice. We love that the two brothers shared in each other’s joy in that way – for Jason and Alexander, it really as all about family.

As well as sharing guests, the pair shared an incredible photographer and DJ, but we’ll get to that….

We love the whole aesthetic of this stunning Israeli big day. From the couple’s fashion-forward and elegant outfit choices (that Pnina Tornai dress, though – serious wedding dress envy) to the magnificent floral chuppah, put together by the genius KBY Designs.

We also think the children’s choir is such a moving, and seriously adorable idea – so original and cute!

Melissa and Alexander’s impeccable taste extended, of course, to their choice of photographer Ran Bergman, who we absolutely adore, for reasons which will become obvious as you scroll through his divine set of pictures. We love this wedding!

An Israeli destination venue

Melissa and Alexander were married at Al Hayam in Caesarea.

A Magical and Romantic Destination Jewish Wedding at Bait Al Hayam, Tel Aviv, Israel

24/01/2018 by Karen

What would you do if, at the last minute, your ceremony venue fell through? That’s the scenario that Nicole and Jason found themselves facing. But instead of giving up, the resilient pair recreated their original choice, bringing the amphitheatre they had originally wanted to them. This resourcefulness in the face of a challenge truly shows how ready they are for anything life might throw at them.

It also shows that they had an absolute genius of a planner to bring the whole production together – KBY Designs. Honestly, we are in awe.

New York couple, Nicole and Jason chose to have their Jewish wedding day in Israel, just days away from the groom’s brother’s wedding (Melissa and Alexander’s amazing wedding will be published here on Friday!). Having the two weddings back to back meant that overlapping guests could extend their stay and save on time and money travelling back and forward. What a wonderful idea and such happy time for the family!

The two couples even shared a DJ and a photographer – and given that their photographer was none other than incredible Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor, the one and only Ran Bergman. His incredible spread of images really captures the magic of the day.

There’s so much to love about this extraordinarily moving wedding – we especially adore the way that Nicole describes the ceremony. It sounded absolutely spine-chilling, and everything you would want a ceremony to be.

Bride Nicole chose a stunning Amsale gown, with features reminiscent of Kate Middleton’s iconic gown. She is also a freelance writer in her spare time, which is evident in her fabulous writeup below, so without further ado, please welcome Nicole to fill you in on her and Jason’s wedding planning story.

How we met

Nicole, the bride: We met through a mutual friend (the groom’s stepbrother) in Miami, but a lot of people, specifically the stepfather, like to argue on who gets credit for the match.

Both born and bred in New York, Jason is from Manhattan and I grew up in Great Neck, Long Island. After Jason’s internship ended in Shanghai, he moved to Miami to continue his hospitality career while I went to pursue my Master’s degree at the University of Miami for Print Journalism.

We officially met in 2011 and started out as friends (and…co-workers, scandalous!). After a wild night in South Beach (June 25, 2012), we admitted our chemistry was undeniable. I paid a toll by sealing the night with a kiss – an inside joke for us and now, the family – the rest was history.

After a long, romantic night filled with teasing and guessing, Jason popped the question in our Miami Beach home on December 18, 2015. A week after, we celebrated our engagement on holiday in San Francisco.

After five years together, we got married in Tel Aviv on June 29, 2017 (just four days away from our dating anniversary).

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A Meital Zano Bride for a Galilee Summer Camp-Themed Jewish Wedding at Ramot Resort, Israel

04/10/2017 by Karen

We ADORE a laid-back Israeli wedding, particularly when the couple in question consists of two wedding planners and a wedding-planning sibling, combining the cool Israeli attitude with a gorgeous wedding aesthetic!

Arielle and Alon – a fashion-forward couple for sure – looked incredible, from handsome groom Alon’s unique suit to beautiful bride Arielle’s Meital Zano Bridal boho-style lace dress, surrounded by bridesmaids in mismatched florals. We say it a lot on Smashing The Glass, but there’s nothing quite like an Israeli dress designer!

Arielle and Alon did things their way, incorporating their own ideas to create a bespoke Jewish ceremony they felt represented who they are as a couple.

Fabulous photographer Idan Canfi captured the sensational spread of pictures you see below you, and Arielle wrote up all of the details below. We’ll leave you in their capable hands now. Enjoy!

A Galilee venue

Arielle, the bride: We got married in Ramot at a beautiful hotel overlooking the Sea of Galilee, Ramot Nofesh Hotel. We searched far and wide for a location that embodied the summer camp feel that we wanted to emulate, and a place that we could host the majority of our guests for the night.

We purposely chose a location that was a bit far from Tel Aviv, which is where we and our guests mostly live, to basically force our guests to spend the night, creating the destination wedding vibe we wanted.