Mamilla Hotel wedding venue Archives - Smashing the Glass

This Jewish wedding is just SO wonderfully chic. It also happens to be 100% vegan. Sara and Ronen, animal lovers and ethical vegans, planned the whole affair with zero animal products in sight. Everything from the menu to the attire was plant-based through and through.

That’s no easy feat — especially when it comes to finding a fab gown with no silk. But Sara pulled it off and then some. We absolutely adore her sexy, ultra-feminine dress from Berta Bridal (the eponymous designer of which just so happens to be Israeli!). Ronen looks pretty snazzy in his wool-free suit, himself.

Despite the marked absence of meat from the festive meal, venue Mamilla Hotel’s plant-based food service got rave reviews from nearly all the guests — many told the couple afterward it was the best wedding food they’d ever had!

We love that Sara and Ronen weren’t afraid to stay true to themselves and their values on their big day — and love even more that it paid off!

The other awesome thing about this wedding? The view. The rooftop of the stunning Mamilla Hotel, where the couple held their breathtaking ceremony, just happens to overlook Jerusalem’s fabled Old City, and the skyline is just BEYOND.

It doesn’t get much better than this — and the setting was extra meaningful to the couple, since Ronen grew up in Jerusalem. You’ve GOT to check out Ori Carmi‘s dazzling photos and Idan Hershko’s outstanding video of the day.

Now over to Sara…

A Jerusalem Wedding

Sara, the bride: My husband, Ronen, and I got engaged in Tel Aviv, Israel, in May of 2017, but his original plan was to propose at the rooftop restaurant of the Mamilla Hotel in Jerusalem. That plan was foiled by the US president’s visit, and we all had to leave Jerusalem. But once we were engaged, we decided to be married there.

Ronen grew up in Jerusalem and felt it was like coming full circle to be born and then married with the Old City as the backdrop. I had only been to the venue once, in the winter when the roof was enclosed. I did all the planning off of a few photos and a FaceTime walk-through with my boss, who was visiting the winter before our date.

We have goosebumps – and after immersing yourself in today’s absolutely beautiful Jewish destination wedding in Israel, we’re pretty sure you all will too. It’s GORGEOUS!

Iliya and Gavin chose to forego a wedding in their native Sydney in favor of a spine-tingling service in Jerusalem. With a chuppah overlooking the Old City, the couple expressed their mutual love of the country and how much it meant to both of them.

We adore the spirit of this wedding as much as the gorgeous Jerusalem-inspired aesthetic – from the Western Wall wish jar (what a moving idea) to the dancing Nachmanim – everything about it felt just perfect.

Both successful lawyers, the pair flew many of their 110 guests to Israel to help celebrate their wedding, which was produced by none other than our much-loved Recommended Vendor, planners extraordinaire BE Group TLV who are also offering an amazing gift to all our VIB Members Club Brides (VIB is AMAZING – join here if you haven’t already!)

Iliya and Gavin wholeheartedly agreed that planning the wedding from such a distance would not have been possible without them.

Gorgeous bride, Iliya,

Iliya and Gavin are clearly both stunning souls, inside and out, and their devotion to each other is so clear in the breathtaking spread of photographs by Ronen Boidek and the moving, cinematic video by Nir Tenenbaum. Those speeches! We may be just a little bit second-hand in love.

And now, without further ado, we’ll hand you over to Iliya for the story in her own words – enjoy! (And by the way, didn’t she just rock the boho-chic look in her Rhonda Hemmingway gown? A-list-level stuff! )

How we met

Iliya, the bride: Gav and I attended the same Jewish day school in Sydney – but Gav was five years above me in school and we only met years after graduating. We met through mutual friends in 2013.