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A WTOO by Watters Bride for a Star Wars-Themed Jewish Wedding at Sterling Hills Golf Club in Camarillo, California, USA

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Adina & Adam, Sterling Hills Golf Club, Camarillo, CA, USA

We love it when couples add fun personal touches to their Jewish weddings – so naturally we got curious when we heard that Adina and Adam incorporated their shared love of Star Wars into their big day. While keeping the overall vibe classically elegant, the pair worked in fun, small touches: themed signature cocktails; Adam’s cufflinks and tie clip were shaped like the Millennium Falcon; the DJ even played some Star Wars music during cocktail hour!

And the couple’s gorgeous ketubah by Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor The Delicate Brush is so out-of-this-world beautiful, it looks like it came from a galaxy far, far away. Adina and Adam chose artist Rachelle’s Midnight Lagoon design, and they love having a ketubah that’s also a beautiful piece of artwork.

Even Adina’s wedding dress shopping experience kept the sci fi magic going: she found her uber-elegant WTOO by Watters at Lorien Bridal Boutique, a boutique catering to nerdy brides who want to live out their Disney princess/Harry Potter/Star Wars dreams – how fun is that?

You can tell from Jenina Simplicio Photography’s beautiful, natural photos that this day was truly filled with joy at every moment – we’ll turn you over to Adina for all the details…

Adina & Adam, Sterling Hills Golf Club, Camarillo, CA, USAAdina & Adam, Sterling Hills Golf Club, Camarillo, CA, USAAdina & Adam, Sterling Hills Golf Club, Camarillo, CA, USAAdina & Adam, Sterling Hills Golf Club, Camarillo, CA, USA
How we Met

Adina, the bride: While the story of how we met isn’t that unusual for the 21st century, the fact that we didn’t meet until 2017 is! Both of us attended the same Jewish elementary school in Los Angeles, just two grades apart. Adam carpooled with my best friend Melissa to school for 6 years! Then in college, I met Adam’s sister Romy at a mutual friend’s birthday party and stayed friendly for years. When we came across each other’s profiles on J-Swipe on New Year’s Eve 2016 and saw we had mutual friends, I reached out to Melissa and Adam reached out to Romy to see if we should go on a date. 11 days later, we met up at a local bar and the rest is history!Continue ReadingContinue Reading

A Berta Bride for a Timelessly Glam Jewish Wedding with a Cannabis Bar at Chicago Illuminating Company, Chicago, Illinois, USA

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Alana & Benjamin, Chicago Illuminating Company, Chicago, USA

We are absolutely, positively in love with Alana and Benjamin’s jawdroppingly gorgeous Chicago Jewish wedding. Swathed in greenery and twinkly lights, the ambience these two created for their day was nothing short of magical (don’t miss the stunning photos by Avery House!) – and we love that they added in some unexpected personal touches, like a cannabis bar!

Perfectly matching their color scheme focused on neutrals, white, and gold was the couple’s fabulous ketubah from beloved Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor The Ketubist. Featuring papercut gold peonies on a white background, the design is SO chic – and Alana and Benjamin loved working with founder Talia.

This wedding was full of so many more wonderful touches, but we’ll leave the rest to Alana, who looked nothing short of ravishing in her exquisite gown from Israeli designer Berta…

Alana & Benjamin, Chicago Illuminating Company, Chicago, USAAlana & Benjamin, Chicago Illuminating Company, Chicago, USAAlana & Benjamin, Chicago Illuminating Company, Chicago, USAAlana & Benjamin, Chicago Illuminating Company, Chicago, USA
How we Met

Alana, the bride: Formally, we met on the Jewish dating app J-Swipe. However, Benjamin’s friend from Jewish summer camp happened to have been my college roommate and eventually became our Rabbi. He played a significant role in our courtship after we met. We are both psychotherapists.Continue ReadingContinue Reading

A Ran Zuriel Bride for an International Indoor/Outdoor Jewish Wedding at Gioia Mia, Kibbutz Nahshonim, Israel

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Michelle & Darren, Gioia Mia, Israel

There’s nothing like an international Jewish wedding – so naturally we’re obsessed with today’s! Bride Michelle, who works in HR, hails from Argentina, and Darren, who works at a private security and intelligence firm, is from the UK. They met after both had moved to Israel, and now live in Tel Aviv.

And in planning their day, they strove to mix all three cultures in everything they did, from the speeches (each was delivered in English, Spanish, and Hebrew!) to the food to the music. When it came to the latter, the duo found the perfect partner in Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor DJ Naor, who read the crowd perfectly and kept the dance floor full with his mix of Israeli tracks, traditional Jewish music, British classics, Latino, Funk and House, and bangers!

We’ve also got to mention what an absolutely stunning venue Michelle and Darren picked. They loved Gioia Mia, in central Israel, for its space, energy, and indoor/outdoor mix – not to mention the gorgeous outdoor chuppah area. Don’t miss the fabulous pics from photographer Boris of Flea Studio.

There’s so much more to say – like how the couple’s wedding date fell not even a week after Israel opened up to international travelers in November 2021 – but we’ll leave all that to the couple…

Michelle & Darren, Gioia Mia, IsraelMichelle & Darren, Gioia Mia, Israel
How we Met

We met on a dating app called OkCupid – Darren looked for a woman in the Kfar Saba area who speaks Hebrew, Spanish, and English and Michelle appeared like mannah from heaven!Continue ReadingContinue Reading

A Reem Acra Bride for a Sophisticated Garden Interfaith Jewish Wedding at Annadel Estate Winery, California, USA

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Alexandra & Alec, Annadel Estate Winery, California, USA

Okay, HOW amazing is today’s chuppah?! Is it dreamy, or is it dreamy? For that matter, today’s entire floral scheme is pretty much #goals. Bay Area couple Alexandra, a manager of product operations, and Alec, a data scientist and product manager, have got seriously impeccable taste when it comes to flowers.

The pair’s whole vision for their day was “sophisticated dreamy garden,” and did they ever execute it to perfection! Even Alexandra’s stunning Reem Acra gown featured 3D floral embroidery. The incredible photos of the day from The De Jaureguis are truly unmissable – and how cool is it that Alexandra and Alec repurposed their chuppah after the ceremony by moving it to the dessert lounge and adding seating underneath?

As a counterpoint to all this floral splendor, we love that the duo chose an elegantly simple ketubah from the amazing Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor The Ketubah – with artist Stephanie’s exquisite hand calligraphy, you don’t need much else.

There’s so much more we could say about this incredible wedding, but we’ll leave it to Alexandra to fill you in on the rest…

Alexandra & Alec, Annadel Estate Winery, California, USAAlexandra & Alec, Annadel Estate Winery, California, USAAlexandra & Alec, Annadel Estate Winery, California, USAAlexandra & Alec, Annadel Estate Winery, California, USA
How we Met

Alexandra, the bride: We met on the dating app Hinge in 2017 in San Francisco. Our initial messages were standard, then I was struck at how communicative we continued to be even before meeting for our first date. We went to dinner and continued the night at a cocktail bar across the street, all the while talking and discovering more about one another. Most importantly, we realized we wanted to spend more and more time together, to share our families and celebrations, and to build a future together.Continue ReadingContinue Reading

A Fresh, Beachy Jewish Pandemic Wedding at Caesar Yam, Caesarea, Israel

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Tash-Nick-Caesar-Yam-Caesarea-Israel

Planning a wedding during COVID isn’t easy. You’ve got to be prepared to roll with the punches, make last-minute changes, and generally have a wedding that might look pretty different than the one you’d had your heart set on.

But even with all that, some of the Jewish weddings we’ve seen that have been most affected by the pandemic have also been among the most stunning – ever. Take the fabulous Israeli nuptials of Tash, who works for an online glasses company doing customer service, and Nick, who does marketing and events for a healthcare software provider. These two made aliyah in 2021, and while they wanted to celebrate in their new home, travel restrictions made it uncertain as to whether overseas loved ones would be able to make it.

And even though plenty of things didn’t quite go to plan – the couple went through several changes of venue before settling on the fabulous Caesar Yam; their guest list went from 200 to 65, and some friends and family joined in via livestream rather than in person – this day was nothing short of magnificent.

We’re in love with the beachy, nautical décor – and how gorgeous is that stunning white floral chuppah? – and for all the challenges leading up to the day, there was clearly so much joy and love. Don’t miss the incredible photos from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Herschel Gutman, who the couple report was a delight to work with, as always.

Now over to Tash…

Tash-Nick-Caesar-Yam-Caesarea-IsraelTash-Nick-Caesar-Yam-Caesarea-IsraelTash-Nick-Caesar-Yam-Caesarea-IsraelTash-Nick-Caesar-Yam-Caesarea-Israel
How we Met

Tash, the bride: We met on an app called J Crush in November 2014. Nick was on a year abroad in Paris as part of his degree with Aston University in Birmingham, and I was in my second year at University of Leeds. We spent the first year of our relationship meeting in either Paris, Leeds, Scotland (Nick’s hometown) and London (my hometown) so it was an adventure from the start.Continue ReadingContinue Reading