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Helene & Benjamin | Destination Jewish wedding in the Old City of Jaffa at Beit Andromeda, Israel

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In my book, making your wedding day into a holiday is an absolutely brilliant idea. Not only do you get to throw a wonderful party for all your loved ones, but you also get to do it in a place where the weather stands a better chance of behaving on the big day!

Parisians, Helene and Benjamin, did just that with their destination wedding in Israel and organised a whole heap of pre-wedding festivities for their guests as well as the big W-Day itself. So not only did they create an utterly sublime wedding day in Old Jaffa (with the help of much-loved Smashing Suppliers RS Eventime), they also put together a mountain of events for their guests so that they could get a flavour of the city of Tel Aviv. This was a really thoughtful gesture as many of their guests had never visited the city before.

There was a cocktail party, a beach party (I *so* want one of those Keep Calm and Play Matkot tote bags) and a third pre-wedding party at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art. Such wonderful ideas and all expertly planned by the lovely Sophie and Ravit from RS Eventime.

Helene’s Rosa Clara dress is amazing, and both the bride and groom look like celebrities. The light that Pierre Mikael Cohen has captured is sensational as are his beautiful cityscapes.

I must also single out Helen’s ‘rock princess’ Jimmy Choo‘s. Er… wow. And that she secretly took singing lessons in the months prior to the wedding so that she could surprise her groom with  a rendition of ‘their song’. Double wow. Every single element of this wedding ties in together so perfectly and I’m so thrilled to be bringing you this well deserved ray of sunshine this rainy Tuesday morning

Thank you to Helene and Benjamin for sharing their delicious destination with us. Let’s hand over to the gorgeous bride…

Jaffa Wedding
how we met

Helene, the Bride: Benjamin and I met in New York five years before we got married. Ben lived in New York and I was looking for a new flatmate… I was coming to NY for an internship and was looking for an apartment… that’s how we met! We were roommates to start with, but one month later we became a couple, and since then we’ve always lived together — in New York and back in Paris. The funny thing is that we’d attended the same high school in Paris but didn’t know each other back then…Continue ReadingContinue Reading

Tammy & Tom | An Inbal Dror dress for a wedding by the sea, with a very special story, at Kochav HaYam, Caesarea, Israel

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I don’t know where to start with this wedding, it has absolutely knocked me for six. When I first clapped eyes on the stunning photographs and video highlights of Tammy and Tom’s wedding, I was captivated by this ridiculously good looking couple, the chuppah set against a picture-perfect Israeli seascape, the high octane, carefree celebrations, the loved-up gazes between bride and groom and of course THAT Inbal Dror wedding dress – and just when I thought it couldn’t get any more breathtaking, I heard the incredible tale about the rabbi who officiated the wedding.

Many years ago as a young boy of eight, Sharon Shalom, the rabbi, was among a group of refugees making the arduous journey from Ethiopia to Sudan, where planes were on standby to help them flee to Israel. They travelled the entire distance to Sudan on foot, lead and protected by the IDF and Mossad agents.

At one point it all became too much for the youngster. Terrified, he was hugged and encouraged to keep going by one of the agents, who just happened to be Tom’s father. This shared experience helped forge a lifetime’s friendship, so much so, that when the young boy had grown and become a rabbi, he was told by Tom’s father that “one day you’ll be the rabbi for my son”. This wedding made that wish come true.

Understandably the tears flowed under the chuppah that day as the family and rabbi Sharon Shalom stood together for such a special and poignant moment in all of their lives. Truly beautiful.

So whilst it’s a very cool, stylish, fun, fun, fun wedding – complete with a flash mob dance – and did I mention the disarmingly attractive bride and groom? It’s a wedding with a huge heart. And given the incredible and humbling back-story of courage and kindness, the brides advice resonates very loudly “The whole point of the day is to be happy – stressing defeats the purpose. Your hubby and the meaning of the day is much more important than the napkins or your dress!”

Hear hear! (Even though her dress is actually perfection!)

The stunning photography is by Herschel Gutman one of our much-loved Smashing Suppliers, who can always be relied upon for beautiful images. The wedding film at the end of the post is by the superb Tal Herman

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Rabbi Sharon Shalom (far right) with Tom’s father (second from right) under the chuppah, beside Tammy & Tom

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Rebecca & Daniel | An ‘Autumn in New York’ themed Jewish wedding with Mexican influences, and the bride in a jumpsuit, at Palm Door, Austin, Texas, USA

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… And the bride wore a jumpsuit! Oh yes. I’m so excited to feature a bride wearing such an iconic, sassy, fashion statement. Move over Solange Knowles!

And why not? Rebecca wasn’t having a trad day — after all it was her second wedding to Daniel (more on that later) — and she decided she wanted to wear what she felt most spectacular in. And that was an elegant Alice & Olivia white, wide leg, cut out at the back jumpsuit with beautiful lines and the required bridal magic to make a big entrance.

In the imitable words of Rebecca “I realised that since this is my wedding … I could wear whatever I wanted”. You go girl! This is such a great reminder to all brides out there planning your day — try not to get bogged down in the “should’s” — it is after all your day!

The courage of this couple’s conviction rings strongly throughout. Undaunted by the fact that they couldn’t have the dream Central Park wedding, Rebecca and Daniel simply picked up the idea and brought the New York wedding to Austin, Texas. Complete with a Big Apple in the Fall theme. Check out those flowers, and the autumnal foliage winding round the chuppah!

Unsurprisingly the invitations came with a very creative and modern twist – which is completely STG. They both designed and customised Paperless Post save the date cards and invitations, splicing old photo booth pictures together — gorgeously personal and fun – and emailed them to their guests.. A great tip for saving money as well as adding a classy, individual touch.

There was one family tradition however that they certainly kept up with – Friday night dinner at the Tex Mex. The night before the wedding Rabbi Robbi lead them all in the Tex Mex Shabbat prayers over tortilla chips and margaritas. Upstaged only by Daniel’s uber romantic proposal.

Elissa R Photography captures the day …

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An ‘Autumn in New York’ themed wedding in Austin, Texas

Rebecca, the Bride: We got married at the Palm Door on Sabine, an event space in downtown Austin. There was no real significance to the space, and since we live in New York we decided to have our wedding there based entirely on the recommendation of my parents who had seen a concert there during SXSW. It ended up being the perfect space though, with a homey but refined feel that really fit in with the entire character of the wedding.

Our general theme was “Autumn in New York.” We live in New York, and it had been a dream of mine in high school to get married in Central Park in the fall. Coming back to Austin for a November wedding, we decided to bring the New York Autumn back to Texas with us. The colour scheme was Autumn colours. We worked with Emily Leach of Bird Dog Wedding
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Talia & Indra | Colourful fusion Jewish Hindu ‘HinJew’ wedding at The Wit, Chicago, IL, USA

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As a fan of bold colour, multi-cultural weddings are such a visual treat for me. So I’m totally thrilled to be blogging this afternoon’s fusion Jewish Hindu or ‘HinJew’ wedding that’s an all-out explosion of colour and fun. From the bride’s multi-coloured hair to her stunning dress, vivid jewellery and wonderful mix of flowers, to the groom’s hip style and snazzy bejewelled shoes!

This wedding really shows how to perfectly amalgamate cultures, rituals, merrymaking, and personality! Talia and Indra made sure that amongst all their combined traditions they didn’t forget to let their personalities shine through. One of my favourite (and oh-so-simple) party details is that they had a design-your-own-‘mac-and-cheese-bar’ , because Talia is obsessed with this dish!

I absolutely adore Talia’s colourful dress and accessories which suit her down to the ground and I think that it’s safe to say that Talia’s dad agrees too. The emotional photo of him when he sees her for the first time gave me a lump in my throat…

So settle down and enjoy Talia’s infectiously fun words, alongside some super stunning imagery from Roots of Life Photography.

Colourful fusion Hindu Jewish 'HinJew' wedding at theWit, Chicago, Illinois, USA
Colourful fusion Hindu Jewish 'HinJew' wedding at theWit, Chicago, Illinois, USA
a colourful city chic venue

Talia, the Bride: We chose theWit in Chicago, as we wanted a unique and colourful wedding venue with a city feel within easy walking distance to fun things to do before and after the wedding. And in terms of Chicago, there is definitely a significance there. We knew we were going to be a destination wedding for most people no matter where we had it, since we had guests traveling from South Carolina, North Carolina, Indiana, Texas, Canada, India, etc. So we chose to go with our favourite US city, which earned a special place in our hearts since we had our first date there. It made the whole event that much more meaningful to be able

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12 online wedding resources every Bride-To-Be should know about

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Last Sunday, myself and Charley from London Bride were interviewed ‘On The Sofa’ at Brides The Show about how to find everything you need online when it comes to planning your wedding.

We loved every minute of our talk and were delighted to be speaking to a packed floor with brides scribbling our tips away in their notebooks, so I thought I’d recap the main points we made so that everyone can benefit from the content.

1. WEDDING BLOGS

We’re lucky enough to be living in a wedding planning world that is packed full of hundreds and thousands of inspiring wedding blogs. Each one caters to a niche with everything from geeky weddings to tattooed brides to of course Jewish weddings and everything in between. Unlike wedding magazines, blogs are free to read so the bloggers who run them don’t need to worry about appealing to the masses or shifting however many copies. It’s the bloggers’ unbiased, unedited opinions and being digital, blogs are also very fast-moving, immediate and very regularly updated.

2. USING BLOGS TO SOURCE SUPPLIERS

The heart and soul of many wedding blogs, including Smashing The Glass, are the real weddings. Each wedding is hand-picked by the blogger with the intention of inspiring you with the fabulously creative ideas of the bride and groom. The wonderful thing is that all the suppliers that contributed to that wedding are listed at the bottom of the feature, with links to their websites, so it’s a great way to directly find suppliers that catch your eye.

And if you’re after a specific type of supplier, many blogs have their recommended vendors section which is a great place to start your search if you resonate with a particular blog.

3. DIY TUTORIALS

Many wedding blogs post step-by-step DIY tutorials that are great for the craft-loving or money-saving bride. Particular favourites for DIY’s are Love My Dress and Bespoke Bride, and don’t forget YouTube for video tutorials too… did you know that Martha Stewart has her own wedding DIY YouTube channel?

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Charley and I speaking ‘On The Sofa’ about how to plan your wedding online, at Brides The Show

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