Ran Bergman Photography Archives - Smashing the Glass

A Limor Rosen Bride for a Meaningful Family-Centered Jewish Wedding at Ba’yaar, Israel

08/11/2019 by Karen Cinnamon

We adore the magical forest vibes of today’s Jewish wedding at incredible Israeli venue Ba’yaar. This is one stunning celebration, no question – and the couple’s photographer, Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Ran Bergman, captured all the emotion and beauty of the day in his signature style.

But the thing that REALLY warms our hearts about how Shira, an occupational therapist, and Jonathan, who works as a political consultant, celebrated their marriage is the way they made their big day all about tradition and family – while making sure their own personalities always shone through.

Take the ceremony. For Shira and Jonathan, there was no question that crafting a personal, moving, yet traditional ceremony was priority #1. To make sure their ceremony truly spoke to who they are as a couple, the pair each spoke under the chuppah, shared individual vows to each other, and exchanged rings. We also love that in between the traditional 7 brachot said by men, they asked 4 women to each add their own personal blessing.

And then there’s the couple’s incredible paper cut ketubah from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Danny Azoulay Art– truly a work of art!

But what really, REALLY blew us away about this ceremony was something we don’t usually remark on: the groom’s wedding band. Jonathan used his grandfather’s wedding ring from before World War II, to his first wife who perished in the Holocaust along with the couple’s two young children. What an incredible heirloom to pass down through the generations.

There’s so much more to say, but we’ll let the bride (who wore an absolute stunner of a gown from wonderful Israel designer Limor Rosen) take it from here…

A Magical Forest

Shira, the bride: We scoured throughout Israel to find something that conveyed a feeling of magic while also providing the highest quality. When we walked into Ba’yaar we knew we found it. Nothing compared to the feeling you get of walking into a magical forest when you walk into their perfectly lit and beautiful garden of orange trees and blossom. Additionally, they stood out with the very high quality food, technology and professional staff.

We got married in spring, and another important factor was a stunning indoors due to what turned out to be a realistic fear of rain. The spectacular glass incased room surrounded by lit greenery was exactly the combination of class and nature.

A Pronovias Bride for a Secret Garden Jewish Wedding at Alexander, Emek Hefer, Israel

10/07/2019 by Karen Cinnamon

It’s the beautiful Jewish wedding of our wonderful blogging bride Rebecca! It’s always a special moment for us seeing our blogging brides get married after following along throughout their planning, and today is no exception. Rebecca, a fashion buyer, and David, a financial advisor, had the most stunning destination wedding in Israel, and we are totally in love with everything about their big day.

Rebecca adores flowers, so it was a given that they’d play a big part in her day. And we’re totally blown away by her exquisite ketubah and gorgeous table centers – focusing on greens and whites, everything meshes so well with the natural beauty of the venue.

It doesn’t hurt that the couple worked with some of our very favorite Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendors. From the amazing Ran Bergman on photography and videography – he and his team captured all the emotion and love, not to mention the gorgeous décor, so perfectly – to the pair’s gorgeous modern ketubah from Ketubata, with a green and white floral design that perfectly mirrored the décor for the day, Rebecca and David truly assembled a dream team.

We’re crazy about Rebecca’s long-sleeved fishtail lace gown by Pronovias, which she found at beloved Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Mirror Mirror in London – in the bride’s own words, Mirror Mirror“want you to feel 100% and go above and beyond to make sure you are happy.” Rebecca’s Swarovski hair clip fromSmashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Emmy London was the perfect complement to her classically glam bridal style.

There’s so much more to say about this awesome wedding, but before we hand you off to the bride we’ll just leave you with this last little tidbit: the couple served their midnight snack in personalized Tupperware adorned with their wedding logo! If you’re looking for an unexpected favor idea that’s both fun and useful, we think this is a pretty excellent choice.

How we met

Rebecca, the bride: One night in March 2017 I was swiping on Jswipe and I came across David. We had lots of mutual friends, one being my best friend I had just booked my holiday with, so when we matched I instantly called her and said ‘who’s’ this?!’ to which she replied ‘OMG I love him he’s a really good friend you should definitely go on a date with him – I don’t think he’s THE ONE but I think you will fancy him and he is super tall’.

Being 5ft8 height is a REAL thing for me. I was like ‘how tall’ and she said ‘put it this way, you will be able to wear your highest heels’. The struggle is real for tall Jewish girls to find a tall Jewish man, I was so sick of wearing flats and worrying about how tall someone was — so knowing he was tall I already knew my outfit for the first date!

My friend messaged David saying you have matched with my friend and if he wanted my number — all he said was ‘oh she’s hot and he will have a look’. I wait 1 week and receive NO MESSAGE FROM HIM! I am obviously furious so decide to take matters in my own hand and message him first! #independentwoman (He still to this day said the app was “deleted” which is why he didn’t message me as he didn’t see it!)

We start messaging and we get on like a house on fire and start to arrange a first date. I am originally from Leeds and it was round Peseach in 2017 so was back home for the holiday, so we waited to meet up for a drink after.

A Laduree-inspired Jewish Wedding of Two Amazing Event Designers at Pekan Garden, Kibbutz Ramat Hakovesh, Israel

30/01/2019 by Karen Cinnamon

So on Monday we saw a gorgeous destination Jewish wedding where the event planner bride decided to take a hands-off approach, turning the bulk of the work over to her amazing planner to ensure the wedding stayed stress-free. Today, we’ve got the wedding of not one but TWO mega-talented event designers/planners where the couple decided to go all in on their big day.

When we say all in, we really do mean all IN! Bride Tom and groom Matan, who together run Tomka Designs in Israel, were on the job 24/7 in the weeks leading up to the wedding, and even the day before they put in a 12-hour session at the venue.

But all that hard work paid off in a BIG way. The couple’s ultra-romantic Laduree-inspired wedding was nothing short of magical, with epic flowers, candles, soft pastels, and, of course, some seriously impressive macaron towers.

We’re totally obsessed with Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Ran Bergman’s photos — and to look at them, would you ever guess the wedding fell on a day with absolutely appalling weather? It rained nonstop on Tom and Matan’s wedding day, meaning their original plans for an outdoor photo session were out. But like the true pro he is, Ran stayed calm and scouted out an alternate location for the portrait session that just might have turned out even better than Plan A would’ve: a local patisserie! Okay, so it’s not Laduree, but it’s still pretty adorably on theme.

It just goes to show that a really talented photographer (which Ran most certainly is!) will be able to take amazing photos on even the most dismal of days — so don’t be so quick to snub that winter date your dream venue has open.

Now over to Tom, who looked simply smashing in her gown by Israeli designer Gali Karten…

How We Met

Tom, the bride: Matan and I have been best friends since the age of 15. We were in the same class in high school, lived together in an apartment through our bachelor’s degrees, travelled all around the world together etc…

What seemed to be obvious to everyone around us took us 15 years to realize.

2.5 years ago, alongside a beautiful friendship, we became business partners — we are the proud owners of Tomka Designs, a company for wedding designs in Israel. This partnership turned to be the best decision we ever made as it led to a beautiful love story.

After a year of working together, something we can’t really explain happened and a close friendship turned into a strong relationship. At the age of 30, we both knew “this is it” and that we were heading for a wedding.

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A Liz Martinez and Yaniv Persy Bride for an Urban Chic Jewish Wedding at Avigdor 22, Tel Aviv, Israel

08/06/2018 by Karen Cinnamon

We are just blown away by Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Ran Bergman’s fabulous, artistic photos of Dana and Daniel’s super cool contemporary Israeli Jewish wedding at Avigdor 22 in Tel Aviv. Every shot is framed to perfection — just look at that shot of the two of them standing against the orange wall!

And it doesn’t hurt that Dana and Daniel are basically supermodels. Dana looked beyond gorgeous in not one but TWO fantastic gowns: for the ceremony, a long-sleeved, high-necked lacey Liz Martinez for a touch of old-fashioned glamour, and then, for the reception, an ultra-contemporary sleeveless, backless number from Yaniv Persy with a striking geometric print. Dana chose it because she knew it would be perfect to dance in, and if you look through the photos of the couple’s fab dancing, you’ll see she was absolutely right!

Oh, and their food? With a spread including everything from za’atar-coated Jerusalem bagels to colorful macarons to fresh mozzarella, this is one wedding that’s got our mouths watering! Now over to Dana…

A Tel Aviv Wedding

Dana, the bride: We got married at Avigdor 22. We chose this venue because we were looking for a place that would be convenient for most of the guests (in Tel Aviv) and especially because we wanted our Friday afternoon wedding to continue into the night, so we looked for a place that was not kosher. Besides, we liked the urban concept.

An Inbal Raviv Bride for a Magical Forest-Themed Jewish Wedding at Hadera Forest, Baya’ar, Israel

11/05/2018 by Karen Cinnamon

Today’s Jewish wedding has a super inspirational love story behind it: Israeli couple Noa and Shaked were in a long-distance relationship for 6 years (!) while Noa was abroad studying medicine. The two of them are just radiating joy in the gorgeous photos of their day at Hadera Forest Hall, at Baya’ar, and knowing that bit of backstory you can understand why!

Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Ran Bergman’s photos of the day are just so artsy and cool; some of them could easily have come out of a really chic magazine spread (especially given that Noa and Shaked are basically models!).

And he captures the couple’s enchanted forest theme so well — you’ve got to see his shots of the beautiful outdoor ceremony, under a simple white chuppah laden with greenery, amidst the trees of the forest. Pure magic.

Also magical? Noa’s boho-chic Inbal Raviv dress, with lace and tassles galore. Now over to the couple…

A Forest Wedding

We got married at the Hadera Forest Hall, at Baya’ar. The feeling of being in a forest there is just magical; we couldn’t resist the lush greenery. And the location was halfway between the bride’s family home and the groom’s, so it made sense for our guests.