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A Stella York Bride for an Ultra-Personal Jewish Wedding at Marriott Regents Park, London, UK

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When Georgia, a Speech and Language Therapist for the NHS, and Joel, a Marketing and Communications Manager, set out to plan their ultra-personal London Jewish wedding, they knew they wanted to be able to enjoy the big day with their nearest and dearest stress-free.

And so they made what turned out to be one of their best wedding planning decisions: hiring with Victoria from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Linda Abrahams & Co for on-the-day coordination. Georgia and her mum planned most of the wedding themselves, and then, with 12 weeks to go, Victoria came on board. In Georgia’s words, she was “an absolute dream to work with” and took all the pressure off so the couple could enjoy the lead up to the wedding without worrying about logistics – not to mention the day itself!

And you can tell just what a wonderful time everyone had in the end from Smashing The Glass Recommended vendor Liam Smith’s wonderful documentary wedding photography. Georgia and Joel “have always felt that our favourite photos are the ones where we didn’t know they were being taken,” and Liam’s discreet style was the perfect fit, allowing him to capture ALL the love and emotion.

There’s so much more to say about this wonderful wedding, but we’ll let Georgia – who looked radiant in Stella York – take it from here…

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How We Met

Georgia, the bride: We met on our first day of university when we moved into Hillel House in Birmingham (the Jewish halls of residence). Joel asked me out on a date a few weeks later and we’ve been together ever since! It is actually a family tradition to meet your wife in Birmingham – as all three of Joel’s older brothers started dating their wives while attending university in Birmingham! Continue ReadingContinue Reading

An Alexandra Grecco Bride for a Super Chic Design-Conscious Jewish Wedding at The Lawrence, Jaffa, Israel

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Bride @gorvitron Groom @ohadrotem Photography @benkelmer #STGVendor Videography @TomerFuchsPhotographer Venue @thelawrence_gallery Dress designer @alexandragrecco Planner & Florist @yahavgreen Make-up @melbuenomakeup Hair @carlylandauhair DJ @dj_moshik

Sometimes we encounter a wedding so jawdroppingly stylish it just blow us away. And that’s exactly what happened when we first set our eyes on the fabulous Jewish wedding of Tel Aviv couple Olivia, is director of partnerships at an AI startup, and Ohad, who runs a global e-commerce company.

Their wedding was full on Israeli chic in the best way possible, with every element – from the artful, unposed photos by Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Ben Kelmer (who the couple found right here on STG) to the epic design spearheaded by Yahav Green and beyond.

Olivia’s an American who made aliyah a few years back, and since many of the couple’s guests were visiting Israel for their first time, the pair wanted to pull out all the stops to showcase the magic of their home city of Tel Aviv. And between welcome drinks at a rooftop bar in the heart of Shuk HaCarmel, a food tour of the market, and a rehearsal Shabbat dinner catered by Israeli chef Eyal Shani, we’re pretty sure all attendees came away 100% smitten. Even the couple’s venue, The Lawrence in Jaffa, was picked in part for its uniquely Middle Eastern vibes.

As a design aficionado, it’s no surprise Olivia looked exquisitely chic in her simple, classic gown by Alexandra Grecco… read on to hear of the story from her!

Olivia & Ohad, The Lawrence, Jaffa, Israel Bride @gorvitron Groom @ohadrotem Photography @benkelmer #STGVendor Videography @TomerFuchsPhotographer Venue @thelawrence_gallery Dress designer @alexandragrecco Planner & Florist @yahavgreen Make-up @melbuenomakeup Hair @carlylandauhair DJ @dj_moshik
How we Met

Olivia, the bride: We are actually a pandemic love story! Olivia made Aliyah to Israel 4 years ago and during the first Covid wave in spring 2020, she befriended a few other Americans in her Tel Aviv apartment building. One of her neighbours, Josh, invited a few people over one night and even though Olivia was a bit hesitant because everyone was just coming out of lockdown, she stopped out (after all, the apartment was one floor below hers).

Ohad was there but truthfully, Olivia doesn’t remember meeting him (or anyone else). A few weeks later, Josh called Olivia and asked if he could set her up with his “very Israeli friend with a huge heart.” Olivia didn’t even ask for a photo (very unlike her) and she met Ohad a few days later. Olivia was immediately charmed by his warmth, wit, and generosity (and it was their first time being inside a restaurant in months, thanks to COVID). Turns out, Ohad had been nagging Josh for Olivia’s number ever since they met at Josh’s house.

Our relationship was on fast forward thanks to a series of intense lockdowns in Israel that we spent together (and even one camped out at Ohad’s parents house in the south of Israel). Olivia is 35 and Ohad is 38 so we knew we wanted to lock it up fast – and we did! We got engaged 10 months after we met, on the eve of Pesach 2021.Continue ReadingContinue Reading

A Suspended Floral Chuppah for a Festive, Glitzy Jewish Wedding at Dock 5 in Washington, D.C., USA

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Jewish wedding Dock 5 Washington DC USA_0017 You know there’s little we love more than a distinctive chuppah design at a Jewish wedding.

At first glance, today’s version may look like a fairly standard-issue floral design… but look again. Specifically, look at the poles – or, more precisely the lack thereof.

That’s right, Jillian, a reporter at the financial news site MarketWatch, and Steven, a dental student, went for a suspended chuppah for their big day, with asymmetrical greenery and white flowers descending from each of the four corners but stopping a good few feet from the floor. How cool does it look in Sam Hurd’s glam photos?!

The non-traditional (yet still permissible according to Jewish law — the couple checked with their rabbi) chuppah is just one of the wonderful ways Jillian and Steven merged Jewish traditions with their own 21st-century sensibilities.

For example, the pair liked the tradition of a pre-wedding tisch (a ceremony for the groom and male guests) and kabbalat panim (for the bride and female guests), but weren’t crazy about the gender segregation thing. Their solution? During the cocktail hour, they held both ceremonies, but made each gender-neutral so that all of the guests could experience both — and get in some valuable time with the bride and the groom. We LOVE that.

There’s so much more to say about this fun, festive wedding, but we’ll let Jillian — who looked so glam in her custom gold lace gown designed by family friend Sharon Wilkes — take it from here…

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How we met

Jillian, the bride: We first met through mutual friends – a close friend of Steven’s from growing up was one of my roommates in college – but then began dating while working together at HuffPost in New York, shortly after graduating from college. And of course our relationship continued through job changes and Steven’s career left turn into dentistry!

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An Inbal Raviv Bride for a Boho-Chic Seaside Jewish Wedding at Trask, Tel Aviv Port, Israel

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We don’t even know where to start with today’s gorgeous wedding! The hanging flowers? The market-style food service? The fruit kayak?! (Yes, you read that right!)

Bride Chen and groom Yair had one of those quintessentially cool Israeli seaside Jewish weddings, at Trask at the Tel Aviv Port — but with a twist. Or several.

For starters, how awesome are the hanging wildflowers over the tables?! And let’s not even get started on the gorgeous pastel florals topping the couple’s chuppah, or the scattered bouquets of fresh herbs that dotted the venue.

And how sweet is it that the two families teamed up to write Chen and Yair a song, which they performed on the day as a surprise for the couple?

And back to that fruit kayak. Everything about Chen and Yair’s market-themed food setup is just fab — they had tons of stations, plus a cocktail car, a beer car, and a candy buffet — but the fact that they stuffed a real-life, full-size kayak with watermelon, grapes, mangoes, passionfruit, and more for their guests to dip into during the night makes this wedding truly one for the books.

Chen was the picture of chill, boho chic in her Inbal Raviv wedding dress, and People Photography captured the day beautifully. And we can’t get enough of her single piece of succinct and on-point wedding planning advice: “Marry the right guy.” Take it away, Chen!

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How we met

Chen, the bride: We met at college, but we didn’t get together until 2 years after we finished studying.

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A magical Israeli-Australian forest Jewish wedding at Tsel Hadumim, Ben Shemen forest, Israel

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People – prepare yourselves: there is an abundance of pretty in this real wedding, and even we’re struggling to handle it – and we do this all the time!

We’re always in awe of Israeli weddings – the natural beauty of the place never fails to make for a stunning backdrop, and Israeli venues just know how to do magic like nobody else. Abigail and Roei’s last-minute celebration looked anything but hasty, in fact, it was absolutely packed with Israeli charm.

The day was captured by our oft-featured and much-loved STG Recommended Vendor, Herschel Gutman, who did an incredible job of translating the heart and thought that went into each choice into stunning, timeless images.

Gorgeous Abigail’s Australian-cool vibe brought an added factor of effortless chic, and her choice of dress, a unique, lacy number by Israeli designer, Adi Groman, was just perfect – a bohemian fairytale. 

We adore the significance of the path to the chuppah, which was lined with the Shiv’at HaMinim (the Seven Species from the Bible), making the journey to the ceremony even more poignant. 

On the wedding morning, Roei had a minor medical emergency – and not everything ran smoothly. But, once these two lovebirds locked eyes at the chuppah, none of that mattered. We can all learn from that. 

Over to Abigail for the full story on her and Roei’s stunning wedding day:

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How we met

Abigail, the bride: in March 2014 I arrived in Santa Teresa, Costa Rica – my last stop after a year of travelling, which included four months in Israel. Roei, who’s Israeli, was there on a surfing trip. We met on the beach and spent a week travelling together (I now know that he had already decided I’d one day be his wife!). I then returned to Australia with the intention of moving to Tel Aviv later in the year to study.

We messaged each other sporadically for six weeks, until Roei finally asked if he could Skype me. From that first conversation, we both pretty much knew. We spent four months Skyping every single day, often for five to six hours at a time (yes, we were both extremely sleep deprived, but we didn’t care!).

At the two-month mark, we decided to meet halfway in Thailand to make sure that we weren’t completely crazy prior to my arrival in Israel. The meeting at the airport was one of the best moments of my life, which I think is now only on par with Roei’s proposal on ‘Roy’s Peak’ in New Zealand and our wedding day.

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