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A Tropical-Themed Israeli-Canadian Jewish Wedding at The Q, Kibbutz Glil Yam, Israel

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What do you get when you cross the laid-back Israeli attitude with a Canadian sense of ceremony? The best of both worlds, that’s what, and a simply beautiful Jewish wedding… complete with pineapples! SQUEAL!

Yes, Samara and Joe went with a terrific tropical theme, bursting with color, vibrance and fun. How super cute were all the little details? We adored the clothes-peg seating plan, and the positively popping welcome setup, complete with stunning tropical flowers.

Planning an overseas wedding can be stressful, but Samara and Joe sourced both information and vendors from none other than yours truly, Smashing The Glass. We were honored to hear that we played such a direct role in helping to bring this very special big day together. 

Samara looked sensational in her beautiful backless Truvelle gown, and her ‘something borrowed’ veil – we love, love, LOVE The story behind this. 

Photographer Ariel Aricha captured the story of the day in the beautiful spread of images below, and Samara has provided a beautiful recap of her and Joe’s big day. Over to Samara now – we bet you’ll wish you’d been there as much as we do!

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An incredible Israeli venue

Samara, the bride: We got married at The Q, Kibbutz Glil Yam, in the city of Herzliya, in Israel. My husband, Joe, grew up in Jerusalem, and his father, sister, and all his dear friends (high school and army) live in Israel. My father’s side of the family also all live in Israel, including my 97-year-old Safta, who is in excellent form, but would not be able to travel to Canada.

Israel was the first place we travelled to as a couple, and is a place that holds a tremendous amount of meaning for both of us. Over the past four years, we have travelled to Israel every June, first for Joe’s sister’s wedding, then his best friend, and then his next best friend.

Having experienced an Israeli wedding, and one of his best friend’s wedding at the Q, we knew that an Israeli wedding was exactly want we wanted! Montreal weather, even in the summer, is temperamental, and we knew we wanted to be outside be relaxed, breathe in that amazing air and spirit, eat the yummy food that Israel has to offer. 

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An Elegant, City-Chic Monochrome-with-Metallic-Accents Jewish Wedding At The Roundhouse, Beacon, New York, USA

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Jewish wedding The Roundhouse, Beacon, New York, USA
Start spreading the news – we’re leaving today… to head to NYC for Julie and Noam’s city chic Jewish wedding!

Shot by extraordinarily talented photographer and our fabulous recommended vendor, Ben Kelmer, the happy couple opted for an elegant monochrome theme with metallic accents and a hint of a rustic aesthetic. 

Beautiful bride, Julie, a fitness and wellness brand strategy consultant (which, incidentally, is how she met fitness instructor to the stars, Noam), looked like a Hollywood A-lister in her stunning lace-illusion Pronovias gown, and meaningful family heirloom jewelry. 

The wedding was filled with heart and soul, particularly with the attention paid to the meaning of the ceremony, and the importance of having three generations of family under the chuppah. 

There’s so much to love about this perfectly cohesive and wonderfully themed big day (we’re looking at you, magnificent, florally adorned chuppah!) but one thing that really stood out for us was the absolutely fantastic idea of having a note jar for a guest book, for the couple to read on their first anniversary. We’re sure plenty of couples will be stealing that one for themselves.

We’ll pass you over to Julie now for the full writeup of her and Noam’s very special day. Take it away, Julie!

Jewish wedding The Roundhouse, Beacon, New York, USA

Jewish wedding The Roundhouse, Beacon, New York, USA

Jewish wedding The Roundhouse, Beacon, New York, USA

Jewish wedding The Roundhouse, Beacon, New York, USA

Jewish wedding The Roundhouse, Beacon, New York, USA
How we met

Julie, the bride: We met through a friend who asked me if I knew him because we worked and lived in similar circles. It started as me trying to get Noam/TS as a client, but at our first meeting it was clear that we had a connection and the rest, as they say, is history.

We realized we both grew up close to each other, we both lived in Israel at one point, had family there and actually at one point lived on the same street in NYC and never knew each other.

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A music and art-filled Jewish wedding with Monique Lhullier and Jenny Packham gowns at the Great Synagogue and Four Seasons Hotel in Florence, Italy

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Spring has sprung and we’re delighted to share our first real Jewish wedding of April – and what a way to kick off the month! Today’s cultured couple, Tara and Ben, decided to get married in one of the great art history capitals of the world, Florence, Italy.

Not only that, but their ceremony was held at the stunning and world-renowned Great Synagogue in the heart of the city and their reception at the prestigious Four Seasons Hotel. For Tara, who has a degree in History of Art, this was the definition of a dream destination wedding.

The couple’s music-filled Jewish ceremony included sensational Smashing Supplier, chazan Simon Cohen, who the couple flew in especially so that they could enjoy his beautiful voice.  

Bride Tara looked every bit the classically beautiful bride in not one but TWO incredible dresses. First in her elegant Monique Lhullier gown, which she wore for the ceremony and then in her Jenny Packham party dress.

The laid-back, loving atmosphere of the day, including the epic fireworks display the couple arranged to surprise their guests, was captured by the brilliant David Bastianoni, whose wonderful work has been featured many times before on the pages of STG.

We’ll pass you on to beautiful bride Tara for the lowdown on her and Ben’s beautiful day!

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An art history lover’s dream venue

Tara, the bride: It’s hard to describe the magic of walking down a little side street, turning a corner, to be suddenly faced with the Duomo faà§ade and one the grandest synagogues in the world. So much beauty in one city and, for us, it was the perfect place to get married.

The Four Seasons had it all — The hotel is made up of a 15th-century Palazzo della Gherardesca and an ex 16th-century convent called Il Conventino, set within acres of beautiful gardens in the heart of the city.

I have a degree in History of Art and we are both lovers of classical music. Having visited Florence a number of times, it was always on our wish list. So where else to marry but at a music-filled ceremony at the Great Synagogue in the heart of the City of Florence?

Afterwards, just five minutes away, we were strolling among our 170 guests in 12 acres of stunning gardens at the Four Seasons Hotel, the former Palazzo Scala Della Gherardesca dating from the time of Lorenzo il Magnifico.

The green avenues, lined with Renaissance sculptures with fabulous views of the Duomo and the Chianti hills, were the perfect backdrop for what we wanted – an elegant outdoor reception followed by a casual dinner under the stars and fun night of partying.

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A relaxed, fun atmosphere

We wanted a traditional wedding done in a more casual and carefree way. Elegant but fun was the message of the weekend. All our guests were in holiday mode, so were relaxed. We didn’t use a wedding planner, but the staff at the Four Seasons were fantastic with helping us plan the day.

Music was a constant theme throughout the wedding, and we felt strongly about creating an informal and casual atmosphere during the dinner in the gardens. To do this, we created a Spotify playlist of our favourite songs to be played during the dinner.

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A big fat Jewish-Greek wedding with a Catherine Deane gown and a superb bridal entrance on the beach in Crete

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The only type of wedding that compares culturally to a Jewish wedding is, of course, a big fat Greek wedding. So, as you can imagine, a combination of the two makes for a pretty epic Mediterranean family-centric celebration!

Christina and Oryan tied the knot on the beach in beautiful Crete, owing to both the bride and groom’s Greek and Greek-Cypriot backgrounds, and the convenient short hop from Israel, where Oryan has family ties.

We adore the laid-back feel of this gorgeous destination wedding, with the bride making her grand entrance on donkey-back, the couple exchanging vows barefoot on the beach (with one notable moment as an exception) and Greek / Israeli food and dancing.

The pair kept things simple, with no bridal party and ensuring that everything had a natural, organic feel to it. We LOVE the simplicity of the wooden Chuppah with its delicate floral arrangements perfectly framing the view of the sea. Stunning.

Family played a huge role in the ceremony, with both of the bride and groom’s sisters being given a significant part to play.

Oh, and Christina’s Catherine Deane dress was simply perfect — elegant, bridal, flattering and beach-wedding beautiful.  

Christina and Oryan wrote up the story of their real wedding together as a couple, and we’re delighted to hear the story from both of their perspectives, so we’ll hand over to them now to tell us more…

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How we met

Christina and Oryan, the bride and groom: We met through mutual friends in NYC. We had both moved to New York in 2010 and had mutual friends in common through which we were introduced. We remained friends for several years before starting to date in 2014.

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A Rosa Clara bride for a festive Winter Wonderland Jewish-Humanist wedding at The Underglobe, Globe Theatre, London, UK

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Today’s Jew-ish wedding takes the term ‘White Wedding’ to a whole new level! Phoebe & Ben were married in December 2015 and love winter, the festive season, and the way it brings the whole family together, so wanted their wedding to capture that sparkly, wintery, celebratory feeling.

They picked their stunning venue, The Underglobe (the museum beneath Shakespeare’s world-famous Globe Theatre in London) because of their love of theatre, and Wildabout Flowers expertly decorated the space to look like a dramatic Winter Wonderland straight out of Narnia.

Some of my favourite details include Phoebe’s sublime Rosa Clara gown, a colour scheme that included silver, purple and all out sparkles, live cabaret by a Drag Queen in leather shorts and knee high boots, and a first dance to I Can’t Fight This Feeling Anymore (genius!). Then there’s the off-the-scale Abigail Bloom cake, a show-stopping speech by the bride, an unplanned (unrehearsed) rendition of Bohemian Rapsody by the couple’s friends, a hugely meaningful Humanist-Jewish wedding ceremony, movie-themed icebreakers on the tables… Phew, what a wonderful glorious mix!

Come on in and delve into Jew-ish Wedding Narnia… We have the perfectly captured images by Richard Payne and the oh-so-romantic film by Allora Visuals. Take it away gorgeous Phoebe!

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How we met

Phoebe, the bride: Ben and I meet at University, he was on the Kent Falcons American football team, and I was a first year who had just joined the Kent Falconette cheerleading team. We be came friendly on the team tour to Prague, and eventually Ben asked me out.

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