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A Destination Jewish Wedding Full of Personal Touches at Achuza, Beit Hanan, Israel

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Planning a Jewish wedding from thousands of miles away is no small feat. Luckily, London-based couple Jodie, who works as a decorative homeware buyer, and Matt, a football agent realized that straight off the bat when they started planning their big day in Israel, and they made sure their first planning decision was choosing a great planner to help smooth the way.

Even luckier for Jodie and Matt, they found one of the best of the best: Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Victoria Rosen Events. Vicki is a popular choice among STG couples opting to wed in Israel, and this couple’s rave review of her planning prowess makes it clear why: in addition to helping them source some truly outstanding vendors (not to mention their gorgeous venue),

Vicki seamlessly ran the whole day’s events so carefully and left us and our parents feeling totally calm, happy and taken care of. She couldn’t do enough to help us. Always available, nothing was too much. Vicki was incredibly supportive and always positive, friendly and super-efficient.

We’re also crazy about all the fun, memorable touches the couple added to their day. For starters, they had a flower stand (inspired by a something they saw right here on Smashing the Glass!) in the reception area, where guests could have bespoke floral hair accessories and button holes made on the spot! And if that weren’t enough, they also hired a glitter face painter to make sure their guests had a night that was literally sparkling. Oh, and pre-wedding, Jodie and Matt also blew their own smash glass and kiddush cup to use under the chuppah!

You can probably already guess that this was one fun wedding – and if you have any doubt, a quick scroll through Idan Hasson’s radiant, joyous photos should set you straight.

Now over to Jodie…

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Nature and Soul

Jodie, the bride: We got married at Achuza. Matt didn’t want to get married in a hotel hall and I vetoed beach venues because of what humidity does to my hair! : ) We were both looking for a soulful, outdoor venue surrounded by nature and somewhere that we could create a fun and intimate party atmosphere for all of our friends and family. We fell in love with Achuza as soon as we walked up the path towards the venue. It’s surrounded by flora and the chuppah is stunning and all natural.

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A Multicultural Israeli-Indian-British Jewish Wedding Weekend at Pichonka, Israel

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There’s not much we love more than seeing a couple combined their diverse backgrounds into one unforgettable day. So naturally we’re all about the beautiful Israeli-British-Indian wedding of Hannah, who runs a dog-training and dog-assisted therapy business, and Amir, who works in security.

Using flowers, décor, music, a blue and gold color scheme – see the bride’s stunning Indian-style wedding dress, which she chose as a reflection of the new culture she’d be adopting with her marriage – and even a pre-wedding Jewish-Indian henna ceremony, these two crafted a truly one-of-a-kind day bringing together all the most beautiful elements of their cultures.

And they couldn’t have done it without their amazing wedding planner, Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Victoria Rosen. In the bride’s own words:

Employing a wedding planner helped enormously to relieve the stress. Vicki proved us with suppliers and recommendations that I almost certainly would not have been able to find myself. I made sure that all details were in place before the big day itself so that I could just enjoy every moment without worrying about a thing!

Hannah and Amir’s venue,  Pichonka, really highlighted the natural beauty of the couple’s current home country, Israel, with their outdoor chuppah held on a balcony that jutted out over the breathtaking Judean Hills. Check out Rehovot Studios’s beautiful photos and video.

We also love that Hannah and Amir went all out to ensure their wedding was accessible and enjoyable for all of their guests – both the many English-speakers who flew in from abroad, as well as the Israelis. They made sure they found a fully bilingual rabbi to conduct their ceremony so that all of the guests were able to follow along, and providing a wedding program explaining the various Jewish traditions for those unfamiliar.

There’s so much more to say, but we’ll leave the rest to the bride…



How we met

Hannah, the bride: We met online via a dating website.

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A Limor Rosen Bride for a Festival Chic Jewish Wedding at The Q, Glil Yam, Israel

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When a bride who’s a design talent in her own right joins forces with a fantastic wedding planner to create an ultra-personalized destination wedding at one of Israel’s most gorgeous venues… well, you know you’re in for something special.

Designer bride Amy and groom Richard, who works in technology finance (#AmyGetsRich), opted to theme their big day around their shared love of music and festivals, and while festival-inspired weddings are by no means uncommon, these two really took theirs to the next level. They combined the basics – candles, gentle lighting, greenery – with some unexpected touches – Amy designed festival wristbands for guests, as well as making over 200 personalised mini dream catchers to use as the table plan/seating cards! And in true boho chic style, the couple’s chuppah was styled like a tent with lace dream-catchers hanging at the back.

That’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to all the lovely details incorporated into this Jewish wedding, and the couple’s photographer, Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Jossef Si, captured each and every one of them – not to mention the love between Amy and Richard and the action-packed party following their beautiful ceremony – in his trademark artistic style. As always, we’re obsessed with his stunning work. And videographer Guy Siman Tov’s trailer makes us feel as if we were right there experiencing it all alongside the guests.

Amy and Richard knew it wouldn’t be easy implementing their creative ideas all the way from their home in England, and so they decided to work with beloved wedding planner and Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Vicki Rosen (described by Amy as “the most organised lady you will ever meet”) to make sure everything went to plan, as well as to source the perfect vendors to make the day a success.

Now over to the bride, who looked stunning in her gown by Israeli designer Limor Rosen…

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How We Met

Amy, the bride: Our lives have been intertwined for many years – unbeknownst to either of us we went to Leeds University and graduated on the same day. We even stayed in the same halls of residence in first year. It’s extremely likely we had been in each other’s flat at some point.

However, our paths didn’t quite cross. In our mid 20s we both lived opposite each other in West Hampstead without realising it. But most bizarrely, about four years ago Richard made an offer for a small flat in Kilburn. It turned out someone else had already been successful and had trumped him. Guess who that was? We were in each others lives all along, the world was just waiting for the right time.

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An Essense of Australia Bride for a Sunset Jewish Wedding at Cochav Hayam in Caesarea, Israel

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Okay, we just can’t even with that sunset chuppah. Truly the stuff Jewish wedding dreams are made of. But would you believe it if we told you that wasn’t even the most remarkable thing about the incredible wedding of STG Brides Club member  (and blogging bride) Lindsay, an insight manager at a media agency, to groom Dan, an account manager working in corporate events?

So first of all, we’re OBSESSED with Lindsay and Dan’s table plan: they got a polaroid of every guest, then wrote a personal note on the back. These were all laid out for guests to collect as they came in and find their table numbers. Genius!

We’re also super inspired that these two worked with non-profit Israel Blooms, an organization that will collect flowers leftover at the end of the wedding and repurpose them into small arrangements that they distribute in hospitals and old age homes. What a meaningful (and easy) way to spread the joy of your big day!

The couple’s photos from Idan Canfi and video from Ruslan Shane are simply sensational, and we love that Lindsay and Dan opted to have a separate couple’s photoshoot a couple of days after the wedding – this allowed them to get some dreamy portraits without them having to take time out of the wedding for photos. Such a smart idea!

Oh, and did we mention that Lindsay and Dan are working with the incredible Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Abby Taubman of Colletts Travel to plan their honeymoon to Australia and Thailand next year?

Now over to the bride, who looked lovely in her Essense of Australia dress…

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How we met

Lindsay, the bride: We met through my cousin’s wife. She was an old school friend of Dan’s and decided that we would be a great match – and she was right!

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Real Jewish Brides: Lindsay Talks About Her Trip To Israel

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Lindsay, a member of Smashing The Glass’ Brides Club, will be marrying Dan on 25th August 2019 at Kochav Hayam in Caesarea, Israel. Click here to read all Lindsay’s planning posts to date.

THREE FACTS: (1) Lindsay and Dan were set up by Lindsay’s cousin! (2) They are planning an English-style destination wedding with a few modern twists in Caesarea, Israel. (3) Even though they are both Jewish, Lindsay is more interested in the religious element of the day than Dan, so they are working to balance tradition with their personal style – our favorite!


A week in Israel

What a week we had in Israel! Dan and I boarded the plane with mixed feelings of excitement (hooray, we’re going to plan our wedding) and extreme nervousness (we’re going to plan our wedding in one week with both sets of fairly opinionated parents who haven’t met any of the suppliers that we have already chosen!)

Vicki, our wedding planner, had prepared a thorough itinerary for us, with everything from food tastings and meetings with the band to spray tans and nail appointments – you really can’t leave anything to chance when it comes to your wedding day!

We arrived to the most miserable weather I’ve ever seen in Israel. It was freezing and pouring with rain – not exactly what I had in mind. Thank goodness I had checked the forecast before we left and went emergency shopping so I was able to channel my ‘wedding planning in the rain chic.’

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