Swank Wedding in Israel!

One of the things I really LOVE about my job is that I get to travel to beautiful places to see people celebrate love "their way". Especially when it's somewhere completely different, like the Middle East! Different types of venues, different locals, different styles of dresses, different food...everything different! I LOVE IT!

I was recently lucky enough to be back in Israel (where I was born) for both business and pleasure and wanted to share these photos of our lovely couple and the beautiful wedding we created for them.

*Some Cool Facts about This Wedding:

The venue, STOA, is outside of Tel Aviv, and was actually an old indoor basketball court. Keeping the "bleacher" "levels" was a really cool element to play with.

The brides dress (as well as the dresses of all the women in the wedding party) was custom made and had a full skirt to cover her legs for the religious ceremony but then it was removable as she went into "party" mode!

(more photos to come on our site!)

Mazel Tov to all of you planning your wedding where ever it's going to be!

xoxo ~Maya

You Just Got Engaged! Now What?

Congratulations! You just got engaged!

I know its such an exciting time and you want to get started planning NOW.
BUT hold on! One thing I'm sure you haven't thought of is what if I loose my bling?!!?

I know....what do you mean? But yes things do happen. Diamonds do fall out of their settings and rings do slip off of fingers. What would you do if that happened? (other than sob)

So first things first! Call your insurance agent and get that bling insured! Doesn't cost much at all to add it your renter or homeowners insurance. But if the unthinkable happens knowing you were smart is priceless!

Cheers to your engagement!
~Maya

Non Floral Wedding Centerpiece

Don't get me wrong I have nothing against flowers! LOL
- some of my best friends are florists!

BUT I DO LOVE non floral wedding centerpieces
because it shows a real desire to be different (and sometimes quite budget friendly)
(and I say 'sometimes' because not always will flowers be less than some of the non floral centerpiece ideas we've come up with!)
One of my favorite non floral wedding centerpiece ideas is the Candelabra.

They can be purchased or rented. You can find them is all different shapes, sizes, materials and finishes. And like the ones we used for this wedding at The Edison Ballroom they can be painted any color that goes with your decor vision!
(these were a strange chipped antique gold so we sprayed them high gloss black)
This one is a particularly fun DIY centerpiece because the bride is a jewelry buyer for a popular chain store and so we used the necklaces she sells as embellishments on all the centerpieces! (which some of the guests that worked with her realized as they were complimenting us on the decor -too funny!)
While this particular wedding was very much a black & white theme
(as well as feathers - which will be another non floral centerpiece blog) :) We used white taper candles (make sure to ask your venue about flame rules) BUT in the past to really jazz things up you can buy (or even spay paint!) taper candles any color you want! (with non flammable paint)
Picture sunshine yellow, a soft violet....any color or combo of colors that you may find hard to buy. OR if you wanted to get really crafty and ombre would be outrageous!

Whatever you decide, just know that centerpieces do not have to include any flowers and can still be magical and elegant.

And as always, your wedding decor should be an expression of YOU!.... so be chic, be sassy, be be bold...be YOU.

Cheers to getting married in NY!
~Maya

Photos & Video by the awesome and talented Jorg Windau
Planning, Design & Production by Swank Productions

Congratulations on your Engagement!

CONGRATULATIONS on your ENGAGEMENT!