In Season: What kind of wedding?

While most couples in Israel prefer large, extravagant events, others are starting to opt for smaller, more elegant ones.

By LAURA TAUB
Wedding in Israel_311 (photo credit: Courtesy)
Wedding in Israel_311
(photo credit: Courtesy)
Israeli weddings have become bigger and fancier over the years. The location, the flowers, the food and the music are not enough. There are gimmicks and surprises and everybody tries to outdo the last wedding they went to and give their guests a one-in-a-lifetime experience, that ends up the same as everyone else.
But not all couples wish to invite everybody they once knew or went to kindergarten with. Some now choose to hold smaller gatherings, inviting only their closest relatives and friends to more sophisticated events.
“We recognized that need,” says Raffi Bader, owner of The Fourth Floor, a small loft-like place in south Tel Aviv. “Our clients demand a more meticulous event. When we opened The Fourth Floor, we wanted to create a place with urban atmosphere that will be perfect for stylish events with gourmet food prepared by our chef, Assaf Zilberstein, and personal service.”
The place can host up to 350 people but a 100-200 wedding in the New York-style loft is relaxed and guests almost feel like they are in a very artsy home rather than a public place.
Other recommended boutique wedding venues for this year’s smaller events are, among others, Beit Uriel in Tel Aviv, Laurens in Jaffa, Villa Socca in Moshav Bnei Zion and Vino Socca in Herzliya, the Castiel locations in Tel Aviv and the 28 King David Gallery in Jerusalem. All are kosher and supervised by local rabbinical authorities.
The Fourth Floor, Rehov Haharash 8, Tel Aviv, (03) 688-8554, www.4floor.co.il; Lauren’s Gallery, (03) 683-7373, www.laurens.co.il; Vino Socca (Herzliya) and Villa Socca (Bnei Zion), www.villa-socca.co.il; King David Gallery, Jerusalem, (02) 623-4460, www.28kingdavid.com.
The cake

Tal Zafrir of Taltalim Studio will create for you a custom-made cake from sugar dough that not only looks great but is very tasty. You may choose from a variety of flavors, such as chocolate, vanilla, orange, cinnamon, strawberry, dates and marzipan, and various fillings. Zafrir focuses on the smallest of details and adds not only flowers and traditional trimmings but also small figurines and other visual effects using air-brush techniques and other innovative new techniques. “Size does matter,” she says, and adds that nowadays some couples wish for bigger cakes but other return to the classical traditional ones. All the cakes are kosher and prices start at NIS 1,500. www.taltalim.co.il, 052-371-4189.
Wedding package

Big Electric and Electro Kubi offer a special wedding season deal that may help set the newlyweds on their way. They put together a package that includes most of the electric goods needed in a first home, including a refrigerator, washing machine, stove-oven and 10 small appliances, such as iron, electric kettle, toaster, Shabbat hot plate and food processor for NIS 5,190. For more details and addresses go to www.electrokubi.co.il.