Two Months ago, I blogged about preparing for my upcoming wedding in Israel. Regardless of how much I knew about Israeli weddings or how much I prepared, my wedding was beyond anything I could have ever dreamed of or expected! As promised… here are a few of the highlights from the day.

To start, we had a traditional Israeli ceremony under the huppah (wedding canopy). Unlike ceremonies here, we were able to face our family and friends throughout the whole thing, which made it even more special seeing all of our loved ones looking back at us. The ceremony was more lively than I could have imagined – people were singing and clapping along to the prayers – which made it truly feel like a celebration from the moment I started walking down the aisle.

Up next… the dancing! It started at 8:30 pm after the ceremony and didn’t stop until 2:30 am. I was advised by many Israelis to stay on the dance floor throughout the wedding – the bride never leaves – so any time I went to a table to say hi to friends, I was pulled right back in to be at the center of the action.

We were also extremely fortunate to have some very special guests join us that evening – the President of Israel, Chief of Staff and Minister of Defense stopped by to give their well wishes. It was truly an honor to have them there and meet living legends.

Although 550 were expected to arrive (remember, no RSVP cards!), 570 showed up! The number used to scare me, but I think it made it a much better party having that many people there… the dance floor was never empty!

Kobi and I look at our pictures and video constantly and remark about what a magical day it was, from beginning to end. The food was great, the flowers were beautiful and the music was perfect, but the day was truly special because of all our friends and family we had by our side!