A Wedding In Tel Aviv
“Is this the address?” I asked the taxi driver, puzzled.
“Yeah it’s right here on your left, have a great time!”
I stepped out of the taxi and into the evening air. The sun was setting on Tel Aviv and a warm orange glow radiated through the streets. It was the hour when shops closed and bars opened, and around me the city buzzed with life in anticipation of another evening. The setting sun caught the rounded edges of the 1930’s style balconies casting bizarre and beautiful shadows across the unique architecture of the city. I looked at the door where the driver had pointed.
“This can’t be the place,” I said to myself. I was here for a wedding, and yet around me Tel Aviv hummed with Middle Eastern zeal as if nothing out of the ordinary was happening. I looked again at the sign above the door. This was the place. I stepped inside.
I entered a small room occupied by a few other guests and a small desk. I felt a wave of relief as I realized this was in fact a wedding, and as well as an immediate sense of curiosity as to what could possibly lie beyond this room, here, in the heart of Tel Aviv.
The receptionist took my name, and my bag, and handed me a glass of champagne. “Through these doors,” he directed me, “have a great evening”.
I stepped through the doors and into the venue. It was like stepping into a new world.
The first thing that hit me was the smell. Moroccan, Middle Eastern spices of cardamom and cinnamon with toasted-sizzling scents that could only come from the Israeli kitchen. Live music of cultural fusion and the chatter of party guests filled the air and made the place come alive with excitement.
I looked up and saw the crimson twilight sky, the first stars emerging on such a clear and tranquil evening. I was in a courtyard, tucked away behind the busy streets of the city. Strings of lights ran over my head like fireflies and servers moved between the guests who chatted in the courtyard and up on the balconies.
Both modern and yet classic, Middle Eastern but still Western, in the heart of the busiest city in Israel yet calm and secluded. I had never seen a better event in my life.
Tel Aviv sits on the beach, on the boundary between east and west. No place in the world blends cultures in quite the same way. One can experience the smell and sounds of an eastern bazaar, the trendy style of a modern capital city, and the heritage of a land rich in cultural history, all in the same street. If you are looking for a unique and modern event, let Tel Aviv help you realise your dreams.
