ILANA + ALEX by Annie May Corum

Tell us a little about yourselves, what you do, what you love, what is unique about you and your relationship:

Ilana: Alex and I are both software developers. We live in Tel-Aviv, Israel with our wonderful dog Json. (His name derives from our shared profession – luckily, he doesn’t seem to mind it!)

We grew up in a small town in Israel and met through our families. We dated for 2 years, and for our 2 year anniversary, we flew to Saint-Petersburg, Russia for a trip. Alex hired us a boat ride to see the gates rise at midnight, and he proposed right there on the boat, it was so beautiful and unexpected! 

We love to travel and have adventures. We love trips where we can just be spontaneous and explore new places. When we don’t travel, our two favourite places to hang out are the beach, which we live right next to. Now with Covid-19, with us working from home, we always try to have a long walk with our dog by the beach and enjoy the fresh air. Our second place is the couch watching TV and eating something new we cooked.

When we talk about doing something, we just do it without overthinking it. We try to maximize each day, have fun, make memories, and enjoy each other’s company.

Tell us about your special day, was there a specific theme or style? Tell us a little about the setting, the styling, and some of your favourite details:

We decided that we don’t want a typical Israeli wedding. It is usually a huge venue with at least 300 guests, and we wanted something small and special. Since we love to travel, we decided to get married in the marriage capital of the world – Las Vegas.

We planned a one month trip to the US and Canada, which was our wedding and honeymoon. To make it more fun we got married by Elvis. A couple of our close friends flew to Vegas for the wedding and we spent the day goofing around and having fun. We wanted a unique photoshoot so we decided to do one along the trip at horseshoe bend. Alex actually found our amazing photographer Annie, and we had another fun day with our wedding outfits, and more memories to cherish.

Tell us about your main outfits:

For this photoshoot, we ordered our outfits from ASOS. I wanted something clean and simple, and Alex wanted a unique colour for his suit. We had done some alterations to our outfits, but overall they were not expensive and were easy to carry around in a suitcase for over a month. 

I did my own hair and makeup for the photoshoot. We wanted to keep it simple and comfortable.

What were some of the most memorable/unique moments from the day:

We got ready in the same room in a hotel in Vegas, it was funny trying to manoeuvre our getting ready without seeing each other. Our friends came to the room to help us get ready and calm our nerves by drinking some champagne.

Seeing each other for the first time on the day of the wedding was very exciting. I think our reaction was priceless. Despite it being an intimate wedding, we were nervous, but we had each other to calm ourselves.

We had so much fun and laughs, we sang songs on the way and had a big dinner at a French restaurant looking over the fountains at the end of our day.

Any advice for other couples planning to spend the rest of their lives together:

Talk with each other about everything, be patient and understanding, and most importantly – keep it light and have fun!

Location: Horseshoe Bend, Arizona, United States | Photographer: Annie May Corum | Bride + Groom’s Attire: ASOS