Exclusive: Actress Inbar Lavi and Dan Bar Shira's Burning Man-Inspired Beach Wedding in Israel

Inbar Lavi, the singer, entrepreneur, and actress on the TV show "Lucifer," first met Dan Bar Shira, who works in green energy, in the sandy Nevada desert at the Burning Man festival in August 2019. Just over two years later on September 13, 2021, the pair reunited on the sandy beaches of their native Israel to exchange vows and celebrate their marriage with 400 of their family and friends. “We’re both Israeli and very connected to our roots,” shares Inbar of why they chose their venue of Al Hayam in Sdot Yam. “Our family lives here and we were raised by the Mediterranean, which made us who we are today."

While it may have been a large wedding, the bohemian beachside ceremony and the subsequent party—complete with light shows and three different DJs—brought together a mix of intimacy and tons of fun. “We met at Burning Man so we wanted our wedding to emulate a feeling of free-flow festival,” shares Inbar. “We also both love the beach so we knew it would have to have waves nearby.”

“The theme was Tulum meets Burning Man meets a really good cocktail,” says Inbar with a laugh. “The color scheme was white. The goal was to have everyone together, so they can all float with us on the same cloud we were.”

The bride and groom hired an excellent team to make their festival-inspired dream wedding come to life. “We used producers Steve Bar Productions and Vanessa Events who helped us plan everything from A to Z,” says Inbar. “We had a very clear vision, and Steve and Vanessa got it right away. They made everything swift and smooth and always with a smile and good spirit. We'd be lost without them! Bless them!”

Ahead, explore Inbar and Dan's stunning white wedding full of fun, fire, and plenty of surprises, planned by Steve Bar Productions and Vanessa Events and photographed by People Photography.

While the dress code for all the guests was to wear white, Inbar wanted to create custom looks to help her shine and feel comfortable all night long. "To be honest, my stylist Shany Lasry really really helped with the dress,” explains Inbar. “I'm so lucky to have had her guidance throughout this journey. She introduced me to our wedding designer Daniella Hajaj.”

“Together we tried on a bunch of dresses in her studio and nothing felt right. Then, we just narrowed in on the fabric. Daniella said ‘Close your eyes, touch it, feel it. Is this what you want holding you?’ And, I knew chiffon was the fabric I wanted to be wrapped in on this day," shares the bride. "Daniella went to the back and brought out a massive roll of that fabric and started wrapping me in it. We literally crafted it on my body from scratch. It was amazing. We started pulling out strings and tying up ribbons until we found the design we all loved. It was so creative and free, which happens to be the spirit of the wedding.”

For the first dress, the designers chose a clean chiffon fabric with an Italian crepe corset. She paired the looks of the day with jewelry by Efrat Cassuto. "For the first dress, we stayed on the clean line and we went with small classy pearl earrings which suit the look and the environment of the wedding," explains Inbar.

Dan also had three looks of the day, styled by Shany Lasry and Ali Mohana. "They decided to go for neutral fabrics which complement the landscape's bright and festive colors," shares Inbar. The first look was a natural linen suit paired with beige Doc Martins and a YSL suede belt.

Before festivities began, the couple decided to do a first look in front of close friends and family.

Studio Galita, who did the floral design for the day, created a stunning neutral bouquet for the bride full of white roses and dried florals.

Before going to say "I do," the couple went to the seaside to take a few photos with the stunning natural backdrop. “We love the beach, so it was natural to want to spend the day there,” says Inbar.

“We chose to have the chuppah on the sand rather than in the actual venue," explains the bride of the ceremony décor. "We wanted a chuppah that was a bit traditional, and a bit untraditional. We wanted it to feel inclusive and respectful to all—to our roots, ourselves, and the holyland."

Before the bride and groom walked down the aisle, they had their youngest relatives go first. “We have a HUGE family," notes Inbar. "The flower girl and boy squad looked like a football team. We wouldn’t have had it any other way!”

“We walked down the aisle to the sounds of Israeli music—some of our favorite classics," explains the bride, who processed to "Kol Hadvarim" by Daniella Spector. "The Hebrew language is my favorite language and it was important for me to walk down the aisle to the sounds of homeland natives.” 

“My best friend Tuna—Ofri Danon—married us and she crafted everything around us for the ceremony,” shares Inbar. "Tuna was the perfect combination of traditional and alternative, and she knows me better than anyone. She combined heart, soul, and humor in the most elegant way I could every hope for.”

One of Inbar's favorite moments of the day? "Finally seeing it all come to life and breaking the glass in front of our family and friends with the sunset and the waves by us," she says.

With a festival spirit in mind, the reception tables and décor flowed around the dance floor with comfortable seating, and beautiful flower-adorned tables. Woven material and warm tones were a highlight of the design.

As for dinner? "The menu was prepared by Israel’s top chefs Erez Komorovsky and Hanan Azran," shares the bride. "[It] was built to be free style, light buffet style, spread out stations for all to enjoy at all times. We didn’t want it to feel like a sit-down meal. It was constant flow of endless light dishes floating around in harmony with the event and dance floor."

"We merged our first dance with our parents and did a mash up,” says Inbar. “We started our solo first dance to the sounds of “I Can't Help Falling In Love With You” Ingrid Michaelson and continued to the OG Elvis Presley version dancing with the parents.”

As the party went into full swing, Inbar changed into her second look for the night. "When we arrived at Daniella Hagag, it was very important to us to create dresses that will fit the environment, the beach, with clean, classy, and sexy looks," notes the brides. "The second dress is a tulle fabric dress built on a lace base fabric and layers of contracted tulle."

“We love music so we had a few of our DJ friends come and perform for us which made the night extra special,” shares Inbar. “ALPHA Music, Omer Erlichman, _mishell_music, and Genish are all amazing DJ’s who came and brought life into the night.”

"We had an amazing photo booth called The Photo Set which came and took the most amazing black and white photos for all of our guests to take home as souvenirs," adds the bride.

As a nod to Inbar's Moroccan heritage, the couple also had a henna ceremony later in the night performed by Meital Benda. “We were carried in by our family and friends to perform the traditional ceremony of henna with Moroccan drum circle and costumes,” says Inbar.

For her third custom look, Inbar donned a dress with a long slit made from a mesh fabric intertwined with Swarovski stones.

Her advice for fellow brides? Get a planner. "There are so many details that go into the planning, things you would never think of! The experience of a planner is invaluable," she says. "They know where to spend to make the biggest impact, and how to avoid waste. Steve and Vanessa are always a few steps ahead of the game, with various solutions to anything that comes up. The best part is that they are always coming up with fun ideas to make the experience unique and magical!" 

Of course, the party didn't end there! Inbar and Dan put on final looks to dance the night away at an after party full of electronic music and even a fire show. Inbar described it all in one word: "Epic."