Smashing the Glass | Jewish Wedding Blog - Inspired Jewish Weddings

A Sophia Tolli Bride for a Jewish Wedding Full of Feeling at the St Pancras Renaissance, London, UK

07/10/2022 by Karen Cinnamon Leave a Comment

We could not be more delighted to be featuring the fabulous London Jewish wedding of our Smashing The Glass Bride’s Club member Jessica! Jessica, who works in advertising, wed Harry, a solicitor, at the majestic St Pancras Renaissance and their big day was simply BEYOND!

Naturally, we were thrilled to hear that Jessica found some of her incredible vendors through Bride’s Club, including their sensational chazzan, Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Jonny Mosesson. In Jessica’s words, “He has the most beautiful voice and moved so many people to tears. He got people clapping along to sheva brachot and hearing his voice really calmed both of our nerves. For me, he took our ceremony to a whole other level.”

For their reception music, Jessica and Harry went with Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Ambassador Band, another rec from Bride’s Club. Jessica writes, “They performed beautiful acoustic sets while guests were eating, and bought the party for the dance sets in between courses and at the end of the night. The Israeli dancing set was also incredible with so much energy. They had everyone on their feet all night long and were better than we could have ever imagined.”

Even before she got engaged, Jessica knew she wanted Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Claudine Hartzel as her photographer – and unsurprisingly, she received another rave review from Jessica: “Claudine was everything we could have wanted in a photographer and more. She rolled with all the punches and kept us both really calm when a few hiccups happened. She really is the dream supplier and we hope to be able to work with her again in the future.”

There’s so much more to say about this wonderful wedding, but we’ll leave it to Jessica, who looked simply divine in Sophia Tolli, to fill you in on the rest…

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HOW WE MET

Jessica, the bride: We met on JSwipe (as all modern Jewish love stories start) and started dating on 29 May 2016. It was then incredibly special to get married on our 6-year anniversary, on 29 May 2022.Continue Reading

A Wed2B Bride for an Egalitarian Jewish Wedding at Kew Gardens, London, UK

03/10/2022 by Karen Cinnamon Leave a Comment

We love it when a couple makes their values the center of their Jewish wedding. Which is exactly what Anya, who works at an international development NGO, and Søren, a PhD student and research assistant working on DNA repair, did in their gorgeous Kew Gardens wedding.

The couple’s egalitarian values were front and center in their ‘shutafut’ (partnership) ceremony — an egalitarian alternative to the traditional ‘kiddushin’ marriage service under the auspices of Masorti. Their rabbi rabbi helped them create a ‘shtar shutafut’ (partnership contract), also known as a ‘brit ahuvim’ (lovers’ covenant), for their ketubah text, where they mapped out their commitments to each other and values they wanted to focus on in their marriage – how special is that?!

We also love that Anya and Søren opted to work with a whole bunch of our beloved Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendors to make their dreams a reality. The duo chose #STGvendor Claudine Hartzel as their photographer for the way she beautifully captures candid moments, and they could not have been more thrilled with the results.

#STGvendor Dvash provided outstanding catering, meeting special dietary requirements with aplomb, and Anya and Søren report that guests are still raving about their favorite canapes!

#STGvendor Happy Chuppah People provided the couple’s birch chuppah – a perfect fit for the setting – and, continuing the botanical theme, and Anya and Søren found their exquisite Tree of Life ketubah via #STGvendor Ketubah.com.

There’s so much more to say about this very special Jewish wedding, but we’ll let the newlyweds take it from here…

How we Met

Anya, the bride and Soren, the groom: We met through JSwipe in October 2016.Continue Reading

A Colorful, Multicultural Colombian-Israeli Jewish Wedding with Garden Vibes at Bustan Abu Ghosh, Israel

30/09/2022 by Karen Cinnamon Leave a Comment

We are absolutely in love with today’s gorgeous multicultural Jewish wedding – not to mention the awesome globetrotting love story of Laura, who’s in business administration, and Daniel, a lawyer, whose relationship took them from Madrid to New York to Israel, where they now live!

Celebrating the merging of their two backgrounds – Laura originally hails from Colombia, while Daniel is Israeli – was the theme for this very special day, and the couple carried it through in everything from their flowers to their music to their ultra-personal ceremony to their venue: they chose to make it official at Bustan Abu Ghosh, which is not only stunning but also happens to be run by a Muslim owner who loves Jewish weddings! In the couple’s words, “We thought it would be fitting to exchange our vows in a place where two different religions and cultures came together to create something magical, as this was precisely what happened with our relationship.” How special is that?!

Laura and Daniel chose Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Ben Kelmer to document their big day – as an amateur photographer herself, Laura knew she wanted someone who could take natural, authentic photos capturing special moments in time. And no one does that better than Ben Kelmer!

There’s so much more to say about this fabulous wedding, but we’ll turn you over to the couple for the rest of the story…

How we Met

Laura, the bride and Daniel, the groom: We met in January 2018, the day we started our MBA at IE Business School in Madrid, Spain. From there, it took a while for us to formally become a couple. Laura was immensely scared of commitment due to previous experiences and did not come to the MBA with any plans to fall in love, let alone to be in a serious relationship. She was also very scared of getting involved with someone from a different religion (Laura is Catholic and Daniel is Jewish). Laura thought she would expose herself to being hurt if she fell in love with someone whose family might not accept her.

After we did get together, we applied and got accepted to Yale School of Management, for a dual degree program. We left Madrid together in August 2018 and graduated from Yale in May 2019. We then moved in together in New York City and got engaged in January 2020. We were planning to get married in October 2020, before COVID changed all of our plans… Continue Reading

The Jewish Joy Journal Pre-Order Sale is Closing Today!

29/09/2022 by Karen Leave a Comment

Inside my Jewish Joy Journal 🙂

Wow – the reaction to my new book, the Jewish Joy Journal, has been incredible! I’m bowled over by how many of you need the JJJ as much as I did and do!

But today, Thursday September 29, is your last chance to pre-order the Jewish Joy Journal.

Are you in’?

A “YES” to the Jewish Joy Journal means you can start checking off this list for your best New Year yet:

✔ Reconnect with who you truly are – Jewishly, professionally, and personally, so you can lean into being fully and proudly, unapologetically you
✔ Feel happier and more resilient to combat stress more effectively and live a healthier, longer life (scientifically proven)
✔ Plan, track progress and SMASH your biggest goals to advance in your life, relationships, and career.

That one YES will lead to so many more yeses.

One action creates dozens more possibilities for yourself, your Jewishness, your loved ones, and even in the lives of others you haven’t even met yet.

I mean, what an impact!

Shop the Jewish Joy Journal >>

When you pre-order the Jewish Joy Journal today, you’ll not only get your hands on a gorgeous luxury journal that takes just minutes to do each day, but has endless impact on your life and others — you’ll also get some amazing bonuses valued at $40 alone… (and someone is going to get a Betsey Johnson Everything Bagel Crossbody Bag worth $130 too!)

Order the Jewish Joy Journal today >>

An Essense of Australia for a Summer Garden Jewish Wedding at Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C., USA

28/09/2022 by Karen Cinnamon Leave a Comment

How stunning is today’s Jewish wedding?! Aly, a recent law school graduate, and Shlomo, who works for his family’s packaging business, crafted the perfect summer-garden themed day in pink and peach, and we are all about it.

And would you believe they made it happen right in the middle of Washington, D.C.? Yep – this wedding took place at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C., which the couple loved for the way it combines fabulous outdoor hardens with easy proximity to downtown.

We’re obsessed with the exquisite photos by Kir Tuben – the couple met Kir when she photographed Aly’s sister’s wedding, and they adored her photography style, wedding-day energy, and passion for her work.

Now over to Aly, who looked positively radiant in Essense of Australia…