The beautiful Jewish wedding of our Smashing The Glass Brides Club member Victoria, a medical student, to Matt a real estate investor and artist, is an absolute masterclass in how to rock your micro wedding. Like so many couples, these two had a big bash planned for this summer. While they postponed their large celebration to 2021 due to the pandemic, Victoria and Matt still wanted to tie the knot on their original date – and did they ever do it in style! We’re in love with the joyous photos from Megan Mills (who was also the photographer for the groom’s sister Julie’s COVID wedding, also featured on STG!).
The small religious ceremony these two put together in Matt’s parents’ backyard – with assistance from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Pink House Productions – included just close family in attendance in person, with more relatives and friends watching on Youtube Live (which the couple picked as a simpler alternative to Zoom, to make things as easy as possible for some older and less tech savvy virtual attendees).
Victoria’s father, who lives in Israel, was unable to safely travel to New York to attend the wedding, but with a little help from STG Brides Club, she was able to fully incorporate him into the day as he attended virtually, on his own special Skype feed so he could not just watch but participate too. In fact, the bride’s favorite part of the day was when her father sang a blessing during the ceremony – how special is that?!
We’re also in love with the couple’s stunning paper cut ketubah by Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Noa Attias (who Victoria found right here on STG!). Noa is so incredibly talented, not to mention a joy to work with! And how fun is it that post-ceremony, the couple and all their guests changed into bathing suits and jumped in the pool? Perks of a backyard wedding…
Before we turn you over to Victoria, we want to leave you with a quote from her, one that sums it all up so nicely:
At the end of the day, while we all want to celebrate with family and friends, when you are up there looking into each other’s eyes it does not matter whether it is the wedding you planned to have or not. You are just head over heels to be there holding your loved one’s hand, to look into his/her eyes and feel this overwhelming joy and love.
How we Met
Victoria, the bride: We met 7 years ago on Jdate (back when Jswipe wasn’t around yet! Hahah)
A Backyard Wedding
Our original wedding venue was Maritime Parc in NJ, however due to the pandemic we decided to postpone our original party plans to summer 2021.
We have been together for seven years and didn’t want to wait any longer, so we decided to still hold our religious ceremony with our parents and siblings, this year. We held the wedding in my in-law’s backyard, under their porch.
Our rabbi, Rabbi Poupko, helped us come up with a COVID-approved ceremony, but could not make it from Canada as the borders were closed. He redirected us to Rabbi Kohl who performed the ceremony and was terrific!
We had a caterer, Merrill & Cooking-In Catering, inside the house to cook with mask and gloves, while we all stayed out on the porch. She could only be in the kitchen. We went back inside to change into our bathing suits for the pool party once she had left, and opened all windows.
A Fab Planner
We wanted everything to feel organic and simple but beautiful. My MIL’s garden has purple flowers, so it made sense to have a mix of white and light purple/ lavender as flowers.
We struggled to figure out how to do the chuppah. We were going to build our own, and eventually we decided to bring in a family friend and STG vendor, Pink House Productions, to help us organize the rest and keep it as simple and low stress as possible. She got the florist to work on the chuppah, and her vendors to provide us with glassware and linens. We used my mother in law’s plates and silverware. It was really nice to be able to use my in law’s porch, plates, ect.. and only use vendors to complement what we were missing (wine glasses, linens, big foldable tables, …).
We took a couple weeks to practice the audio/sound system as well. My father attended via Skype, which we connected to the TV on the porch. All of our close friends and family invited were on the Youtube Live on Matt’s computer, which we propped up on two bar chairs, side by side.
We used a kiddush cup we were gifted by my mother when we first moved in together.
The tallit we used was gifted to Matt by my mother at the kallah and chatan Shabbat they set up for us that Friday prior.
Invitation
We didn’t send any invitations; everything was by email.
Hair + Make-up
My original makeup artist, Samantha Agostino, came to my mom’s the morning of in NYC and did my makeup. We had rehearsed a look for the bigger party, but this being a Sunday early afternoon affair in 93F heat, we wanted something fresh, light but that would stay put through the heat and sweat.
My dress is very floral, so we went with light pink and champagne colors. We decided not to do any contouring or highlighting as it would have been too shiny in the heat.
A friend of my mother’s, Dora, who works at Dry Bar, did my mother, my sister and my hair. I just wanted a high low ponytail with some waves and it was perfect to keep my slightly cool for the day, without having it all up.
The makeup and hair artists wore masks the entire time.
Dress
The dress I was going to wear at the bigger wedding celebration was at the store, and not yet altered. At the time, all bridal shops were closed so I decided to buy another dress. I actually found this one on sale on Shopbop.com/ Amazon.
Accessories
I bought a white flower clip for my hair from Mestiza and a veil from Etsy, wore earrings my mother gifted me. I had one plain wedding band Matthew bought, the other is the wedding band my father gave my mother when they got married, as well as a tennis bracelet Matthew gave me as a 25th birthday/ wedding gift.
Shoes
I bought a pair of white Stuart Weitzman high heel sandals on sale back in February and joked that they could be my “wedding shoes”… turns out they ended up being my wedding shoes!
The handsome groom
We had a custom suit made at Men’s Wearhouse last year for a friend’s wedding, and he is so handsome in it, he wanted to re-wear that.
I bought him a white button-down shirt and a beautiful pair of shoes to complement. My mother gifted him an Audemars Piguet watch and the cufflinks.
Bridesmaids
My bridesmaids wore their comfiest outfits! Our bridal party was watching through the Youtube Live link!
Ceremony
My favorite part is when my father, who attended virtually over Skype, sang a blessing during the ceremony. It was so special and beautiful, we all clapped when he was done.
Matt’s favorite part is when Rabbi Kohl, from Young Israel of Stamford, sang ‘Forever Young’ at the end of our ceremony.
We had our ceremony outdoors the whole time with our parents, siblings, Matt’s grandmother and aunt present, socially distanced throughout the day but also comfortable to be around each other because we had gotten tested before seeing his grandma and we all socially distanced and took precautions beforehand.
We decided to use YouTube Live as I have family abroad who are older and they could not all figure out Zoom. YouTube Live works great for that because you make your link and send it to your guests, they click it and that’s it! Matt and I practiced scheduling and sending the YouTube live link 100 times and yet the day of the wedding, it would not let us go live. At 1pm, the time of the ceremony I turned into a ball of anxiety, scrambling to send a new link to most of the guests.
Big shout out to my sister and sister in law for helping me out with this mess before and for turning the live off after the ceremony and saving the recording! In the end, it does not matter how much you prepare, if it’s not going to work be ready to send out another email or to start a bit later because like our rabbi said “you were not supposed to get married ten minutes ago and now you are”.
We also used our Smashing the Glass pouch to smash our glass!
Ketubah
I absolutely love our ketubah. I looked around for a ketubah for nine months! I wanted something beautiful, that would be bridal and elegant with a colour scheme that could go anywhere!
I found Noa Attias through Smashing the Glass and fell in love with her designs. I messaged her through Instagram and we worked on a colour scheme and ketubah that fit what I imagined.
Noa is so talented, kind and helpful! We loved working with her and I hope to have another work of art made by her soon!
Flowers
We wanted our flowers to fit the garden and backdrop of the wedding and decided to trust the florist and Susie Blumenfeld from Pink House Productions to make something beautiful!
Photographer
Megan Mills did the picture for my sister in law Julie Samuels Schlang’s COVID wedding, and the pictures were so beautiful we decided to hire her for our wedding as well!
Cake
We had one customary French cake from Mille-feuille – Piece Montee – which is a tower of puff pastry – and one cake from Magnolia Bakery – the more cake the merrier!
Extra details
My father and father in law took Matt out to dinner the Tuesday before the wedding & my sister organized a surprise zoom bachelorette party for me that Thursday.
Friday my parents organized a wedding shower / Shabbat dinner and gave us the gifts they had planned to give us at the wedding shower.
Matt and I spent Saturday “apart” physically but ended up on the phone all of Saturday afternoon to try out the streaming platform for the tenth time in two weeks.
The rest of the day:
– We did a 15mn quick trip to an isolated part of the beach Matt had scouted out to take some pictures and ran back home to have lunch and cut a traditional French (celebratory) cake – une pièce montée! – in our wedding outfit.
– We then all changed into bathing suits in the late afternoon and hung out at the pool – our wedding turned into a POOL PARTY!
– My sister made a beautiful montage video of our family who could not attend wishing us mazel!
Honeymoon
We did a minimoon in the Hamptons and when things settle we hope to go on a honeymoon! TBD!
Advice to couples currently planning their wedding
At the end of the day, while we all want to celebrate with family and friends, when you are up there looking into each other’s eyes it does not matter whether it is the wedding you planned to have or not. You are just head over heels to be there holding your loved one’s hand, to look into his/her eyes and feel this overwhelming joy and love.
What ‘Smashing The Glass Brides Club’ Did For Us
– Helping me find a ketubah artist!
– I was very conflicted because my father could not travel from Israel safely, so I turned to the STG Brides Club! I got lots of support and great ideas as to how to include my father into the wedding, even from afar!
VICTORIA & MATTHEW’S LITTLE WHITE BOOK
Photography – Megan Mills
Ketubah – Noa Attias {offers 10% discount to all members of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club}
Wedding planner – Pink House Productions
Bride’s dress – Marchesa Notte
Bride’s shoes – Stuart Weitzman
Bride’s accessories – Mestiza, Etsy
Groom’s attire – Men’s wearhouse
Hair + Makeup – Dora, Samantha Agostino
Catering – Merrill & Cooking-In Catering
Cake – Mille-feuille, Magnolia Bakery
Thank You cards – Kramer Drive, ordered through Susan Carter from The Write Stuff
Rabbi – Rabbi Kohl, Young Israel of Stamford and Rabbi Poupko, Park East synagogue, NYC
Smash The Glass Pouch – Smashing The Glass Etsy Shop {or join Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club and get one for free!}
If you’re a Jewish or Jew-ish bride-to-be, you’ll want to join Smashing The Glass’ Brides Club. Guided by the world’s number 1 Jewish wedding expert, Karen Cinnamon, Brides Club is the private community for Jewish and Jew-ish brides that removes wedstress and indecision and gives you what you need to plan with confidence during these uncertain times. Join our Brides Club here.
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