Get ready to be BLOWN AWAY by the incredible Jewish-Hindu wedding of our beloved Brides Club member Jaime, who has an online fitness business, and Varun, who is CEO of a tech company. These two wanted a one-of-a-kind day that felt larger than life, and did they ever achieve that goal – thanks in no small part to the expertise of their wedding planner, Leora of Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Best Bride, who Jaime describes as “the best wedding planner on the planet. Period.”
Blending two different faiths and cultures is no small feat, but Leora made it a breeze, working with Jaime and Varun to craft a jam-packed day – and we do mean a full day; this wedding went from noon until midnight! – including two ceremonies (one Hindu, one Jewish), a positively mouthwatering bicultural food experience featuring Israeli and Indian street food, and, of course, a rocking party to end things off.
The results were thoroughly, breathtakingly beautiful – we’re equally obsessed with the color and energy of the Hindu ceremony and the romance and drama of the sunset Jewish ceremony. And how beautiful is the couple’s floral ketubah, created by Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor The Delicate Brush?! Jaime can’t stop raving about her experience working with founder Rachelle to create the perfect design to match the color and décor scheme for her Jewish ceremony.
You really, really don’t want to miss the fantastic photos from Clane Gessel and Sanaz Photography. Because their day had so much going on, planner Leora encouraged Jaime and Varun to hire two photography teams to make sure none of the good stuff went undocumented, and Jaime is SO glad she followed that advice. And the trailer by AndHer Visuals is equally unmissable.
Now over to the bride, who had not one, not two, but THREE dresses for the big day – her gorgrous, vibrant dress for the Hindu ceremony was made by Vama Designs, and her gown for the Jewish ceremony was custom made by Israeli designer Helena Kolan (who also created Jaime’s reception dress)…
How we met
Jaime, the bride: We met on OKCupid in San Francisco when we were both working in the start up scene.
Larger than Life
We got married at Hummingbird Nest Ranch in California. We wanted a venue that felt LARGER than life – and also one that allowed us to bring in our own food and create our own world/vibe. HNR was the PERFECT fit for us! We loved the feeling of spaciousness that the venue had & the fact that it was surrounded by large mountains just gave it this larger than life feel!
Varun and I live in Boston. We met when we were living in San Francisco and our family is split between northern CA and the east coast – needless to say this was a destination wedding for everyone!
Blending Cultures
Every detail down to a T was personalized to us. Blending two cultures is no easy task. We knew we wanted to combine TWO ceremonies into one day, give people an AMAZING ethnic food experience and then party our asses off all night. We had our work cut out for us but luckily we had Leora from Best Bride to guide us every step of the way.
Our vibe for the wedding experience was swanky but in a YOLO type of way vs a stuffy way. We wanted to truly give our guests an EXPERIENCE – not just a wedding. We had a FULL day wedding that started at noon and went until midnight. Each aspect of the wedding had a different vibe (see below).
For the Baraat & Hindu Ceremony – it was all about COLOR, LIVELINESS and ENERGY! We wanted our guests to feel like they were in a TRUE hindu wedding. We used color smoke bombs during the baraat, and Varun rode in on a white horse while the DJ played the dhol.
In between the Hindu ceremony and the Jewish ceremony we had a 2.5 hour cocktail/street food experience. We had both Israeli and Indian street food stations lined up to serve our guests. We used an AMAZING catering company who took care of the Israeli food and he partnered with the top Punjabi catering company in California so we could REALLY make sure we nailed the food! Leora and Tomy (owner of the catering company) brought the vision to life in SUCH a classy way.
For the Jewish ceremony – the vibe was pink, crystal, stars and magic. The Jewish ceremony began at sunset and had a much more serious/emotional vibe.
For the reception- the vibe was “universey”, elegant, bold flowers, color, crystal, culture – all the things. I am not even sure how to describe it but it was EVERYTHING I dreamed of and more!
I feel like the entire day was totally unusual and out of the ordinary. The guest bag was super unique, the venue was unique and we used a TON of color. One thing that I kept hearing over and over again was how UNIQUE it was that we used so much color – I am not a white wedding type of gal and I stayed true to that for sure lol!
We used Leora from Best Bride who is the best wedding planner on the planet. Period.
What ‘Smashing The Glass Brides Club’ Did For Us
I loved being a part of the Brides Club! It was so nice to lean on a group of ladies (& Karen) when I had questions or was going through a challenge! It was also so nice to be able to give that support back.
Invitation
Totally unique – we wanted something that would set the tone for the experience. We chose a velvet box with an acrylic invitation. We worked with Creative Works
Hair + Makeup
Makeup by Marine is hands down the most amazing makeup artist on the planet. Being the Bravo obsessed girl that I am – I told Leora I wanted whoever did MJ’s makeup from Shahs of Sunset (Leora also planned MJ’s wedding).
After my trial with her I KNEW that she was the one. Not only is she one of the most talented people – but she is one of the SWEETEST.
Hair by V who partners with Marine did my hair 🙂 he made me look and feel like a princess and was such a kind human!We started hair and makeup at like 3:45 AM and they went all day with me until midnight! These two are SUCH champs!!
I wanted to wear henna during the hindu ceremony but wanted to be able to remove it for the Jewish ceremony. So we hired celebrity henna artist Neha Assar who used removable henna on me so that I could wash it off in between ceremonies. Her work is incredible!
Three Dresses
I had three dresses for my wedding! The Hindu Ceremony dress was made by Vama Designs. I saw this piece at her shop and fell in love instantly. It was bright fuschia with a type of embroidery called gota patti! I LOVEDDD it !!
The Jewish Ceremony Dress was made by Helena Kolan. She and I brainstormed and she made my ideas come to life – the dress was totally custom! The reception dress was also made by Helena Kolan. Her assistant Julia and I went to the fabric district in Tel Aviv and hand picked out the fabric together with my mom. It is seriously one of my most treasured memories.
Part of the fun of designing our wedding was all of the logistics and travel that it involved! There were many trips to California, several to NYC (for Varun’s tux), and I went to Israel 3x for my dress… the best part? I was able to share special memories with my parents on those trips before the big day.
Accessories
At the last minute (like a week before the big day ) I realized I wanted a massive train lol. Being the amazing woman that she is, Helena whipped one up for me within days – this was GREAT for photos and for a dramatic aisle experience.
For the reception I changed into a sparkly dress also made custom by Helena and I wore a Keren Wolf headpiece.My clutch was made from material from my grandma’s dress, my aunt and my grandma designed it for me based off of my dress. It was so special to have that!
The gold jewelry set that I wore for the Hindu ceremony was given to me by Varun’s parents. It is traditional for the groom’s parents to gift the new bride a gold set. Before the wedding we went as a family to pick this one out together! It was such a memorable experiece.
Our wedding bands were also super special. Varun and I designed them together (well I designed them lol but I made sure he loved his!). We worked with our jeweler Maytal Hannah to come up with the perfect design. I went a little less traditional with a right hand eternity band.
And Varun went with a rose gold and black diamond eternity band. His was engraved with “love ya forever sweetie” (something we always say to each other) and our wedding date. Mine wasn’t able to be engraved because of the complexity of the design but my engagement ring is engraved with “soul mates forever” and a pink and blue diamond to represent us 🙂
Shoes
I had two different shoes for my wedding. For the Hindu ceremony I went with Rene Caovilla. I had my eye on this REALLY amazing sandals that had swarovski crystals hanging from them ! But everywhere I looked they were sold out in my size until I finally found them in Paris 🙂
For the Jewish ceremony I bought a pair of Romy’s from Jimmy Choo and had the amazing Swarovski Queen – Crystalled by Jane deck them out. Her work is phenomenal and she made my dream shoes come to life!
The handsome groom
For the Hindu ceremony Varun wore a custom white embroidered Sherwani made by Rivesse Clothing. Varun and I spent a day in NYC together going to all the tux shops. But nothing compared to the one he tried on at Tom Ford. It was dark blue with black satin details and it looked incredible. He wore black patent leather Christian Louboutins that my parents got for him while we were wedding shopping in Paris.
I also got him cuff links and studs that were engraved with personal touches. The cufflinks were black swarovski crystal with rose gold detail which matched his black diamond/rose gold wedding ring and also the vibe of the wedding.
Bridesmaids
They wore Indian outfits for the Hindu ceremony which were light green and beautiful metal gray sparkly dresses from Brideside for the Jewish ceremony!
Ceremony
Our family and friends had roles in both the Hindu and Jewish ceremonies. There is a really beautiful exchange that happens after the Baraat where the bride’s side meets the groom’s side and uncles/close male friends exchange garlands and pick each other up! During the Jewish ceremony – we had some of our close family friends sign our Ketubah!
Ketubah
The ketubah designer was The Delicate Brush. I actually was able to go to her studio with my dad when we were in Israel getting the wedding dress! She was wonderful to work with and the ketubah matched the Jewish Ceremony PERFECTLY!
The talit we hung under the chuppa was my great grandfathers. I also wore this on my bat mitzvah day.
Chuppah
Inna from Butterfly Floral did it all. It was PHENOMENAL. I told her “lots of crystals, lots of flowers, I want it to look like it’s floating”. I didn’t have to tell her much lol and let’s just say she delivered.
I also have to give a shout out to LA BEST RENTAL because they absolutely killed it and were SO much a part of the creative direction!
Our music choice
As guests were seated Eli and his wife sang ‘The Prayer’ by Andrea Bocelli as tribute to my Italian heritage 🙂
Varun walked down the aisle to the instrumental of ‘All of Me’ by John Legend. Our bridal party walked down the aisle to the instrumental of ‘Hymn For The Weekend’ .
As I walked down the aisle – Eli’s band sang Andrea Bocelli ‘Con Te Partiro’ ½ in italian and then the other ½ in hebrew to ‘boi kala’. The first part being in Italian was tibute to my Italian Heritage. When Varun smashed the glass – we played Kygo’s ‘Born To Be Yours’ – not only do we love tropical house music – but we truly feel like we were born for each other 🙂
I let my dad choose the song we danced to and he chose ‘You are so beautiful’ by Joe Cocker which Eli’s band sang.Varun and his mom danced to ‘Janam Janam (Bholi Bhali Meri Maa)’
First dance for V & I : ‘Sky full of stars’ – which was sung by Eli’s band. Coldplay is such a fav of Varun’s and mine and we are all about those universe-y vibes so this one is perfect! After the slow song we hyped it up and started dancing to ‘Tu meri’ which is a very catchy and fun Indian song and it means ‘you are mine’.
Flowers
I couldn’t tell you what the heck kind of flowers were used but we used a lot and each aspect of the wedding required something different. So different floral designs were used for each of the events- Hindu ceremony, street food experience, Jewish ceremony, reception. I told Inna from Butterfly Floral what I wanted and she delivered the magic.
For someone who is extremely picky – let’s just say it did not take many iterations – she is PHENOMENAL.
There is no better florist I am convinced. We had so many amazing vendors at the wedding but FLOWERS were SOOO important because they really give the WOW factor – there is no way we would have had the experience we did without her amazing creative direction and execution. For my bouquet – I wanted to keep it simple, sparkly and white since there was so much color everywhere else!
Photographer and videographer
Since we had so much going on that day – Leora really encouraged us to hire TWO separate photography teams – and I am SOOOO happy she pushed us to do that. We hired Clane Gessel and Sanaz Photography. Both of them have a unique style that really helped make sure we got all aspects of the day. Leora always told me “YOU WILL NEVER REGRET MORE PICTURES” and she was SO right!
For video we hired AndHer Visuals. They are not just videographers – they make your day into a FILM. The work they do is so epic and we absolutely loved it!
Food
OMG COTTURA. Thank goodness for them. Leora introduced us to Tomy from Cottura catering – this was one of the most monumental best decisions of our wedding. Not only did our guests say it was some of the BEST food they ever tasted- but his execution was absolutely FLAWLESS. Tomy partnered with Natraj – the top Punjabi caterer in California and they were an absolute dream team.
When guests arrived around 1: small passed bites, mango lassi
Street food experience: blends of israeli and indian street food being prepared LIVE!
Reception: Guests were able to choose from a menu and order in the moment which I LOVE and think is so classy (gives you such a restaurant vibe). We had of course a chicken, fish, pasta choice but we also had something called a THALI which guests could choose as well. A Thali is a big plate full of smaller bowls – each with their own food! Super cultural!
Entertainment
For the Bharaat we had a horse, a DJ and a dhol player!
During the street food experience we had a saxaphone player! For the receiption we had a DJ, a band and we hired traditional Bhangra dancers to perform as well.
Dhamaka Entertainment and Eli’s band worked SO well together during the reception – they coordinated things so well and it was such a nice blend.
We went with Eli’s band because – well i mean – i have no words just go watch them lol! We had initially hired just a DJ and were going to stick with just that but Leora urged us to check out Eli’s band – when I heard them and met them in person I was sold. There is nothing like the live energy of a band at your wedding!
Favours
We gave guests a gift bag that was full of goodies 🙂 and the table seating assignments were done on real kaleidoscopes! We had a LOT of custom art work that was done in the form of brochures/maps/welcome letters that helped set the tone for the day as well.
Rabbi – meant to be!
One of my favorite stories from the wedding experience is how we got our rabbi. I have known our rabbi – Idan Irelander since I was a little girl. My mom works as a Hebrew school teacher and he, his wife, and their kids have become SO close with us. When I reached out to him to ask him to be a part of our wedding he had to decline because he had a bar mitzvah that day. But i still KNEW that he was going to marry us. So I said “Ok Idan, but I still KNOW somehow someway – you’ll marry us”.
Well low and behold for some reason – the family CHANGED the bar mitzvah date (WHICH NEVER HAPPENS)!! And I got the news as my mom and I were LANDING in Israel – LOL I kid you not – so as we were landing I started to get cell service and a text from Idan came through saying “You’re never going to believe this – but I can marry you!”. It was seriously the best news and couldn’t have been more perfect!
Honeymoon
After the wedding we drove up the coast to SF so we could drop things off at Varun’s parents house. On the way we stopped in Santa Barbara and stayed at the Four Seasons there which was beautiful! We will be taking a more official honeymoon sometime in the next year – likely Thailand and Maldives.
Advice to couples currently planning their wedding
I had a lot of stuff thrown at me that week lol!
I got super sick and was in urgent care 3x and there were crazy fires relatively close to our venue that could have REALLY impacted our day. I stayed calm and trusted the universe. Letting go of what you cannot control is SO important. Trust the universe and let adrenaline power you through the day 🙂
JAIME & VARUN’S LITTLE WHITE BOOK
Photography – Clane Gessel, Sanaz Photography
Videography – AndHer Visuals
Ketubah – The Delicate Brush {offers 10% discount to all members of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club}
Wedding planner – Best Bride {offers 10% discount on all packages to all members of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club}
Venue – Hummingbird Nest Ranch
Bride’s dress – Vama Designs, Helena Kolan
Bride’s shoes – Rene Caovilla, Jimmy Choo
Bride’s accessories – Keren Wolf
Groom’s attire – Rivesse, Tom Ford, Christian Louboutins
Bridesmaids – Brideside
Hair + Makeup – Hair by V, Makeup by Marine
Henna artist – Neha Assar
Flowers – Butterfly Floral
Band – Eli’s band, Dhamaka
Catering – Cottura, Natraj
Stationery/Invitation – Creative Works
Jeweler – Maytal Hannah
Rentals – LA BEST RENTAL
Rabbi – Idan Irelander
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.
