Calling all DIY-loving brides and grooms! If you’re planning on crafting some elements of your Jewish wedding yourself, the beautiful wedding of Smashing The Glass Brides Club member Aly to Benji is a must-read.
From the get-go, Aly and Benji knew they wanted their big day to feel fun and whimsical to reflect their personalities – in Aly’s words, she wanted “the opposite of a white wedding!” And with tons of pastel colors (plus a few pops of something brighter) and tons of DIY, that’s exactly what they got.
Soon after getting engaged, Aly bought a cricut machine, and in the leadup to the big day she DIY’ed the couple’s large welcome mirror, customized their ring box with their initials, made the MOB and MOG personalized hoodies to get ready in, customized the card box, and DIY’ed a vase with the signature drink menu on it. Aly also designed all of the digital and print elements – including the invitations – using elements from Canva for the table numbers in gorgeous frames, menu cards, cocktail hour signs, and digital signage around the venue – she’s truly the queen of DIY! Don’t miss all the special details in the wonderful photos by Nadav at Manning Avenue.
There’s so much more to say about this exuberant Jewish wedding, but we’ll turn you over to Aly for the rest…
How We Met
Aly, the bride: On Benji’s birthday in 2019, we matched on Hinge! Benji might have been not-so-sober celebrating in Greece, but luckily, his location was still set to home for me to find.
A few weeks later, Benji suggested we “meet in the middle” at the Yonge and Sheppard Jack Astors (RIP) which was 10 minutes from his house and 20 minutes from Aly’s… but the date went well enough for us to keep our Snapchat streak going while Aly went to Disneyworld for two weeks and Benji waited patiently for her to come home (streak is still going strong at 2,200+ days!).
Venue
We got married at the Arlington Estate, I wanted at least a small water feature on the property. It fit all of our guests, food is great, it’s just north of Toronto/accessible to most of our guests, and they are very accommodating!
Color and Whimsy
The main thing I wanted for Benji and I was the opposite of a white wedding! We’re both a little bit out of the ordinary as a couple and definitely quirky, so I wanted it to feel beautiful and elegant while at the same time fun and whimsical to reflect our personalities. We had as many pastel colours as possible with a few pops of bright colours – and lots of sky blue!
Our planner was Fab Fete Jessie.
Invitation/Stationery
I designed them myself on Canva!
Hair + Makeup
My hair was Hair Master Toronto and makeup was Glow by O. Both did incredible jobs with everyone!
A Maggie Sottero Dress
My dress was Maggie Sottero from Superior Bridal. The dress originally had a large deep V down the neckline. I kept telling them it would be the perfect dress if it just didn’t have that! Luckily they asked their seamstress to join us and helped visualize what it would look like closed up and how they would do it, by ordering extra flowers and prices from the designer to make it look seamless. I had the dress’ matching veil as well!
Accessories & Shoes
I wore my mom’s earrings, and purchased Bella Belle shoes at a pop up in Toronto. I also had the matching veil to my dress! My dress was so detailed it didn’t need much more than that!
Bridesmaids
I had my bridesmaids each pick their own light blue dress! I know they all already have amazing taste and they all ended up looking amazing and cohesive together. Everyone felt and looked their best because they could choose exactly what they wanted!
Ceremony & Chuppah
The glass we smashed is going to be made into a mezuzah by an artist in France!
Kiddush cups we used were (1) my paternal grandparent’s wedding kiddush cup that all of my cousins used at their weddings, and (2) Benji’s paternal great-great grandfather’s kiddush cup.
I circled Benji 4 times and he circled me 3 which felt more appropriate for our relationship and reflects the 3 Jewish patriarchs and 4 matriarchs.
Our Rabbi (Rabbi Weiss from Temple Har Zion in Thornhill, Ontario, Canada) and Cantor Littman did an amazing job with our Reform ceremony. My family has belonged to Har Zion since I was in kindergarten, so the Rabbi made the ceremony really personal. He took lots of time to get to know Benji and I beforehand so he could include a lot of meaningful stories throughout. Many of our jewish and non-Jewish friends alike were extremely complimentary of the ceremony and loved how personal it was!
Our decor/florist Daeja Dreams did our chuppah with more beautiful flowers and hung Benji’s grandfather’s tallis. Luckily the Arlington Estate has the perfect structure to use as a Chuppah outdoors which is already on a raised platform. Benji and I are not super tall so that was important to us!
Ketubah
Our ketubah designer was from Brides Club — Brit Colors.
We worked with Brit closely from start to finish on a custom design! It included embroidery, glass beads, watercolours, and gold leaf. I love art and Judaica, so a beautiful Ketubah was always my dream and I was honestly the most excited about this detail for the wedding! We gave Britt lots of inspiration from our wedding decor, colours, flowers, and aesthetics we both love. It reflects our colourful nature while still being a classy and beautiful piece of art for our home. It also uses the Canadian Reform Ketubah texts which highlights equal partnership values and egalitarianism.
Our music choice
We hired the band Soular, (9 piece band) their ceremony duo, (guitarist and pianist) and their DJ! They could not have all been more incredible. They took the time to really understand our taste in music, and they also know exactly how to read the vibe of a room to ensure it’s an amazing party.
Our ceremony music included a few Star Wars pieces that felt fun, nostalgic, and serene at the same time. We asked them to learn “Vienna” by Billy Joel for our first dance, and it was so amazing. The band played many of our requests ranging from oldies to top 40 and early 2000s, and the DJ played lots of Israeli music! Lastly, my dad sings and plays the saxophone, so he surprised us by playing 2 songs with the band! I was so grateful Soular allowed him to do that for us and he sounded amazing with them.
Flowers
Again, Ekua from Daeja Dream completely understood the assignment of “opposite of a white wedding!” She chose seasonal flowers in our colour pallette and I completely trusted her to capture the vibe we were going for. All of her work was above and beyond fantastic from the bouquets to the boutonnieres to the tablescaping. She was also able to bring in some fake trees to help fill up the large room and used fairy lights/bulb lights at my request to make the room feel like a fairytale.
Photographer and videographer
Both our photographers and videographers were incredible! They captured all of our special moments perfectly and we couldn’t be happier. Nadav at Manning Avenue and John and Summerfield Films both made us feel extremely comfortable and stress free.
Food and cake
Laura with Palette and Petal Cakes made us the most beautiful edible piece of art in our 3 tier cake. She also completely understood the assignment from our vision boards, colours, etc. Each tier was a different flavour: lemon blueberry, cookies & cream, and nutella chocolate!
My mom also planned out a HUGE candy table for dessert which was a huge hit – who said it was only for Bat Mitzvahs!
The food at the Arlington Estate was beyond incredible, and every single person was so complimentary of the food- to the point where they left stuffed! We loved all of our hors d’oeuvres, and they were kind enough to make us off-menu arancini. After appetizers/salads, The short rib entree was a huge hit, but i think the basket of truffle fries at each table were the most popular! People also loved the plated chocolate lava cake. We also used the venue’s huge outdoor pizza oven for late night savoury and sweet (nutella) pizzas alongside some classic late night bites.
Extra Details
I bought a cricut machine after getting engaged, because I did want to DIY a few elements while still keeping everything looking elegant and professional. I had my fair share of projects to practice on with many simchas, birthdays, events, etc. going on in the past year! I DIY’ed our large welcome mirror (which was super difficult but worth it), customized our ring box with our initials, made the MOB and MOG personalized hoodies to get ready in, customized the card box, and DIY’ed a vase with our signature drink menu on it! I also designed all of the digital and print elements using elements from Canva for the table numbers in gorgeous frames, menu cards, cocktail hour signs, and digital signage around the venue with welcome signs, the seating chart, engagement photos above the bar, and much more!
Since I work for Snapchat on the Bitmoji team, we also ordered a bunch of large “heads” of mine and Benji’s Bitmojis to have for the horah. They were a huge hit throughout the night.
Benji’s parents also got to do a Mezinka since Benji’s only older brother got married last November.
My sister (and MOH) MC’ed the evening and treated it as if it were her own netflix stand up special. She’s a true drama student at heart and loves the mic!
Our families were extremely supportive throughout the process. My mom especially, since she is the hostess with the mostess and she wanted to make sure the evening not only felt fun and whimsical but also elegant.
Benjis brother (and best man), my parents, and his parents also spoke.
The most common and special compliments we got after the wedding was how apparent it was that we loved each other, and how it was felt throughout the whole day. Benji and I don’t like to take anything too seriously so we were laughing and smiling the whole day throughout photos, the ceremony, speeches, and dancing. I think it put everyone at ease and gave everyone permission to just have an amazing time!
Honeymoon
We’re going to Italy! We’re flying into Rome, spending 5 days in Sorrento to explore the Amalfi Coast, 2 nights in Florence, 4 nights in a Castle in Tuscany/Chianti, and then two nights in Rome before heading home.
Advice to couples currently planning their wedding
I’m really open about my experiences with therapy! Consistent therapy was one of the most helpful things I did leading up to the wedding. It meant so much to me that those close to me could notice the work I put into myself so that I could have the best day ever. I wish I could go back in time and tell myself that I was going to be pretty much too stress free, happy, and in love that day to be stressed or anxious. Shoutout to my amazing therapist and the support of my loved ones over the past year!
ALY & BENJI’S LITTLE WHITE BOOK
Photography – Manning Avenue
Videography – Summerfield Films
Ketubah – Brit Colors
Venue – The Arlington Estate
Planner – Fab Fete Jessie
Bride’s dress – Maggie Sottero from Superior Bridal
Bride’s shoes – Bella Belle
Hair – Hair Master Toronto
Makeup – Glow by O
Flowers & Decor – Daeja Dreams
DJ – Soular Band
Cake – Palette and Petal Cakes
Rabbi & cantor – Rabbi Weiss & Cantor Littman from Temple Har Zion
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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