We are beyond thrilled to be featuring the incredibly gorgeous wedding of our beloved Brides Club member Ashley to Jeff! These two nature loving attorneys dreamed of making it official in the middle of a forest – and they found the perfect spot in San Moritz Lodge, two hours east of their home in Los Angeles.
Then came the pandemic. Ashley and Jeff knew they wanted to get married on their original date, whatever it took, and while the wedding they had looked very different from the one they’d planned initially – they had to cut their indoor reception and catering, in addition to a vastly reduced guest list – it was totally and completely exquisite nonetheless. Karissa Breann Photography’s dreamy images absolutely blow us away.
We’re so touched to hear that that this wedding’s success was in part due to the incredible support and inspiration Ashley received as a member of Smashing the Glass’s Brides Club, which she joined just a month before her big day hoping for help dealing with the stress of planning a wedding during the pandemic. And, in her words,
Once I experienced the overwhelming support of the community and took advantage of the resources, I wondered why I had not joined sooner. Using the plethora of helpful guides and checklists and seeing how other brides were navigating this time made such a difference for me. The brides in Brides Club found so many creative ways to make their weddings safe, unique, and absolutely gorgeous during the pandemic.
One fab idea Ashley picked up from the group was writing each guest a personalized thank you card for making the effort to attend the wedding in the middle of a pandemic – as suggested by none other than Karen Cinnamon gave during one of Brides Club’s monthly Wedding Planning Solved Zoom chats.
Ashley and Jeff worked with wonderful Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Ink with Intent to create the custom ketubah of their dreams, incorporating an image of a couple painted by Chagall, an artist who holds special meaning for the pair. We’re totally in love with how Adriana of Ink with Intent put it all together!
We also love how these two adapted the pre-ceremony tradition of kabbalat panim (“welcoming of the faces”), where the bride sits, surrounded by her mother and soon-to-be mother-in-law, as guests line up to approach her for an individual chat and a wedding day blessing, for the COVID era. Traditionally, only female guests participate, but Ashley and Jeff opened their kabbalat panim up to everyone – and since every household came up to speak with Ashley individually, it was the perfect pandemic-safe way to socialize.
There’s so much more we could say about this wonderful wedding, but we’ll leave it to Ashley to fill you in on the rest…
How we met
Ashley, the bride: We met on JSwipe the very same night my stepdad suggested I expand my geographical search radius for matches. My mom and stepdad were interested in learning how JSwipe worked, so I walked them through the process as we all looked at the screen together.
I previously had my search radius at 15 miles, but my stepdad suggested I increase it to 50 miles. (When he and my mom were dating, the two lived 100 miles apart, and he drove to see her every weekend!) Right after I changed my filter from 15 miles to 50 miles, a picture of a curly-haired cutie feeding a chipmunk popped up. He lived 22 miles away. We seemed to have similar interests, so I swiped yes on him.
My policy was to make sure I was on the same page with a match in terms of goals for the future before agreeing to meet in person. I would do this via videochat, which normally lasted about 20-30 minutes. Jeff considers that first FaceTime conversation to be our first date because it lasted over two hours and we talked about things people would normally talk about on a first date. During that conversation, we could not stop smiling at each other. After determining that we met each other’s basic criteria, we decided to meet each other.
On what I consider our real first date, we went hiking to a waterfall. Feeling adventurous, I took off my hiking shoes, walked underneath the waterfall, and convinced a more hesitant Jeff to do the same. After noticing the rocks were hurting my feet, he offered to carry me out of the water. So romantic! It was a truly exciting and memorable first date. The next day, I was scheduled to do acroyoga in the park. I thought Jeff would enjoy it too, so I invited him back, and we had more fun as we worked together maneuvering several acroyoga poses.
We have been an inseparable team ever since, supporting one another, and lifting each other up.
A Forest Wedding
We got married at San Moritz Lodge right next to Lake Gregory in the middle of a forest on a mountain about two hours east of Los Angeles. I was set on having a magical forest wedding in a real forest, not just a place in the city meant to look like a forest. Jeff was really excited about our mountain forest wedding as well because of how truly “us” it would be, as we both love nature and the outdoors. Being surrounded by the huge pine trees and the tranquillity of the lake was a dream for us.
Once the pandemic hit, we immediately decided we were going to get married on our planned date no matter what, even if we could not have any guests. Marrying each other was more important to us than a big wedding. Luckily, our venue accommodated our plans to the extent possible.
We ended up having an outdoor ceremony right in front of the biggest pine tree as planned, but had to forgo guest seating for the ceremony, the indoor reception, catering, and cake. And of course, the final guest count was significantly less. Our modified wedding nonetheless made for the happiest day of our lives!
What ‘Smashing The Glass Brides Club’ Did For Us
I joined Smashing the Glass’ Brides Club about a month before the wedding to help me through the final stretch. It was stressful planning a wedding when the status of the pandemic and corresponding state and county orders were changing on an almost daily basis.
Once I experienced the overwhelming support of the community and took advantage of the resources, I wondered why I had not joined sooner. Using the plethora of helpful guides and checklists and seeing how other brides were navigating this time made such a difference for me. The brides in Brides Club found so many creative ways to make their weddings safe, unique, and absolutely gorgeous during the pandemic.
I felt excited to post about my #WPWs (wedding planning wins), which motivated me even more in the planning. What I also especially loved was guiding other brides through the planning process using the knowledge and experience I had gained, particularly with regard to the pandemic. Because I discovered so many tricks and paths through the minefield of wedding planning during the pandemic, helping others through it felt particularly satisfying.
Woodsy Vibes
Since our wedding was in a forest, we had a woodsy foresty theme. Our colors were green, brown, and blush pink. We did not use a wedding planner. We saw no reason why we could not plan a wedding ourselves, and we feel so much pride in having planned it ourselves. We made every decision together, except for my dress and accessories.
Hair + Make-up
The decision about hair and makeup was especially painful because I never get my hair done and I do not wear makeup. The day before our engagement photoshoot, I realized I should probably have makeup done. I asked a work colleague who had given me a ton of wedding planning tips to see if she knew anyone, and she recommended her friend, Krystal Marquez from The Bridal Beauty Pros.
Luckily, Krystal was available to do my makeup the next day. Jeff and I were both pleasantly surprised at how natural the makeup looked on me, so I booked Krystal for the wedding to do my hair and makeup. What I liked best about Krystal was her kind and calming energy. I knew I needed that on my wedding day, especially when I am not used to wearing makeup.
Because I heard it was important, I booked a trial for my wedding hair and makeup. This was probably one of the most important beauty planning tricks. During the trial, Krystal put some pencil on my eyebrows to make them look more polished for the pictures. In person, however, the eyebrows looked extreme and freaked Jeff out, so we decided to leave them alone for the wedding. That experience alone made the trial worth it.
A Lisa Saint-Clark Dress
My wedding dress was designed by Lisa Saint-Clark, owner of Saint Clark Bridal Suite in Monrovia. This absolutely perfect bridal boutique was just my style and I felt so happy when my mom found it and suggested it for me. The best part was that it was just a few blocks away from my grandma’s assisted living facility, so it was close enough to just wheel her in her wheelchair down the street to be with my mom and me for wedding dress shopping.
My grandma has always been my favorite shopping buddy, and I knew how much it would mean to her to help me choose a wedding dress, so it was such a treat having her there. And with my mom’s keen eye for style, I was set to find my perfect wedding dress!
I knew I wanted either a classic ball gown or mermaid style dress with lace sleeves for elegance. The mermaid dresses I tried restricted my movement in a way I was not used to, so I quickly nixed that style because I wanted to be able to feel free, run around, and dance wildly at my wedding. So ball gown it was. We found the dress that day.
Over the next few fittings, I worked with Lisa to make the sleeves I wanted with the neckline I wanted. Lisa got to know me, my style, and what I liked, so it was seamless working together. She suggested adding a layer of subtle sparkles to the bottom part of the dress that would shimmer in the sunlight, and I loved the idea. So sparkles were added. I was absolutely thrilled with my wedding dress and it fit me in every sense of the word.
Accessories
All my accessories except for the engagement ring and wedding band were from the same boutique where I bought my wedding dress: Saint Clark Bridal Suite. My veil was custom-made with the same lace that was used to make my wedding dress. Two basic veils were sewn together to make one big veil with the lace at the bottom. Pieces of lace were added to my blusher to match the back veil.
I also wore an elaborate rose gold tiara. I did not previously consider a tiara for my wedding, but Lisa put a tiara on me during my first dress fitting and I loved wearing it. After trying on a few different ones, I found the one for me and felt like a queen!
I am quite picky about earrings, so this decision also was tough for me. I think it was not until my last dress fitting about a week or two before the wedding that I found my wedding earrings. Like the rest of my accessories, they were rose gold.
Jeff and I picked out my engagement ring together. I knew I wanted something unique that fit my personality and style. After being unimpressed by the majority of engagement rings we saw, I was ecstatic when we found my engagement ring. It looked and felt amazing on me. The ring has a rose gold double twisted band with a square morganite (pink beryl) stone surrounded by smaller diamonds. Jeff could tell how meant for me it was, so he bought it a few days later while I was at work.
I chose my wedding band about a week before the wedding. The simple rose gold band is an heirloom from Jeff’s mom’s family and is over 100 years old. I am the fourth generation to wear it.
Shoes
I found and bought my wedding shoes at Macy’s about a week and a half before the wedding. I was not too concerned with this part of my ensemble because my plan was to walk down the aisle and do the rest of the ceremony barefoot on the grass to be closer to nature. I planned to wear shoes only when I left the grass area. Because I needed my feet to feel comfortable on my wedding day, I chose flats instead of heels. And like most of my accessories, they were rose gold and sparkly!
The handsome groom
Before the pandemic hit, Jeff and I custom designed a charcoal grey double-breasted tuxedo for him through Nordstrom. This tuxedo was scheduled to arrive about a month prior to the wedding. After the pandemic hit, however, Nordstrom contacted us and indicated the factory was shut down with no plan to reopen. About a week and a half prior to the wedding, we found Pacific Island Tuxedo Rental & Sales, a rental tuxedo shop in Orange County.
The owner was super friendly and provided the perfect tailored charcoal grey tuxedo (+ shirt, shoes, and bowtie) to make my Jeff look even more handsome and debonair than James Bond! I first saw Jeff at our wedding when he was walking towards me for the bedeken, and I knew I had never seen a man look more handsome.
Ceremony
We decided to have a 100% traditional ceremony conducted by an orthodox rabbi I knew well, Rabbi Mordechai Teller. Rabbi Teller’s approachable, charismatic, and humble personality made him a natural choice for the wedding. The ceremony included my circling Jeff seven times, the seven blessings, wine, reading of the ketubah, Jeff’s putting the wedding band on my finger, and of course, smashing the glass.
Aside from the ceremony itself, we were most excited about our kabbalat panim (“welcoming of the faces”). On her wedding day, the bride is considered especially holy, so it is customary for her to bestow blessings on her wedding guests individually. With the bride’s mother and groom’s mother on each side of her, the bride sits on her throne, meaning a fancy chair, while guests stand in line to approach her individually. While the tradition is for female guests only, we decided to make it for everyone.
This Jewish tradition of kabbalat panim was especially able to withstand the pandemic, as each household was able to come up to me, socially distanced of course, to receive a blessing and time to talk. Because of the limited number of guests at our wedding, each household was able to talk with me for as long as they wanted without interference from anyone else. When we were finished with our conversation, the household went to another area to make way for the next household in line. During this time, Jeff was getting ready and enjoying his tisch with the guys.
Ketubah
Our ketubah comes with a story. In the summer of 2019, Jeff and I took a vacation to Chicago, where Jeff had lived before moving to Los Angeles about two years before I met him. He took me to Marc Chagall’s Four Seasons mosaic where we were mesmerized by its intricacy and beauty. When we first met, we agreed that a couple needs to go through all four seasons together before deciding to get married.
Jeff proposed to me in front of Chagall’s Four Seasons mosaic, beautifully reminding me that we had been through all four seasons together. A few months later, we had a Four Seasons-themed engagement party to commemorate the meaningful proposal as well as our future together.
When we searched for a ketubah, we had not found anything that brought us as much connection and meaning as Chagall’s Four Seasons, which became the standard for art that represents our love. We did an internet search for couples depicted by Chagall because of the connection we felt to his work. We found Couple au Chandelier and immediately saw the similarities between us and the couple in the painting: the way we hug, the way we look at each other, the clothes we wear, and the personalities.
We also thought a couple in a home worked best for a ketubah to represent a couple building a home together. The chandelier in the painting would represent the spiritual aspect of our marriage, the red tones would represent our passion for each other, and the flowers would represent the beauty we create together.
We found the image online and submitted it to Adriana at Ink with Intent, an online ketubah art company. She told us she could not use the image for our ketubah without permission from the copyright holder. Jeff found the representative for the copyright holder, and after months of back and forth emailing, Chagall’s surviving family members granted us the rights to use the image in the nick of time. We received our ketubah just days before the wedding. I could not imagine having any other ketubah.
We decided to ask my best guy friend Michael to sign our ketubah. Not only did he fulfil this special honor with joy, but he completely took charge on the day of our wedding to ensure everything went smoothly and acted as our rabbi’s assistant at every step. I was not surprised because Michael is such a mensch.
We absolutely loved the kiddish cup we found and chose for the ceremony. The stem consisted of a couple working together to hold the bowl for the wine. We borrowed a woodsy table from our chuppah maker’s shop to use for our ceremony under the chuppah to place the kiddish cup and wine.
About a week and a half before the wedding, Jeff and I found and chose his tallis to wear at the ceremony. It is tradition for the bride to buy her groom a “married man” tallis for the wedding to use to replace his bar mitzvah tallis. I was so excited to buy this for him because we both loved it because of the intricate and beautiful design. And it came with a matching kippah!
Chuppah
I found the inspiration image for our chuppah on Smashing the Glass long before I became a Brides Club member. Because I knew we were going to have a forest wedding, I wanted a rustic, woodsy, floral chuppah. Our amazing florist found us the greatest woodworker we could imagine! Adam Hurlbut, owner of Mountain Rustic Arts, located on the same mountain as our venue, and I spoke over the phone and he understood my vision immediately.
He built the chuppah structure out of wood reclaimed from the forest with meticulous texturing, using smaller wood pieces to wrap around the larger pieces for a more natural feel. It was such a blast working with him and seeing how excited he was to make our one-of-a-kind chuppah. He told us that people came to his shop, saw him working on our chuppah, and he became known in town as “the chuppah maker.”
It was important to me that Jeff take part in putting together our chuppah on our wedding day because of the symbolism of building us a home. I also insisted that our photographer and videographer capture his participation so that I could forever swoon over the macho-ness of his chuppah building skills.
The florals completed our chuppah and gave it a more feminine touch. I told our florist, Allyson Sparrow, owner of Love Sparrows, to go all out with the chuppah. Ever the passionate and creative florist, she became so excited with that green light and more than delivered. The flowers on our chuppah looked absolutely incredible.
Our chuppah covering included Jeff’s great grandfather’s tallis.
Our music choice
After searching for my walking down the aisle song, Jeff and I chose ‘Lecha Dodi’ performed by the Maccabeats, who sang this traditional Jewish song to the tune of Leonard Cohen’s ‘Hallelujah’. Both songs were meaningful for Jeff and me. Lecha Dodi translates to “Come My Beloved” and it is about welcoming shabbat, symbolized as a bride. We loved playing that traditional Jewish song at our ceremony with the excitement and holiness suited for such a day.
‘Hallelujah’ has always had a special place in my heart and mind, with the never-ending new ideas and interpretations of the song. I even bought and read a book about the song called “The Holy or the Broken: Leonard Cohen, Jeff Buckley & the Unlikely Ascent of ‘Hallelujah'” by Alan Light, a music journalist. This book as well as my own ideas about the song made the tune especially meaningful for walking down the aisle at my wedding.
For our first dance, we chose “our song,” which is ‘Aquaman’ by Walk the Moon. While the song was released relatively recently, it easily could be mistaken for an 80s song. It is about taking the plunge and wanting to be together forever in a relationship that gets deeper and deeper. For us, the lyrics, “Step by step I’ve been letting you lead me to the deep end” holds meaning because I led him under the waterfall with me on our first date.
For our recessional, we chose ‘Siman Tov, u’Mazel Tov’. We had to. It’s tradition! It really embodied the excitement we felt of being officially married as we danced to our yichud room.
For the father-daughter, stepfather-daughter, and mother-son dance, our DJs Soundwave Pros played ‘What a Wonderful World’ by Louis Armstrong. It was perfect.
Flowers
I was not particular about the types of flowers we had at our wedding, so I did not have any specific requests. I did have ideas and preferences for colors and sizes of the floral designs, and our wonderful creative florist, Allyson Sparrow of Love Sparrows, brought these ideas to life. She made sure I was 100% happy with the flowers, even at the very last minute. She happily changed up my bouquet on the day of the wedding to make it more of what I wanted.
Photographer
Our photographer and videographer cancelled on us about two weeks before the wedding due to the pandemic. After the initial stress of having such essential vendors cancel on us so soon before the wedding, we could not be more thrilled or grateful to have found the replacement photographer and videographer we did. Karissa the photographer and Taylor the videographer, an incredibly sweet husband and wife team I found on Facebook, came to our rescue!
Personality-wise, I could not imagine a sweeter set of people to be with a bride and groom on their wedding day. They easily brought out the best in us. It also was truly inspiring to see Karissa and Taylor work together – they are so kind, calm, respectful, and patient with each other. It really sets a great example of a successful marriage for brides and grooms on their wedding date.
The photographs from Karissa are just gorgeous. Normally I do not like the way I look in photos, but Karissa understood my specific concerns, put me at ease, and was able to capture so many incredible photos of the day that made Jeff and me so happy.
Favors
Karen Cinnamon gave us the idea of what to give out as wedding favors during a one-on-one Brides Club session: personalized thank you cards for coming to the wedding. Because we knew each guest was so dedicated to celebrating our wedding with us by attending during the pandemic and traveling up the windy mountain road to get there, we wrote personalized notes to each household to genuinely thank them for their presence and support.
As favors to give to our male guests, we chose suede emerald kippot with gold engraving of our wedding details on the inside.
Grandma’s presence
While we were getting ready for the wedding, my mom gave me a very special gift. She described to me all the things she loved and admired about her grandma, who was instrumental in taking care of her when she was a child. She also reminded me that her grandma, who passed away when I was one, was going to be with us under the chuppah.
My mom then gave me a picture of her grandma inside a beautiful aqua crystal frame, explaining to me all the ways that her grandma was a queen. My mom then described how she herself became a queen when she got married. After reminding me that I was standing on the shoulders of incredible women, she said the most powerful words to me: “Now you’re a queen.” Those words made us both weepy and we hugged. I loved the thought of being a queen.
I knew I had big shoes to fill, considering the strong and loving queens who came before me: my mom, my grandma, and my great grandma. I felt more than ready to take on the responsibility to step into my new role as co-ruler of my new family.
Something that made the day extra special was noticing that a ton of ladybugs were landing on me throughout the day.
Advice to couples currently planning their wedding
Remember you are marrying the love of your life. Everything else is icing on the cake.
Also, make a plan for something to ground you so the day does not pass you by. For me, I made sure to walk barefoot on the grass for most of the wedding. Having this incredible feeling on my feet throughout the day kept me in the moment.
ASHLEY & JEFF’S LITTLE WHITE BOOK
Photography – Karissa Breann Photography
Videography – Karissa Breann Photography
Ketubah – Ink with Intent {offers 10% discount to all members of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club}
Venue – San Moritz Lodge
Bride’s dress – Saint Clark Bridal Suite
Bride’s shoes – Macy’s
Bride’s accessories – Saint Clark Bridal Suite
Groom’s attire – Pacific Island Tuxedo Rental & Sales
Hair + Makeup – The Bridal Beauty Pros
Flowers – Love Sparrows
DJ – Soundwave Pros
Rabbi – JHub LA
Chuppah maker – Mountain Rustic Arts
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.
