We could not be more excited to be sharing the gorgeous vintage glam Jewish wedding of Smashing The Glass Brides Club member Jacklyn, a registered nurse, and Jeffrey, who owns a real estate company!
Taking cues from the old-world luxury vibe of their ca. 1929 venue, the InterContinental Chicago Magnificent Mile, Jacklyn and Jeffrey turned the hotel’s already stunning ballroom into an eclectic fantasyland, full of luxe florals and pampas grass, in a neutral color palette with pops of gold – including an absolutely stunning gold chuppah, which the couple covered with the groom’s grandfather’s tallitot. Don’t miss Erin Hoyt’s moody, classic photos and This Charming Heart’s wonderful trailer.
We also love the creative approach Jacklyn and Jeffrey took to structuring their day: Jacklyn wanted to be sure everyone would see her in her dress for the first time as she walked down the aisle, so to help with the flow of the day the pair opted to have their ketubah signing the night before the wedding. This turned into a very special gathering for an intimate group of 20, including family and friends who’d flown in from Poland and Dubai, beautifully photographed by the bride’s friend, fashion photographer Anna Stokland.
And we’re in love with the couple’s ketubah, a replica of an Italian ketubah dating from 1768 which they purchased from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Ketubah.com! (PSA to all history lovers: in addition to their fantastic collection of contemporary designs, Ketubah.com also has a wonderful collection of historical designs based on ketubot from all over the world, some dating back to the 1500s.)
There’s so much more we could say about this exquisite wedding, but we’ll leave it to Jacklyn, who looked like an absolute supermodel in Allison Webb, to share the rest…
How We Met
Jacklyn, the bride: We met through mutual friends. Went on one date and we instantly knew, that night, we were each other’s “one”.
Old-World Luxury
We got married at the InterContinental Chicago Magnificent Mile. The hotel was built in 1929, we fell in love with the vintage, old-world luxury feels of it, and this hotel has it all. So many beautiful rooms, each a different décor concept (which makes for great photo opportunities), an indoor pool that makes you feel like you’re in Spain, and of course the Grand Ballroom where we got married and partied.
It is a circular- open room, with a balcony and for four columns. A chandelier that weighs 12,000 pounds, 24 karat gold leaf moldings around paintings that were restored by the artist who restored the Sistine Chapel. It’s breathtaking!
An Eclectic Wedding
We did have a wedding planner but only for the logistic aspect- a 60-day till, and the day off. Carly and her team from Lola Event Productions helped us make sure all vendors were on point weeks before, and that everything ran smoothly and stress-free day off. Carly made wedding planning a dream.
We made the wedding about us by only consulting each other- we allowed no input from anyone what-so-ever. We loved all the décor concepts: modern, classic, bohemian, vintage, romantic- so we added a little bit of each to make it eclectically ours and it turned out beautiful. Our color scheme for the décor was gold, and neutrals (beiges, tans, bone, ivory, whites). We covered our dance floor with a white vinyl cover.
We had two different types of linens- bone velvet, and a textured beige linen. We rented gold Chiavari chairs. We had three different types of table center pieces: tall pampas grasses, mid-sized rose and pampas floral arrangements, and smaller floral arrangements with mirrored glass risers and lots of votive candles. Actually, every table had lots of votive candles. We used Revel Décor company to make all of our décor dreams come true! They did an incredible job.
What ‘Smashing The Glass Brides Club’ Did For Us
I joined the Brides Club a month before the big “I do”, so unfortunately I didn’t utilize any vendors. But I did utilize all the tips! Very grateful for those!
Invitation
Jeff and I didn’t like the over-done and decorated invite look. We also did not like opening a wedding invitation where various cards and inserts just fell everywhere. When it came to design our invites, we went with a simple, clean, and classic look. Erin from Smitten Boutique helped us create a polished look that also looked very “wedding” like.
Hair + Makeup
My hair and makeup inspiration looks were Priscilla Presley. A modern take though with long white matte nails. I wore my hair down, choppy curls, with a big Priscilla poof. My hairstylist Taryn Shultz used IKG products.
For my makeup I didn’t do the heavy Priscilla makeup look, I did very light and natural Priscilla – but extenuated my lashes with falsies on the top and the bottom, lined my lips and used a beige natural lip color. Heavy contour, as I wanted to accentuate my cheeks, with soft shimmery matte highlight. My makeup artist Shannon O’Brien used Dior face products and Becca lip stain.
An Allison Webb Dress
The designer of my dress is Allison Webb. I actually put together two of her dresses. I loved the top of one and the bottom of another which in turn created this elegant trumpet style dress. Basically, a custom wedding dress made for me. I wanted to show off my figure but I also wanted a princess feel which the trumpet style allowed for. It had a mid-length train.
The fabric was silk faille, with so much beautiful draping and ruching- and I can’t forget to mention the long sleeve pearl topper! I wanted to feel like a real bride- classic and modern at the same time and everything about my dress was that. I took of the topper after we cut the cake, before all the dancing began.
Accessories
I wore my mom’s pearl earrings (my something borrowed), my engagement ring, and a plain, chapel length, tulle veil with a blusher. I didn’t need anything else; the dress and the pearl long sleeve topper was enough.
Manolos
I went full blown Carrie Bradshaw and wore blue, satin Manolo Blahnik 70mm pumps, didn’t want to be too tall- I am 5’8 naturally.
The handsome groom
The groom wore a custom classic tuxedo by BLVDier with Salvatore Ferragamo cuff links and wore black Salvatore Ferragamo leather oxford shoes. Jeff also wore a Patek Phillipe Calatrava watch that was a beautiful compliment to the classic tuxedo he wore.
Bridesmaids
I had 6 bridesmaids, my dearest most special friends. I didn’t want my bridesmaids to match any colors of the décor, I wanted them to feel more special and I just think tying it in with a theme is silly. They all choose these beautiful strapless black silk faille (same material as my wedding dress) gowns from Amsale New York.
They had beautiful medium length trains, very regal and perfect. The best part was that each girl loved how they looked and felt in them- and that’s what was most important to me.
Tradition
We wanted to make sure we did a very traditional Jewish wedding. We did tweak somethings- we signed our ketubah the day before, before sundown, because I wanted to be seen in my dress for the first time as I walked down the aisle. That moment of getting Jeff’s reaction is something I will never forget.
Jeff wore his tallit from his bar mitzvah. Jeff and I did the badeken down the aisle, I circled Jeff seven times, and I got married in both my wedding band and Jeff’s great grandmothers wedding band- which is 100 years old. We ordered beautiful raw silk Kippot in ivory that had our names and wedding date printed on the inside.
My favorite part of the ceremony was our rabbi asked that we write letters to each other and give to him prior to the wedding date- he ended up reading parts of them during the ceremony, let’s just say there wasn’t a dry eye in the room, and I was so happy I had water-proof mascara on!
Ketubah
We signed our ketubah on Friday the day before the wedding in front of twenty of our favorite and most important people. It was such as special ceremony, I had family from Poland, and friends from Dubai who flew in just for our wedding and it was an honor to have them for the ketubah signing ceremony.
Jeff’s mother and my mother did the tradition of breaking the plate- called a vort to start of the ceremony. I wore a ivory Marchesa Notte sleeveless textured tulle tea length dress and Jeff wore a custom light navy tint suite from Suite Supply. Our ketubah was from ketubah.com, it is a replica of a ketubah that is on display in an Italian museum- the ketubah dates back to 1768.
Chuppah
Luckily, our décor team had this structure already made. The gold caught our eye immediately and it was huge! The large gold structure was inspired to match the absolutely gorgeous ballroom at the Intercontinental. We couldn’t wait for Revel Décor to add our touches to it! We hung two of Jeff’s grandfather’s tallit’s, used my grandmother’s handmade tablecloth straight from Poland for the table, and had two huge Pampas grass & rose explosions in front of the chuppah, and lots of candles.
Our music choice
For the processional starting from the rabbi on to my maid of honor, a string trio played ‘Erev Shel Shoshanim’, and from my parents all the way until I finished circling Jeff seven times, the trio played ‘Dodi Li’. Our first dance was to ‘I believe (in love)’ by Hot Chocolate, which was my parents’ song for their first dance when they got married.
Flowers
Our flowers consisted of Pampas grass explosions, buttercups, gladiolus, roses and garden roses, all in neutral colors. Our décor team, Revel Décor, did all the florals. Lots of feathery pampas grass pieces, roses of all different sizes, touches of pinks, ivory, some beautiful greenery as well in my bouquet and the bridesmaids bouquets. The groom and groomsmen had a single feathered pampas and single rose boutonnieres.
Photographer
For our ketubah signing- I asked my dear friend Anna Stokland to take our photos. She is a fashion photographer from London and her eye for photography is absolutely beautiful. She also took a few gorgeous photos of me getting ready on the big day. I was honored to have her take photos for us, and I am so lucky to have such an amazing friend.
Our wedding photographer was Erin Hoyt, I found her through the knot.com, I love her style of photography – very moody, classic black and whites, has a great eye for real candid moments. She was great! We tried to take as many photos as possible, but it was hard to get everything we wanted when we wanted to party the whole night, but she was stern and got it all! We were so lucky to have her get all the images she did.
Videographer
We did use a videographer, This Charming Heart. I also found her on theknot.com, her style matched the photographer’s style, moody and classic. She was great to work with and paid a lot of attention to detail to make sure she got great shots. We are style waiting for our video and I cannot wait to share it!
Food and cake
Our cake was by Bittersweet Pastry Shop and Café, we wanted a modern, clean cake- no topper, no heavy decorating. It was a four-tier cake- vanilla with passionfruit curd and chocolate fudge with white chocolate mousse. Each tier had a textured buttercream design, the third tier was over-sized. It was perfect and delicious.
The hotel did our catering. We had a vegetarian dish and a chicken dish. Spicy corn chowder soup to start- a perfect winter dish. During the middle of the party, we had mozzarella sticks and we also had a Chicago staple- the Chicago style deep dish pizza, served. In addition, at the after party, we made sure to include everyone’s favorite late-night foods, sliders, chicken tenders, cheese fries and a few others.
Entertainment
We hired a band! There is nothing better than LIVE music. The band we hired was Bluewater Kings Band. They were AMAZING! We wanted them to only play songs from the 50’s, 60’s, 70’s and 80’s and their music selection was so much fun. We took a unique approach to our song list. Jeff and I spent a night making a list of all songs and artists we absolutely did not want to hear, and that helped shape how the band determined their playlist in which they killed it!
Every single person danced. You can have the most expensive, the most beautiful wedding, but if you have people sitting around and not having a good time then that is not a good wedding at all. The Bluewater Kings really know how to keep a good party going!
The Bluewater Kings also played our ceremony music (strings trio), and our cocktail hour- which was a four-piece jazz band. During the time the band took breaks-I created a Polish music play list so that my family and friends who are Polish can also feel included, that the bands DJ played.
After the wedding party was the after party- where we hired a DJ from a local nightclub/ bar. He played all the hip-hop hits, pop songs, house music and my favorite- Selena (Quintanilla).
Matchbook Favors
We made personalized matchbooks with different sayings, ‘you strike my fancy’, ‘light my fire’, ‘burnin’ for you’, ‘it’s lit’, and ‘the perfect match’. They were a hit! We are still getting photo texts of people using them to light their candles.
SPECIAL TOUCHES
We kept all the speeches for the rehearsal dinner, not a single speech except for the prayers were said at our wedding reception, we realize nobody really listens to anyone, so cutting the speeches out was a great idea. Plus, more time for uninterrupted fun and dancing.
My mother and father made a bottle of vodka (distilled and cooked a higher proof alcohol by volume vodka, with honey and lemon) for each table, it is a Polish tradition to have a bottle readily available at the table and not make guests stand at the bar. It was a nice Polish touch.
We had cocktail napkins that had funny sayings on them placed at each bar- “treat yo self”, “trust me you can dance- alcohol”, “Na Zdrowie (cheers in Polish)”, “drunk in love”, “I already feel like a better dancer”, sip, sip hooray”. For the guests that stayed at the hotel we made them welcome bags. The bags said, “happily ever after” on them with our names and wedding date, and inside of them were Chicago staples- Jay’s potato chips, Frango chocolate mints, as well as hangover essentials such as waters, Advil, and Tums.
After the wedding reception ended (around midnight) we threw an after party in the room adjacent to the ballroom (cocktail hour was held there). We for sure thought only 50 people would last, but EVERYONE came and continued to party. We had glow sticks and lots of late-night snacks, and of course the alcohol kept flowing and everyone continued dancing.
Honeymoon
We went to Anguilla a few days after the wedding. It was our mini moon, we have plans to go to Asia next year for a full-blown honeymoon. It was absolutely beautiful there, we stayed at The Belmond Cap Juluca. The service, the food, the people, the beauty- it was magical. Very quiet, no kids running around, so peaceful. We relaxed every day, we ate, napped, beached it, went to the pool, it was a dream to be so relaxed. I highly recommend!
Advice to couples currently planning their wedding
My advice is to make sure you do not allow people, friends or family dictate your special day! Do you and no one else. It is your day; you only get one of those- so be selfish and take advantage of it.
JACKLYN & JEFFREY’S LITTLE WHITE BOOK
Photography – Erin Hoyt, Anna Stokland (for Ketubah signing)
Videography – This Charming Heart
Ketubah – ketubah.com {offers 10% discount to all members of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club}
Wedding planner – Lola Event Productions
Venue – InterContinental Chicago Magnificent Mile
Bride’s dress – Allison Webb
Bride’s shoes – Manolo Blahnik
Groom’s attire – BLVDier, Salvatore Ferragamo, Patek Phillipe Calatrava
Bridesmaids – Amsale
Hair + Makeup – Taryn Shultz, Shannon O’Brien
Flowers – Revel Décor
Band – The Bluewater Kings
Catering – InterContinental Chicago Magnificent Mile
Cake – Bittersweet Pastry Shop and Café
Stationery/Invitation – Smitten Boutique
Decor – Revel Décor
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.
What a stunning 20s themed wedding! Every detail and aspect is gorgeous! The photographer truly captured the most special moments!
Very interesting post! I love to read about such great wedding ideas, thank you.
Love this wedding