It’s my hope that every day is an inspiring one on Smashing The Glass, but today I’m revealing my 20 ‘best of the best’ Jewish wedding details of 2014, so it might just be the most inspiring day of the year on the blog yet! I’m talking the most original chuppah design, the best smashing-the-glass moment, the best wedding slogan, the best twist on the traditional hotel wedding, the most unusual Jewish wedding venue… you get the picture.. a huge array of the very best Jewish wedding details all wrapped up in one fabulous post!
From tomorrow I’ll be taking a short break to spend some quality time with my family over the holidays, and during that time I’ll be posting some of my favourite real Jewish weddings from the archives. But today it’s all about the ‘best bits’ from Smashing The Glass’s 60 real Jewish weddings that were featured in 2014. That’s 60 à¼ber cool, unique, inspirational Jewish (and Jew-ish!) weddings that were showcased over the last 12 months that inspired thousands of you across the globe!
I would like to extend an enormous thank you to my wonderful readers and sponsors for all your support during 2014 — It brought me such joy to share the most creative Jewish weddings and ideas with you, and I can’t wait to bring you even more inspiration (and a whole host of exciting projects including the brand new Smashing The Glass shop) in the New Year.
Wishing you and yours a very happy holiday. I’ll see you (hangover or no hangover) on the morning of January 1st 2015! Meanwhile enjoy the best of the best…
Best ‘smashing the glass’ moment
Chosen from Natalie & Nicole’s Jewish wedding photographed by Lara Hotz — Two ridiculously gorgeous brides breaking their glasses in unison in the most beautiful of Jewish weddings, bursting with creativity.
Most unusual wedding venue
Chosen from Sarah & Nick’s Jewish wedding photographed by Reportage By — Sarah and Nick got married in a smoked salmon factory in London’s Olympic Park. Now that IS different!
Best Bridesmaid entrance
Chosen from Alana & Marc’s Jewish wedding photographed by Mark Seymour — Alana’s 8 month old niece made her way down the aisle in a a remote controlled mini cream Fiat 500.
Best wedding slogan
Chosen from Niki & Will’s Jewish wedding photographed by onelove —Niki and Will’s wedding slogan was ‘Have fun. Get Messy’ and their monogram was made up of two back to back guns that together formed a heart. They printed bibs for their guests incorporating the ‘Have fun. Get Messy’ logo too. Genius!
Most glittery wedding dress
Chosen from Susie & Andrew’s Jewish wedding photographed by Slack Photography — Susie’s blush tulle gown glistened from head to toe with its floor length gold and silver sequins. I LOVED it!
Best Wedding sign
Chosen from Meredith & Shoshana’s Jew-ish wedding photographed by Mark Cachia — A lot of couples are now asking their guests to shut off their cameras for the day. If this idea resonates with you (as it does me), this sign is perfectly worded and designed.
Best twist on the traditional Jewish hotel wedding
Chosen from Tali & Mo’s Jewish wedding photographed by Blake Ezra Photography — These two chose to have their wedding at one of London’s most luxurious hotels, The Savoy, but there wasn’t a 3 course meal or 10-piece band in sight. Instead they went for a splendid afternoon tea theme with everything from flowers arranged on cake stands to beautiful home made jam favours.
Most creative chuppah
Chosen from Gena & Tony’s Jewish wedding photographed by Lara Hotz — They say the chuppah represents the home that you will build together as a married couple, and for Gena and Tony it had to be a colourful space. They used an assortment of tissue paper honeycomb shapes (including ice creams!) as well as tissue paper garlands and a calico roof to create a chuppah that truly represented them.
Best cupcakes (or should that be breast cupcakes?)
Chosen from Natalie & Nicole’s Jewish wedding photographed by Lara Hotz — No words needed for how brilliant these are… especially when served at a lesbian wedding.
Best alternative guestbook
Chosen from Ros & Alex’s Jewish wedding photographed by Especially Amy — Instead of a traditional guest book Ros and Alex gave out arty postcards from London galleries and asked guests to write them messages and draw pictures. They ended up with cartoons, poems, word searches, all sorts of creativity… and then the guests posted them in their wedding postbox. After the wedding Ros and Alex framed them and put them up in their new home.
Most glamorous grandma
Chosen from Claudia & Felix’s Jewish wedding photographed by STAK Photography — everything about this Manhattan loft wedding was super cool and grandma was no exception.
Most colourful wedding cake
Chosen from Hanna & Raf’s Jewish wedding photographed by Marianne Chau — A hundreds and thousand wedding cake baked by the bride!
Best kippah / cupple / yarmulke design
Chosen from Sarah & Nick’s Jewish wedding photographed by Reportage By (top) and Alana & Michael’s Jewish wedding photographed by Blake Ezra Photography(bottom) — A joint award as I cannot decide between both these gorgeous kippah designs. I’m a sucker for suede, wit and good design so you can see why I chose the first fabulous ‘slogan’ kippah, but I also love the London skyline imprinted onto the kippah for the first ever wedding to take place at The Shard.
Most meaningful chuppah design
Chosen from Cheryl & Ernest’s Jewish wedding photographed by Daniel C. Photography — this chuppah is a tribute to the bride’s mother who tragically passed away just as the bride and groon were embarking on their wedding planning. It’s beautifully made out of the bride’s mother’s clothes and other momentous pieces including her grandmother’s wedding dress and a shirt her mum had kept of her grandfather’s after he had died.
Most colourful bouquet
Chosen from Gena & Tony’s Jewish wedding photographed by Lara Hotz — Oh my goodness, I just love love love Gena’s supersize bouquet filled with flowers of every possible hue, glitter, ribbons, and pom poms
Most beautifully executed wedding theme
Chosen from Kathleen & Liz’s Jewish wedding photographed by Max + Friends — This is genuinely one of the most exquisitely crafted W-Day’s I have ever come across.
Best Jewish dancing pictures
Chosen from Jane & David’s Jewish wedding by David Bastianoni (top), Lauren & Gabe’s Jewish wedding by David Pullum (middle), and Chelm & Jake’s Jewish wedding by Blake Ezra Photography
There are so many wonderful Jewish dancing moments on Smashing The Glass. It’s without doubt the most energetic and smile-inducing moment of a Jewish wedding for me, and it was incredibly hard to pick my favourite images of the year. Almost every real Jewish wedding on Smashing The Glass contains sensational Jewish dancing pictures, so I urge you to check them all out!
