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An Isabelle Armstrong Bride for a Jewish Wedding with Killer Manhattan Views and an Orchid Chuppah at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, New York, New York, USA

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There are no words for how obsessed we are with epic orchid chuppah. With lucite columns draped in strands of gorgeous flowers, it’s just SO dreamy. And don’t even get us started on the backdrop of Central Park and the Manhattan skyline.

It doesn’t get much more quintessentially NYC than the Jewish wedding of Vlada, who works in corporate banking, and Joshua, a corporate and bankruptcy litigation attorney (#2beepst). Between their venue — high atop the landmark Mandarin Oriental Hotel — their magnificent New York skyline cake by none other than Ron Ben Israel, and the bride’s Isabelle Armstrong dress purchased from Kleinfeld.The couple even had a wedding announcement in the New York Times!

It wouldn’t be the ultimate NYC wedding without a touch of celebrity, and Kevin Osborne Band from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Hank Lane provided that and then some — Kevin is a backup singer for Billy Joel, in addition to being an awesome band leader in his own right.

Felix from Fred Marcus captured all the glam details and jawdropping views with aplomb, and Frank Ahn from Frank Ahn Films recorded the emotion of the day so well.

Okay, now over to the bride…

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How We Met

Vlada, the bride: We were introduced by a mutual family rabbi named Joseph Potasnik.

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Smashing The Glass’s All-New Brides Club is Open! (Plus a FREE smash glass pouch for every Bride today!)

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I’ve got some big news today: I’ve officially opened the doors to Smashing The Glass’s all-new Brides Club, the members-only secret community for planning your perfect Jewish or Jew-ish wedding, your way, whilst keeping planning stress to a minimum.

And I’ve got an unbelievable 24-hour bonus for the quick action-brides who sign up today… read on!

I first opened my private, members-only Club for Jewish and Jew-ish brides earlier this year, and based on what I’ve learned from my founding members I’m now opening our bigger, better, even more ‘smashing’ Brides Club!

Inside Brides Club I’ll help you plan an unforgettable wedding, make decisions with clarity and confidence, keep family and friends happy, make the most of your wedding budget, and, most of all, ensure that planning your wedding is as fun and stress-free as the day itself.

JOIN HERE + GET INSTANT ACCESS TO BRIDES CLUB TODAY! 

The Club has been totally transformed, with all-new resources to make sure your day is a smashing success. Whether or not you’re using a planner, whether you’re just engaged or a month out from the big day, Brides Club is your go-to spot for all the ‘Can’t Plan Without’ Jewish wedding resources, support, straight-talking advice and handpicked discounts you need to ensure you have an unforgettable Jewish (or Jew-ish) wedding.

My community gives you access to my step-by-step advice, checklists, and resources for planning your perfect Jewish wedding, that not only saves you time and money, but also keeps everyone around you happy.

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REMINDER: The Event of the Year for Jewish and Jew-ish Brides is TODAY {and it’s FREE!}

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Karen Cinnamon Smashing The Glass_1224You probably won’t be surprised to hear I’ve been up since 4am preparing for today’s The Secrets to an Unforgettable Jewish Wedding FREE online event and Q&A — I’m just SO ridiculously excited for it!

That’s because I’m a million percent confident you’ll walk away knowing exactly what you need to do to ensure you have an unforgettable wedding — the wedding you really want (whilst keeping everyone around you happy). And I can’t wait to show you EXACTLY how!

My free event is taking place TODAY! Monday November 12, 2018 @ 3:00 PM EST (that’s 3pm New York, 12pm Los Angeles, 8pm London, 10pm Israel)

Oh… and did I mention that there’ll be surprise goodies that only attendees can get their hands on too?!

CLICK HERE TO RESERVE YOUR PLACE AND GET A REMINDER

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A Pronovias Bride for an Ultra-Emotional Winter Glam Jewish Wedding at Two Temple Place, London, UK

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We’re totally obsessed with today’s fantastic (and first time featured on STG) London venue. Two Temple Place. It’s positively bursting at the seams with Edwardian opulence, from the epic wood paneling to the lovely gold fixtures to the massive stained glass skylight!

Lucinda, who works in marketing, and Max, a lawyer (#teamopptiedtheknot)could not have picked a cooler spot for their winter glam Jewish wedding, and we love how they played it up with awesome candelabra centerpieces, a beautiful gold chuppah, and the perfect wintry florals in deep berries and greens.

We’re totally not surprised to hear the bride’s report that the kosher catering from STG Recommended Vendor Food Story was stellar (and that the catering manager was a huge help in coordinating the day, even beyond food), and we’re totally craving some of those luscious canapà©s in the photos. The cocktails look pretty swanky themselves, for that matter…

But this wedding is more than it’s luxe style. The emotion captured in Barney Walters’ wonderful photos is just something else — his captures of the couple under the chuppah are truly unmissable. We love that, since Lucinda’s father had passed away, Max’s dad stepped in and gave a beautiful speech — the fact that Lucinda was so bowled over with emotion after listening to his speech, plus Max’s, the MC’s and best man’s, that she couldn’t deliver her own bride’s speech she’d prepared for herself really says it all!

Now we’ll hand you over to Lucinda herself, who looked so elegant in her simple, chic Pronovias dress…

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How we met

Lucinda, the bride: We met through mutual friends in a London nightclub… and the rest, as they say, is history!

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A Limor Rosen Bride for an Ashkenazi-Yemenite American-Israeli Jewish Wedding at Bayit Al Hayam in Jaffa, Israel

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We are totally and completely obsessed with Stacey and Elkana’s GORGEOUS wedding at Bayit Al Hayam. The views of the Mediterranean are just BEYOND, and the Tel Aviv skyscape isn’t too shabby either. That perfect seaside chuppah is totally the stuff our wedding dreams are made of.

But don’t be fooled – even though the aesthetics of this fab day are totally contemporary, this couple packed a ton of tradition into their wedding too. Blending Stacey’s American Ashkenazi background with Elkana’s Israeli Mizrachi heritage was key during planning, and we’re in love with the results: the hora AND traditional Yemenite dances; music from both traditions (in addition to contemporary American and Israeli hits); a traditional (and super moving — don’t miss Roman Balashov’s exquisite photos) Mizrachi badeken in the aisle.

And lest you think good old America traditions were neglected, we love that these two planned a pre-wedding “Cake and Cocktails” night just for the Americans in attendance, featuring American-style wedding speeches, a heartfelt exchange of personal vows by the couple, and, of course, wedding cake! What a great way to incorporate some of these fun traditions that didn’t quite fit into the Israeli style of the wedding itself.

If you’re looking for some tips on how to plan a wedding that reflects you and your spouse-to-be, as well as this wedding reflects Stacey and Elkana, make sure you sign up to our FREE online event: ‘The secrets to an unforgettable Jewish wedding’ with our founder and editor, Karen, happening on Monday November 12. It’s going to be totally unmissable, with some really fantastic a-ha moments!

Okay, now we’ll hand you over to the bride, who could not possibly have looked any cooler in her boho-chic gown by Limor Rosen…

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How we met

Stacey, the bride: From our wedding site:

“Elkana will tell you that the moment he met Stacey he knew he was going to marry her. For Stacey it was a love story that fell into place as she was planning to go back to Chicago. But something about Elkana was different, and she fell hard.

Fast forward to countless Euro trips, America adventures, swims in the Mediterranean, walks with Mack, cartons of Ben and Jerry’s, and Elkana got down on one knee to ask Stacey to spend the rest of her life with him.

The answer was easy, of course… this was the fairytale she only dreamed of. Our story is truly one from the books. It’s unique, it’s different, it’s two completely different worlds joining as one! Our wedding is not only a celebration of our commitment to spend the rest of our lives together, it is a time to bring together the most important people to us, in the most incredible city in the world, and share our lives with you and the love we share!”

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