Show Me Everything - Smashing the Glass

Gena & Tony | Extraordinarily imaginative ‘color explosion’ Jewish wedding at the Sydney Polo Club, NSW, Australia

10/07/2014 by Karen

Epic.

Get your sunglasses ready because todays wedding is a massive rainbow-hued color fest. Gena and her husband Tony had one of those weddings where there are so many details I love I hardly even know where to start.

There’s Gena’s pom pom crown, her crochet dress and her supersize bouquet filled with flowers of every possible hue, glitter, ribbons, and pom poms. Then we’ve got bridesmaids dressed in orange carrying big foil heart shaped balloons with tissue paper tassels instead of bouquets. There’s a super cute dog taking centre stage during the ceremony. And 1200 odd colored ribbons used to decorate the barn and chairs. The handmade resin crayons for buttonholes (a reference to the green crayon hair clip that Gena wore in her hair the night Tony first noticed her) are so cute!). And then there’s the way that Tony looks at Gena…

So have you got your sunglasses ready? Well get your Pinterest boards primed too because you are most certainly going to need them! All of these delectable images were taken by the rather brilliant Lara Hotz. (Oh and check out the mighty cute wedding film at the end of the post by The White Tree too!).

A RUSTIC VENUE
Our wedding was on a farm at the Sydney Polo Club, about an hour away from where we live. We wanted to have something a bit out of the ordinary (this can be hard with a big Jewish wedding but we knew we didn’t want a hotel reception room) and not expect people to have to travel too far. We ended up having the chuppah and dance floor inside the barn and connected a marquee to the side where the guests were seated. The barn doors slid open to connect the two spaces.

My home workspace

08/07/2014 by Karen

When the mega-talented Jewish wedding photographer in London Rahul Khona got in touch with me to shoot up a photography storm, I was really into the idea of capturing some images of my work / home space, as well as a few portraits.

I adore blogging and running a business from my home in Kentish Town, but inevitably, the boundaries between work, motherhood, marriage and ‘me’ time are a continuous blur. It’s something I’m used to though, as prior to setting up Smashing The Glass, I was running a freelance design business for 12 years, and working from home for about 50% of my projects.

My work space reflects my design background – there are Apple products everywhere, Pop Art influences, art books, sketch pads, pens and pencils, and a sense of clean aesthetics (that makes me sound really w*nky, doesn’t it?!).

My interview with the woman behind the UK’s most eye-catching luxury wedding cakes, Victoria of ‘Victoria Made’

07/07/2014 by Karen

Every so often I’m sent images that truly take my breath away, and I certainly had one of those moments when I first clapped eyes on Victoria Made‘s incredible creations. They are essentially works of art — beautifully sculptural, contemporary , sleek, elegant , and so utterly pleasing to the eye. I immediately felt like I had to get the inside scoop on Victoria Watkin-Jones, the woman behind these works of art (that I’m sure delight the taste buds in equal measure) so I asked Victoria if I could talk to her for my Wedding Smashers series.

She kindly obliged and I was delighted that she spilt the beans to me on how she quit her 9 to 5 to start her business from her home kitchen just 3 years ago, what a typical day is like, and who she’d like to be trapped in a lift with!

So Victoria, what’s the ’Victoria Made’ story? How did you start your company and what’s happened between then and now?

My work life started in hospitality and catering and I always loved the creative element of putting a dish together, though not quite Masterchef standards I have to say! After a very different career change working in the fitness industry – health and fitness is something that’s always been part of me (in varying degrees!), I felt the need to go back to something creative.

The whole baking craze was taking off and wedding cakes seemed the perfect fusion of my previous food prep experience and an outlet for my creativity. I quit my old job in mid 2011 and set up Victoria Made, initially wanting to make cakes just in the Sheffield area. Not long into the business I started getting a bit of attention from further afield and was well received by some blogs so I started to look at shifting up a gear and aiming a little higher. Now 3 years in I have made cakes for Le Manoir, Jess Ennis and been featured in Brides Magazine amongst others. It’s been both a blessing and a curse that things have happened so quickly but it still seems an age ago that I was in my kitchen in Sheffield. My designs really have come a long way from then, it’s been a very quick, steep learning curve!

Jenny & Gareth | Super awesome Jewish beach wedding + pool party at Grand Satis Villa, Phang Nga Bay, Thailand

03/07/2014 by Karen

Jenny and Gareth are one seriously hot couple. I’m talking hot with a capital ‘H’ folks and I just know you’ll think the same once you see their delicious destination wedding imagery by D-Image Plus.

But WAIT. It gets better. Their ceremony took place on the sand, footsteps away from the water’s edge with whales dancing in the sea behind the chuppah! And after the ceremony The Kardashians (yes, The Kardashians) photo-bombed their portrait shots on the beach!!

Their wedding planner, Jeanette Skelton, told me, “The Kardashians turned up on the beach in front of the villa, after the ceremony, during the photo session. They were staying at the nearby Iniala Resort and had their film crew on the beach to film for Keeping up with the Kardashians. Of course they wanted to film Gareth and Jenny for their show and what luck for them to run into such a fabulous bride and groom!”

Jenny, originally from Melbourne, and Gareth, from Sydney, met in Thailand which is why getting married there was so significant for them. Jeanette from Luxury Events Phuket (liaising mostly with Gareth, as Jenny was studying for her chartered accountants certificate in the run up to her wedding) created an all-sorts-of-brilliant day for this special couple and told me “every wedding is special and unique but there are some weddings that truly stand out with incredible energy and this was one of them.”

I have to agree with Jeanette – the energy is palpable! And after their intimate beach ceremony came a pumping party complete with pineapple and lemongrass infused vodka martinis, watermelon mojitos, pina coladas, long island ice phi phi’s live music, obligatory crazy Jewish dancing, Thai sky lanterns, fire dancers and an insane pool party with falafel and pitta for a midnight snack. Divine exotic perfection!

Ready for a goooooood time? Over to the beautiful Jenny….

Khloe and Kendall Kardashian taking the opportunity to pose with the gorgeous Jenny and Gareth!

Missy & Yoni | Super cool and colourful South East London Jew-ish wedding at Asylum Arts and The Big Red Pizza Bus

01/07/2014 by Karen

When I first looked through these Jew-ish wedding images submitted by the legendary Laura Babb I was doing a little happy dance over every detail…

Smashing a piñata instead of a glass? SQUEAL! Derelict crumbling chapel for a Jew-ish ceremony venue? HOLY MOLY! Vivienne Westwood glittery red shoes? HOT DAMN! A colourful mariachi band ? WHOA! A DJ outfit called the Wedding Smashers WOW! I mean this wedding is just begging to be blogged on Smashing the Glass!

Aside from being an amazing day full of fun, laughter, heart and joy, and apart from being documented by the outrageously talented (read major photographer crush) Laura Babb, one of the things that I love most about this wedding is that the couple tried their hardest to source everything from local suppliers in their area of South East London.

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So Victoria, what’s the ’Victoria Made’ story? How did you start your company and what’s happened between then and now?

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