• About
  • Find a Vendor
  • Submit
  • Advertise
  • Brides Club
  • Your Jewish Life
  • Contact

Smashing the Glass | Jewish Wedding Blog

Inspired Jewish Weddings

  • Real Jewish Weddings
    • City Chic
    • Fashion Forward
    • Outdoor
    • Destination
      • Israel
      • Italy
      • Spain
      • France
      • Beach Weddings
    • Super Luxe
    • Budget
    • DIY
    • Same Sex
    • Covid Weddings
  • Jew-ish Weddings
    • Real Jew-ish Weddings
    • Jewish-Catholic Weddings
    • Jewish-Chinese Weddings
    • Jewish-Christian Weddings
    • Jewish-Greek Weddings
    • Jewish-Hindu Weddings
    • Jewish-Humanist Weddings
    • Jewish-Irish Weddings
    • Jewish Japanese Weddings
    • Jewish-Muslim Weddings
    • Same Sex Jew-ish Weddings
  • Inspiration + Guidance
    • Engaged? Start Here
    • Ceremony
      • Chuppah ideas
      • Jewish ceremony music
      • Jewish wedding ceremony 101
      • Jewish ceremony traditions
      • Ketubah Ideas
      • Jewish wedding legalities
      • Jew-ish ceremony ideas
    • Reception
      • Music
      • Speeches
      • Entertainment
      • Venues
    • Food & Drink
      • Kosher catering
      • Wedding cakes
      • Drinks
    • Decor
      • Decorations
      • Favours
      • Floristry
      • Guestbooks
      • Stationery
    • Style
      • Brides dresses
      • Shoes & accessories
      • Grooms
      • Bridesmaids
    • Advice
      • Converting to Judaism
      • Real blogging brides
      • Dear Karen…
    • Honeymoons
    • STG Live
    • Five Minutes With
    • Wedding Must-Haves
    • Wedding Consultancy
  • Jewish Brides Club
  • Find a Wedding Vendor
Home > Advice + Planning > Advice

Things to Budget for a Jewish Wedding That You May Have Overlooked

18/08/2022 by Karen Cinnamon

Chloe and Danny‘s Tuscan Jewish wedding, planned by Michelle! Photo by David Bastianoni

This is a guest post by Michelle Jacobs. The founder of Elegante by Michelle J, Michelle  is a wedding planner with a niche specialisation in luxury destination weddings in Italy for UK and US based Jewish couples. Her mission is to create magical and memorable weddings for her couples, their families and their guests. Michelle has had the privilege of working at numerous Italian venues and has built fantastic relationships and effective collaborations with a whole host of talented and professional Italian wedding vendors. She is passionate about sharing all of her knowledge and experience to create your dream wedding.


One of the most challenging aspects of planning a wedding is budgeting. Figuring out how much you have to spend, breaking it down by category, and then continually monitoring your progress as you book each supplier… it’s a lot to think about!

But all that hard work can only go so far if you forget to include certain key items in your budget from the beginning. It’s like anything in life – you have to start with good foundations, otherwise it can all come tumbling down.

So, here are some examples for you of items that I commonly see omitted from an original budget document.

Jewish wedding Osea Island, Essex, UK_0041

Jasmin and Brett‘s Osea Island UK Jewish wedding, planned by Michelle! Photo by Claudine Hartzel

Ceremony Costs

Couples – when costing out their wedding – often look at the wedding reception costs only and forget about the main event!!  After all, your guests are joining you to witness your marriage.  Everything that follows is simply a celebration of this, and your marriage ceremony does come with its own costs.  These can include:

  • Synagogue membership fees (often a stipulation if the rabbi at your family Synagogue is marrying you)
  • Fees charged by the rabbi
  • Chazan, musicians and/orchoir
  • Sound system for the ceremony – not always available at the synagogue so if you are having musicians at your ceremony you might need to hire in a PA system.
  • Chuppah hire as well as the chuppah flowers
  • Any other ceremony decoration
  • Kippot and order or service booklets (if applicable or required)
  • Transport from the ceremony to the wedding reception (if you decide to provide this for your guests)
  • Chair hire and set up (eg for an outdoor ceremony at your wedding venue)
  • The cost of your civil wedding, which you will require in addition to your Jewish wedding 

Jewish wedding Great Synagogue of Florence and Villa di Maiano, Florence, Italy_0013

Paige and Richard‘s Jewish wedding at the Great Synagogue of Florence, planned by Michelle! Photo by David Bastianoni

Catering

Your caterer might have sent you an initial set of sample menus with per person pricing, but have they included:

  • Furniture hire if not available at your venue (ie tables and chairs) and do they charge extra to set these up for you
  • Linen upgrades (perhaps their per person cost includes for basic white linen and you would like to introduce more of a luxury feel or colour)
  • Tableware and glassware upgrades
  • Kitchen set up costs (if you are using a dry hire venue with no catering kitchen)
  • Transport costs for their team (if you are using a venue which is not local to their base)
  • “Crew meals” -you are not expected to pay to feed the caterers staff,  but you will need to pay to feed all of your other suppliers including your band, your photographers and videographers, your wedding planners etc.  Usually caterers will charge a reduced fee for a simpler meal, although you should expect to provide a hot meal as it is always a long day for the supplier team and a decent meal is considered essential.

Michelle helped Emma and Pete plan a Mary Poppins-themed wedding – talk about a Jewish wedding that’s totally them! Photo by Claudine Hartzel

Venue

Do make sure you check your venue hire contract carefully.  In particular you need to consider:

  • What time are your suppliers allowed access,and if earlier access will be required is this possible and will they charge extra for it
  • Likewise the breakdown and de-rig at the end;how long do they allow for this,  is it a sufficient amount of time and if not, will there be an extra fee for a later finish
  • What time must your wedding end; can you extend for a fee?And if so, how much?
  • Which spaces are included?Does this include for all of your requirements including a green room for the band and other suppliers (ie photographers and videographers), a room for your Tisch, a room for your Bedeken?  Is there any extra charge for additional rooms?

destination-Jewish-wedding-at-Villa-Oliva-Lucca-Tuscany-Italy

Stephanie and Dan‘s Jewish wedding in Tuscany, planned by Michelle! Photo by David Bastianoni

Flowers

A florist might provide you with a ball-park cost for decorating your Chuppah and for your table centrepieces, but does the fee include:

  • Delivery and set up
  • Returning at the end to collect the vases, candelabras, tea light holders etc and break down the chuppah
  • Breakages of vases, tea light holders etc

Claudia & James, Royal Myconian Hotel, Mykonos, Greece

Claudia and James‘s Jewish wedding in Mykonos, planned by Michelle! Photo by Anna Roussos

Entertainment and Production

You have decided on a band and agreed a fee with them.  But I am afraid that is not all.  Their fee may or may not include their sound system, but it definitely won’t include:

  • Stage
  • Dance floor
  • Lighting

If you book a large showband they will have certain requirements regarding their stage and lighting so do make sure you talk to them about these things sooner rather than later and build them into your budget.

Continue ReadingContinue Reading

Share this post:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)

13 Inspirational Jewish Wedding Photos

04/07/2022 by Karen Cinnamon


Image: Ben Kelmer Photography

It takes someone really special to capture all the magic of a Jewish wedding. The traditions, the emotion, the dancing – a Jewish wedding day is pretty full-on from start to finish, and you want to make sure you pick a wedding photographer who can keep up!

Luckily, we know plenty of amazing Jewish wedding photographers – the kind who know exactly what a badeken is without you having to explain a thing – and we asked 13 of them to share a favorite Jewish wedding snapshot with us. So get ready to feel ALL the feelings!


1. Miki Studios


See more work by MIKI Studios


2. Herschel Gutman Photography


See more work by Herschel Gutman, who also offers 10% discount to Brides Club members.


3. Ben Kelmer Photography


See more work by Ben Kelmer Photography, who also offers 10% discount to Brides Club members.Continue ReadingContinue Reading

Share this post:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)

The Ultimate Jewish Wedding Checklist is Here!

27/08/2021 by Karen Cinnamon

So many of you have been asking for a detailed Jewish wedding checklist so today we’ve created the ultimate Jewish wedding checklist ready for you to download!

Simply head to this link to grab the only checklist you’re going to need whilst your planning your Jewish or Jew-ish wedding!

From venues to videographers, and Save The Dates to smashing the Glass (and EVERYTHING in between and so much more!) download the ultimate Jewish wedding checklist and up-level your productivity!

JEWISH-WEDDING-CHECKLIST

Share this post:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)

The Ultimate Jewish Wedding Checklist is Here!

24/06/2021 by Karen

So many of you have been asking for a detailed Jewish wedding checklist so today we’ve created the ultimate Jewish wedding checklist ready for you to download!

Simply head to this link to grab the only checklist you’re going to need whilst your planning your Jewish or Jew-ish wedding!

From venues to videographers, and Save The Dates to smashing the Glass (and EVERYTHING in between and so much more!) download the ultimate Jewish wedding checklist and up-level your productivity!

JEWISH-WEDDING-CHECKLIST

Share this post:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)

My advice to you as we close out 2020

24/12/2020 by Karen


Image: John Nassari

If you could travel with your love and get married just the two of you in a magical setting right now, would you?

It could be tempting, but then tomorrow you might feel completely differently and want that big celebration for 200 loved ones, and a Hora so crowded your dress gets trampled on, and your face glistens with sweaty glee!

Such a tough time – and you must allow yourself to feel however you’re feeling.

And no one can tell you what that feeling should be.

You’re allowed to feel sad, lost, excited or anything else on the scale of Coronacoaster emotions.

Then take a deep breath and remember that the reality this pandemic is awakening some of us to, is that life DOES throw us curveballs.

How we manage them is a benchmark for how we manage life.

The current moment is a real test for us to find out how flexible we can be, and how we can manage, at a time when our lives are so deeply disrupted.

Managing the uncertainty

Times of uncertainty make us feel incredibly disempowered – and that’s not how anyone wants to feel.

Under normal circumstances, being a bride- or groom-to-be is often a very empowering experience – we get to make plans to create the day of our dreams, and while all that choice can be overwhelming, it’s also exhilarating.

Now, the situation has been flipped on its head. It feels like everything’s been taken out of our control as we’re forced to radically reimagine what our weddings might look like.

Adding insult to injury, a lot of us are also facing financial struggles we’d never have imagined.

A shift in perspective

To regain a sense of control and empowerment in your life – and your wedding plans – it will take a shift in perspective. And coming to terms with what we can and cannot control at this time is in itself an act of empowerment.

The silver lining in all of this? Life’s not going to stop throwing those curveballs, and dealing with them as a team is a skill you’ll need to have in your toolbox throughout your life together as a couple.

Learning to work together with your partner to get through a crisis sooner rather than later can only set your marriage up for success.

I hope you’re feeling ok. I have opened up my Brides Club for you to benefit from it for free for 30 days if you feel you need advice or someone to chat to. Just click here and you’ll be inside in moments.

Wishing you so much love and endless amounts of only good things.

Love Karen x

 

Share this post:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • …
  • 17
  • Next Page »

Jewish Weddings by Country

Vendors We Love

Weddings by Colour


Jewish Wedding Gift List


Awesome Jewish Gifts

Vendors We Love

Get posts directly into your inbox

Enter your email address below and get the latest posts delivered straight to your inbox.

Biscuiteers Baking Company
Kate Spade UK Limited
Monica Vinader
Liberty London
Mr And Mrs Smith Honeymoons

Today’s Top Posts

  • A guide to the Jewish Wedding Ceremony and Order of Service under the chuppah
    A guide to the Jewish Wedding Ceremony and Order of Service under the chuppah
  • A Jewish Wedding Full of Personal Touches at Mt Princeton Hot Springs Resort, Colorado, USA
    A Jewish Wedding Full of Personal Touches at Mt Princeton Hot Springs Resort, Colorado, USA
  • Breaking The Glass – Jewish Wedding Traditions Explained #7
    Breaking The Glass – Jewish Wedding Traditions Explained #7
  • Dates in 2023, 2024 and 2025 to avoid for a Jewish wedding plus a 12 Month Wedding Planning Monthly Checklist
    Dates in 2023, 2024 and 2025 to avoid for a Jewish wedding plus a 12 Month Wedding Planning Monthly Checklist
  • A Reform Jewish Wedding - a guide to an egalitarian ceremony under the chuppah
    A Reform Jewish Wedding - a guide to an egalitarian ceremony under the chuppah

Subscribe by Email

Enter your email address below and get the latest posts delivered straight to your inbox.

Connect

Instagram
TikTok
Facebook
Pinterest
YouTube
Twitter
Advertise
Mailing List
Email Karen

Receive Smashing The Glass posts via Email

Enter your email address below and get the latest posts delivered straight to your inbox.

closeClick Here To Get The Ultimate Jewish Wedding Checklist

All content © Smashing The Glass 2023