Smashing the Glass | Jewish Wedding Blog

Inspired Jewish Weddings

Home > Advice + Planning > Advice > Page 6

Real Jewish Brides – Gillian: DIY-ing Our Own Ketubah

by

Gillian will be marrying Pete on 8th September 2017 (just 3 days from now!) in a Jew-ish wedding at the Ballroom at Ellis Preserve in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, so today is her final blog before her Big Day! You can click here to read all Gillian’s planning posts to date.

THREE FACTS: (1) Gillian is Jewish and Pete is Catholic (2) A Rabbi and a Priest will officiate at their wedding (3) Gillian is a Health & Wellness Coach and Pete is a Travel Occupational Therapist.

REAL-JEWISH-BRIDES_Gillian_new
What’s The Right Ketubah For You?

Anyone who has started planning a Jewish or Interfaith Wedding has thought of what they want their Ketubah to look like. It’s an important part of the Jewish wedding ceremony and it’s something that you will hopefully hang on the walls of your home forever. So where does any modern bride start when planning this element of her wedding? Obviously Smashing The Glass, Pinterest, Etsy, and the World Wide Web. Only to realize that Ketubot (plural form of Ketubah) also come with their own gammat of choices to be made.

What text should you choose, should you have English and Hebrew, who should you ask to sign your Ketubah, what size paper do you want, and how much do you want to spend? The choices are endless, and then you have to pick an aesthetic you like to match – that you and your future spouse both like!

DIY-ketubah

Gillian’s DIY Ketubah!

Continue ReadingContinue Reading

Have You Considered an Equality-Minded Jewish Wedding?

by

Equality Jewish Wedding
This is a guest post by Jessica Haselton (above) whose wedding we featured on Smashing The Glass last month

Modern weddings are largely concentrated on the bride. From before the wedding begins to the end of the reception, the bride is principally the focus of our attention. What is her dress like? How will she do her hair? Her makeup?

We’ve so come to accept the bride as the focal point of the wedding, it’s likely never occurred to us – those in attendance, and many of us planning weddings ourselves – that the traditional Jewish wedding ceremony is by and large centered around the groom. 

Now, this isn’t to say brides don’t play an integral role. It is that, historically and traditionally, the responsibilities in the wedding ceremony lay with the groom. The traditional Jewish wedding ceremony doesn’t provide the bride with a speaking role. Only the groom takes a vow under the chuppah and places a ring on his betrothed.

But the good news is that there are ways to incorporate more balance and equality into the Jewish wedding ceremony without foregoing any of its timeless and oft-beautiful traditions. If you’re interested in a more equality-driven wedding, I’ve put together a list of five ways to incorporate egalitarianism into your ceremony and elevate your big day!

Equality Ketubah
A cattle-free ketubah

Let’s start with the Jewish marriage contract, the ketubah. Even before you get to the chuppah, you begin laying the foundation of your marriage through your marriage contract. Not all ketubahs are the same – the Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, Interfaith, Humanistic, Same-Sex texts, and many others, differ widely from one another. For this reason, it is important to take the time to select a text that is representative of you and your partner’s values (and if you need help with ketubah texts, you could contact one of these STG-recommended ketubah designers).

Traditionally, ketubahs are written in Aramaic, and many today still are. I’d like to think mine served as a detailed account of how much cattle my father was willing to fork over in exchange for my hand. Okay, obviously that’s not what my ketubah said. While the ketubah is mostly ‘legalese’, it does codify the commitment the couple is making, and details the rights of the bride and responsibilities of the groom. Unless you were an expert in your Hebrew School’s 6th grade Aramaic class, you should ask to see an English translation of your ketubah so that you know exactly what you’re signing up for.Continue ReadingContinue Reading

What To Ask Your Officiant and Wedding Planner to Ensure They Facilitate the Jewish (or Jew-ish) Wedding You Want

by

Jewish-Wedding
This is a guest post by Danya Shults whose wedding we featured on Smashing The Glass last year

When to say ‘I Do’ to your wedding team

Your partnerships with your wedding officiant and planner aren’t as serious as the one you’ve got with your husband or wife, but they are facilitating one of the most significant days of your life!

Your wedding team’s job is to bring your dreamy vision of a meaningful, personal wedding to life. That’s why it’s so important that you’re all on the same page as you plan your big day together.

If you want kosher wine under the chuppah and shrimp hors d’oeuvres at the reception, they should respect that. If you want to include a Yoruba poem in your ceremony to complement the traditional seven Jewish wedding blessings, they should be able to make that work.


Picking the perfect wedding providers

What you really want to know is that your officiant and planner share your values and that you feel heard and understood by them, especially when it comes to incorporating religious and cultural traditions into your wedding in a way that feels authentic to you.

First things first – before you begin the search for your wedding pros, you and your partner should have your own chat about what you do and don’t want for your Jewish (or Jew-ish) wedding. Otherwise, it’ll be tricky to figure out whether or not any particular wedding service provider is right for you.

Once you’re clear on your own expectations and preferences, you can start interviewing wedding officiants and planners. Remember: the key is to pick providers who really get you, whom you love working with, and who will bring your wedding vision to life.

You can use the questions below to make sure you and your wedding team mesh!Continue ReadingContinue Reading

31 Top Tips For an Awesome Jewish Wedding

by


Last month I set myself the challenge of posting one Jewish wedding tip by video, every single day on the Smashing The Glass Facebook page. It amounted to 31 two-minute tip videos of me talking about everything from killer wedding shoes to how to get the best out of your wedding vendors, to how to get that amazing ‘crush’ sound when you smash the glass, to the importance of keeping your family happy to literally EVERY fantastic wedding tip under the sun chuppah!

As of today (August 10, 2017), the videos have collectively been viewed well over 10,00 times, so there must have been a few nuggets in there! As such, I thought it would be a good idea to post them all here for you to enjoy in one place. 

Let me know which one’s your favorite? Happy Planning!

Tip #1 Incorporate meaningful things into your wedding

Continue ReadingContinue Reading

Facebook Live Catch Up: Wedding Dress Trends for 2018 {with The Wedding Club}

by

WOW! What a Facebook Live we had on Wednesday, live from central London’s most prestigious wedding dress store, The Wedding Club.

I spent most of it open-mouthed, taking in the awesomeness of the show-stopping  wedding gowns from some of the most sought-after wedding dress designers in the world. I’m talking Berta Bridal, Zuhair Murad,and Naeem Khan – all Smashing The Glass faves!

We were treated to a diverse range of breathtaking looks, from super-sexy and barely-there on one end of the spectrum, to lavish gowns layered with peplums, beading, sparkles and a ‘modern ballgown’ feel.

We also saw some sensational statement two-in-one styles, and overskirts that brilliantly illustrate how you can create two different looks for your chuppah ceremony and party. These drew virtual gasps in the comments boxes with lots of ‘wooooah’s and wow’s. We ADORED all your comments, questions, interaction and shares. Thank you so much!

Smashing-The-Glass-Facebook-LiveContinue ReadingContinue Reading