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It’s Our Birthday and To Celebrate Take 20% off our Smash Glass Pouches – Today Only!

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Smash-Pouch-Jewish-WeddingFive years ago I hit the ‘go live’ button on my very first blog post — the real Jewish wedding of my brother to his incredible wife, (and my one-in-a-million sister-in-law), Lee Ann… Just the most gorgeous wedding for very many reasons!

Five years later we are a fabulous team of five with gorgeous Maria, our fabulous editorial assistant; ever-wonderful Claire, our much-loved client relations manager; amazing Emily, our fantastic features writer, and amazing Megan; our very talented social media manager. And, of course, there’s me, Karen, the founder and editor!

We couldn’t let our 5th birthday pass without a little gift for you, so to celebrate we are slashing our coveted smash glass pouches for under the chuppah by 20%, but the special discounted price is for today only!

More about the Smash Glass Pouch

As founder of Smashing The Glass (and with a background in award-winning creative design and branding), I personally created this gorgeous lined Smash Glass Pouch with you in mind.

Enough already with those chuppah glasses wrapped in foil, a napkin, or an old-fashioned velvet pouch… Your Smash Glass Pouch should be as Instagrammable as the rest of your wedding, right?!

Smash Glass Pouch
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Smash Glass Pouches by Smashing The Glass!

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Smash-Pouch-Jewish-WeddingTo celebrate Royal Wedding week we have some SUPER exciting news! Yes, cue the squeals –  we’re delighted to announce that our coveted Smash Glass Pouches for under the chuppah are now officially for sale!

Wherever you’re having your wedding, and wherever you live in the world, you can now buy your Smashing The Glass Pouch right here!

Our beautifully made smash glass pouches were designed by me, Karen, founder of Smashing The Glass!) and were originally created exclusively for members of our VIB Club, but since we closed the doors to the Club for this quarter, we have had a ton of requests from readers to purchase the pouches themselves, and as with everything with Smashing The Glass — when you ask it, we make it happen!

We have also had many request from wedding planners around the world to buy them… so we’re delighted that we can make the fabulous planner community around the world happy too!

More about our Smash Glass Pouches

Say goodbye to the days of your chuppah glass wrapped in foil, a napkin, or an old-fashioned velvet pouch… your Smash Glass Pouch should be as Instagrammable as the rest of your wedding!

As founder of Smashing The Glass (and with a background in award-winning creative design and branding), I personally created this gorgeous lined Smash Glass Pouch with you in mind.

Smash Glass Pouch
Me personally? I’m obsessed with the hot pink lining and the contemporary feel, but the full technical specs are as follows:

Bag Measures approx: 8” x 10.3” (20cm x 26cm)
Fabric: 6oz bleached pre shrunk cotton
Lining 4.5oz pre shrunk dyed cotton
Handles: satin lace; 2 way pull

Pssst… it also makes a gorgeous engagement or bridal shower gift too!!Continue ReadingContinue Reading

Your Wedding Stationery – Everything You Need To Know

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Dimitria-Jordan-Wedding-Stationery
This is a guest post by Dimitria Jordan, founder of Dimitria Jordan Luxury Stationery 
Dimitria designed the stationery above as seen in Natalie and Paul’s Jewish Wedding

{If you are a member of Smashing The Glass’s VIB Club, you can watch Dimitria’s video masterclass, ‘Everything You Need To Know About Your Wedding Stationery’ here}

Your wedding stationery sets the scene for your wedding day with your save the dates and / or invitations, and filters right through until the very end with your thank you cards. Your wedding stationery reflects you both as a couple and your style, and is the first glimpse guests will have of your special day! 
 
Below are some practical tips, useful ideas if you are unsure of the direction to go in, as well as the various printing techniques explained to guide you on your wedding stationery journey…
 

Dimitria Jordan
When should I make  a start on my wedding stationery?

My advice to all brides is to not underestimate timings for your wedding stationery. Once your venue is booked and you have a wedding date, I advise you to start looking for wedding stationers, and contacting those that suit your style and you would like to work with.

The design you choose (‘ready-to-order’ collection or bespoke) and the type of printing you decide on will affect the overall process, so it beneficial to make a start as soon as possible. As a minimum guideline, it’s best to make a start at least 6-8 weeks before you would like to send your save the dates or invitations to guests.

This ensures you can enjoy the whole process with your wedding stationer, discuss options and take your time rather than having to make rush decisions and having the extra stress of needing to send them out. You may also need to handwrite each guests name & address (a printed addressed envelope will take this job away!), add the postage and seal the envelope, which all take time too and is something to bear in mind.

Dimitria-Jordan-Wedding-Stationery
When should I post out my wedding stationery?

When you should post your wedding stationery will also give you an indication of when to make a start. There are varying guidelines for timelines, but listed below are general guidelines. If you decide against sending save the dates, you may wish to send out your invitation earlier than the time guidelines below… there is no right or wrong!Continue ReadingContinue Reading

Membership Intake to VIB Club (our Members Club for Jewish and Jew-ish Brides) closes today!

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Are you engaged and planning your Jewish or Jew-ish wedding? If you’re hanging out on Smashing The Glass, chances are you are – yay !!! Well first of all BIG MAZALS(!), and second of all you may very well want IN on my Members Club for Jewish + Jew-ish Brides before the doors close today, Thursday April 26!

If you sometimes feel overwhelmed or stressed by all the decisions to make, or are in any way time-poor whilst planning your W Day, or you just want to take advantage of the 100’s of vendor discounts and gifts worth tens of thousands of dollars (or pounds!), and all handpicked by me to meet my rigorous standards, the VIB Club is for you.

Day or night, pick my brains, receive instant expert advice, personalized vendor recommendations, epic bridal masterclasses and ‘Ask The (non-judgemental) Rabbi’ sessions, plus the unconditional support we all need when organizing the biggest day of our lives (whether or not you’re using a wedding planner).

I have to be honest, I’m absolutely obsessed with VIB Club (VIB stands for Very Important Bride) as I LOVE diving deep with brides and assisting in a more personal way, but don’t just take my word for it, here’s what Catherine, one of our members planning a Jewish wedding in New York City, has to say about how VIB Club has transformed her wedding planning:


And have a listen to another much-loved member, Yael (below) planning her Jew-ish destination wedding to her gorgeous non-Jewish fiancà© this coming summer. Here’s what she has to say about VIB Club and ALL the benefits!


Inside VIB Club you really can say  goodbye to wedding overwhelm and stress. It’s a safe (in-law free!) space where I’m always on hand to advise you personally with your wedding plans — however and whenever you need assistance.

I’m closing the doors tomorrow to ensure a bespoke service and would LOVE to see you in there to empower you to have your wedding your way.

Find out more, and join up here – I can’t wait to help you plan the wedding of your dreams – let’s do it!

PS Every member gets one of these gorgeous Smash Glass Pouches (below) for under the chuppah too… just one of the many VIB perks!

Your Chuppah – Everything You Need To Know

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Everything you need to know about your chuppah
This is a guest post by Lauren Dubell-Beadle, founder of The Chuppah Design Co who created the chuppah above
Image: Babb Photo from Clelia & George’s Jew-ish wedding

{If you are a member of Smashing The Glass’ Brides Club , you can watch Lauren’s video masterclass, ‘Everything You Need To Know About Your Chuppah’ here}

Before the dress, before the center pieces and before the personalized cocktails, your guests will see the symbolic chuppah that you will be married under. If you are like me, you will want that first impression to pack a punch and tell a story at the same time.

Why have a chuppah?

The chuppah goes back a long way and holds a lot of tradition within its simple four-posted structure. Its symbolism is vast, but ultimately the chuppah represents a couples first home that they will build together.

It is open on all four sides to represent the open hospitality the couple will give in their home to their family, friends and acquaintances… fitting more than a handful of your guests under the chuppah would be a challenge!

So the open sides help all your guests feel part of your ceremony. Today many non-Jewish couple choose to include a chuppah in their wedding for its symbolic nature and Jew-ish couples (like my husband and I) also want to have a chuppah, but may come across some challenges finding a rabbi who will willingly marry them or bless them under a chuppah.

US couples may not have the same issue, but if you are lucky enough to find Rabbi Paul Glantz free for your UK (or European) based date then make sure you snap him up! The chuppah was the first ‘Jewish thing’ we knew we wanted at our wedding and our insistence on having one led us to planning a wedding that was truly done ‘our way’. We wanted it to be the start of our meaningful and personal day.

Chuppah ideas
Image: The Image is Found from Michelle & Joseph’s Jewish wedding

Where to get inspiration?

So where do you start with planning your chuppah? Most people make the decision if they want to DIY their chuppah or not before they actually decide what they want… and you can definitely do that… we did.

We knew we wanted to make it ourselves in keeping with the idea of the new couple building their home together and we really didn’t want anyone else’s help for this one part of our day. However, it is important to decide what sort of chuppah will fit in with the overall style of your wedding.

Do you want something simple and traditional (that could be relatively easy to DIY) or do you want a massive eye-catching art installation style that will be pinned and shared all over Instagram after the big day? The latter you may wish to get some help with!

There are three places I’d suggest looking for inspiration at this stage; Smashing the Glass (particularly this post), Pinterest and Instagram the hashtag #chuppah always works a treat!

Whilst you’re scrolling you can begin to think of the style you are heading towards and how you might be able to turn those inspirational images into a reality. Here you might decide if you are DIY-ing or looking for some support from a florist and a rental company or a design service (like me!) for the truly one-off personal chuppah.

book-chuppah
Image: Dave Robbins from Jessie & Craig’s book-themed Jewish wedding

How to turn your vision into reality?

So, you are a newly engaged bride-to-be with a massive wedding Pinterest board and a whole load of new hashtags to follow on Instagram… so how do you turn all these ideas into something for your big day?

Do you go for it and DIY the whole thing or get someone in to do it for you? Both definitely have their merits. If you choose to DIY your chuppah then I’d suggest doing a bit of research before you plan it all out.Continue ReadingContinue Reading