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Bringing Spirituality into Your Jewish Wedding and Your Home with Micaela Ezra of AHYIN

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Photography; Sasha Israel | @sashaisrael

As brides, we spend so much time thinking about the aesthetics and logistics of our big days, sometimes it’s easy to overlook the spiritual element of your Jewish (or Jew-ish) wedding – and of the home you’re building together. 

That’s why I’m so thrilled to be talking today to Micaela Ezra, the powerhouse designer behind AHYIN, a jawdroppingly gorgeous line of contemporary Judaica that we on Team STG are absolutely in love with. Micaela’s designs – she’s best known for her stunning challah covers, which bring together traditional Jewish symbolism and the embroidery traditions of the craftswomen of Hilando Mexico, a collective whose members hand-embroider each and every AHYIN piece.

Meant to start conversation around the Friday night dinner table, Micaela’s designs reflect her belief in the relevance of Jewish ritual to our contemporary lives, and equally in the fusion of spirituality and beauty.

Micaela’s wedding — Photography: Joe Buissink | @joebuissink

AHYIN’s pieces are intended to be handed down through the generations as heirlooms, and what a beautiful symbol of the beginning of your life together as a family. Even for those of us who are not exactly at the beginning of our lives together – I know I’m adding a few of these beauties to my own wishlist!

What makes Micaela so inspiring is that she really embodies her commitment to tradition and modernity, ritual and aesthetic, not only in her work but also in her life – as she detailed when talking to us about everything from her journey from fashion design to Judaica to how she incorporated spirituality into her own wedding. There’s so much more I could say about this fantastic lady and her art, but I’ll let you read it in her own words.

Photography; Sasha Israel | @sashaisrael

Photography; Sasha Israel | @sashaisrael

Photography; Sasha Israel | @sashaisrael

Photography; Sasha Israel | @sashaisrael

STG: What inspired you to create AHYIN?

Micaela Ezra: Actually a childhood friend from Australia asked me to design her a challah cover in the traditional Mexican Otami embroidery style (I am a designer and artist). The request prompted a creative journey into an industry I had never even considered. I serendipitously came across a community of talented artisans in Mexico and suddenly I realised that this work was the meeting point of so many life passions for me – textile design, Jewish spirituality and social change philanthropy.

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What’s It Really Like to Buy Your Wedding Dress at Kleinfeld?

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Image from The Knot

Hey everyone, Emily here! Today I’m so excited to be talking about one of NYC’s most iconic wedding businesses: Kleinfeld. You may know the bridal boutique from Say Yes to the Dress, but though it’s possibly best known as the place to pick up a five-figure Pnina Tornai, Kleinfeld is so much more.

But what’s it really like to shop for your wedding dress there, once the cameras stop rolling? I know from personal experience that some brides-to-be are intimidated to shop at this bridal behemoth based on what they see on the show.

Full disclosure: when I was engaged, I visited, had a fantastic experience — despite tending toward styles pretty different from what you see on the show (ALL the Temperley!) — and very nearly purchased a dress (though in the end I didn’t), and now whenever I’m talking to a newly engaged NYC bride  I always encourage her to see what Kleinfeld has to offer.

In the interest of demystifying the experience, we picked the brains of seven Smashing The Glass brides who purchased their gowns at the bridal institution. Read on to hear their thoughts on the selection of gowns, the customer service, and individualized experience the store offers — and reveal some surprising differences from what you see on TV.

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Choosing your wedding shoes and accessories: everything you need to know – with Emmy London, live from their Flagship London Store

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Emmy London
This Wednesday 13 June, we are going live with the incredible Emmy Scarterfield, founder of Emmy London, live from her London flagship store, to talk all things wedding shoes and accessories for the whole bridal party!

We’ll be talking colour ideas, summer bridal styles, practical advice for choosing shoes and accessories for your big day, personalisation ideas, and so much more.

Being one of the world’s most sought-after bridal shoe and accessory designers, Emmy really knows her stuff (and is delightful to boot!) so tune in live with all your questions – absolutely nothing is off the table!

Emmy London Wedding shoes 2
Karen, founder of Smashing The Glass, will be hosting live (in her pink Emmy shoes of course) and we’ll have lots of ideas for you for your Big Day. It’s going to be FABULOUS!

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Celebrating 15 years of David Pullum, One Of The World’s Best Wedding Photographers (and a special gift for all Smashing The Glass readers)

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We are extremely honoured to be celebrating a truly talented and wonderful photographer today — the amazing David Pullum.  Not only is it his birthday (Happy Birthday David!) it is also the anniversary of his 15 years working in wedding photography. 

Voted one of the best 50 photographers in the UK in 2018, David Pullum is one of the most visually engaging photographers we know – he has an unbelievable skill of capturing emotion and his timeless style create memories the couple, the bridal party, and their friends and family will truly treasure forever. 

We come across thousands of photographers here at Smashing The Glass, but David is definitely one of our all time favourites — he is utterly outstanding. 

We adore having David as part of our Smashing family and today we want to make it all about him – congratulations David, 15 years in the wedding industry is a remarkable achievement! 

Before we let David tell  us more about his wedding photography experience so far, we are beyond 15 year excited to let you know that to celebrate this fantastic milestone David is offering off 15% of his wedding package for all Smashing Glass readers!! HAPPY DAYS! 

Now David, over to you… 


Where did it all begin? 

In 2003 the company I was working for decided to move most, if not all of its staff to Bangalore. Having left school with very few qualifications and have spent most of my working career in a trading room, the options were fairly limited. A good friend of mine at the time had just taken up wedding photography and so I signed up for the same course as he had done and by the end of that year I had my first wedding booking. Continue ReadingContinue Reading

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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