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Win the Ultimate NYC Wedding at Carnegie Hall

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Photography by Andre Maier / Planning by Andrea Adelstein, NYLUX Events

Are you looking to plan the ultimate New York City wedding? Something at an iconic venue in the heart of the city, with killer views of the magnificent skyline? Perhaps you’d even like to wed at a legendary cultural hotspot? 

Photography by Andre Maier / Planning by Andrea Adelstein, NYLUX Events 

All that and more is possible at one of our very favourite NYC Jewish wedding venues, Carnegie Hall. One of the world’s most iconic performance spaces, Carnegie Hall also happens to be home to a variety of fantastic event spaces, from a killer rooftop terrace to a private dining room with historic fixtures to rooms with dramatic windows showcasing Central Park.

Photography by Andre Maier / Planning by Andrea Adelstein, NYLUX Events

And right now, our friends at Carnegie Hall are running a competition for one lucky couple to win their dream wedding at this amazing venue!

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Hedsor House: A Stylish Buckinghamshire Country House Venue Perfect for Your Jewish Wedding

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The struggle is real: you’ve always dreamed of an idyllic, secluded countryside wedding, but also need a venue where the team knows a chuppah from a hora.  

I hear you. It’s not always easy planning a UK Jewish wedding when you’re not going for that big city feel, between kosher catering, easy transportation for guests, and all the other considerations that come into choosing a venue for a Jewish wedding. But there are a handful of fantastic venues out there that let you have your cake (or scone?) and eat it too.

Like Hedsor House, an incredible Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor in the heart of the English countryside, yet only 45 minutes from London. Located in the beautiful Thames Valley, Hedsor House’s Buckinghamshire location embodies that classic English country house splendour with its magnificent Georgian architecture, elegant decor, and sprawling grounds. It’s truly a special backdrop for your big day.

Hedsor House regularly hosts luxury Jewish weddings, and the events team are total pros at handling all the special details that go into a Jewish wedding. Whether your ceremony is Orthodox or Jew-ish, they know what to do — and they’ll be there with you every step of the way, with their mega-attentive service ensuring your ideas are brought to life and your big day runs smoothly.

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Win a romantic night for two at the breathtaking Kimpton Fitzroy London, London’s hottest new luxury hotel

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I’m so delighted to offer you the chance to win an overnight stay in London’s hottest new luxury hotel: the fabulous Kimpton Fitzroy London.

I’ve attended some fab events at the Kimpton Fitzroy London since they opened, like the BertaF/W 2019 Press Launch last month, and opening of David Michael Bradford’s (who also happens to have photographed the wonderful wedding images in this post) Scribbled Art exhibition featuring a portrait of me!

Both these events were truly spectacular occasions that EVERYONE was talking about after (and rightly so!).

Located oh-so-centrally in Bloomsbury’s Russell Square, the Kimpton Fitzroy London combines historic charm with modern luxury. Originally built in 1898 (on the site of Emmaline Pankhurst’s onetime home — how’s that for a bit of feminist history to add to your wedding?!), Kimpton Fitzroy London undertook a two-year, £85 million refurbishment of the hotel before opening it in April 2018 as their first London property.

And the outcome is truly exquisite, as you’ll see for yourself if you have a scroll through these photos. Every inch is full of the chicest of contemporary details.

It’s truly the most wonderfully special space, and I’m so excited that we’ve teamed up with the Kimpton Fitzroy London to offer one lucky couple (and you can be single with a plus one, engaged or married to enter) an unbelievable prize to experience the luxuries of the hotel to include:

  • An overnight stay in a luxury corner suite
  • Champagne and sweet treats on arrival
  • Pre-dinner cocktails in Fitz’s Bar
  • 3-course dinner with a bottle of wine in the stunning onsite restaurant Neptune
  • Breakfast the following morning,
  • Champagne afternoon tea in Palm Court
  • A 300tc bedlinen set by Tielle Love Luxury (you guessed it, the same luxurious linen used by Kimpton Fitzroy London)
  • The total prize value is £1300 !


A Jewish Wedding at the Kimpton Fitzroy

It practically goes without saying that the Kimpton Fitzroy London is an incredible venue for an urban glam Jewish wedding right in the heart of London.

With a capacity of up to 180 for a seated dinner and dancefloor, or 450 standing, it can accommodate a big bash, and the wonderful weddings team at the Kimpton Fitzroy London couldn’t be more knowledgeable and enthusiastic about Jewish weddings, with an experienced team with the highest five-star hotel pedigree from The Dorchester, The Savoy, and The Rosewood (to name but a few).

And guess what? The Kimpton Fitzroy London’s marketing manager, Ruthie Berkley, is an STG Bride herself! Her real Jewish wedding is coming to Smashing The Glass later this month and it’s a GOODIE! Watch out for it on Wednesday 20th March…

But back to the glorious Kimpton Fitzroy London: The centre of the property — at least when it comes to weddings — is the ballroom, a grand event space perfect for a standout Jewish ceremony followed by a beautiful reception, boasting a private entrance on Bernard Street, original 19th-century architectural details, a full wall of windows, and a mezzanine gallery.

And the adjoining Palm Court is the most magical backdrop for reception drinks, with a soaring glass ceiling that floods the room with light, comfortable clusters of seating, and lots of gorgeous greenery — the vibe is conservatory meets lounge meets members club, and it is exactly as fabulous as it sounds. Intimate yet fun, hip yet classic.

I’m seriously in love with this space and it has got to be the best reception space to go with a ballroom wedding that I’ve seen in London. 

With 334 guest rooms, each featuring 300-thread-count linens, and warm decor that seamlessly blends heritage elements with 21st-century appointments, the Kimpton Fitzroy London is the perfect place for out-of-town guests to enjoy their stay in style too.

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London Jewish Wedding Venue Inspo: The Brewery

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Blake Ezra Photography | IG: @blakeezraphoto

You know we love a city chic wedding here at Smashing the Glass. Industrial vibes? Love it. Exposed brickwork? Can’t get enough. Throw in a touch of history, and we’re sold.

That’s why we’re so delighted to be sharing one of our favorite London venues with you today: the Brewery. This awesome space (which was an actual brewery dating back to the 18thcentury!) is the perfect mix of sophisticated and quirky. And its location smack dab in the middle of the City of London is hard to beat. We featured this gorgeous interfaith Jewish Christian wedding a few years back, and we can’t wait to share our Real Blogging Bride Charlotte’s wedding at the venue just last month.

This onetime industrial space recast as an events venue offers a range of different rooms that can accommodate large parties (of up to 1,000 guests!). There are spaces to suit Jewish weddings of all stripes, and to accommodate each part of the day. We’re thrilled to share with you some of the Brewery’s most popular rooms for Jewish weddings, with a look into how each can best be incorporated into your day.

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10 Affordable Jewish Wedding Venues in New York City

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Jewish Wedding Manhattan New York City the rooftop of Ramscale Studios USA_0004

Image by Hales Studio from Aliza and Nate’s Jewish Wedding

Back in May, I wrote a piece on some of NYC’s most jaw-dropping Jewish wedding venues. They were cool, they were unique, they were fabulous. But one thing they were not, for the most part, is affordable for the average couple getting married.

According to CNN, the average cost of Manhattan wedding is nearly $80,000 (!!!!!!!!!), and even outside Manhattan averages hover around $60,000. Obviously that’s driven up by the small-ish number of ultra- mega- super-luxe weddings the city sees each year, but still. That’s more than a lot of us make in a year. Yikes. 

The good news is that you don’t have to break the bank if you want (or need) to get married within the confines of the Big Apple. Especially if you’re willing to have a smaller wedding and/or to compromise on time of year or day of week, there are a surprising number of appealing options for brides and grooms on a budget. From industrial chic to urban glam to how-are-we-not-out-in-the-country, you can still have the wedding style you want. 

As with all things in the city, affordability is relative, and many of these venues might still leave those of you from less expensive parts of the country (or world!) with some serious sticker shock. A wedding – anywhere, but especially in a city like New York – is a big investment; there’s no way around that (well, short of eloping!). A few of these are truly mindblowingly cheap by city standards, while others are more, shall we say, mid-tier in price. Let’s get started.

Green Building Brooklyn wedding

The Green Building | Image by Weddings by Two from Danya and Andrew’s Jew-ish Wedding

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