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

21/06/2018 by Karen Cinnamon Leave a Comment

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

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.

Etsy Wedding Style: Our Favourite Finds for Jewish Weddings + Win a £500 Etsy Gift Card!

31/05/2018 by Karen Cinnamon

Here at Smashing The Glass, we are massive Etsy fans. Whatever your wedding style and budget, the global online marketplace for unique handmade and creative goods has got something for you. With so many unique items, it’s the perfect place to snag some special touches to help make your day totally you.

From invitations to decorations to favours and so much more, Etsy’s got you covered.

Today, we’re thrilled to be featuring a selection of some of our favourite Etsy products for Jewish (and Jew-ish) weddings that we personally adore. From flip flops to hand out to your guests to the loveliest floral lolly favours to beautiful order of service programs, we can’t wait to share our latest finds with you.

Oh yeah, and did we mention that our very own super stylish Smash Glass Pouches for under the chuppah are now available as a standalone purchase on Etsy, too?! That’s right, the days when your only options for wrapping your smash glass in a napkin or stodgy old velvet pouch are gone, thanks to this contemporary and oh-so-Instagrammable option!

We’re also delighted to announce that Etsy is running a competition on their Instagram channel, open to all UK STG readers, to win a £500 gift card! For full details, please visit @EtsyUK on Instagram (#EtsyWeddingStyle).

Competition Details

One winner will win a £500 gift card for Etsy.com. To enter, follow @EtsyUK’s Instagram account, like this post, and comment answering the question, “What’s your wedding style?” No purchase necessary. Open to UK residents 18+ only. 1 prize available. Ends June 5th. T&Cs apply.

Order of Service

Order of Service | BeijaFlorStudio

How beautiful is the art on this order of service?! A custom-illustrated order of service is such a special memento of your day. Plus it is so helpful for any non Jewish guests you have at your weddings as you can include explanations of the Jewish wedding traditions they might not be familiar with.

Our Top Ten Must-Have Ketubah Designs for 2018/2019

12/04/2018 by Karen Cinnamon

Aside from photography and videography, your ketubah is one of the only parts of your wedding that you get to take home with you at the end of the day. And just like your favorite wedding photos, your ketubah is a beautiful way to display your love and commitment to each other in your home forever after.

Luckily, these days there are so many beautiful ketubot to choose from, whatever your personal style. One of my absolute favorite sources is ketubah.com, a really wonderful site featuring an astounding variety of both designs and texts (including the choice to write your own!). They truly have something for every couple, whether Orthodox, interfaith, LGBTQ, or for just about any other permutation of Jewish (or Jew-ish) ceremony you could imagine.

Ketubah.com is a longtime favorite with Smashing The Glass readers, and so many of our Real Weddings feature ketubot from the site. Couples rave about their top-notch customer service and spectacular selection of exclusive curated designs.

They’re also offering a 10% discount to members of our VIB [Very Important Bride] Club, where my team and I offer round-the-clock support and advice, in addition to discounts and free gifts from handpicked vendors. Click here to join.

Today, I’m SO excited to be sharing our top ketubah styles from this fab site for 2018/2019. We’ve got jaw-dropping papercuts, dreamy watercolors, metallics galore, supercool 3D designs – and that’s just the 10 we could fit into this post. Honestly, I’m just drooling over these beauties and wishing I were getting married again (to Mr. STG, of course!) so I could have one for my very own. Keep reading for some serious eye candy!

Stress Free Wedding Planning with the Tap of an App… Hello Bridebook!

12/04/2017 by Karen

Don’t you kick yourself sometimes when someone else comes up with those brilliant inventions that in hindsight are so obvious? Those relatively simple concepts that make life so much easier. Step forward Bridebook.

Bridebook is a sophisticated, FREE digital wedding planner that’s taking the bridal world by storm. And for good reason.

It’s SUCH an inspired idea – a website and app that has EVERYTHING you need to plan your wedding all in one place

And not before time. With the soar in seriously useful apps, we now expect everything to run a bit more smoothly. How often do you hear the phrase “don’t worry I’ll Uber it”? It’s now almost a verb. And Deliveroo, the (quality) takeaway app, has all but revolutionised my world for sure.

And so yes, we are ready to tap an app and do everything ‘wedding’ calmly and un-complicatedly.

Good bye wedding stress

If you’re not employing a wedding planner (and let’s face it, not all of us can or want one) creating your dream single-handedly can be a beautifully rewarding thing but for lots, it can be stressful and all consuming.

Did I double-check the venue can give us 10 more places? Shall I spend less on flowers and go for candelabra centrepieces? Do I do paperless invitations? Where’s that RSVP list? Is this the most recent cost sheet?

It can seriously take over your every waking thought.

The entrepreneur founder of Bridebook – Hamish Shepherd – saw brides (who were booking his wedding venue [Hedsor House, above]) drowning under this preparation process and knew a digital solution was needed.

So what does Bridebook actually do?

With Bridebook you can just grab your phone and see in an instant the current status of your wedding planning and action any part of it. Toodle oo spreadsheets and a million print outs. We’re moving on.

The site is comprised of 5 wedding planning tools, so you can get organising wherever you are …

Checklist
Budget
Supplier Shortlist (and Directory)
Guest list
Advice

Each of these tools has their own special features that set them apart.

A Cool Jewish Wedding Gift List with Prezola

29/03/2017 by Karen

If you’re unsure whether to have a wedding list, let me tell you, from experience, you really do need one. Your friends and family will WANT to buy you a gift to show the love. But unless you direct them, you’re in danger of receiving presents that are either too chintzy or a tad off piste. Without a list you could be the proud recipient of something you already have or ever worse – never ever want to have.

Prezola really is THE modern wedding registry for our stylish Jewish couples. It’s super polished, eclectic and cool with over 300 top homeware brand to choose from. Including The White Company, Habitat, LSA, Jo Malone, Sonos, Joseph Joseph…

And hot off the press, I can reveal that the truly stunning Graham and Green and Soho Home (my absolute faves!) have recently just added themselves to that illustrious list. So it’s not without reason that Prezola is now the UK’s favourite independent (multi award-winning) wedding gift list and honeymoon fund.

Why I love Prezola

I would have LOVED to have known about Prezola when I got married. It’s such a beautifully curated site with the most gorgeous selection of homewares I’ve seen in one place. It feels so hand picked whether your style is urban and cool or pretty and rustic, glamorous and shiny. And they’re SUCH a lovely company to work with. They’re one of my favourite STG finds and in fact I’ve already made a dream list with them.

Prezola understands the modern Jewish bride

Hugely exciting news is that Prezola now caters specifically for Jewish weddings. Alongside the perfect modern gifts (30,000 to be exact), they now also offer the more traditional Judaica style gifts that relatives just LOVE to buy you.

These range from Challah boards and Matzah plates that you can use every Shabbat to Passover Seder plates used only two nights in the year

But get this, with brands like Alessi and the fabulous Jonathan Adler, Prezola now have traditional gifts with a modern twist. So STG!

Modern Traditional Gifts

A wedding list is a beautiful thing – it allows you to let people know exactly what you want without the embarrassment of actually telling them personally.

For an engagement present, a beloved aunt bought me and Mr. STG a challah cover, which lets say, left a lot to be desired in terms of design. It now spends its life in the messy drawer in our kitchen. If I had a list at Prezola, I could have chosen a more ‘us’ traditional gift and not feel guilty every time I catch a glimpse of that lavishly embroidered cover.

I love tradition but I also love design. Who says I cant have both?

Prezola certainly knows how to do Friday night, STG style..and it makes me smile whenever I look at this Jonathan Adler brilliant brass bird Menorah below. Here are my dream Judaica picks from Prezola (never thought I would use the word ‘dream’ and ‘Judaica’ in the same sentence till I saw Prezola’s list!)

To see all their fabulous Judaica, click here.

The Modern Take

If you’ve already set up home, it’s especially important to have a wedding list. You simply don’t need two toasters. And the best part is that you can browse and go a little wild. You know those things that you possibly wouldn’t have bought when you had your sensible head on. Prezola’s list lets you get the big stuff – think gorgeous linens and stunning cookware, but also the fun, cool additions to your home.