Five Minutes With Archives - Smashing the Glass

5 Minutes with… Duke Khodaverdian, International Wedding Photographer and Founder of Duke Photography

30/01/2018 by Karen

In case you haven’t heard (we’ve been shouting it from the rooftops!) our fabulous ‘Your Wedding Your Way’ Smashing Summit is tomorrow, 31st January, and to celebrate, and get you in the mood, we thought we’d treat you to a very special edition of ‘Five Minutes With…’ !

This is a feature where we spend five minutes in the hot seat with one of the wedding industry’s top-ranking movers and shakers, and if you haven’t caught up with the last two editions, featuring the phenomenal Ron Ben-Israel and Mindy Weiss respectively (both headline speakers tomorrow night too, along with Monique Lhuillier and Galia Lahav’s chief designer, Sharon Sever, amongst many others), go check them out after you’ve relished today’s fabulous interview!

So today, we’re honoring one of the industry’s most incredible photographers, and another of the headline speakers tomorrow night. Ladies and gentlemen, please lose your minds for the one and only Duke Khodaverdian!

Duke is the founder of Duke Images, an international wedding photographer at the top of his game and an absolute photography genius! Don’t take our word for it, check out his incredible work on his website and Instagram.

Duke is, without a doubt, one of the greats. He has been an international wedding photographer for over seventeen years, combining his technical expertise, innovation, and fine art, to create images that have set trends for weddings the world over.

We adore how he brings his eye for fashion photography into the mix, combining it with a second-to-none understand of lighting, composition and a photojournalistic approach. Most importantly, Duke is a big believer in the essential nature of the relationship between client and photographer, and we couldn’t agree more.

We love how invested Duke is in every couple’s special day, and how he takes the time to build an excellent rapport with each client and their families.

Oh, and he has also earned countless accolades and features in leading print and online publications, including Grace Ormonde Wedding Style, Style Me Pretty, Strictly Weddings, People Magazine, Inside Weddings, and The Knot – what a career!

We’re crazy about Duke’s answers. We’re equally obsessed with The Crown and the small SUV for his chocolate lab is beyond! We know you’ll also fall in love with Duke and his work, so don’t forget to tune in to hear him speak tomorrow at 1pm PST / 4pm EST / and 9pm GMT. See you then!

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5 Minutes with… Mindy Weiss – the World’s Most Sought-After Celebrity Wedding Planner

26/10/2017 by Karen

Welcome to our second instalment of ‘Five Minutes With…’ our series that spends five minutes with the Jewish wedding industry’s top-ranking movers and shakers.

Last time, we were falling-off-our-chairs stunned to have the indescribably incredible Ron Ben Israel in our hot seat, and we’re having similar dizzies today because our guest is (and we can’t quite believe it) the absolutely MEGA international celebrity wedding planner and bestselling author Mindy Weiss!!!

Yes, the Mindy Weiss (the one from your bookshelves) is such a bright Jewish wedding industry superstar (as you can tell from our very gratuitous use of exclamation points) that she needs no introduction. But, just because someone doesn’t need an introduction, doesn’t mean they don’t deserve one!

Based out of Beverly Hills, Mindy Weiss, a member of the tribe, is a full-service event planner, who has successfully grown her brand to become a lifestyle expert with books, product lines and spokesperson partnerships.

Since Mindy started her career in party planning, more than twenty years ago, she has planned celebrations all over the world, and written three bestselling books. THREE! We mere mortals can only gape in awe.

We’re so honored and humbled to host Mindy on the STG pages, and we just know you’ll love her quickfire answers as much as we do.

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5 Minutes with… Ron Ben Israel – One Of The Best Wedding Cake Designers in the World

14/09/2017 by Karen

Today is beyond exciting for the team here at Smashing The Glass, as not only are we kicking off our exciting new “Five Minutes with…” series where the Jewish wedding industry’s top movers and shakers answer quick-fire questions, but we’re starting the series with a BANG (which is the understatement of the year!).

First up in our STG hot seat is none other than the Ron Ben Israel, arguably the finest wedding and special occasion cake designer in the world.

Not only is he the chief-owner of Ron Ben-Israel Cakes in New York City, but from 2011 – 2013, he also hosted the cooking competition TV show Sweet Genius, and he is currently a judge on Food Network’s Cake Wars.

Ron was born in Israel, before making the Big Apple his home. Having changed paths after a fifteen-year professional modern dance career (uh… is there anything he can’t do?), he was led to the Big Apple, where, in 1996, his cakes were discovered while on display in the windows of Mikimoto on Fifth Avenue and commissions quickly followed from Villeroy & Boch, Baccarat, DeBeers, Bloomingdales and Bergdorf Goodman.

In addition to his cakes gracing many of New York City’s most fabulous hotels and venues, they have also have been featured in The New York Times, In Style, Vogue Magazine and Martha Stewart Weddings, with which Ron has collaborated extensively for over 20 years.

Oh, and his epic successes have been chronicled on The Oprah Winfrey Show, Top Chef, Just Desserts, The Late Show with David Letterman and The Martha Stewart Show.

We could talk all day about Ron’s incredible career, but we’re quite sure at this point that you’d rather hear from him! All we’ll say is we are extremely fortunate and honored to host Ron on the STG pages, we’re in LOVE with his epic, sugar-paste flower adorned designs (get your fingers on that Pinning button, guys) and we’re very sure you’ll all enjoy reading his quick-fire interview as much as we did!