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The Top 5 Ways to Cover Your Shoulders Under the Chuppah in 2026

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Tonic bolero by Galia Lahav

From pearl-dusted couture boleros to barely-there detachable details, shoulder coverage for the chuppah has officially entered its fashion-forward era. Today’s Jewish brides are embracing clever, removable layers that honor tradition and personal style – without compromising on the dress of their dreams.

Ben and Lauren, Kin House, Wiltshire, UK

Lauren‘s shrug | Photo by Natalie J Weddings

Whether you’re drawn to timeless elegance, modern minimalism, or a touch of drama, there are more beautiful options than ever before for ceremony-ready coverage that feels intentional, elevated, and unmistakably bridal. Here are our top five chic, modern ways to cover your shoulders under the chuppah in 2026 – and look effortlessly stylish while doing it.

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Sydney‘s bolero | Photo by Alex Knight Studio 

1. Brilliant Boleros 

A timeless and elegant choice for brides who want to keep their shoulders covered under the chuppah, boleros add structure and sophistication without overwhelming your gown – and there are so many options, whether you’re going for a classic princess look or something sleek and modern. 

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A Veni Infantino Bride for an Interfaith Winter Jewish Wedding at The Rosewood London, UK

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Kirsty and Dean, Rosewood London, London, UK

We love a good winter wedding – and the fabulous London celebration of Kirsty, a Pilates instructor, and Dean, who works in technology recruitment, ticks ALL our boxes!

Opting to wed in November, the duo knew they didn’t want a typical all-white winter wedding, so they went for a soft color palette featuring nudes, blush pink, and gold, and warmed the room with candles everywhere. Their stunning venue, the Rosewood London, made for the perfect backdrop for this elegantly cozy day.

To make the day of their dreams a reality, Kirsty and Dean turned to Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Elegante by Michelle J’s Piccolo premium coordination service, which brought all the suppliers together in the leadup and on the day, so that everything ran seamlessly and the bride and groom could enjoy their wedding stress-free.

Another Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor, Big Day Designs, created Kirsty and Dean’s wonderful invitations. They wanted something relatively simple and minimalistic but that didn’t look the same as everyone else’s – and did Big Day ever come through: many of the guests reported that it was the nicest invitation they’d received!

Photographer Lynn Shapiro captured all the details of the day so beautifully, and Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Denee Motion handled the videography with their usual aplomb – don’t miss their fabulous trailer!

We also love that Kirsty and Dean set up their chuppah canopy such that it was rigged to the ceiling, so that after the ceremony they could remove the poles and repurpose it as a fabulous floral chandelier to enjoy all night long!

Read on for more on this very special day in the bride’s own words…


Kirsty and Dean, Rosewood London, London, UKKirsty and Dean, Rosewood London, London, UK Kirsty and Dean, Rosewood London, London, UKKirsty and Dean, Rosewood London, London, UK

How We Met

Kirsty, the bride: We met at a golf club in Chigwell, watching the Champions League final in May, 2021. Dean moved to Chigwell from Australia around eight years ago and quickly slotted in with his English cousin’s group of friends – the same group of friends that Kirsty grew up with. They started speaking, saw each other a few times within the crowd over the next two weeks, went on a date and the rest is history!Continue ReadingContinue Reading

A Luminary Bride for a Multicultural Irish-Israeli Jewish Wedding in Chaldika, Greece

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Or-and-Paul-Chaldika-Greece

We love a multicultural Jewish wedding, and today’s is really something special. Bride Or is Israeli, while groom Paul is Irish – so they decided to split the difference by making things official in Greece!

The pair turned to Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Sirtaki Events to help them craft the perfect wedding weekend, combining both their traditions plus the vibrant local culture of Greece. Anat and Yonathan of Sirtaki helped Or and Paul find their dream venue, an intimate hotel by the sea with beautiful grounds and an epic pool that the couple secured for exclusive use through the weekend.

In Or’s words,

Working with Anat and Yonathan from Sirtaki Events was incredible. They immediately understood our vision and the vibe we wanted for our wedding, which significantly simplified the process. Their suggestions perfectly aligned with our tastes, even introducing us to ideas we hadn’t considered.

Anat and Yonathan introduced Or and Paul to their photographer, George from Papacharalampous Photography, and they absolutely adore the way he captured the love, joy, and fun of the day.

There’s so much more to say about this very special day – like, how gorgeous did Or look in her dress from Israeli designer Luminary Studio by Lihi Shamrich Cohen? – but we’ll turn you over to the bride for the rest…

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How We Met

Or, the bride: Paul is Irish and I am Israeli, we met in 2012 while traveling in Thailand! We ended up spending 2 weeks together there exploring the country and another year doing long distance, but at that point we decided to end the relationship as long distance was too difficult. Many years later, we serendipitously met again in Amsterdam.

I was visiting with a friend and Paul was on a work trip in the Ukraine, he wasn’t meant to be in Amsterdam at the time but he got stuck there because of a big storm in Ireland where they had closed Dublin airport. We got reunited and the rest is history.Continue ReadingContinue Reading

An Interfaith Jewish Wedding with Tons of Personal Touches at West London Synagogue, London, UK

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Get ready for a fabulous interfaith Jewish wedding! We love everything about the way Nicole, a client manager for a technology company, and Pedro, a data analyst, built their relationship with Judaism as a couple, and how that shaped their plans for the big day.

When Nicole, who’s Jewish, got together with Pedro, who isn’t, she knew she’d need to find an open-minded and inclusive Jewish community that would welcome the two of them as a couple. She found exactly that in West London Synagogue, where the couple attended classes and an interfaith marriage workshop together, in addition to celebrating Shabbats and holidays.

Given the important role West London Synagogue plays in the couple’s lives – not to mention the fact that it’s absolutely stunning – getting married there was a no-brainer. We love the personal significance of the venue – as well as the other wonderful personal touches Nicole and Pedro included, like having Pedro’s sister hand paint their ketubah, and assigning close friends to give them original blessings rather than the traditional sheva brachot.

The day was captured so beautifully by Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Claire Jonas, who not only captured the Jewish traditions fabulously but also took some knockout portraits of Nicole and Pedro on the streets of Marylebone. We’ll let Nicole take it from here…

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How We Met

Nicole, the bride: We are both Brazilians, and we met at a bar while we still lived in Rio, back in 2017. It’s a funny story actually – I was about to leave the bar because his friend was being too loud. On top of that, when he approached me he told me he was an airplane pilot, and I thought he was just showing off. But he was cute, and when he asked for my number I thought “why not? If I don’t want to speak with him, I don’t have to answer!”. Nevertheless, on his first message he actually apologized for his friend, so I ended replying – and here we are 6 years later! We currently live in London.Continue ReadingContinue Reading

An Eisen Stein Bride for a Jew-ish Wedding with Old-World Flair at Noor Gallery in Jaffa, Israel

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Lin-Matt-Noor-Gallery-Jaffa-Israel

When today’s couple started planning their Jewish wedding in Israel, they knew they wanted something different than the norm. Lin, who sets up sales centers, and Matt, who manages a video crew, knew they wanted a cozy, old-world vibe for their big day – and though they weren’t sure how to bring their wedding dreams to life, they found the absolute perfect partners in making their vision a reality.

Lin and Matt’s planner, Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Bebke, was key to crafting a truly unforgettable wedding with tons of atmosphere and the European hotel feel the couple craved. Inbar and Gev of Bebke went all out transforming the pair’s venue, Noor Gallery in Jaffa, into the chicest hideaway that would’ve blended right in in Paris, London, or Rome. Inbar took charge of design, while Gev oversaw logistics –  and everything ran smoothly down to the very last detail.

And we do mean the VERY last detail. In Lin’s words, “I didn’t recognize the venue when we arrived on the day of the wedding. Inbar changed the floor and added black and white ‘tiles’ for the European hotel style that we wanted, and it was wild. We didn’t have the budget for it, but Inbar found people to do it for a price that we could afford. We’ve never met people like Inbar and Gev.”

There’s so much to love about this anything-but-standard Israeli wedding – do have a scroll through the wonderful photos by Matan to see all the fab details for yourself…

 

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VENUE

Lin, the bride and Matt, the groom: We got married at Noor Gallery in Jaffa. We wanted something that had a classy old-world vibe similar to that of an upscale European hotel. We had only about 60 guests and we wanted something intimate. The Noor Gallery is an ancient building with lots of history and this venue met all of our demands.Continue ReadingContinue Reading