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Home > Real Jewish Weddings > Jewish Budget Weddings > Page 7

Amanda & Charley | Super fun and intimate laidback Jew-ish wedding at the Santa Barbara Courthouse, and The Lark, Santa Barbara, California

20/01/2015 by Karen

santa-barbara-courthouse-wedding I love it when my readers email me with their wedding planning queries and stories. I first heard from Amanda, a Smashing The Glass reader (and today’s beautiful bride!)  back in July 2014 with the following email:

Hi Karen! I am reaching out in regards to Kathleen and Liz’s beautiful wedding in Palm Springs that you featured on Smashing the Glass earlier this year. I am getting married this September and I have been looking for a chuppah far and wide. I haven’t had much luck, but I absolutely love Kathleen and Liz’s chuppah and was hoping you would be able to either provide their contact information or pass this email along with my details. I would love to ask if I could potentially rent their chuppah and incorporate their beautiful handmade piece in another celebration of love. If not, I completely understand but I figured it never hurt to ask!

I was so delighted that Amanda had reached out to me about this idea, and immediately put her in touch with Kathleen and Liz. For logistical reasons, the ‘passing of the chuppah’ didn’t work out, but there is a happy ending to the story! Amanda and Charley found a local craftsman who constructed their ideal chuppah out of reclaimed wood, and what’s really lovely, is that after their wedding, Amanda and Charley wanted to spread the love of their chuppah and pass it on, and they did just that (full story below!)

Amanda contacted me after her big day with her wedding story, and I am so delighted to share it with you today. It’s a true ‘Smashing The Glass’ W Day, bursting with creativity, authenticity and bucket loads of L.O.V.E.

These two pulled off their big day on a modest budget, and what an incredible job they did. So although the top image looks truly opulent, this is in fact an incredibly casual, laid back wedding with some amazing budget ideas. In fact Amanda says “keeping our wedding small and manageable left enough money for a honeymoon to Cambodia which was the best way to kick off spending the rest of our lives together!”

The biggest budget tip these two adhered to was keeping it small. They shared their celebration with a select group of close family and friends (just 40 people) and were confident enough not to invite the people who weren’t closely involved in their lives.

Can you believe that Amanda’s TWO divine wedding dresses, her shoes and her accessories were all purchased for under $1000 ( £650)?! All the florals were bought by Amanda from a local flower shop the day before the wedding, and instead of spending their budget on live music or a DJ, these two had their nearest and dearest contribute to a wonderfully personal Spotify playlist.

Amanda and Charley… I take my hat off to you. You definitely achieved your aim of creating the greatest party on the smallest budget.

Enjoy Amanda’s story below, and all the wonderful images taken by the rather talented Casey from CLB Creative

laidback Jewish wedding at the Santa Barbara Courthouse, and The Lark, Santa Barbara, California
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An Enzoani bride for a laidback Outdoor Garden Jewish Wedding at the Bride & Groom’s Home, Los Angeles, USA

11/11/2014 by Karen

Outdoor-Garden-Picnic-Jewish-Wedding
When the gorgeous Misti and Asaf tied the knot in Los Angeles they chose to host the celebration in their new home, and bear in mind that this brave couple had only moved into it a week before their big day!

But they couldn’t have been more thrilled with their venue choice, as “having the wedding in our home made it amazingly special”, says Misti. “Whenever we look into our garden, we can see where we took our vows and celebrated with friends and family. In a way, it makes our wedding part of our everyday lives.”

Misti is so beautiful with delicious bridal accessories to match — I mean you just can’t help but gawp at her super sparkly pink shoes in awe! There are also some lovely DIY details like flower seed favours which you must check out.

Jonas Seaman‘s photography is exquisite and I adore the light he’s captured – he has managed to paint a beautiful soft, timeless quality over the entire day. Enjoy!

Casual Outdoor Garden Wedding Casual Outdoor Garden Wedding
HAVING OUR WEDDING IN OUR OWN HOME
Misti, the Bride: Having gone to a number of weddings, our favourites have always been outdoor weddings with a casual and personal atmosphere. I think that having our wedding in our house made it extra special for us.

Our wedding was especially unique as we moved into our house the Saturday before the wedding. Our venue truly marked the beginning of our new life together.

My family and some awesome Midwesterners showed up early in the week to help us unpack and get ready for the wedding. When they showed up, we did not even have a kitchen sink. During our rehearsal dinner, our front yard fence was being built. On the Saturday of the wedding, a friend put on the house numbers a few hours before our guests began arriving. By the time the ceremony started, the house was completely transformed into a beautiful home and wedding.

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Zina & Igor | Intimate orchard-themed Jewish wedding at Casablanca hotel, Saint Petersburg, Russia

15/10/2014 by Karen

Russian-Jewish-Wedding
Good afternoon  lovely readers. The wedding I  have for you today is absolutely gorgeous and it’s a Smashing The Glass first! Yes, Zina and Igor wanted to be the first super cool Jewish wedding from  Russia on the  blog… and they’ve achieved that accolade! Not only are the details divine, the citrus colour scheme  to-die-for, and the flowers fabulous but Zina’s  write up of her and Igor’s  day really comes from the heart; as did Zina’s  efforts for the entire wedding.

Zina  and Igor  managed to pull off their wedding with a modest budget. And what an AWESOME job they did too. Sometimes stripped back, unfussy weddings are the best.

All of the decor  was made by Zina’s best friend  and so many  friends and family  were involved with this wedding – it’s really heart-warming.

I particularly love the gingerbread men and women favours. Such a unique idea and all  made by Zina’s mum, Zina, and another great friend.

Intimate orchard-themed Jewish wedding at Casablanca hotel, Saint Petersburg, Russia
AN OUTDOOR CEREMONY AND VENUE
Zina, the Bride and Igor, the groom:  Our  wedding took place at the  Casablanca Hotel,  a small country hotel, with only about 50 guests made up  of our closest friends and relatives. We knew we wanted to have our ceremony  outdoors, as the date of our wedding was in the middle of summer and it was one of just a few possible days to have good weather in our rainy city.

We  wanted to have the whole day  outside the city, ideally in a  country hotel where most of our guests could stay overnight. We were very lucky as we chose the first hotel we visited. It was perfect: it had a small, cosy garden with a swimming pool and enough space for a reception, chuppah, dancing and just general ‘hanging out’!

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Olya + Yossi | Hand-crafted, rustic, bohemian ‘Instagram’ Israeli wedding at Duce Villa, Tel Aviv, planned in just 3 months!

30/09/2014 by Karen

intimate bohemian wedding
Oh this is such a beautiful wedding. I’m so very excited to be blogging it, and what’s more, the story of how Olya and Yossi met is quite simply a modern day fairytale, with good ol’  Instagram at the epicentre of their tale!

Olya was looking for a vintage hebrew typewriter and posted a picture on  Instagram of what she was looking for. Yossi saw the  picture after one of his friends ‘liked’ it, and he then dropped her a message telling her he owned one that she might just be interested in. Originally from  Israel, Yossi had just moved to Los Angeles, but that didn’t stop the two of them from carving out a beautiful love story via email, Skype and all manner of 21st century technologies.

Olya says. “We are still wondering how this all magically happened, but here we are now together, sharing the same last name and that turquoise vintage typewriting machine.”

Super creative Olya  (the blogger  behind the à¼ber-cool boho  TLV Birdie  blog) handcrafted so many beautiful elements for her  wedding, and believe it or not, organised the whole thing  in just  3 months! This girl knows a thing or two about originality and artistry so look no further for your D.I.Y. inspiration! Take note of her wise advice the end too.  I  found myself nodding along in agreement like one of those dogs you find on the back shelf of a car. But I digress… read on for a beautiful story, and some sensational  imagery by  Irina Yakobson.

Hand-crafted, rustic, bohemian ‘Instagram’ Israeli wedding at Duce Villa, Tel Aviv
PLANNING OUR ENTIRE WEDDING IN JUST 3 MONTHS
Olya, the Bride: When it came to planning the wedding,  we had a vision of a simple, cosy, small  bohemian wedding. We organised the entire do in  just 3 months, and the wedding day fell upon the beautiful date of 4/4/14.

Hand-crafted, rustic, bohemian ‘Instagram’ Israeli wedding at Duce Villa, Tel Aviv
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Hannah & Raf | Laidback, colourful ‘English Garden’ Jewish wedding at The Priory Barn, Little Wymondley, Hertfordshire, UK

20/08/2014 by Karen

An english country garden jewish wedding
Hannah  and Raf’s  big day  is  bursting at the seams with colour, fun and some very original ideas, and if I had to describe their wedding  in one (ok two) words, it  would be utterly joyous. From Raf’s beaming smile to Hannah’s multi-coloured nails, through to the wild summer flowers dotted about everywhere,  and the most original  first dance I’ve heard about in a long while (I’ll let Hannah surprise you with that one).

I want to be a guest at this wedding. I want to receive a homemade invitation designed by the bride. I want to stand amongst the moorhens  and weeping willows. I want to hear a klezmer version of The Final Countdown. I want to have a slice of hundreds and thousands cake. And I want to have every moment captured by Marianne Chua  whose images are appearing for the first time on STG which I’m so very  thrilled about!

Get ready because you gorgeous lot are going to be pinning until your fingers are raw.

colourful English garden Jewish wedding_0033
colourful English garden Jewish wedding
colourful English garden Jewish wedding_0030
A MIDWEEK WEDDING AT A WONDERFUL GARDEN VENUE
Hannah, the Bride: We chose to get married at The Priory Barn  in  Little Wymondley. We researched various venues, but had difficulties in that a lot of the London venues wouldn’t allow religious ceremonies and we didn’t want a hotel. We also wanted outside space and The Priory has an amazing garden complete with a stream, weeping willows and baby moorhens! We had budget concerns and The Priory had a great midweek deal. Our wedding was on a Thursday but this really didn’t seem to affect turnout.

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