Jewish Synagogue Weddings Archives - Smashing the Glass

A Suzanne Neville Bride for a Super Luxe Destination Jewish Wedding at the Great Synagogue of Florence and Villa de Maiano, Florence, Italy

03/10/2018 by Karen Cinnamon Leave a Comment

BRB – booking a ticket to Florence. Okay, maybe not, but we are a million percent tempted by today’s dreamiest of Italian destination Jewish weddings. Between the ceremony at the majestic Great Synagogue of Florence to the swoon-worthy reception at Villa di Maiano, Paige and Richard‘s day was as dreamy as it gets (and they also had an adorable wedding hashtag – #paigegetsrich).

Much-loved STG Recommended Vendor Michelle Jacobs of Eleganté by Michelle J helped the couple pull all the fab design elements together from London, where they live. From the magical floral chuppah (who would’ve thought such a fresh, natural design would be the PERFECT fit for such a grand, historic space?) to THE most stunning top table we have ever, ever seen complete with a pergola, crystal chandeliers, hanging glass globes filled with tea lights (seriously, check out David Bastianoni’s photos – it is not to be missed!), we can safely say she hit a home run with this epic day. Oh… and Waterfall Visuals‘s film below is the dreamiest thing ever.

We’re thrilled to have a chance to chat with their awesome planner, Michelle Jacobs, live on the Smashing The Glass Facebook page tomorrow at 7: 30 p.m. GMT/2:30 p.m. EST tomorrow, Thursday, October 4. And if you love today’s wedding as much as we do, do not miss this one as we’ll be covering all the ins and outs of planning a Jewish (or Jew-ish) wedding in Italy. Please do tune in, and bring your questions!

Another wonderful STG Recommended Vendor, Totem (who Paige and Richard loved enough to fly out from London!) provided ultra-emotional chuppah music before transitioning to party mode at the villa, where they kept the dancefloor packed all night. Talk about a smashing party! Oh, and speaking of things that are smashing, did we mention Paige and Richard used one of our very own Smash Glass pouches?!

We are also LOVING their exquisite stationery by Ruth Kaye Design another STG fave and Recommended Vendor… we’re literally dying over how fabulous everything about this wedding is. –don’t you agree?

We’ll let Paige, who looked goooooorgeous in her glam Suzanne Neville gown, take it from here…

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A Room with a View

Paige, the bride: Our chuppah took place at the Great Synagogue of Florence and then afterwards we moved over to Villa di Maiano, a beautiful villa in Fiesole, a small town in the hills above Florence. Villa di Maiano is where the movie A Room with a View, was filmed (just celebrating the 30th anniversary of the film).

We went to see several venues, this was the first. We had a special feeling as soon as we walked into the gardens – we both cried – so we just knew this was the place for us. We did consider having our ceremony at Villa di Maiano, but Michelle suggested we visit the synagogue… and again, the minute we walked in we just knew we had to have our chuppah there.Continue Reading

An Essense of Australia Bride for an Enchanted Autumn Jewish Wedding at Garnethill Synagogue and Oran Mor in Glasgow, Scotland, UK

24/08/2018 by Karen Cinnamon

It’s always a good day when we hear from couples who loved used Smashing the Glass to plan their Jewish weddings – like today’s fab couple, Stephanie, an architect, and Darren, a retail director for Aspinal.

We’re so pleased that the bride was a loyal reader of STG in the lead up to her big day, even finding fantastic videographer Velvet Wedding Studio on the blog! He and photographer David Grant Simpson did the absolute best job of capturing the magic of the couple’s enchanted autumnal wedding (over Halloween weekend, no less!).

As an architect, Stephanie was focused on getting married in a beautiful space – and she ended up with not one, but two of them! With the chuppah at the majestic 19^th-century Garnethill Synagogue and the evening party at super cool converted church venue Oran Mor, this wedding was basically non-stop architectural splendor.

We love how Stephanie and Darren decided to include a ceilidh in their big day as a way of honoring the bride’s Scottish background and providing some familiarity to balance out the novelty of the Israeli dancing for their non-Jewish guests. Good sport Darren even let Stephanie cajole him into putting on a kilt for the Scottish dancing!

Stephanie, who looked stunning in her Essense of Australia dress, will fill you in on the rest of the fantastic details…

How We Met

Stephanie, the bride: I never ever thought I would try online dating, but as time went on I just realized that it was now the ordinary way to meet someone and gave it a go. We both have stressful jobs, which can make it difficult to find time to date. I still can’t believe that I met my now-husband on Jswipe but I guess that’s modern day romancing for you!

So many people ask me when we knew we wanted to get married. About a month into the relationship after coming in from a night out with, Darren we were laughing about something and then told me he would marry me tomorrow. I know it was a passing comment after I made him laugh, but I guess in the back of our minds we both knew that we wanted to settle down. It sounds odd to many but I think when you meet someone in your thirties you have both already seen the world, been around the block and essentially are in a totally different mindset when you are getting into a relationship. Online dating is literally like modern‐day matchmaking! I guess in a way you could say it was love at first sight, or love at first selfie.

An Eddy K Bride for a Modern Vintage Jew-ish Wedding at Sixth & I Synagogue and Loft at 600 F, Washington, DC, USA

06/07/2018 by Karen Cinnamon

We always love hearing from couples who’ve used Smashing The Glass as a wedding planning resource, and today is no exception. Beautiful bride Kiki reports that she loved STG for the real wedding inspo and vendor suggestions, and especially the Jewish 101 sections, which she found super helpful in planning her Jew-ish ceremony. Aw, thanks Kiki!

It was important to Kiki and Rob to plan an inclusive Jew-ish wedding that would be equally welcoming to Rob’s family, who are Jewish, and Kiki’s, who are not. They found the perfect spot in the historic Sixth & I Synagogue in their hometown of Washington, DC – you’ve got to check out the gorgeous photos from Ryan Hicks of Lily & Lime – with the reception nearby at Loft at 600 F, another cool historic building, just the thing for a modern vintage-themed wedding!

Also perfect for the modern vintage aesthetic? Kiki’s stunner of a gown by Eddy K, a strapless lace low-backed number with a dramatic train.

But the visuals are far from the only thing we’re loving about this wedding. Kiki and Rob incorporated all kinds of personal touches into the day. Our favorite: before the wedding, their rabbi had them each write ten things they love about each other and email it to him. Then, on the day, before the seven blessings, he talked about the pair as a couple and mentioned the things they had said about each other. Isn’t that the sweetest?!

Before we hand things over to Kiki, we’ve got to mention that we’re so pleased we were able to help guide Kiki and Rob toward Smashing the Glass Recommended Vendor Ink with Intent for just the right ketubah. In Kiki’s words, working with them was “nothing short of amazing,” with customer service that went above and beyond.

How we met

Kiki, the bride: We met when I started working at George Washington University in fall of 2013 and became friends first through lots of happy hours with coworkers and mutual friends. He now works at NIH in research imaging and I work at GWU assisting in patient care. We started dating that December, and got engaged while on vacation in Florida in December 2016 on the beach at sunrise.

A Kenneth Winston Bride for a Musical Jewish Wedding with DIY Touches at Belsize Square Synagogue and the Liberal Club, London, UK

02/07/2018 by Karen Cinnamon

We all know how overwhelming wedding planning can be. There are so many choices to be made, from color schemes to venues to symbolism and more – and so many vendors to choose from. Of course a wedding planner can be a huge help in sorting through everything that’s out there and focusing your vision, but what if you want to do a lot of the planning yourself?

Today’s couple, Bekka, a lecturer in international relations, and Benjamin, a musician and lecturer in music went for a wedding consultancy session with Smashing the Glass’s own Karen to help and advise with their Jewish wedding.

She directed them toward many of their fantastic vendors, from Smashing the Glass Recommended Vendor Once Upon A Paper, who provided the couple’s beautiful watercolor guest book, to Adams Photography, who captured all the emotion and excitement so exquisitely, to Smashing the Glass Recommended Vendor Prezola registry, which Bekka and Benjamin loved for its wonderful selection of gifts from different stores in the UK, as well as cash funds, Judaica, and charities, to The Wedding Gallery , the world’s first wedding department store, for the groom’s outfit.

All this freed up their time and energy to focus on the many DIY elements the pair incorporated into their wedding.

Bekka and Benjamin designed their invitations themselves and built their own chuppah, but music is where the pair really put their own stamp on the day. For one thing, their ceremony venue, Belsize Square Synagogue, was chosen because Benjamin is the congregation’s music director. So it was only natural that he arranged and composed pieces to be performed during the ceremony, performed by Benjamin’s quartet, bOYbershop, and three (!) choirs that he conducts.

We’ll leave it to Bekka, who looked beautiful in her ivory lace Kenneth Winston dress, to fill you in on the rest…

A Venue with History

Bekka, the bride, and Benjamin, the groom: We got married at Belsize Square Synagogue. We chose it as Benjamin has worked there as musical director for 12 years.

The evening was at the Liberal Club (1 Whitehall Place). Bekka found the venue online. The venue had a small personal connection as Benjamin’s grandfather was a member of the Liberal Party, and Bekka’s father is fascinated with William Gladstone.

Mainly, however, we just loved the venue when we saw it. We also loved the idea of a dusky double decker bus ride through London from the synagogue (particularly for our international guests).

A Jenny Packham Bride for an Ultra-Romantic Destination Jewish Wedding at the Great Synagogue and Villa Aurelia, Rome, Italy

20/06/2018 by Karen Cinnamon

Where do you go for an uber-romantic Jewish destination wedding when you already live in the City of Love? Paris-based couple Prescilla and Nathanael opted for Rome, with their ceremony held in the bastion of old-fashioned elegance that is the breathtaking Great Synagogue of Rome and their reception at the magnificent Villa Aurelia. We are positively swooning over their fairy tale-perfect day.

With mega-luxe florals in a soft, classic color scheme of white and pink and hundreds of candles hanging from trees on the grounds of the villa, the visuals of this wedding could not have been dreamier – check out photographer Framelines’ epic shot of the couple under a canopy of trees, lit only by the candles (at the very end of this post). Is that just the loveliest, or what?

The couple, who are both doctors, can’t say enough in praise of their wedding planner, Elisa, from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Le Rêve.

Elisa was recommended to Prescilla by a friend in Paris, and when the couple first met with her it was, as the bride says, “love at first sight.” Elisa connected the pair with their many fantastic vendors, and she helped them achieve the romantic look they were going for – and if you take a peek at the photos, and videographer Inesse’s beautiful capture of the day, we think you’ll agree she knocked it out of the ballpark.

Now over to Prescilla, whose vintage-esque Jenny Packham dress blended old-world elegance with modern chic ever so exquisitely…