Jewish Synagogue Weddings Archives - Page 6 of 7 - Smashing the Glass

Yael & Micha | Destination Jewish wedding (planned in just 2 weeks!) at the Spanish synagogue and Ca’ Nigra, Venice, Italy

22/12/2015 by Karen

George Clooney and Amal Alamuddin did it. And so did today’s super cool couple, Yael & Micha! Yes, Venice was the chosen setting for today’s Tel Aviv-based bride and groom, and in true Venetian style all the wedding guests together with the bride and groom, rode the gondolas of Venice for an incredible and intimate Jewish wedding (only 15 people). The whole affair was planned in just TWO WEEKS (surely that’s some kind of destination wedding record?!) thanks to the the wonderful Amber from Angel Lion Wedding & Events.

Smashing The Glass is all about making your day, your way so I love the essence of this wedding. EVERYTHING reflects the bride and groom, and if you take a moment to read through Yael’s report, you’ll see why. Oh.. and for some fun, look out for the stories about Micha’s suit, and the ‘sporty’ finish to their wedding!

Yael also hands out some really useful tips and a generous helping of advice at the end.

Swoon over the perfectly captured images by Mauro Pozzer and dream of being in the Venetian sunshine. Happy Tuesday everyone!

how we met

Yael, the Bride: We met the old fashioned way… at a sleazy bar in Tel Aviv! Just kidding, it was a regular bar 🙂 I went there with a new friend of mine, and as we entered she noticed Micha, who was, in hindsight, a friend of hers, so she introduced him to me. I had just come out of a long relationship whilst he had been single for many years. We chatted for a while that evening and I gave him my number after he asked for it (in a very noble way, of course). Two days later we went out to a nice Tapas Bar and the beach, and the rest is history…

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‘Old Hollywood’ destination Jewish wedding at The Great Synagogue of Florence and Villa Di Maiano, Florence, Italy

08/12/2015 by Karen

Olivia and Jacob are one seriously hot couple — I mean just look at David Bastianoni‘s gorgeous images of them both… And it gets even better. They chose a wedding theme of 50’s / Old Hollywood glamour meets The Godfather. Off the scale, right?!

Both Londoners, (they met 7 years ago at Nottingham University) the bride and groom opted to marry in Florence, as that’s where Jacob proposed to Olivia. They chose the breathtaking Great Synagogue of Florence followed by a magnificent party at Villa Di Maiano, and their big day is every bit as glamorous and romantic as you’d expect. There’s an immense chuppah made from gypsophila, pretty blush pink roses and candles, beautifully ornate calligraphic decor, a classic convertible wedding car, a mille-feuille wedding cake constructed in front of the guests, a phenomenal firework display… I could go on and on and on!

As you’d expect, our bride and groom look impeccable stylish too — Olivia in a beautifully cut bespoke Suzanne Neville gown (based on a design that her and her mother created), and Jacob in a bespoke suit by Cad and the Dandy. It’s a super chic wedding, full of panache, and lots and lots of heart.

Not only do we have the insane images by STG fave, David Bastianoni, but we also have the 8mm film by Marriage à la Mode.
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A super cool and creative, colourful Jewish wedding at Middle Street Synagogue, and The Grand, Brighton, UK

01/12/2015 by Karen

Oh my goodness. Where on earth do I start with this wedding?! It’s such fun, and it’s just bursting at the seams with creative details that will make you squeal. Seriously — it’s that good!

There are gold pineapples, the most exquisitely branded stationery (all designed by the bride), an enchanting alternative to a guest book, bridesmaids in the most epic shade of coral, a personalised head-in-hole board (a must-have when your wedding is by the English seaside!) and beautifully designed welcome bag totes (again designed by bride) filled with Brighton Rock, fish & chips shaped crackers, and all sorts of other seaside-themed treats.

It’s clear from looking at all of the delicious details in this big day that Danielle poured her heart and soul into all of the planning. Everything was evidently created with the greatest care and love, and, not surprisingly, her wedding features some of my much-loved Smashing Suppliers doing an AMAZING job.

I’m talking about Jonny Mosesson (their incredible chazan under the chuppah —who also was the chazan at my wedding!) and Stephanie Allin, Danielle’s sensational wedding dress designer, who bizarrely enough, designed my wedding dress too! Danielle says, “I hope that anyone reading this who likes the sound of anything we did gets in touch with our vendors because they made our day so incredible — they were absolutely brilliant.”

This wedding is literally the perfect mix of Jewish tradition and super cool creativity and I think you’re going to love it. I certainly did!

Oh, and their ‘How We Met’ story is beyond… their mums set them up!!

All of the laughter was captured by one of my favourite photographers, Kristian Leven, making a very welcome debut on STG today.

Take it away Danielle!

how we met

Our mums set us up. Yes, it’s true!

They knew each other when they were kids growing up in Leeds and then happened to be seated together at a wedding two years ago. They figured out that they both had kids the same age. Who were single. My mum had had a few too many cocktails and so Gideon’s mum, someone who will never take no for an answer, ended up going home with my phone number! When I spoke to my mum about the wedding the next day, she never mentioned it because she never thought he would call. And he didn’t. But he texted! And the rest is history!

A Vera Wang bride for a Jewish Ghanaian wedding at South London Liberal Synagogue and Nonsuch Mansion, Surrey, UK

16/09/2015 by Karen

So we celebrated Rosh Hashana (the Jewish new year) at the beginning of this week. If you observed it, where did you spend it? I was with my husband’s family who live in Dulwich, South London where my husband was born and raised. The Jewish community of South London is really rather small and sadly very much dwindling these days with the majority of Jewish Londoners now residing north of the river. It’s therefore quite a treat to be blogging today’s wedding that took place at the South London Liberal Synagogue in Streatham (where Mr STG’s grandmother used to live!) followed by a glorious reception at Nonsuch Mansion.

There’s so much to love about this wedding. Prepare for bright pops of colour and a plethora of elegant details as well as homely touches like Brick Lane bagels (Ben’s dad was a Jewish East End guide and his walks would always take visitors to the famous Beigel Bake on Brick Lane). Prepare too for a wonderful melding of Jewish and Ghanaian traditions that just works so well!

And like all Smashing The Glass brides Bernice is one super cool dame. Not only does she have an incredible smile that lights up every photo, she also comes across as a really special person. I noticed in her wedding film at the end that she’s feeding a bottle to a baby whilst working that glorious Vera Wang wedding dress (something I’ve never seen a bride do unless the baby is her own!). She also told me the following in her wedding report:

I wanted the attention of the photos to be on our guests rather than us. You have very few opportunities to have all the special people in your life in one place at one time and I wanted to ensure it was documented.”

Special, right? All the wonderful photography is by David Long, and the film at the end is by Wedding Film Studio.

Come.. let’s take a look.

how we met

Ben’s version: To quote Rihanna, Bernice and I found love in a hopeless place – The Staffordshire County Showground to be precise. On Thursday 16th October 2008 at 6.30am she arrived at my office in Shepherds Bush to help me at an auction for the weekend. I immediately put her to work asking her to do 200 copies of the sale notices and staple them together. She was not impressed. Neither was she impressed with my music choice or my banter on the three hour journey to Stafford – in fact her response was to fall asleep. On the Saturday evening I finally persuaded her to take off her geek chic glasses so I could see her beautiful face – and at that point I knew I needed to peruse her. After much pestering we went for dinner and things developed from there.

Bernice’s version:Ben and I met at work. It wasn’t until I had to work with him at an auction we finally met. It was an early morning on a Thursday, I made my way to Park Royal to help Ben with his sale. I arrived at 6am and as soon as I got through the door he asked me to photocopy 200 copies of a document. I was not impressed at all! I decided I did not like being around him and proceed to ignore him on the journey to Stafford. He tried his hardest to talk to me about music but I just kept ignoring him and fell asleep. The next day he continually persisted to try and have a conversation with me. There were times at dinner I caught him staring at me and I was not too sure what was happening. On the final night after the sale, he decided to struck up another conversation with me and asked me to take off my glasses and then proceeded to say I had the most beautiful eyes he had ever seen. This eventually led to us having a date when we were back in London and then next thing I know we had been dating for seven years and finally decided to tie the knot.

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Liora & David | Italian Jewish wedding at the Great Synagogue of Rome and Villa Miani, Rome, Italy

03/08/2015 by Karen

Liora and David met through their parents, when David’s family invited Liora and her family over for Friday night dinner. That sabbath meal led to romance and an even more romantic wedding in Italy.

The magical city of Rome provided the inspiration for Liora and David’s chic destination wedding and there are some really wonderful touches. Take the Italian vespa for their wedding transport, a smorgasbord of Italian desserts instead of wedding cake (hello, lashings of tiramisu), and the choir of the Great Synagogue of Rome providing the music for their ceremony. Oh my!

Mr STG and I traveled to Italy for our honeymoon and it really is one of the most gorgeous places on earth. The landscape, the buildings — what an amazing place to be married. Liora and David held their ceremony at the breathtaking Great Synagogue of Rome followed by a BIG party at Villa Miani with breathtaking 360 ° views over the Rome skyline(and can we all just take a moment to appreciate their entrance song — the super fun A Far l’Amore featured in Paolo Sorrentino’s movie, The Great Beauty, set in Rome).

The whole affair was beautifully planned by our much loved Smashing Supplier, Stefania Zen from the Italian Wedding Company. Liora says that Stefania was literally her right arm throughout the planning process, and knowing how wonderful the Italian Wedding Company are, I can very much vouch for that. Big thanks also to Vinicio Ferri and Alessandro Zingone for the wonderful photos.

Come on, let’s take a look…