Real blogging brides Archives - Smashing the Glass

Real Jewish Brides: Gaby’s Guest List (and Balancing Her Family’s and In-Law’s Wants and Needs)

14/08/2018 by Smashing The Glass Leave a Comment

Gaby will be marrying David on 26th May 2019 at Trinity Buoy Wharf, London, UK. Click here to read all Gaby’s planning posts to date.

THREE FACTS: (1) Gaby and David met at work at an advertising agency in London (2) Gaby is Jewish and David is Christian, and they are planning an inclusive ceremony and party that will embrace both of their cultures (3) They are planning an urban luxe wedding in a converted London lighthouse – we LOVE the sound of this!

A tale of two families

It’s no secret that juggling a wedding when both parties have divorced parents is problematic. There are so many more factors you have to consider when planning every aspect of the big day. Least of all, the dreaded guest-list which has been a major buzzword in our respective families’ vocabulary at the moment.

Nobody briefs you on how to plan and implement a wedding. Theres no manual, no guide. Yes, you have the advice and opinions of friends and family who have or are in the process of getting married, but it’s a case by case basis depending on your family situation, finances and sanity.

Image by STG Recommended Vendor Ran Bergman from Lior and Re’em‘s wedding

Real Jewish Brides: Roxanne’s Designing Her Own Wedding Dress

07/08/2018 by Smashing The Glass Leave a Comment

Roxanne will be marrying Nathan on March 31st 2019 in Raleigh, North Carolina. Click here to read all Roxanne’s planning posts to date.

THREE FACTS: Roxanne and Nathan met in summer 2010 at a Jewish summer camp in Missouri. (2) They are having a DIY wedding and Roxanne is toying with the idea of designing and sewing her own wedding dress as she has a background in sewing and historical fashion design (3) Roxanne is converting to Judaism and the couple are planning a traditional Jewish wedding.

Like My Mom and Grandmother

When I was younger, all I imagined from a wedding dress, was the wear the dress my mom and grandmother wore. My grandmother was married in October 21st 1953 and, having been a fashion student in college, had a very en vogue dress. A lovely ice-y blue silk, with lace sleeve, a lace overlay, and covered buttons up the front. It is a dress that rivals Grace Kelly’s. My grandmother wore the skirt poofy, and a Juliet cap.

Twenty years later, in 1983, when my parents got married, my mom wore the same dress. She could not wear a crinoline, as she is taller than my grandmother, so she wore a band of flowers in her hair, for a vintage backyard wedding look.

One dress, two completely different looks.

As I grew up, I realized fairly quickly, it was unlikely I could wear their dress. I am a good 10 inches larger in the waist, and a solid 7+ inches shorter. I did not have the heart to wear it, knowing it would look so different.

Real Jewish Brides: Jennifer’s Wedding Tips From The Inside (She’s a Pro Wedding Photographer!)

02/08/2018 by Smashing The Glass Leave a Comment

Jennifer will be marrying Charlie this coming Sunday (!) at Dartmouth House in Mayfair, London, UK. Click here to read all Jennifer’s planning posts to date. Jennifer we are SO excited for you!

THREE FACTS: (1) Jennifer and Charlie first met when they were just 17 years old! (2) They are planning an intimate elegant black tie trad(ish)ional Jewish wedding incorporating plenty of personal touches, their sense of humour, and love of all things rose gold (3) Jennifer is a wedding photographer herself so is planning her wedding as an industry insider!

Working in the Wedding Industry

When Charlie and I set the date for our wedding, I naively assumed planning the wedding would be easy.

Working as a wedding photographer within the industry, I knew exactly which suppliers I wanted on the day, so I presumed that wedding planning would be a breeze…

Well working within the wedding industry definitely has its perks. Having attended more weddings than I can count, I have been able to make a mental list of my favourite suppliers. Being able to watch different photographers, videographers, toastmasters, bands and florists doing their job to make each clients wedding day perfect for them has allowed me to know what I want for our wedding.

Real Jewish Brides: Jay Finds Her Perfect Wedding Dress

31/07/2018 by Smashing The Glass Leave a Comment

Jay will be marrying Tom on 24th November 2018 at Hyatt Churchill, London, UK. Click here to read all Jay’s planning posts to date.

THREE FACTS: Jay and Tom met on Tinder (Tinder For The Win!) (2) These two are planning a big fat Jew-ish wedding (Jay is Jewish, Tom is not) but in Jay’s words: “Tom was brought up in Edgware and has more of a love for chopped liver and bagels than I do!” (3) Jay is a Personal Trainer and Fitness Instructor and Tom works at Facebook.

Finding My Dress: Where To Start?

From the moment I got engaged, finding my dress was the one thing I was most excited for, but also the most nervous about!

We are surrounded with programmes like ‘Say Yes to the Dress’ and as soon as you get engaged your Instagram and Pinterest boards are filled with images of beautiful women in amazing wedding dresses! Where do you even begin? That was the question I kept asking myself, as I had never really thought about what style of wedding dress I would one day wear.

Image by Blake Ezra from Francesca and Ziek‘s wedding

Not Like In The Movies

I would like to think of myself as someone who is quite decisive and has a good understanding of what suits me, however, when it came to finding a wedding dress I went in with an open mind and wanted to take on board all the advice I could.

I started to scour Pinterest and pulled together some dresses I liked. I found a dress that I quite liked the look of by Jesus Peiro, and by pure co-incidence my mum had also been doing some online browsing and had come across the same dress (we often do this!). Continue Reading

Real Blogging Brides: Rebecca’s Wedding Planning Update

24/07/2018 by Smashing The Glass Leave a Comment

Rebecca will be marrying David on 7th October 2018 at a secret location in Israel! Click here to read all Rebecca’s planning posts to date.

THREE FACTS: (1) Rebecca and David met on JSwipe (so old school we know 😉 ) (2) They are having a destination wedding in Israel at a secret location! (3) They are getting married on Rebecca’s grandparents wedding anniversary (who have been married for 64 years). We LOVE that!

The past few weeks have been EXTREMELY busy in the Hirst-Sudwarts households! Not only have we managed to host two engagement parties, we attended two weddings (one in Israel and one in Marbella!), I flew out to Hong Kong and Turkey for work, started renovating the flat and we just about managed to squeeze in another trip to Israel to finish planning our wedding!

Looking at it all listed I can’t quite believe what we have achieved in six weeks since I last wrote my first post! They say this is the happiest time of your life, I personally feel like I haven’t had time to breathe! But I wouldn’t have it any other way!