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24 Great Gifts for Brides-to-be & Grooms-to-be

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With the first night of Chanukah and Christmas Eve falling on exactly the same day this year, I thought it might be fun to create some holiday gift guides for every kind of budget! I’ve picked out my current fave picks for you and your groom-to-be / wifey-to-be / newlywed friends across a range of price brackets. I hope this edit helps you find some unique gifts for your loved ones… and don’t forget to buy something special for yourself (I call it self-giftification!)

brides-gifts

1.  Wifey For Lifey beaded cotton clutch by Sophia Webster $945  //  2. ‘Mrs’ necklace by Kate Spade $88  //  3. Shearling Audio Earmuff by Ugg $100  //  4. Wedding Consultancy by Smashing The Glass $440  //  5. Bridal Wine Tote by Kate Spade $88  //  6. Wifey For Lifey sandals by Sophia Webster $750  //  7. Bride Cap by ASOS $15  //  8. Cowshed and Soho House spa experience by Soho Home $350 /

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13 Insanely Fun (and Affordable) Wedding Ideas from Etsy

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It goes without saying that every wedding is special and unique – but one thing that our Smashing the Glass couples tend to have in common is their commitment to making their wedding as individual as they are with some lovely unique dettails. Even after all these years and countless real weddings, we never cease to be surprised by a new and original detail that we haven’t come across before. That ethos is the reason we’re such huge fans of Etsy. 

Etsy is a place of endless imagination. Small businesses and sellers lovingly craft a mixture of fashion-forward and traditional wedding wares, which can often then be personalised by the couple to create a one-off wedding-day treasure. While would never dream of denying you the joy of a long Etsy hunt, we have come across a few gems lately that we just couldn’t keep to ourselves. Here are thirteen of our favourite affordable, creative Etsy wedding finds.

1. Have your wedding logo made into a rubber stamp £12

Have a custom stamp made with your wedding logo and have fun branding all the different details of your big day! It’s amazing how simple this is to do and how much fun you can have doing it (FYI I wrote a whole post on how to brand your big day with a logo here.)

wedding-logo-rubber-stamp

BUY

2. Create a custom slogan veil  £37

Say it loud and proud with a slogan veil. This double layered, shoulder-length veil is handmade to order with the word or phrase of your choice (up to 12 characters). I love the idea of having one with your new married name on it!

Custom wedding veil

BUY

3. Create a personalised cake topper £65

Have your names, your new surname, or any phrase you fancy stop your wedding cake!
personalised cake topper

BUY

4. Have some fun with your dance floor signs £6

Trust-Me-You-Can-Dance
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The Pros and Cons of a Destination Wedding

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Having a destination wedding, just like any other choice in life — has it’s long list of pros and cons. When Alex and I first began the conversation of  where  we’d like to tie the knot, we we’re slightly overwhelmed with the possibilities. The world was ours. Would we travel abroad? Stay within the country? East or West Coast? In the end, only three options really made sense for us: Florida – where my parents live, Arizona – where Alex’s parents live, and Washington, DC – where we’ve built our home together.  

Two weeks after we got engaged, we flew out to Tucson, Arizona to visit his parents, as they threw us a lovely engagement party. At that point in the planning (only two weeks in), Alex and I barely had a grasp of what we wanted from the big day. Since we were already in Arizona, we figured we might as well take advantage of that, and explore some venues. The week prior to our trip, I contacted 5 different venues for fall / winter 2016 availability and pricing. Collecting a little binder of information prior to landing in Arizona. And good thing I did, since the moment we landed, wedding talk seemed to be the only conversational topic.

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Image: Julian Wainwright, taken from Melissa & Ishay’s Jew-ish destination wedding in Thailand

The morning of the engagement party, Alex’s dad drove us around the city to various appointments, narrowed down to 4 at that point. Once we stepped foot on Tubac Golf Resort, we knew we had found something really special. We loved the atmosphere, the ranch-style hotel rooms, the layout of the property, the ballrooms, the heated-covered patios, the gorgeous well kept lawns where we’d potentially hold our ceremony — everything.

For various reasons, Florida and DC were ruled out. So Arizona made the next most sense. And after our tour of Tubac, we felt it was the right place for us. We didn’t give it much more thought than that. I signed the contract that very week we returned home to DC. And then, the rest of the planning, booking, and arranging began!

Planning the wedding from 2,500+ miles away hasn’t been the easiest, I will be the first to say that, and in fact it’s caused a reasonable amount of stress. I wanted to share my pros and cons list with any future brides still deciding, or to any brides that have already settled on a destination wedding for them to relate to.

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Image:  Susan Stripling, taken from Natasha & Jez’s Jewish destination wedding in Cap Ferrat, South of France

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Bridesmaid Gift Guide – Gift Ideas for your bridal party + BFF’s

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Those of you who follow me on Instagram Stories know that I saw my first Christmas Tree of the year (or do we call it a Chanukah Bush?!) in central London this week. What does that mean? It might just mean that the season of gift giving is just around the corner… and with the first night of Chanukah and Christmas Eve falling on exactly the same day this year, I thought it might be fun to do some gift guides. I’ll be curating my fave picks for you, your best girls, fiancà©(e), hubs, wife, newlyweds, and more!

Kicking off the series, I’m picking out the loveliest gifts for your bridesmaids, BFF’s, mothers, sisters, sister-from-another-mister… you get the gist — Happy shopping everyone!

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1. Personalized Champagne Flutes by Fox Blossom Co.  £13  //  2. Personalised bracelet by Monica Vinader from £85  //  3. Rotating Stamp & Ink Set by Kate Spade £20  //  4. Engraved Bridesmaid Bangle by Kate Spade  £50  //  5. In Bloom Book Collection by Rifle Paper Co.  £52  //  6. Personalised Bridesmaid Make Up Bag by Not On The High Street £12.50  //  7. Fujifilm Instax Mini 8 Instant Camera £65  //  8. Personalised ‘The Adventures Of’ Memory Book by Not On The High Street  £19  //  9. Alphabet pendant by Monica Vinader from £150  //  10. Baies Scented Candle by Diptyque £42  //  11. ‘Same Mistakes’ Pencil Case by Kate Spade  £24  //  12. Personalised watch by May28th  £18  //  13. Eat Cake for Breakfast Thermal Mug by Kate Spade  £16  //  14. Charm + Alphabet pendant by Litzi from £70  //  15. Monogram Nail Polish by Not On The High Street  £7  //  16. Birchbox 12 month subscription  £100  //  17. ‘Bridesmaid’ Tote Bag by Not On The High Street  £13  //  18. Engraved personalised pendant by Monica Vinader from £35  //  19. Personalised Monogram Framed Print by Not On The High Street  £49

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Real Jewish Brides: Choosing Our Wedding Stationery

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Right now, Alex and I are in that really fun stage of wedding planning. Meaning, our invitations have been mailed out (phew!) and we’re just now starting to receive our guests RSVP’s back in the mail. Which for whatever reason, makes wedding planning  that  much more exciting. (what is it about snail mail that’s so deliciously appealing?)

Currently, coming home to check the mail is my favorite part of the afternoon, and because of that, I thought I’d talk about the process of choosing our wedding stationary.  

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Save The Dates

This is essentially a piece of postage that formally alerts your friends and family, that at some point in the not-so-distant-future, they will be receiving an actual wedding invitation. An invitation for an invitation, if you will. Alex didn’t care much about it (or think it was necessary) so he let me take the lead on the design and the entire process. Which I was more than happy to do. The save-the-date is the first piece of tangible evidence that shows we are going to be wed (minus my engagement ring, of course)!  

I booked a quick 30 minute engagement shoot with a local DC photographer, and scheduled our shoot in Georgetown. It was a ridiculously cold morning in March, but at the end of the shoot, we had nearly 200 photos to choose from before we settled on the one we ended up using.  

I loved the various save-the-date options I found online, however the price and lack of flexibility of the designs offered was enough to steer me towards a DIY project. And that’s exactly what we did.

I browsed Etsy until I found something similar to my vision. I worked 1-on-1 with a designer who tweaked everything to my liking. She emailed me a template, which I then uploaded and printed it locally at a shop. 100 copies for just about $50 (not including postage or addressing labels).  

I was thrilled with how they came out. They were in the mail in the very beginning of April. Providing our guests with a full eight months of notice – which for destination weddings seems to be standard etiquette. Fast forward through the summer…

Save The Date

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