Real Jewish Weddings Archives - Smashing the Glass

A Reformation Bride for a DIY Jewish Wedding at Littlefield, Brooklyn, New York, USA

22/02/2019 by Karen Cinnamon Leave a Comment

DIY and NYC aren’t the first two things we think of as going together when it comes to Jewish weddings. But super cool (not to mention resourceful) couple Grace and Barry proved us wrong with their charmingly eclectic indoor garden party celebration in Brooklyn, beautifully captured by the amazing Mandee Johnson Photography – their outdoor photoshoot in the streets of Brooklyn is serious #weddinggoals.

With some help from their families – Grace and her mom DIY’d the floral arrangements, while Barry’s mother fashioned a beautiful, simple chuppah canopy from an old lace curtain – and fun touches like string lights and a BBQ buffet, these two prove that it’s totally possible to craft a memorable wedding on a budget, even in the most expensive of cities.

And how cool does Grace look in her dress from Reformation (which happens to be a fantastic option for brides on a budget who don’t want to compromise on style)? We’ll leave the gorgeous bride and groom to fill you in on the rest…

How we met

Grace and Barry, the bride and the groom: Barry is on stage, performing. Grace is in the audience, audience-ing. After the show, she cracked a joke about his shoes, he laughed, that was that.

A Francesca Miranda Bride for a Romantic Jewish Wedding with a Touch of Edge at Ronit Farm, Kfar Shmariyahu, Israel

18/02/2019 by Karen Cinnamon Leave a Comment

Wow. This Jewish wedding. It really doesn’t get much better.

Some couples want a delicate, romantic wedding. Others want their big day to be a massive party. May, the marketing manager of a co-working space for doctors, and Yaniv, who’s in real estate investment, managed to make their beautiful Jewish wedding both of those things – with some help from much-loved Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Naama Raicher.

Naama, her colleague Yael Kfir Frumkes, and the rest of the team brought the duo’s dream wedding to life, providing their trademark finesse to every stage of the process from the very beginning to the day of – so much so that May reports that choosing Naama Raicher was “the best decision we made” during planning.

Naama and Yael helped the couple formulate their plan of action: first, an intimate late afternoon ceremony, set outdoors at the idyllic Ronit Farm, full of soft colors and romantic touches – like a totally stunning floral chuppah adorned with delicate white flowers.

Then, for the reception, things got a little edgier: May and Yaniv brought a hit of club style to their outdoor dinner and dance party, with moody colors galore – they even brought in professional dancers (who went through four costume changes throughout the night!) to perform on stages set on the sides of the dance floor to set the mood.

May’s Francesca Miranda gown easily made the transition from ceremony chic to party mode: made from 200 meters (!) of tulle and covered with thousands of hand-embroidered butterflies, this dress is most definitely soft and whimsical… but it was also the perfect lightweight bridal attire in which to dance all night.

We’ll turn you over to May in a second, but before we do we want to alert you to the fact that she and Yaniv provided one of the best favors we’ve yet encountered: loaves of fresh challah! Um, yes please!

How we met

May, the bride: I was jogging on the beach one day and Yaniv noticed me running. He then found a mutual friend of ours and asked her to make the connection, and the rest is history.

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An Ines Di Santo Bride for a New York-Meets-London Jewish Wedding at the Gramercy Park Hotel, NYC, USA

15/02/2019 by Karen Cinnamon Leave a Comment

Where do we even start with this epic Jewish wedding? Catherine’s sensational bridal style? The way she and now-husband Perry, combined their NYC (hers) and London (his) backgrounds? The ceremony they crafted to reflect their “Judaism Lite” approach to religion? The editorial-style photography from Christopher Lane Wedding?

Or maybe the fact that the bride is a beloved member of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club?

Okay, we’ll go with that last one… Catherine has the absolute sweetest things to say about the advice, tips, and resources she found through being a member of our Brides Club (and also her SMASHED IT bag for her smash glass)!

In Catherine’s own words:

“Karen (founder of Brides Club) was absolutely SMASHING in everything from her one-on-one advice inside Brides Club, to daily tips, and as neither my husband and I are very religious, the vast breadth of Jewish related questions and answers I was able to get answered was priceless.”

Curious? In honor of Valentine’s Day, we’re having a special promo where you can get a FREE month-long trial of Brides Club, now through Sunday only. If you’re planning a wedding right now – whether you’re newly engaged or just weeks out from the big day – do give it a try (and you can see Catherine’s ‘newlywed debrief’ interview in there too!)

So back to Catherine’s bridal fashion sense… this super stylish bride, and she had not one but TWO gorgeous dresses: for the ceremony, an uber-glam long-sleeved Ines di Santo, and for the reception an edgier custom gown by the bride’s friend designer Paul Raymond – and we’re TOALLY obsessed with both looks.

There’s so much more to say, but we’ll let the bride take it from here…

New York Meets London

Catherine, the bride: We got married a the Gramercy Park Hotel in NYC. I had wanted to get married in the UK as my husband is from London… plus who doesn’t want to be an English countryside bride?!

However, my mother put the kibosh on that (after we had already traveled to and picked the venue in England), claiming the wedding should be in the bride’s hometown. As I am born and bred NY’er, there was no shortage of venue options. We decided on the GPH as it embodied the perfect symbiosis of New York City glamour and London chic. Additionally, my parents’ first apartment was also on Gramercy park and the rooftop terrace has a Robert Mapplethorpe by Andy Warhol portrait… given my mother was Robert’s publisher while he was alive, it further supplanted the idea that the GPH was the venue for us.

A Lihi Hod Bride for a Destination Jewish Wedding at Borgo San Felice, Berardenga, Tuscany, Italy

13/02/2019 by Karen Cinnamon Leave a Comment

A late summer night’s dream… yep, Leah and Tyler’s stunner of a Jewish wedding combined the magic of Tuscany with one of the most beautiful times of year, that perfect patch of late summer where fall’s just beginning to creep in.

The setting – a medieval Tuscan village converted into a hotel – could not have been more magical, and the couple’s wedding planner, Sara Mazzei, fromSmashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Infinity Weddings went full-on for that fairytale sparkle with a soft muted florals, a dreamy chuppah, twinkly lights, and even a fireworks display! Everything was captured to perfection by photographer Massimiliano Morlott and videographer Luigi De Gregorio Films.

And then there’s that dress. Leah was a total and complete knockout in Lihi Hod, and we’re kind of obsessed with her dramatic yet classic styling. We’ll let her take it from here…

Venue

Leah, the bride: We got married under a grape pergola at Borgo San Felice in Tuscany. My husband and I had a short list of must-haves for a wedding venue: we wanted everything to take place outside and a venue where all of our family and friends could stay on-site. We researched venues quite a bit in different countries (mostly wine-regions because we are lovers of wine) when the thought of getting married in Italy occurred to us. Between the two of us we had visited wine regions in California, New Zealand, Hungary, Switzerland, South Africa, and Israel, but neither of us knew much about Italian wines.

We booked a trip to visit a few venues in Tuscany and while they were all beautiful, Borgo San Felice blew us away. It is a medieval Tuscan village converted into a hotel. On the outside old spindly vines cover stone buildings. On the inside fresh chic interior design integrates with classic Tuscan architecture. My husband and I live in an old abode in New Orleans’ French quarter, so this character-filled aesthetic was right up our alley.

A BHLDN Bride for a Jewish Wedding with a Remarkable Love Story at The Folly, Capistrano Beach, California, USA

11/02/2019 by Karen Cinnamon Leave a Comment

With Valentine’s Day coming up this week, we thought it was the perfect time to share this beautiful Jewish wedding with a very special love story behind it.

Just after they got engaged, Deborah and Adam found their commitment put to the ultimate test when Deborah was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a blood cancer.

For four years, Deborah endured surgeries, chemo, radiation, and a bone marrow transplant – all with Adam by her side. And when the couple got the amazing news that Deb was cancer-free in July 2018, they knew it was time for the wedding of their dreams.

Believe it or not, they planned this beautiful, meaningful wedding in just three months! We’re in love with the quintessentially California vibes, from the enchanted garden beachside setting to the Spanish Colonial architecture, all captured so beautifully by photographer This Modern Romance.

And we are totally and completely obsessed with the couple’s low-key yet elegant chuppah, which they designed themselves with some inspo from Smashing The Glass! With dark wood, simple lines, sheer fabric, and some asymmetrical pops of color courtesy of florals, it’s effortless yet totally memorable.

Now over to Deborah, who looked epically elegant in BHLDN…

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How We Met

Deborah, the bride: We’d been looking for each other our whole lives… we just didn’t know it. We’d kissed our share of frogs, but none were our prince or princess. On our first date, in a beautiful sandy-beached cove, as the setting sunlight sparkled on the water while dolphins splashed just offshore, we thought “Oh! Well this is definitely a sign…”

So much so, that when the time was right (and Adam could turn it into a big surprise!) we went back and got engaged there on “our” beach!

By the way, we met on JDate.com.