Real Jewish Weddings Archives - Smashing the Glass

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 Leave a Comment

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…

A Wedding in Rome

Prescilla, the bride: We got married in Rome, with a religious ceremony in the main synagogue and a great party in the magnificent Villa Aurelia.

A Le Spose di Gio Bride for a Winter Jewish Wedding at Home in Liverpool, UK

18/06/2018 by Karen Cinnamon 1 Comment

Today’s Jewish wedding is a rather special one for me to blog as it’s the beautiful wedding of my right hand woman at Smashing The Glass, wonderful Claire who I work extremely closely with day in, day out!

Claire came on board just over a year ago and is literally the backbone of everything we do at Smashing The Glass. Having her on board, doing her fabulous thing, has enabled brand STG to grow in all sorts of wonderful ways.

It’s an absolute honor to feature Claire’s joyous wedding to Mark (held in a marquee at her parents house filled with family and friends) and even though their big day happened prior to Claire joining Team STG, it’s no surprise that it features not one, not two, but THREE incredible STG Recommended Vendors: photography superstar David Pullum (his images are everything), Sensation Band who rocked the night in the imitable way that only they can do, and the fabulous and meticulous Qube Events who we couldn’t love any more (read on to see what Claire has to say about each of them!).

And on a creative level, their chuppah is jaw-on-the-floor EVERYTHING!! Oh.. and you’re going to want to steal an amazing creative / favour idea that the guests went nuts for involving (wait for it…) napkins! Oh yeah. All I can say is that I wish I had one too…

Let’s hand over to Claire (dressed to perfection in Le Spose di Gio) for the full scoop!

A Wedding at Home

Claire, the bride: We got married in the garden of my family home. Ever since I was a little girl I had always dreamt of getting married there. With so many happy memories, it felt so special and perfect for us.

My family are from Liverpool and my husband’s are from London, so we also thought that creating our own “venue” would be a fun change from the norm and make it a little more exciting for those who were making the trip up north to Liverpool!

A Mediterranean Garden Destination Jewish Wedding at El Cortijo de los Caballos in Marbella, Spain

15/06/2018 by Karen Cinnamon

We’re always thrilled to blog the weddings of our real blogging brides, and we could not be more excited to feature beautiful Hayley’s sun-drenched Spanish wedding to Ashley at El Cortijo de los Caballos.

We loved reading along with Hayley as she went through the process of converting to Judaism during her engagement, and couldn’t be more proud to see her and Ashley standing under their lovely DIY chuppah, which put folded umbrellas to use as poles, draped in tulle and lace – including a square from Hayley’s dress! Check it out in Anna Gazda’s luminous photos.

This wedding was chock full of personal touches… between custom kippot inscribed with “Man Utd Rule” with footballs printed on them, as a nod to Ashley’s chosen team, to a very memorable rap by the bridesmaids (they turned Ice Ice Baby into “Ash Ash Hayley”!) Hayley and Ashley injected so much personality into their fun-filled day.

And to make sure their wedding was a party to remember, the couple flew out Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Totem as their band! Performing at both the ceremony and reception, Hayley and Ashley credit their fab band with making the party happen – and report that guests are still telling them how great the music was!

Now over to Hayley, who was lucky enough to have her gorgeous princess gown was custom designed for her by her new sister-in-law, who used to be a pro bridal wear designer…
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How we met

Hayley, the bride: We met online through Tinder, although I’m sure Ash told a few people we met at a bar in Shoreditch!

A Jane Yeh Bride for a Multicultural Outdoor Destination Jew-ish Wedding at La Verriere, La Chene Bleu Winery in Provence, France

13/06/2018 by Karen Cinnamon Leave a Comment

Okay, who else took one look at that glorious photo of today’s couple seated under their fab floral canopy, in the middle of the breathtaking countryside of Provence, and has resolved to relocate their wedding to France, immediately? Just us?!.

Seriously, we are so in love with today’s Jew-ish wedding. Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Jeremy Blode’s photos are nothing short of magical – he took full advantage of the beautiful surroundings of La Verriere, an estate attached to La Chene Bleu winery, and don’t even get us started about that fantastic natural light!

Another thing we adore about this wedding? The way Jess and Octave combined their cultural backgrounds into the big day. The pair embraced Jess’s Jewish background with a Shabbat rehearsal dinner (complete with a surprise announcement!), a hora, and, of course, smashing the glass.

And the setting was a nod to Octave’s French heritage, as was their choice of a reading from Le Petit Prince in both French and English.

Jess, who looked stunning in her Jane Yeh wedding dress (chosen by Jess’s mother, without the bride herself even having tried it on!) and sweet flower crown, will take it from here…

How we met

Jess, the bride: We met in 2012 while completing our MBAs at Harvard Business School. It took over a year for Octave to convince me to go on our first date, but he eventually succeeded by proposing a weekend to visit a friend of his who was living in Barbados.

After business school, I wanted to return to Australia and Octave to Europe, so we compromised and moved to Singapore. Octave planned an elaborate proposal at the Rock Bar in Bali, flying my parents in from Melbourne to surprise me after the proposal.

We now have a 9-month-old baby daughter, Laila, and live in London.

A Martina Liana Bride for a Destination Jewish Barn Wedding at Blue Sky Ranch in Wanship, Park City, Utah, USA

11/06/2018 by Karen Cinnamon Leave a Comment

We’re so in love with today’s couple’s ultra-personal chuppah. Lennie and Mark combined ten (yes TEN!) family tallits (prayer shawls), from both sides, to make their fantastic canopy – literally weaving together their two families into a new one! Isn’t that beautiful?

And for the poles, the couple used Aspen branches, in a nod to the natural flora of their destination location, the stunning mountain retreat of Park City, Utah. Check out Pepper Nix‘s gorgeous photos of the ceremony – not to mention the fab party, before and after!

Yep, another thing we adore about Lennie and Mark’s Jewish wedding is their pre-chuppah cocktail hour. The pair made a point of attending and enjoying it fully, and clever bride Lennie even took the smart step of sourcing a special cocktail dress (purchased from BCBG on the sale rack for $100!) so she wouldn’t have to worry about anything spilling on her gown. The cocktail dress came in handy again when the bustle on Lennie’s modern, chic Martina Liana gown broke during a very energetic hora!

Oh, and one last detail we can’t get enough of: this pair seriously mixed up the standard hotel welcome bag formula, injecting some serious personality into your regular selection of snacks and water bottles: since Lennie is a dentist and Mark is a gastroenterologist, the goodies they handed out included monogrammed toothbrushes and reflux meds! Now over to Lennie…

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How we met

Lennie, the bride: We met on a blind date! One of my friends was out with her husband and another couple, and the guy happened to be one of Mark’s co-workers. Mark was talking about moving, and his coworker was trying to set him up so he wouldn’t move! He’s now stuck in Tampa (where I grew up 🙂

What’s ironic is that I had messaged Mark on Jswipe a year before we met, and he responded once and then never again. So when my friend called me telling me she was setting me up and describing him I said “oh, he didn’t message me back.” This time, he called me, we made plans, and that was that. (I later found out he was getting back together with his ex-girlfriend at the time when he didn’t message me back.)