Jewish Budget Weddings Archives - Smashing the Glass

A Phase Eight Bride for an Interfaith Jewish-Scottish Wedding Planned in Two Months at the Pergola on Hampstead Heath, London, UK

22/05/2019 by Karen Cinnamon

Can you believe this gorgeous interfaith Jewish wedding was planned in under two months?! Yes, that’s right – a beautiful wedding in under sixty days!

Jude, a business analyst, and Del, who works in regulation, made it work by keeping the crowd small – they held an intimate celebration with just immediate family and their closest friends – and the day streamlined.

Their venue, the Pergola on Hampstead Heath, not only had a ton of meaning to the couple (it’s where Del proposed to Jude!), it’s also the kind of naturally stunning space that easily stands on its own without any need for additional décor.And given the timeline, the bride opted to shop the high street, endingup with a lovely ‘20s inspired beaded gown from Phase Eight.

We love how these two brought together the bride’s Jewish identity and the groom’s Scottish heritage, too. They made sure traditions from both sides were represented, smashing the glass together and choosing flowers that incorporated Del’s Scottish heritage.

We’re obsessed with Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Kate Nielen’s soft and dreamy photos of this big day… read on to hear all the rest of the details.

How we met

Jude, the bride: We met on Match.com

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

22/02/2019 by Karen Cinnamon

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 Laid-back, Colorful Jewish Wedding (with two glass smashes!) at High& in Tel Aviv, Israel

27/07/2018 by Karen Cinnamon

What’s better than smashing the glass at a Jewish wedding? How about smashing TWO glasses? Today’s fab couple, Yael, a travel coordinator, and Kfir, an enterprise manager, had a smash glass each at their free-spirited Tel Aviv wedding. What an awesome way to add some gender equality into the traditional Jewish wedding ceremony — and to double the drama of the big moment!

From start to finish, this Jewish wedding is full of one-of-a-kind touches like that, and we love that Yael and Kfir did so much to combine their tastes and personalities with tradition.

For example, Yael followed tradition and chose to wear white — but she went for a super simple, yet very sexy, dress, rather than an OTT ballgown. And to keep the all-white look from getting too cookie-cutter, she made sure to add in fuchsia shoes and an ultra-colorful flower headpiece in fuschia and violet — as brilliantly captured by photographer Lior Rotstein.

And the double smash glasses weren’t the only unusual thing about the ceremony, either. Yael and Kfir opted not to get married through the Israeli Rabbanut, opting instead for a customized ceremony that embodied their own values while remaining true to Jewish tradition. Our favorite (well, second favorite) bit? Their officiant opened the ceremony with a special speech he wrote based on things the pair had told him about themselves and their relationship. Aww!

Yael will fill you in on the rest…

How we met

Yael, the bride: We met on OK Cupid 🙂

An Ultra-Personal DIY Gay Jewish Wedding in the Hamptons, Amagansett, New York, USA

04/06/2018 by Karen Cinnamon

We love a good DIY Jewish wedding here at Smashing The Glass, and Adam and Curtis’s intimate day in the Hamptons ticks ALL of our boxes. NYC couple Adam, a senior news producer for CBS News’ 24/7 live streaming network CBSN, and Curtis, an actor and teaching artist currently performing in Angels In America on Broadway, in search of an affordable place to host a wedding weekend, found a gem of a house (with 17 bedrooms!) in Amagansett, in the Hamptons, via VRBO.

Looking at Libby Christensen’s artistic, emotion-filled photos of the day, you’d never guess this wedding was pulled off on a tight budget. But thanks to plenty of help from family and friends, Adam and Curtis were able to pull off an ultra-chic day without spending a fortune.

One of the biggest labors of love was food. Rather than going for a traditional caterer, the pair ordered food from Fresh Direct. The food was delivered to their NYC apartment the day before the wedding, and friends helped them drive all 70 (!) boxes out to the Hamptons so it would be ready on the day.

The couple’s super-devoted wedding party came through to save the day when some inevitable wedding mishaps occurred, too — you’ve got to see what one of the groomswomen did when the cake topper Adam and Curtis had ordered didn’t arrive on time…

The couple calls their wedding a group effort, and the day was really all about honoring their community. At their super-intimate ceremony Adam and Curtis asked their guests to stand around the chuppah, circling them in support and love.

Now over to the grooms, who looked incredibly handsome in their suits from ASOS, Adam ina tweed and Curt in maroon…

How we met

Adam and Curtis, the grooms: We met on Tinder.

A Naturally Beautiful Jewish Wedding in the Colorado Mountains at Vail Wedding Deck, Vail, Colorado, USA

05/01/2018 by Karen

Today’s gorgeous mountaintop Jewish real wedding is a testament to keeping it simple and letting your surroundings do the talking. This works particularly well when your surroundings happen to be the glorious mountains of Colorado!

With a little help from the Internet, and a lot of help from a rabbi with encyclopaedic local knowledge, Jordan and Josh made their dream day a reality, complete with a first look, a gondola ride to the top of the mountain and an epic hora dance – all in the same place that the Obamas stayed during their visit to Colorado!

Jordan and Josh are both lawyers, living in New York City, but had such a profound connection to Vail that they chose to have a destination wedding there, with 50+ friends and family flying out to celebrate with them.

Their intimate ceremony involved their close family, with all hands on deck for the music and blessings, which we definitely approve of!

We also ADORE the proposal story. Jordan and Josh met on a train platform when Jordan asked him for directions. The pair hit it off straight away, and Josh ended up riding the train to her destination with her. A few years later, Josh popped the question on the very same train platform. How adorable is that??

Back to the big day – Jordan looked simply beautiful in her David’s Bridal dress, and all the magic was expertly captured by photographer Sharee Davenport.

That’s enough from us – it’s now Jordan’s turn to take over Smashing The Glass to tell us all about her and Josh’s big day. Over to Jordan!

How we met

Jordan, the bride: We met when I was in law school (in Chicago) when Josh was visiting home for Yom Kippur from business school in New York. I was at the train station in Chicago going to my family’s house for breakfast and Josh was going to the suburbs for a Northwestern football game. I asked him for directions, and that’s how we met!

We ended up riding the train together that day and added each other on Facebook. He messaged me that night and said that, while he liked me, he lived in New York, and asked to set me up with his cousin. I said no, but to let me know the next time he was in town. We met up that night and have been together ever since (almost four years).
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