Jewish City Chic Weddings Archives - Smashing the Glass

A Daalarna Couture Bride for an Autumnal Interfaith Jewish Wedding at Hotel Ella, Austin, Texas, USA

19/04/2019 by Karen Cinnamon Leave a Comment

Can you believe it’s Erev Passover this evening? How did that happen already?! And what are you doing for seder night tonight? I’ve just arrived home from 10 days in Israel on a family holiday, and heading to my in-laws in South London for our Erev Seder (I’ll be sharing snippets from our evening over on our Instagram Stories!)

And onto today’s gorgeous Texan interfaith Jewish wedding: Rachel, who works in marketing at Microsoft, and Joshua, an entrepreneur and founder of Standout Authority (#isntsheloveLEE), crafted a very special wedding reflecting the merging of their two backgrounds.

The couple had a totally gorgeous chuppah that perfectly combined tradition and modernity in some unexpected but beautiful ways – which Rachel felt was especially fitting in light of the pair’s interfaith relationship (she’s Jewish, he isn’t). Between the gold base, white drapery, and asymmetrical florals, they absolutely succeeded in their goal to come up with something just a little bit different – a perfect reflection of the new chapter of their lives marked by this wonderful celebration.

From the dramatic autumnal jewel tones to the emotion and love, photographer Misty Mclendon and videographer Lauren Maria did such a fantastic job capturing all the moments of this meaningful day.

We love what these two did for their “guest book”: they had a beautiful drawing of a tree and had their guests “leaf a thumbprint” to sign! Now, instead of a book that rarely gets opened, they have a unique piece of art to display in their home. Another great touch? Rachel and Joshua left a box for people to share their bucket list ideas!

Also, how cool is it that the rabbi wore cowboy boots? Doesn’t get much more Texas than that!

We’ll leave it to the bride – who looked so elegant in her Daalarna Couture gown – to fill you in on the rest… Oh, and before we go, Team STG wishes you a very happy Passover, however you’re celebrating!

An Austin Wedding

Rachel, the bride: Joshua and I got married at the Hotel Ella in Austin, Texas. We wanted a venue that was in Austin, not too far from the center of the city since we wanted to show our out-of-town family and friends what the city is all about.

We had seen about 5 places before going to the Hotel Ella and the second we saw the room, we knew it was it. We loved the mix of old and new – the colonial feel of the boutique hotel with the eclectic and modern design inside. It really represented our classic and modern attitude with Rachel being from Los Angeles and Joshua being from Texas.

Fall Vibes

We had a fall wedding so I wanted a modern feel using jewel tones and gold pieces. Eclipse Events helped me plan and were awesome. The Hotel Ella has so much charm without anything, so I really wanted to amplify the beauty and colors already there.

A Daalarna Couture Dress

My dress was from Serendipity Bridal and designed by Daalarna Couture. The dress was elegant and glamourous with a low sheer back enclosed by 20+ buttons and a deep front neck. I knew the dress was the one when I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I wanted something that was sleek and modern given the venue and fall wedding vibe and this back delivered!

Something Borrowed

I borrowed a J. Crew hair piece from my matron of honor that she wore at her wedding in Chicago. I also wore my grandmother’s antique ruby and gold ring from the early 1900s and my mothers diamond tennis bracelets. It was really special to have a piece of these important ladies on me throughout the wedding day.

Badgley Mischka Shoes

I wore wedge, open toed, off white Badgley Mischka shoes that I bought from Nordstrom and looked awesome. I knew I was walking on grass for the ceremony so I needed something comfortable plus I wanted something I could dance the night away in. These did the trick!

Hair + Makeup

My dress was sexy and modern with a low back and front, so I knew I wanted my hair up to showcase the dress and my features. I went with a low romantic bun to the side that wasn’t too structured and a bold wine lip to balance the glam with some class. Jenny from Kara Sanchez Beauty did it and was amazing. My color theme was jewel tones with gold, navy, dark green, burgundy, white and wine, so the lip looked incredible with my bouquet. I love makeup and wear bold lips often, so it felt like Rachel.

The handsome groom

Joshua wore a custom blue suite from the Suit Supply with a white shirt and burgundy tie to bring in our color scheme. He completely surprised me by creating a custom silk lining inside his suit jacket, using our engagement photos. When he opened his suit jacket during our first look, I was completely in shock. It was one of the sweetest and craziest things he’s ever done for me.

Bridesmaids in Jenny Yoo

I had 5 bridesmaids and 1 bridesman. They wore Jenny Yoo dresses in Caspian Sea. I loved this color so so much. It went with the fall wedding and jewel tone theme and wasn’t a typical color I saw brides use.

A Modern Chuppah

With a modern fall wedding, I wanted a little something different and loved the asymmetrical design and gold chuppah with white drapery. It was a perfect balance of tradition and new, since Joshua isn’t Jewish and we were creating a new chapter.

#isntsheloveLEE

My 2 close friends played the processional music during the ceremony. They sang and played violin and guitar, and learned special songs just for us. The processional walked to Of Monsters and Men, ‘Love Love Love’, and I walked down to Latch by Disclosure, which is my favorite group and all time favorite song. It was incredible.

As we left, they played ‘Isn’t She Lovely’ by Stevie Wonder which tied to our hashtag #isntsheloveLEE. We also had family members from both sides recite the 7 blessings which we loved. And our ketubah was absolutely gorgeous and designed by Once Upon a Paper. Two incredibly important people who have been in each of our lives forever signed it.

Photographer and videographer

Misty Mclendon did our photography and Lauren Maria did our video. Both were amazing. I wanted our photos to be more dramatic with the fall look and feel and really pop, which is why I loved Misty’s work. With Lauren, she just has a way to capture the love in such a real, beautiful way and it really showed!

Chocolate and Vanilla Cake

Our cake was from Polkadots and had two types of flavors: vanilla cake with chocolate mousse and chocolate chips in the mousse and then a ding dong kind of chocolate cake with vanilla filling. SO good. Joshua is a huge superhero fan and wanted the cake to be half superhero. Of course I wanted a modern clean look with gold and blues so we compromised by having a Deadpool character coming out of the bottom. It was pretty memorable.

Entertainment

Cap City Band was amazing. My top priority above all else was dancing and they did exactly what I wanted. They played a mix of old and new and had the crowed bumping all night long!

Cookie Favors

For our engagement photos we went to various murals and special spots in Austin. One of the most well-known spots is You’re my Butter Half, and we used a photo from there for our Save The Date. To carry that idea through, we had Hayley Cakes and Cookies made You’re my Butter Half cookies.

Leaf a thumbprint

We had a drawing of a tree as our guest book and had people “leaf a thumbprint” as their way of signing in. It’s now hanging in our house and is such a cool way to remember our day. We also had a box for people to share their bucket list ideas that was really fun to look at afterwards.

Honeymoon in Italy

Joshua and I went to the Hyatt Ziva in Cancun for a mini-moon after the wedding and loved it. We are planning a longer honeymoon for the spring in southern Italy!

Advice to couples currently planning their wedding

Having great people in your wedding party made my day so special. When I got nervous or needed some help, they had my back every moment and made me feel calm. Also having a wedding planner is essential to not worrying as much; you’re still going to worry when you’re super involved and planned for so long, but at some point you just let go and have fun. All of the small mistakes aren’t remembered so you have to take it all in and enjoy the process!

Rachel & Joshua’s little white book

Photography – Misty Mclendon Photography
Videography – Lauren Maria Films
Wedding planner – Eclipse Event Co.
Venue – Hotel Ella
Bride’s dress – Daalarna Couture found and fitted at Serendipity Bridal
Bride’s accessories – J. Crew
Bride’s shoes – Badgley Mischka purchased at Nordstrom
Groom’s attire – Suit Supply
Bridesmaids – Jenny Yoo
Hair + Makeup – Jenny from Kara Sanchez Beauty
Band – Cap City Band
Flowers – The Bloom Bar
Cake – Polkadots Cupcake Factory
Ketubah – Once Upon a Paper
Favours – Hayley Cakes and Cookies
Linens – Premiere Events
Chuppah rental – Mancino Iron
Photobooth – Pixter
Hotel – Hyatt Ziva

A Pronovias Bride for a Jewish Wedding with a Wisteria Chuppah at The Midland Hotel, Manchester, UK

15/04/2019 by Karen Cinnamon Leave a Comment

Two words: Wisteria. Chuppah. Katie and Josh’s botanical canopy is truly breathtaking – between the abundant greenery, hanging wisteria, and bunches of red berries, they created the perfect autumnal fantasia. The bride reports that she felt like she was in a botanical garden standing under the chuppah, and we can totally see why!

We also LOVE a creative idea that we’ve never seen before! A deck of Top Trumps cards at every place setting, that told the story of Katie and Josh’s engagement from proposal to tying the knot. LOVE!

And everything about this beautiful Jewish wedding is just so exquisitely elegant, and Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Rob Clayton could not have done a better job capturing all the lovely details – not to mention the emotion and love that radiates through every single shot! The couple picked Rob especially for his ability to capture the natural, spontaneous moments that make a wedding truly memorable, and they definitely made an awesome choice!

Katie – who looked so elegant in her two bodice-and-skirt pairings from Pronovias – will take it from here…

How we met

Katie, the bride: Josh and I met on J-Swipe within 3 weeks of me moving to London… the epitome of modern day romance. We planned a date for the following week, but coincidentally bumped in to each other in a bar in central London a few days before our planned date – it was beshert (and made the ‘first date’ a lot less nerve-racking)!

A Nautical New England Jew-ish Wedding at Latitude 41 in Mystic, Connecticut, USA

12/04/2019 by Karen Cinnamon Leave a Comment

It’s always a special day here in STG land when one of our wonderful blogging brides’ weddings shows up in our inbox. Especially when it’s as gorgeous as Alyssa and Colin’s luminous light house-themed Jew-ish wedding.

Seriously, just LOOK at Taylor Dunn Photography’s bright, airy, emotion-filled snaps of the big day.

It doesn’t get much more picturesque than this. Everything from the couple’s sweet, whimsical ketubah from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Ink with Intent to Alyssa and Colin’s adorable lighthouse logo to the fact that they used our very own Smashing The Glass pouch for their smash glass under the chuppah is total wedding goals.

And speaking of that chuppah? First of all, it’s a charmer, with birch poles, a clean green and white color scheme, and just a touch of asymmetrical greenery and florals. But it gets even better when you find out Alyssa and Colin’s fathers – plus Alyssa’s brother – teamed up to build it – using branches taken from trees in the yards of the bride and groom’s childhood homes (!!!). I KNOW.

Now for the rest from Alyssa…

How we met

Alyssa, the bride: I met Colin at just 13 years old. He was a silly kid in the back of the school bus and to be honest one of the only Jewish people I knew. We spent countless rides to school laughing and teasing each other relentlessly.

Senior year of high school we reconnected and rekindled our friendship. I was drawn to his humor, easy-going demeanor, kind nature, and his ability to be friends with everyone! Our friendship effortlessly evolved into an amazing relationship that I never expected.

A Lyn Ashworth Bride for a Country-Meets-City Jewish Wedding at the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue and the Savile Club in London, UK

05/04/2019 by Karen Cinnamon 1 Comment

A country house-style Jewish wedding with all the convenience (and fun contemporary touches) of central London? Um, yes please!

Busy Abbie and Alastair are both doctors: she’s an obstetrician/gynecologist, he’s doing a PhD in trauma and orthopedics – so it’s a good thing they found dreamy venue the Savile Club close to home: see Miki Studios’ breathtaking photography and videography for evidence.

We’re crazy about the juxtaposition of classic and quirky they worked into their big day – from the custom-designed invitations honoring the groom’s love of succulents, by wonderful Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Bigday Designs (who, the bride says, were “totally charming in indulging my bizarre ideas”!) to the beautiful cake Alistair’s grandmother made the couple, covered in hundreds of handmade sugar rose petals she spent the couple’s whole engagement year making!

The pair’s music choice also mixed the traditional with the contemporary: it was key for them to find a live band who could nail both the Israeli music and party music for afterwards, and they found their perfect match in the Matzoh Boys – their singer is fantastic Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Jonny Mosesson!

And we love that, after having heard friends’ regrets about not having spent enough time with their other half on the big day, Abbie and Alastair decided to make the not-so-traditional choice of a sweetheart table, which gave them some precious quality time to enjoy each other’s company during the meal.

Oh, and we can’t hand you over to Abbie without mentioning her romantic Lyn Ashworth gown with 3/4 French lace sleeves and a full silk chiffon skirt…

How we met

Abbie, the bride: We actually met at medical school, when Abbie’s mum forced her to go to the Jewish Society Rosh Hashanah dinner in Nottingham! It was all going really well until Abbie realised that Alastair was a fresher and two years younger than her! Luckily Alastair won her back with his charms and the rest is history!

A Maggie Sottero Bride for a Taco-Fueled Destination Jewish Wedding at Ex-Convento San Hipolito, Mexico City, Mexico

27/03/2019 by Karen Cinnamon Leave a Comment

Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Luz Weddings does it again. We’re totally obsessed with their fab captures of this epic destination Jewish wedding, from the artsy minimalist couples’ shoot to the fantastic emotion of Lian and Amir’s big day.

The LA-based couple wanted something different, and did they ever find it in Mexico City! Their venue, former 17^th-century convent called Ex-Convento San Hipolito, is not only totally breathtaking, it also has a secret, ultra-meaningful Jewish history that the couple’s rabbi revealed to them on the day.

We’re experiencing some serious FOMO drooling over Lian and Amir’s incredible kosher Mexican catering menu – we’re talking ribeye tacos, quesadillas, churros, and even an LA-style fruit cart! (Fittingly enough, the groom wore taco socks.)

Oh, and did we mention there’s an exquisite papercut ketubah by Israeli artist Enya Keshet, purchased from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Ketubah.com?

Now over to Lian, who looked so elegant in both of her gorgeous Maggie Sottero gowns…

How we met

Lian, the bride: Amir and I went to the same high school and had seen each other here and there, but never really spoke or hung out. Fast forward 15 years, my mom’s cousin was having a big party at his house, which I wasn’t planning on going to since my birthday was the day before and I wanted to go out with friends.

The moment I walked in the party and saw Amir, something inside me screamed ‘Yes’! When we said ‘hi’ to one other, it was more of like, ‘oh hey long time no see what was your name again?’ We hit it off right away and spoke all night, with both our families’ eyes watching us – which was so funny. It was great and he turned out to be the best birthday present ever.