Jewish City Chic Weddings Archives - Smashing the Glass

A Caroline Castigliano Bride for a Jewish Wedding in Pink and Gold at Alpine Country Club, Demarest, New Jersey, USA

06/09/2021 by Karen Cinnamon

We’re so delighted to be sharing the Jewish wedding of Smashing The Glass Brides Club member Nicki, a life sciences consultant, and Ricky, an options trader! Last year we featured the couple’s fabulous micro wedding – planned in just two weeks! – and it’s such a treat to share their bigger celebration with you now.

By the time the big day rolled around, Nicki and Ricky had already been married for ten months. So they decided to change things up, making this wedding more a celebration of their love than a traditional wedding. Rather than repeating the Jewish ceremony, this time around they had prayers celebrating their love.

Nicki is lucky enough to be the daughter of mega-talented wedding planner and Smashing The Glass Recommended VendorSusie of Pink House Productions, and naturally her mom took charge bringing the day together. Among other things, we’re in love with what Susie did with the table designs, all in the couple’s wedding colors of pink and gold – don’t miss them in the gorgeous photos by Mark S. Kornbluth!

In Nicki’s words, “We were so beyond happy to finally be able to celebrate with our friends and family even if it was a little smaller, ten months later, and in a different place than originally intended.”

Now over to the bride, who looked ever so elegant in Caroline Castigliano…

How we Met

Nicki, the bride and Ricky, the groom: We were set up by mutual friends in July 2016. Ricky was living in Philly and Nicki was living in NYC and our first date happened when we were both out in the Hamptons for a weekend.Continue Reading

An Antonio Grimaldi Bride for a Magnificent Countryside Jewish Wedding at Antonello Colonna, Rome, Italy

05/07/2021 by Karen Cinnamon

Get ready to be blown away by the positively swoonworthy Italian Jewish wedding of Roman couple Daria, a physiotherapist, and Daniel, a real estate developer – and get ready to be even more blown away when you find out they pulled it together in just 40 days between lockdowns.

These two had their glorious countryside luxe wedding at the most incredible venue just outside Rome all planned and ready to go when COVID hit. Like so many other 2020 couples, they had to postpone. Then, in the summer, when things were opening back up during a lull in the pandemic, Daria and Daniel saw their chance and they went for it – pulling everything together for their new date in just a little over a month!

That’s an impressive timeline for any wedding, let alone one as opulent as Daria and Daniel’s! How did they do it? With the help of an incredible wedding planner, Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Deborah di Castro, who made sure everything – from the big-picture stuff to the tiniest details, like personalizing everything from masks and bottles of hand sanitizer to flip flops with the couple’s logo – was taken care of.

And were there ever some impressive details! For starters, feast your eyes on Antonio Carneroli’s dreamy images of the couple’s glorious chuppah, their exquisite table scapes, and, above all, the epic love and joy shining through in each and every shot – and don’t miss the trailer from Sesame Films, which makes us feel as if we’d been right there with Daria and Daniel on their day.

Now over to the bride…

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How we met

Daria, the bride: We met in elementary school and we were in the same class, but during high school I changed schools. After a few years we met again and we fell in love.Continue Reading

A Suzanne Neville Bride for an Elegant Orthodox Jewish Wedding at the Kimpton Fitzroy London, UK

21/06/2021 by Karen Cinnamon

Get ready to be blown away by one of the most stunning Jewish micro weddings we’ve seen yet. When Smashing The Glass Brides Club member Ivi and Ben got engaged in February 2021 after Ivi completed her three-year journey toward conversion to Judaism, they knew they wanted to become husband and wife ASAP, pandemic or no. So in just six weeks of planning, they whipped up an absolute dream wedding, split into several events over two days to follow lockdown restrictions.

First, Ivi and Ben held the most magical chuppah for an intimate crowd of 15 at beloved Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Kimpton Fitzroy London, which Ivi found right here on STG! From the beginning, the couple fell head over heels for everything about this venue, from the way it combines opulence with warmth to the gorgeous high-ceilinged ballroom where the chuppah took place to the ultra-attentive personalized service the staff provided every step of the way. Ivi describes the Kimpton Fitzroy as an “absolute gem,” and we couldn’t agree with her more!

Afterward, Ivi and Ben threw an all-day party in a marquee at their garden, with two shifts of thirty guests each attending, so friends and family who couldn’t attend the ceremony were still able to celebrate with them.

Both events were captured by photography and videography team Fire & Ice, and we’re not sure what we’re more in love with, the luminous photos or the ultra-moving trailer. The Fire & Ice team came up with the brilliant idea to record Ivi, a pianist, playing a song to layer over the video – and, in honor of her Chinese heritage and as a tribute to her parents, who live in Malaysia and couldn’t travel to the wedding due to COVID, Ivi chose a classic Chinese love song. How amazing is that?!

Ivi also wore her absolute knockout of a modest wedding gown – customized just for her by the one and only Suzanne Neville – for both celebrations. Who wouldn’t want the opportunity to wear such an exquisite dress twice?!

There’s so much to say about this incredible Jewish wedding, but we’ll let Ivi tell you the rest of the story… And if you love the look of the Kimpton Fitzroy (Ivi and Ben’s wedding venue), you’ll want to tune in to our Jewish wedding music Facebook Live tomorrow, Tuesday June 22, live from the hotel, as one lucky couple is going to win an overnight stay (plus you’ll get to see how truly gorgeous it is for a wedding venue). I’ll see you there!

How we Met

Ivi, the bride: Previously at British Vogue, now at Publicis Media and a classical pianist, I took a sabbatical from my career in the City in 2016 and worked for a stint as a fitness instructor, teaching high-intensity TRX classes at Heartcore Studios in St. John’s Wood in London. Ben, an owner of a number of jewellery and consumer brands, came to workout at Heartcore and took my classes for nine months before we started dating. I used to shout “Burpees! Burpees!” at Ben on a weekly basis. Ben jokes that he was the fittest he’s ever been when he used to come to my classes!

On our first date, we went for a post-workout brunch that lasted over four hours. We both knew there was something extraordinary between us straightaway. Ben says that he knew I was “The One” after that date. We fell madly in love after a few months of dating, and we discussed how important being Jewish and having a Jewish family was to Ben. Following a thorough period of soul searching and spending time with Orthodox Jewish rabbis’ and their families, I heeded what I now realise was a lifelong calling, to which Ben was the catalyst, to convert to Orthodox Judaism. Hand-in-hand, we spent the next three years undertaking one of life’s most demanding yet spiritually enriching journeys. Ben wholeheartedly embraced and deepened his connection and observance of the faith he was born into.

I completed my conversion to Orthodox Judaism and emerged from the holy waters of the mikveh, reborn a Jewess on 18th February 2021. On a day already bursting with joy and jubilation, after making me my favourite Nutella crepes, Ben got down on one knee and proposed. Less than three months later, we were married in the presence of just 15 of our nearest and dearest.Continue Reading

A Valentini Spose Bride for a Candlelit Winter Jewish Micro Wedding at the Kimpton Fitzroy London, London, UK

17/05/2021 by Karen Cinnamon

We are so in love with the gorgeous Jewish micro wedding of Danielle and Rob at one of our very favorite London wedding venues: Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Kimpton Fitzroy London in Russell Square!

Won over by not only the venue itself but also the fantastic team, Danielle and Rob had initially planned a 180-person wedding in the Kimpton’s stunning ballroom followed by a reception in the Mediterranean-esque Palm Court, scheduled for August 2020. Thanks to the pandemic, though, they ended up shifting their date to December and their guest count down to 30 and then just 15. But in spite of all the roadblocks COVID put in the couple’s way, they still ended up with the wedding of their dreams. In Danielle’s words, “Everything about our wedding wasn’t what we originally imagined, but we wouldn’t change it for the world.”

Danielle and Rob’s photos by Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Mike Garrard are nothing short of magical. And in addition to taking some seriously great pictures, Mike also teamed up with the couple’s friends to pull off a fantastic surprise.

Since the 15-person limit meant the pair had to limit their guest list to family only, some of their friends got in touch with Mike and made a plan to surprise Danielle and Rob on the steps of the Kimpton, just after their ceremony. The couple thought they were stepping out for some couple shots, but instead they were blown away to see their friends standing outside to cheer them on! What an incredibly special moment.

There’s so much more we could say, but we’ll turn you over to Danielle, who looked exquisite in Valentini Spose…

PS Have we told you how much we love Kimpton Fitzroy London? OBSESSED!

How we Met

Danielle, the bride: When I moved to London for work, I was looking for a flat share with a bedroom that wasn’t the size of a shoe box … Rob was renting his second bedroom out in his flat on a Jewish flat share website. I went to see the flat and Rob was so relaxed and easy to get on with it felt like a no brainer. We were friends & flat mates for years before one rainy evening we went for dinner after work and the rest, as they say, is history!Continue Reading

A Lee Petra Grebenau Bride for a Winter Jewish Micro Wedding at Home House, London, UK

26/04/2021 by Karen Cinnamon

Get ready to be blown away by the positively breathtaking Jewish micro wedding of Amelia, a senior women’s fashion buyer, and Shaun, head of mining sales for a procurement company!

Like most 2020 couples, Amelia and Shaun went through a couple changes of plan (and date) – but the wedding they eventually pulled off, an intimate 15-person gathering in December, could not have been any more gorgeous. Home House, a venue built from three Georgian townhouses, was the absolute perfect spot for the couple’s moody winter wedding, adorned with dark florals, amber lighting, and over 1,000 candles.

And thanks to the dream team of Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Claudine Hartzel, who perfectly captured all the emotion (not to mention the wonderful details) of the day in her photos, and Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Denee Motion, who worked his magic on the couple’s wedding video, we feel as if we were right there with them.

And can we talk about how stunning Amelia looks in her gown by Israeli designer Lee Petra Grebenau?!

Now over to the bride…

How we Met

Amelia, the bride: My best friend Jade was dating Shaun’s brother Andy and introduced us to each other about 11 years ago now.

He actually cancelled our first date! But pulled it out the bag when we actually went out properly. The rest was history and Jade is now my sister in law – she also planned the wedding!Continue Reading