Jewish City Chic Weddings Archives - Smashing the Glass

A Vera Wang Bride for an Elegant Spring Jewish Wedding at Pleasantdale Chateau West Orange, NJ, USA

23/03/2020 by Karen Cinnamon Leave a Comment

Because we can all use a bit of springtime cheer right now, we’re excited to share the beautiful Jewish wedding of two high school sweethearts: Smashing The Glass Brides Club member Elizabeth, a lawyer, and Bernie, a doctor (#cantTARASaPART).

It’s always a pleasure blogging the weddings of our Brides Club members, and we’re so touched by the bride’s kind words about how the group helped her plan her big day. Elizabeth especially loved the personal vendor referrals Team STG provides to Brides Club members on a daily basis – we connected her with her fab planner, Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Amy Katz Events, who did SUCH an incredible job bringing the couple’s vision for their day together and keeping everything running smoothly on the day, as well as the couple’s ketubah designer, Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Melanie Dankowicz – the gorgeous floral papercut she created was the absolute perfect fit for the soft springtime vibes that characterized the day.

Speaking of springtime vibes, how about that chuppah?! We adore the profusion of roses and peonies in soft pinks, corals, and whites – and those hanging floral strands just add that little something extra. The mirrored frame keeps the whole structure looking contemporary, too – don’t miss it in the wonderful photos from Maya Myers and video from Motoko Fukayama of Love in Progress.

We’ll let Elizabeth, who was a total knockout in Vera Wang, take it from here…

A Chateau Wedding

Elizabeth, the bride: We got married at Pleasantdale Chateau in West Orange, NJ. We are both from NY so neither one of us had any particular ties to NJ, but we were struggling to find a venue that spoke to us. Then someone suggested Pleasantdale and we fell in love from the moment we walked in.

An Anna Georgina Bride for a Foodie’s Dream Winter Jewish Wedding at the Corinthia Hotel, London, UK

13/03/2020 by Karen Cinnamon Leave a Comment

Welcome to the glorious winter Jewish wedding of Smashing The Glass Brides Club member Rebecca, an event coordinator, to groom Danny, a plumber.

In addition to an absolutely mouthwatering menu (HOW delicious do Chiko Photography’s incredible captures of the food look?), we love the fact that, in memory of a close friend, they opted not to have any flowers at the wedding, and instead to donate the money they would’ve spent to Chai Cancer Care. Not only is this incredibly moving, the alt décor they came up with – focused on candles and tealights for the tables – looks so good we’d hardly even have noticed the absence of flowers if they bride hadn’t brought it to our attention!

We’re also in love with Rebecca’s perfect wintry glam bridal look, with a dreamy longs-sleeve gown by Anna Georgina and impeccable makeup by Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Susan Yates – who Rebecca praises for taking the time to understand each bride’s preferences AND, crucially, her skin type as well.

Now over to the bride!

Luxurious Surroundings

Rebecca, the bride: We got married at Corinthia, London – working in events I wanted to choose somewhere that a) I haven’t worked at a lot, I didn’t want to associate my wedding with work and b) somewhere totally luxurious. I may work in hotels, but I don’t often stay at them, so I checked in the day before with just my siblings and parents, it was such a treat and we had the best time just the six of us.

An Enzoani Bride for an Elegant Outdoor Jewish Wedding at Castle Green in Pasadena, CA, USA

09/03/2020 by Karen Cinnamon Leave a Comment

Can you believe this beautiful Jewish wedding was planned by a bride in the midst of her general surgery residency?! Juliane deserves some kind of wedding planning award – and groom Guy doesn’t have it much easier as a detective with the LAPD!

Despite their busy schedules and short planning period – just six months, so the couple could wed before Juliane had to move across the country for her colorectal surgery fellowship – these two were committed to being involved in their planning and crafting an ultra-personal day. To make it happen, they enlisted the fantastic team at Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Amethyst Event Productions.

In the bride’s own words:

My advice is to get a wedding planner. You don’t have to break the bank and they don’t have to plan your whole wedding (but they also can), but they can definitely make it a stress free zone on the day of the wedding. Our wedding planners made every last detail and vision come together and our wedding was so memorable because of it.

Before we turn you over to the bride – who looked so classically elegant in Enzoani– we have to remark on how much we adore Juliane and Guy’s simple white chuppah – with just a few arrangements at the corners, and a tallit canopy, it just goes to show you don’t need to go over the top to create a super-memorable chuppah. Don’t miss the photos from White August Photography!

How We Met

Julianne, the bride: Guy and I met via the dating app J Swipe. We texted via the app and then Guy called me. We had a lengthy conversation and by the end of it Guy apparently wasn’t convinced enough to ask me out because he told he would call me again instead of asking me out. I remember being surprised and disappointed that we spent so long on the phone and he didn’t mention a date! Eventually after another phone call we did go out. Our first date was at the Black Liquor Market and it is the last first date each of us has been on since.

An Emmy Mae Bride for a Chinese-Jewish Wedding with a Peony Chuppah at the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, Wellesley, MA, USA

04/03/2020 by Karen Cinnamon Leave a Comment

It never fails to set our hearts aflutter when we see a couple merge their diverse backgrounds into one beautiful Jewish wedding. And we adore a peony chuppah. Therefore, we knew from the get go that we were going to fall head over heels for the wonderful Chinese-Jewish wedding of college sweethearts JingJing, who works in data analytics, and Andrew, who’s in software development.

Since these two were planning a Massachusetts wedding all the way across the country from their home in Seattle, they knew they’d need some support in planning the big day. And so they turned to the fabulous Luba of Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Primavera Dreams, who they knew they could trust to understand their diverse families and cultures.

Luba worked with the couple to incorporate traditions both Chinese – like pops of red, the traditional Chinese wedding color – and Jewish – like the stunning peony chuppah – into the day. There were even some small touches reflecting the groom’s Russian heritage thrown into the mix, like chamomile incorporated into the florals.

And back to that peony chuppah… peonies are JingJing’s favorite flowers (and, after scrolling through these lovely photos by Mark Spooner, maybe ours too?), so it was only natural to showcase them. Mixed with fresh greenery and other flowers in shades of pink, peach, and white, the chuppah struck the perfect balance between minimalism and whimsy, simplicity and lushness.

There’s so much more we could say, but we’re going to leave the rest to the bride, who looked so elegant in her 3D floral lace dress from Emmy Mae Bridal…

A Garden Venue

JingJing, the bride: We got married at The Gardens at Elm Bank at the Massachusetts Horticultural Society in Wellesley, MA. We wanted a primarily outdoor venue that would be beautiful on its own, and we were definitely partial to the garden aspect (we got engaged at a botanic garden!). Elm Bank checked all our boxes for setting as well as location and flexibility as a vendor.Continue Reading

A Pronovias Bride for a Windy City-Themed Jewish Wedding at The Shapiro Ballroom, Chicago Illinois, USA

10/02/2020 by Karen Cinnamon

We’re so excited to be featuring the beautiful Jewish wedding of STG Brides Club member Leah, a food scientist, and Scott, a middle school science and social studies teacher – and these two might just have the coolest venue story we’ve EVER heard.

You see, back in the ‘60s, Leah’s grandfather owned a movie theater in Chicago, The Alvin – it’s such a big part of the bride’s family’s story that her father was even named Alvin in its honor! After many years of abandonment, just a few years ago the theater was finally renovated and turned into… wait for it… a wedding venue! What more perfect place for these two to wed – especially given that they themed their big day around their love for their home city of Chicago? #livinlavidavenus indeed!

This is just one of the many amazing personal touches that added up to make Leah and Scott’s wedding truly one for the books. How cute are the mini Heinz (in honor of the bride’s workplace, Kraft Heinz, as well as her love for ketchup) ketchup bottles with personalized labels they gave out as favors? And of course we adore the pair’s tree of life ketubah by the wonderful Rachelle of Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor The Delicate Brush!

Jamie & Eric Photography captured all the details – not to mention the emotion – exquisitely, and we can’t get enough of the shoot they did with the couple at all of their favorite Chicago landmarks.

Now over to the bride, who could not have looked more elegant in her classic Pronovias ballgown…