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A Nathalie Ethedgui Bride for a Magical Jewish Wedding at Villa Maiano Full of Tuscan Charm, Florence, Italy

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Ah, Tuscany – there’s really no place like it. The rolling hills, the sunlight, the food – it’s no wonder Salome, a stylist, and Jonathan, who has his own digital marketing business, chose Florence’s Villa di Maiano for their Jewish wedding.

The whole day positively exudes Tuscan charm from start to finish and we’re obsessed with all the gorgeous details, from the outdoor chuppah to the fabulous florals (don’t miss the epic floral chuppah!) and tablescapes.

The whole day was captured so perfectly by Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Colle Photo. Every shot looks like it could’ve come straight out of a glossy magazine, and needless to say Salome and Jonathan are thrilled with the results.

Now over to the bride, who looked so elegant in her made to measure dress by Parisian designer Nathalie Ethedgui…

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How We Met

Salome, the bride: We met on a dating app called “Jswipe.”

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A Galia Lahav Bride for a Multicultural Korean Jewish Wedding at Villa Nona, Caesarea, Israel

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Today’s wedding is an absolute knockout, in every single way. Diana and Jonathan planned a wedding that perfectly fused Jonathan’s Jewish Israeli identity with Diana’s Korean American background – in addition to being impeccably stylish.

Diana and Jonathan live in Seattle and opted to get married in Israel, where Jonathan’s family is. At first, Diana thought she could handle international wedding planning just fine on her own, but eventually she realized between the language barrier, time difference, and cultural differences she could use some help. Enter the couple’s fabulous wedding planner, Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Yael Kfir Frumkes. After a friend introduced Diana and Jonathan to her, they knew they needed her on their team. In Diana’s words, Once we started working with Yael, she fully understood my inspiration and helped us navigate our way through finding the perfect vendors to execute our vision.”

This vision included not only a sophisticated neutral palette inspired by venue Villa Nona’s romantic Mediterranean vibes, but also a mix of Jewish and Korean traditions. Diana and Jonathan planned a unique chuppah ceremony tailored to fit their style, and followed it up with a traditional Korean Pyebaek ceremony. Pulling it off in Israel wasn’t easy, but thanks to Yael Kfir Frumkes and some of the couple’s other fabulous vendors and helpful friends, it all came together. Don’t miss this very special part of the day in the exquisite photos by Shai Ashkenazi and wonderful video from Nir Tenenbaum.

We are thoroughly obsessed with this wedding, from start to finish – and we haven’t even mentioned Diana’s Galia Lahav gown yet! We’ll let the bride take it from here…

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How We Met

Diana, the bride: Jonathan was born and raised in Tel Aviv, Israel but moved to Vegas over a decade ago. We met while he was living there and I was living in Seattle. We dated long distance for several years then I made the move to Vegas in late 2019, right before COVID hit. We got engaged on my birthday in 2021, and decided to move back to Washington together.Continue ReadingContinue Reading

An Interfaith Jewish Wedding with Tons of Personal Touches at West London Synagogue, London, UK

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Get ready for a fabulous interfaith Jewish wedding! We love everything about the way Nicole, a client manager for a technology company, and Pedro, a data analyst, built their relationship with Judaism as a couple, and how that shaped their plans for the big day.

When Nicole, who’s Jewish, got together with Pedro, who isn’t, she knew she’d need to find an open-minded and inclusive Jewish community that would welcome the two of them as a couple. She found exactly that in West London Synagogue, where the couple attended classes and an interfaith marriage workshop together, in addition to celebrating Shabbats and holidays.

Given the important role West London Synagogue plays in the couple’s lives – not to mention the fact that it’s absolutely stunning – getting married there was a no-brainer. We love the personal significance of the venue – as well as the other wonderful personal touches Nicole and Pedro included, like having Pedro’s sister hand paint their ketubah, and assigning close friends to give them original blessings rather than the traditional sheva brachot.

The day was captured so beautifully by Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Claire Jonas, who not only captured the Jewish traditions fabulously but also took some knockout portraits of Nicole and Pedro on the streets of Marylebone. We’ll let Nicole take it from here…

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How We Met

Nicole, the bride: We are both Brazilians, and we met at a bar while we still lived in Rio, back in 2017. It’s a funny story actually – I was about to leave the bar because his friend was being too loud. On top of that, when he approached me he told me he was an airplane pilot, and I thought he was just showing off. But he was cute, and when he asked for my number I thought “why not? If I don’t want to speak with him, I don’t have to answer!”. Nevertheless, on his first message he actually apologized for his friend, so I ended replying – and here we are 6 years later! We currently live in London.Continue ReadingContinue Reading

Two Wedding Pros’ Jewish Wedding at Congregation B’nai Israel, Boca Raton, Florida, USA

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Beverly & Lane, B'nai Israel, Boca Raton, Florida,USA

We love seeing the choices wedding professionals make when it comes to planning their own Jewish weddings. And today’s is doubly a treat, because it features not one but two fabulous wedding pros: bride Beverly is a wedding planner and groom Lane is a floral designer at Dalsimer Atlas.

Given that they both work in the wedding industry, Beverly and Lane knew they wanted to do something a bit different than what they do for our clients. They decided to think outside the box by turning the traditional reception into a full-blown party with decor reminiscent of an Italian countryside with modern flair.

Needless to say, the floral design by the groom was especially fabulous, featuring abundant greenery, elegant foliage, white peonies, and plenty of candlelight. Lane also designed the couple’s uber-unique chuppah, with natural wood posts and tons of greenery and hanging calla lilies. Don’t miss it in the wonderful images from Munoz Photography and trailer by Senderey Video Productions!

When it came to choosing their ketubah, there was never any question for Beverly and Lane that they’d work with Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Nava Shoham at 1800ketubah.com. Nava customized her “Power of Love” ketubah for the duo, and they couldn’t be more thrilled with the result.

There’s so much more to say about this very special wedding – like, how stylish did Beverly look in her TWO fabulous bridal outfits, ceremony by Katy Corso and reception by Sasha Krasnova Design?! – but we’ll let the bride take it from here…

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Beverly, the bride: I’m a wedding planner and he’s a floral designer, so naturally we met doing what we both love to do. The Dalsimer Atlas Floral & Event Decorators showroom is where our love bloomed (literally). We create “happily ever afters” for everyone else and now we finally had our own. Continue ReadingContinue Reading

A Casablanca Bride for a Hanukkah Wonderland Jewish Wedding at the Hyatt Regency Downtown Boston, Massachusetts, USA

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There’s something so special about a Hanukkah wedding – and we’re obsessed with the way Brides Club member Jennie, a Ph.D. student at Cambridge, and Ben, a software developer for a financial firm, went all out incorporating the holiday vibes into their big day.

With their Jewish wedding falling on the first night of the Festival of Lights, Jennie and Ben opted for a full-on Hanukkah wonderland theme, and we are ALL about it. From the blue-tinged color scheme to the giant (5-foot!) menorah the pair lit at the start of dinner to the dreidels-and-gelt wedding favors, this wedding was chock full of wonderful festive touches. And we haven’t even gotten to the food yet – Jennie and Ben not only served delectable sufganiyot with their dessert; they also had a latke station with several different toppings at the end of the night! How fun is that?

Throughout her wedding planning, Jennie was a member of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club, and we’re so touched by her kind words about how the community “made the wedding planning process a whole lot easier, especially since I was planning everything from overseas. All of the checklists and resources really allowed us to think about what was important for us. It was also great to have a group of brides who were going through the same process as me or had already completed their weddings – they really helped us not sweat the small stuff. Everyone in Brides Club is so kind and supportive of each other!”

Jennie also found some of her wonderful vendors via Brides Club, including Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Talia C, who provided the couple’s smash glass and then made the shards into Shabbat candle sticks, and their fabulous ketubah designer, Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Ink with Intent. Jennie and Ben chose Ink with Intent’s custom night sky design, featuring the star map for their wedding date! Don’t miss it in the wonderful photos by Simi Rabinowitz.

There’s so much more to this wonderful wedding, but we’ll leave it to the bride to fill you in on the rest…

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How We Met

Jennie, the bride:  We live in London but we originally met back in 2016 in Boston, where we were both working at the time. Ben was the flatmate of one of my colleagues, who brought him to an after-work meet up one evening. We kept seeing each other at group hangouts for a few years after that, then slowly became friends and started seeing each other more and more. Our friendship very naturally grew into a romantic relationship over time. The friend who introduced us was our Best Man!Continue ReadingContinue Reading