Jewish City Chic Weddings Archives - Page 3 of 71 - Smashing the Glass

A Summery Jewish Wedding with Lots of DIY Touches at South Hampstead Shul, London, UK

30/09/2024 by Karen Cinnamon

We love it when a couple brings their personalities to their Jewish wedding – which is exactly what Londoners Eloise and Eytan did! Both arts and crafts fans, the pair opted to design all of the wedding stationery themselves, from the invitations and seating chart to thank you cards and place names.

The couple’s photographer, Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Kate Swerdlow Photography, “captured every moment in just the right way and made us feel comfortable from the beginning of the process which started with our engagement shoot and gave us constant updates whilst editing our photos.”

We also love that Eloise and Eytan chose Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Noa Davies, a mega-talented harpist, to play at their wedding – first accompanying their band Neshama, and then as a duet with violinist Miriam Kramer during the reception.

Read on for all the other details of this very special day – including a live wedding painter and an adorable wedding post box decorated by the bride and groom!

How We Met

Eloise, the bride: We met on the Taglit trip Birthright in Israel on the coach from the airport to our first hotel. There were over 40 of us on the trip and somehow we found ourselves sat across the aisle from one another.Continue Reading

A Rita Vinieris Bride for an Indoor-Outdoor Jewish Wedding with an Heirloom Chuppah at Crossed Keys Estate, New Jersey, USA

23/09/2024 by Karen Cinnamon

Today’s Jewish wedding features one special chuppah! Talia and Benjamin chose to wed at Crossed Keys Estate in New Jersey, where they were able to have the indoor/outdoor day of their dreams – including a stunning garden spot for their chuppah.

We absolutely love the fact that Talia’s parents created their chuppah as a new family heirloom, with the inside featuring a family tree that gets added to at each wedding. Since Talia has three siblings, each of the four sides of the chuppah belongs to one of them – and as each sibling gets married, along with their partner they add a quote to their side of the chuppah.

Talia and Benjamin chose Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Alex Knight for photography and videography – when they met Alex, they knew he was someone they’d enjoy spending time with on their big day, and the results absolutely speak for themselves.

Read on for all the gorgeous images – plus the full story of the special day in Talia’s own words…

How we Met

Talia, the bride: We met in high school choir and have been together since then! We dated for 10 years – among them 5.5 yrs of long distance!

A Summery, Rustic Same-Sex Jewish Wedding on the River Thames at Trinity Buoy Wharf, London, UK

20/09/2024 by Karen Cinnamon

Londoners Joshua, a journalist, and Lewis, a financial controller, love their city – and when it came time to plan their Jewish wedding, they wanted to show it off in all its splendor to their out-of-town guests.

Trinity Buoy Wharf, a rustic venue with exposed brick walls, high ceilings, and plenty of history, located right on the River Thames, hit all the right notes for the couple’s relaxed, rustic big day. The grooms’ silver birch chuppah, adorned with sunflowers, white delphiniums, and mixed grasses, was pure perfection, and we love that when Joshua and Lewis smashed the glass together, they used the moment to honor other LGBTQ+ couples around the world who can’t celebrate their love as freely.

When it came to entertainment, the pair chose a seven-piece DJ live band from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor The White Keys, who brought in another Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor, Chazan and singer Jonny Mosesson, for the hora and a contemporary Israeli pop set – which got all the guests involved, including those who’d never before attended a Jewish wedding. In the grooms’ words, “The band was incredibly interactive, filling the dance floor throughout the night. The saxophonist and electric violinist often engaged with guests on the dance floor, adding to the lively atmosphere. We couldn’t recommend The White Keys enough for their energy and ability to keep everyone dancing all night.”

Scott Garfitt, an editorial photographer best known for his work capturing images of celebrities like Taylor Swift, George Clooney, Lady Gaga, photographed the day in all its glory – you can really feel the love and emotion coming out of each and every shot.

Now over to the grooms…

A London Wedding

Joshua and Lewis, the grooms: We got married at Trinity Buoy Wharf, London. With many guests coming from abroad, we wanted a venue that felt quintessentially London, and its location on the River Thames made it perfect. The venue’s rustic charm, featuring exposed brick walls, high ceilings, and numerous historic elements, matched the vibe we were aiming for. It felt spacious and airy, with beautiful spots for guests to take photographs and explore.Continue Reading

A BHLDN Bride for an Egalitarian Orthodox Jewish Wedding Filled with Personal Touches at the Chicago History Museum, Chicago, Illinois, USA

24/06/2024 by Karen Cinnamon

We just love it when a couple really makes their Jewish wedding their own – and that’s exactly what Chicagoans Ranana and Binyamin did.

They chose the Chicago History Museum as their venue, in honor of their shared love of art and history, and artistic bride Ranana designed the invitations herself – taking inspiration from the Frank Lloyd Wright window in the room where the chuppah took place. She also did her own ketubah art, featuring night and day water scenes inspired by Chicago’s Lake Michigan.

An egalitarian ceremony was important to the couple, and their officiant, Rabbanit Leah Sarna, helped them design one that was both Orthodox and incorporated many feminist and egalitarian touches. Ranana and Binyamin also wrote their own brit ahuvim, a document using liturgical verses to outline their values and commitments to each other outside of the more legalistic language of the ketubah.

We love that, rather than having traditional floral arrangements, Ranana and Binyamin opted for mini orchids potted in tea tins (which they collected leading up to the wedding) on the tables, allowing them both to save money and celebrate their shared love of tea!

The couple’s photographer, the spectacular Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Eliana Melmed Photography, captured the day so perfectly. In Ranana’s words,

We knew Eliana from our synagogue community and when we met with her about our wedding we knew we wanted to hire her because she was someone we could imagine spending hours with on the day of our wedding, having fun. Also we knew she would 100% understand what was going on in our very traditional, very feminist Jewish wedding, which was not something we could take for granted with our other (mostly non-Jewish) vendors. Not to mention her photography is beautiful – colorful, joyous, true to life. She was the best! (Ranana’s dad is still raving about how well she handled our big family during the torrential downpour that happened the day of our wedding.)

We’ll turn you over to Ranana for the rest of the story!

How We Met

Ranana, the bride: and Binyamin, the groom: The simple answer for how we met is “in our synagogue.” In reality we had met a year prior to Ranana moving to Chicago (and joining the same synagogue as Binyamin) at a Shabbat lunch in Jerusalem, hosted by a former teacher of ours (for Ranana from middle school, for Binyamin from grad school). Once Ranana moved to Chicago she and Biny recognized each other and became friendly acquaintances.

True friendship blossomed during the pandemic and we began learning Daf Yomi (the practice of studying a page of Talmud a day) together. That gave us an excuse to talk all the time and eventually we moved from being chevrutas (study partners) to dating. Ranana is a PhD candidate at the University of Chicago in religious ethics. Biny is the Director of Jewish Life at Rochelle Zell Jewish High School in Deerfield IL.Continue Reading

A Maggie Sottero Bride for an Autumnal Rustic Jewish Wedding with a Joint Speech at The Brewery, London, UK

17/06/2024 by Karen Cinnamon

We love an autumnal Jewish wedding – and Londoners Rebz and Ben had one of the very best! Rebz, a senior product designer, and Ben, a freelance video editor, love their home city and didn’t want to wed anywhere else. And they found the absolute perfect venue in Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor The Brewery, right in the heart of the City.

The Brewery ticked all the couple’s boxes – it accommodated their 200-person guest list, was easy for everyone to get to, and fit Rebz and Ben’s brief for a cool industrial aesthetic. And the property’s history was perfectly suited to Ben’s love of beer, as a bonus!

The pair let their wedding date dictate the décor, with autumnal burnt oranges, leafy greens, dark reds, and natural hessians for an urban rustic vibe. David Pullum Photography captured all the detail and emotion of the day exquisitely, and Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Michael Pearl Films crafted the duo’s ultra-moving wedding video.

One thing we love is that Rebz and Ben opted to do a joint speech! In Rebz’s words, “Ben was not keen on doing a speech on his own, he hates public speaking and I’ve never understood why it’s always just the men that get to share stories. I absolutely loved doing a speech together and without blowing my own trumpet, I’ve had lots of people mention to me how much they loved it too.” What a fab idea!

We’ll let the bride take it from here…

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