Jewish Corona Wedding Archives - Page 10 of 17 - Smashing the Glass

A Madi Lane Bride for an Intimate Jewish Wedding at Norrice Lea Synagogue, London, UK

19/03/2021 by Karen Cinnamon

Like so many 2020 couples, London couple Anna, a paralegal, and Simon, an English teacher, had to rethink their Jewish wedding plans when the pandemic hit. The pair had originally planned a 300-guest destination wedding in Israel for May 2020, but given the uncertainty of the situation they opted to shift things closer to home with an intimate synagogue wedding in London in September 2020, with a bigger celebration in Israel to follow when possible.

Anna and Simon chose Norrice Lea Synagogue as their new venue, and they were able to hold the wedding in two separate shifts – one for the chuppah and lunch afterward, attended by 30 members of the couple’s immediate families – and a second dinner shift just for 30 close friends who hadn’t attended the first half of the day.

As always, we’re absolutely in love with Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Claudine Hartzel’s dreamy photos of the day – and we’re totally unsurprised to hear that the couple found Claudine an absolute joy to work with on the big day.

We’ll let Anna take it from here…

How we Met

Anna, the bride and Simon, the groom: We were introduced by a mutual friend of our parents; she told us very little about each other. We added each other on Facebook and messaged briefly before going on a ‘blind date’. Things flourished from there – it was an old fashioned introduction.Continue Reading

A Pronovias Bride for an Elegant Pandemic Jewish Wedding at the Intercontinental Paris Le Grand, Paris, France

12/03/2021 by Karen Cinnamon

We’re absolutely obsessed with the uber-chic Jewish wedding of Parisian couple Lauren, a resident in medical oncology, and Eitan, a dental surgeon. These two planned such a perfectly elegant celebration in the luxe ballroom of the Intercontinental Paris Le Grand, if not for the masks in their photos we’d never have guessed they wed during the pandemic.

Though the pair did have to postpone from July to September, they were fortunate in being able to stick with their original venue – at the time of their wedding, France’s only restrictions on gatherings were that masks and social distancing were required, and by cutting their original guest list in half Lauren and Eitan were able to make the Intercontinental’s ballroom work by spacing tables far apart and keeping the crowd at 1/3 the space’s full capacity. And we’re so glad they did, because this venue is really something special – don’t miss it in all its glory in Sprod Events’ gorgeous photos!

Because of the need for social distancing, not much dancing was possible – and so Lauren and Eitan had the clever idea to have a light show to keep everyone entertained! We also can’t get over the fact that their venue hired a security guard to walk around and make sure all the guests were wearing their masks properly throughout the wedding – and Lauren reports that to this day, guests are still joking about the “Mossad agent” they had at their wedding!

We can’t turn you over to Lauren without mentioning that she is a beloved member of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club, and we’re so touched to hear how much she valued the group during her wedding planning – so much so that, in her words, “joining the club is my first advice to other brides!”

Take it away, Lauren!

How we Met

Lauren, the bride: We met through mutual friends, during a Birthright trip to Israel in summer 2015.

I did this trip with my best friend, who brought her sister, and the sister brought some of her friends. One of them was Eitan. We got to know each other during the trip, then we kept in touch, and became good friends. Two months and a half later we were finally dating. 4 years later we were engaged, and 11 months later, we are married !

A Last-Minute Jewish Micro Wedding in the Forest, Eshta’ol, Israel

08/03/2021 by Karen Cinnamon

Today’s gorgeous Jewish wedding took place right at the start of the pandemic last year (hard to believe it’s been a year, right?), when we were just starting to hear about micro wedding and minimonies. But Mayan, a student in dance and movement therapy, and Mola, an animation student, pulled off their intimate celebration so expertly you’d never guess they were COVID wedding pioneers.

The Israeli couple had initially planned a big wedding in Jerusalem for May 2020, but as the situation started getting more serious they realized their Plan A was unlikely to work. Instead of waiting it out, Mayan and Mola decided to bump their wedding up, so they could make things official before Israel’s first lockdown began.

With just a few days’ notice, the pair planned a whole new wedding for an intimate crowd of 18, set outdoors in a beautiful forest near Jerusalem. Since their surroundings were so naturally gorgeous, they didn’t need to do much – the groom set up a little décor the morning of, and the couple opted for a simple chuppah with white cloth atop wooden poles, held by Mola’s brothers and cousin. Luckily, the couple’s amazing photographer, Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Jossef Si, was able to make it – and we are absolutely in love with his dreamy photos of the day.

Being such a last-minute affair, there were a few challenges along the way – the groom’s suit wasn’t ready in time, and the bride’s got an amazing only-in-Israel story about how she sourced her wedding shoes on short notice when most shops had already closed due to COVID. But in the end, Mayan and Mola say they wouldn’t have had their wedding any other way. In the bride’s words, “I am glad that our wedding ended up being very simple and modest. Sometimes the stress of planning a large event takes out the fun and excitement of just getting married!”

We’ll let her take it from here…

How We Met

Mayan, the bride: We were introduced to each other through a mutual friend who Mola met travelling in India and I met in a group with which I studied in “Nefesh Yehudi” in the campus of the Hebrew University. Gali and Adi who were in my group thought of the ‘Shiduch’ together, and that’s how we started dating.Continue Reading

A Stella York Bride for a Jewish Shift Wedding at the Inn at the Forks, Winnipeg, Canada

05/03/2021 by Karen Cinnamon

Just two weeks before their wedding day, Faye-Rae and Aaron had to completely rethink their plans when their city’s COVID restrictions limited gatherings to just ten people. Despite having to change venues and reorganize the whole day on very short notice, in the end their Jewish wedding turned out to be nothing short of fabulous.

In order to include as many people in their celebration as possible, the couple opted for a shift wedding, where separate groups of guests attended for a couple of hours at a time. Since the cap on how many guests could be present at one time was so low, Faye-Rae and Aaron had two ceremonies – one for the bride’s family and one for the groom’s – and three mini cocktail hours, rotating family and friends throughout the day. This way, they were able to include more of their loved ones while sticking to the local regulations – and for those who couldn’t participate in person, the duo livestreamed their ceremony.

We’re in love with Black and Gold Photography’s luminous images of the day – not to mention the couple’s beautiful tree of life ketubah by Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Nava Shoham!

Now over to the bride, who looked so elegant in Stella York…

How we met

Faye-Rae, the bride: We both work in the insurance industry and met at our company’s Christmas party.Continue Reading

A Rebecca Schoneveld Bride for a Magical Backyard Jewish Minimony in New York, USA

01/03/2021 by Karen Cinnamon

We’ve seen our fair share of backyard micro Jewish weddings, and each and every one has been beautiful, but the nuptials of Smashing The Glass Brides Club member Lilia, who works in arts philanthropy as a grants manager, and Alex, a digital solutions manager for an international publishing company, take it to a whole new level.

These two postponed their plans for a big wedding due to COVID but still wanted to make things official, and so they went forward with a micro celebration in Lilia’s parents’ backyard that was nothing short of magical. It doesn’t hurt that Lilia’s mom’s garden is totally stunning, and we love the way the couple ran with the vibe in planning their décor – for instance, how awesome is their chuppah?! Don’t miss Rachel Rodgers’ luminous photos of it, and all the other details of this ultra-memorable day.

Beyond the exquisite aesthetics, we love how much thought Lilia and Alex put in to making their minimony special in a way that wouldn’t leave them feeling like the bigger wedding they have planned for the future won’t feel “like just a performance.” To that end, they opted to leave some traditions, like circling and their ketubah, for Wedding 2.0. In place of a ketubah, the couple decided to write their own take on tenaim (a traditional Jewish engagement document that stipulates the conditions of the marriage that both families need to maintain prior to the chuppah), featuring promises to each other – kind of like vows!

Before we turn you over to Lilia, we want to leave you with her beautiful words about her experience as a member of our Bride’s Club:

I have found the group to be SO warm and welcoming, and a joy to be a part of. Karen has been such a great help – she even helped brainstorm ideas for when we were reimagining a wedding with no dancing (which is my favorite part of weddings!). It has been so wonderful to have so many knowledgeable brides and brides-to-be at my fingertips, and I’m so grateful to be part of the community.