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‘Old Hollywood’ destination Jewish wedding at The Great Synagogue of Florence and Villa Di Maiano, Florence, Italy

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Olivia and Jacob  are one seriously hot couple  —  I mean just  look at  David Bastianoni‘s gorgeous  images of them both… And it gets even better. They chose a wedding theme of  50’s / Old Hollywood glamour meets The Godfather. Off the scale, right?!

Both  Londoners,  (they met 7 years ago at Nottingham University) the bride and groom opted  to marry in Florence, as that’s where Jacob proposed to Olivia. They chose the  breathtaking  Great Synagogue of Florence followed by a magnificent party at  Villa Di Maiano,  and their big day is every bit as glamorous and romantic as you’d expect. There’s an  immense  chuppah made from gypsophila, pretty blush  pink roses  and candles, beautifully ornate calligraphic decor, a classic convertible  wedding car, a mille-feuille wedding cake constructed in front of the guests, a phenomenal firework display… I could go on and on  and on!

As you’d expect, our bride and groom look impeccable stylish too — Olivia  in a beautifully cut bespoke  Suzanne Neville gown (based on a design that her and her  mother created), and Jacob  in a bespoke suit by  Cad and the Dandy. It’s a super chic  wedding, full of  panache, and lots and lots of heart.

Not only do we have the insane  images by STG fave,  David Bastianoni,  but we also have the 8mm film by  Marriage à  la Mode.Jewish wedding Florence
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Julie & Abe | Outdoor Jewish wedding, with a vintage botanical theme, at Vineyards at Chappel Lodge, Austin, Texas, USA

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I’m not sure if you know that when I graduated from university back in 1999, I embarked on a career as a graphic designer, having studied graphic arts & design at university. I’ve always had an enthusiasm for great design, and those were the days before digital so it was ALL about interesting paper stocks and beautiful print techniques. I’ve never lost that passion for creativity  (if anything it’s been amplified since starting my design company in 2002 which I ran until Smashing The Glass became my full-time business) and that’s why I so appreciate today’s wedding with its exquisite creative streak and attention to detail.

The craft and care for everything at this wedding is so apparent and I’ve been lapping it all up! I’m blown away by the stationery for starters – it’s magnificent. Luigi Maldonado, the art director at the creative studio in Austin where Julie works, designed the entire suite as a gift to Julie and Abe and it’s beyond beautiful.

And their wedding is a totally outdoor affair! They had their chuppah under an elegant oak tree, and their reception within a unique open-air ‘dinner tent’. It was essentially a tent structure without the tent itself and was decorated with festoon lighting so that guests could dine and party under the moonlight. Er… WOW.

Julie and Abe managed to mix tradition and creativity together effortlessly. Taking inspiration from vintage botanical sketches and illustrations of cacti and succulents, their colour palette ended up taking on a lot of white and greens, and cacti became a foundational element across floral designs, and decor.

Before I hand over to Julie let me just say that I know you’re going to go pin crazy with all the wonderful images by The Nichols. Enjoy!

Outdoor Jewish Wedding
how we met

Julie, the Bride: Abe and I knew each other growing up, and at one time in our teen-aged years, we lived about two blocks away from one another. I left for college in LA, he went to Israel and then to New York and back. Years later, after I had returned to Austin, we ran into each other while he was in town visiting. After that, we started seeing one another on his trips home and kept in touch long-distance. He eventually moved back to Austin full time and we got married a few years later.

Outdoor Jewish Wedding
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A lavish destination Jewish wedding at Vizcaya Museum & Gardens, Miami, Florida, USA

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Oh. My. Word. What a magical chuppah that is. Not only do the intertwined branches topped with hydrangeas, roses, and orchids look thoroughly mesmerising, but the candles within the glass spheres create such a romantic, fairytale feel too.

And there’s a meaning to it all as well… Because three of the bride and groom’s grandparents sadly passed away, they honoured them by hanging not one but three tallits (prayer shawls) within the chuppah structure. I absolutely love it when couples incorporate personal details into their chuppah and this is such a beautiful and symbolic idea.

Lemor and Adam married at the super luxe Vizcaya Museum & Gardens in Miami, Florida, and their big day is every bit as enchanting and classy as you’d expect. From Lemor’s dress of dreams (a vision of sophisticated yet delicate Lazaro  frills embellished with crystals and finished off with a cathedral length veil) to her shimmery Jimmy Choo‘s, to her glamorous ombre bridesmaids, and the seamless melding of Ashkenazi, Sephardi, Persian, Israeli, and American traditions throughout the day. Enjoy all the wonderful details and get ready to swoon!

Lemor and Adam — thank you for having such an à¼ber stylish  wedding and thank you Maloman Studios for capturing it so wonderfully and submitting it to Smashing The Glass.

Vizcaya Museum & Gardens wedding
how we met

Lemor, the Bride: We met at a charity fundraiser for Israel that I serve on the board for. I walked up to a friend to say hello and he was talking to Adam, who he then introduced me to. We saw each other the next night at another event for the charity, and the rest is history!
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A Pronovias bride and a Dolce & Gabbana groom for an ‘enchanted garden’ Jewish wedding, at Luton Hoo, Hertfordshire, UK

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I’m absolutely blown away by this morning’s wedding. Not only are the details divine, the Pronovias dress to-die-for and the planning, by Outrage Events, utterly fabulous, but Cassy’s write up of her and Mark’s day really comes from the heart — as did Cassy’s efforts for the entire wedding.

Frankly, any bride who gets married under a chuppah styled out of a giant birdcage adorned with brightly-coloured ribbons and a rainbow of flowers, is an absolute winner in my book. But Cassy takes the originality one step further with beautifully illustrated wedding stationery, matching bespoke smoking slippers for her and Mark (yes really!), a silent disco, and personalised hangover packs for every guest. I’m telling you, I love, love, love this wedding with a cherry on top!

There are all sorts of wonderful wedding vendors involved in this W-Day, including two of my much loved Smashing Suppliers, make-up artist Philippa Louise, and the immensely talented photographer and film-maker John Nassari who alerted me to this wedding in the first place. I’m such a huge fan of John Nassari’s. Not only are his images and film some of the best in the business, but he is a fantastic guy to boot – just a total pleasure to be around. Cassy certainly agrees – just read what she has to say about him! In fact I will hand you over to her right now for the full report.

Happy Friday lovelies… and for any of you that are venturing on down to Brides The Show tomorrow, I would absolutely LOVE to see you there!

Luton Hoo Jewish Wedding
how we met

Cassy, the Bride: Mark and I met when I was 13 years old and Mark was 17! He was a very close friend of my older brother and from the time we first met until we started going out, he was often in and around my life at my brother’s parties and birthday’s. My brother was naturally very protective and made it very clear to all his friends that I was completely, 100%, absolutely out of bounds! That being said, Mark was always ‘my favourite’ out of his friends and we got on amazingly well. When we started hanging out more regularly and on and one on one basis, just over 10 years later, that’s when the true foundation of our realtionship started. From there it went from strength to strength and we soon started going out (much to my brother’s absolute horror) However, once Mark explained his intentions were only honorable and I rationalised that actually this was a good thing, my brother realised it was a great thing one of his best friends would perhaps be his brother in law! Two years after we got together, Mark proposed and the rest, as they say, is history.

Luton Hoo Jewish Wedding
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Susie & Jon | ‘upcycled chic’ Garden Party Jewish wedding at Micklefield Hall, Hertfordshire, UK

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Today’s Jewish wedding will be in my top 10 faves of 2015, I can guarantee it now. It’s the ridiculously gorgeous wedding of Susie and Jon and I have literally struggled to keep my chin off the floor whilst putting this post together as their wedding exudes so much creativity, personality and style. From the incredible home-made decor to the wedding cake lovingly made by Susie’s sister to reflect the couple’s personalities, it’s clear that everything was a labour of love for this gorgeous couple and their wonderful friends and family.

I love that Susie and Jon tried to involve as many people as they could in their day and gave everyone some sort of role, whether it was a speech or an usher duty, ring holder, gift collector, or polaroid photographer at the escort card stand ( yes, the couple had the brilliant idea of asking guests to swap their escort cards with polaroid photos of themselves to create a terrific memento of their day).

Susie is spot-on when she says, “By giving someone a task, role or responsibility it allows them to feel part of your special day which will make it even more enjoyable for all.  No task is too big to fulfil for the bride and groom.”

As you can tell by now, I adore pretty much EVERYTHING about this wonderful ‘I do’ all the way from the all-cheering-all-whistling-all-singing-all-dancing chuppah ceremony  through to the epic entertainment by Sensation Band (thank you Richard from Sensation for alerting me to this wedding in the first place!). And you need to check out the champagne bottle centre pieces filled with dripping candles. These were bottles brought to Susie and Jon on the day that Jon proposed (2.5 years earlier). Such a lovely idea.

And I haven’t even mentioned Susie’s personalised pre-wedding onesie or her stunning Rue De Seine dress, which somehow manages to be both sexy and oh so bridal.

Amy Shore has captured each and every moment and detail to sheer perfection – her pictures have a nostalgic and dreamy quality to them, yet still manage to be stylish and contemporary. Susie and Jon’s wedding is definitely one to be bookmarked so you can enjoy swooning over it time and time again. I know I will be!

Micklefield Hall wedding
how we met

Susie, the Bride: Jon and I were told about one another running the marathon and so we thought it would be a good idea to become running partners.  We ran 3-4 times a week, for 10 months, 2 hours at a time without music and simply enjoyed each others company getting to know one another.  A month before the marathon the romance began and Jon asked me to marry him five years later. In case you are wondering, I beat him by 30 minutes!

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