Jewish Destination Weddings Archives - Smashing the Glass

A Milla Nova Bride for a Multicultural Outdoor Jewish Wedding at Hatzer Netzer in Netser Sereni, Israel

17/08/2018 by Karen Cinnamon Leave a Comment

One of the things we love most here at Smashing the Glass is seeing the ways couples combine their cultures and traditions into their big days. It’s not always easy, whether you’re planning a Jewish wedding or a Jew-ish one, but we see couple after couple pulling it off in their own imitable style.

And today’s pair is no exception. Bronwyn, an occupational therapist and Tal, who is in sales, had two very different sets of traditions to combine: the bride is Ashkenazi and South African, while the groom is Sephardi and Israeli, with roots in India.

It was important to the bride and groom that both the ceremony and the party reflect their respective backgrounds, and we love the clever ways they made sure to give each other’s traditions equal billing on the big day.

During the ceremony, Bronwyn and Tal mixed and matched their favorite elements, holding a Sephardi chuppah with some key Ashkenazi elements: Bronwyn circled Tal seven times, and the duo took some time for themselves in a yichud room after the ceremony. At the reception, the DJ mixed South African beats with Indian tunes – plus some Israeli pop for good measure!

The other thing we adore about this wedding is Bronwyn’s dress: her long-sleeved lace gown by Milla Nova proves you don’t have to show a lot of skin to look dreamy as you walk down the aisle. We can’t get enough of this soft, romantic bridal style, and we love the way Smashing the Glass Recommended Vendor Herschel Gutman captured it – and everything else about this gorgeous day, from the emotion under the chuppah to the wild dancing at the reception (and he’s an amazing guy to boot!)

Bronwyn will fill you in on the rest…

How we met

Bronwyn, the bride: We met via Jswipe. Love at first swipe!

A Berta Bride for an Ultra-Chic Vegan Jewish Wedding at Mamilla Hotel in Jerusalem, Israel

10/08/2018 by Karen Cinnamon Leave a Comment

This Jewish wedding is just SO wonderfully chic. It also happens to be 100% vegan. Sara and Ronen, animal lovers and ethical vegans, planned the whole affair with zero animal products in sight. Everything from the menu to the attire was plant-based through and through.

That’s no easy feat – especially when it comes to finding a fab gown with no silk. But Sara pulled it off and then some. We absolutely adore her sexy, ultra-feminine dress from Berta Bridal (the eponymous designer of which just so happens to be Israeli!). Ronen looks pretty snazzy in his wool-free suit, himself.

Despite the marked absence of meat from the festive meal, venue Mamilla Hotel’s plant-based food service got rave reviews from nearly all the guests – many told the couple afterward it was the best wedding food they’d ever had!

We love that Sara and Ronen weren’t afraid to stay true to themselves and their values on their big day – and love even more that it paid off!

The other awesome thing about this wedding? The view. The rooftop of the stunning Mamilla Hotel, where the couple held their breathtaking ceremony, just happens to overlook Jerusalem’s fabled Old City, and the skyline is just BEYOND.

It doesn’t get much better than this – and the setting was extra meaningful to the couple, since Ronen grew up in Jerusalem. You’ve GOT to check out Ori Carmi‘s dazzling photos and Idan Hershko’s outstanding video of the day.

Now over to Sara…

A Jerusalem Wedding

Sara, the bride: My husband, Ronen, and I got engaged in Tel Aviv, Israel, in May of 2017, but his original plan was to propose at the rooftop restaurant of the Mamilla Hotel in Jerusalem. That plan was foiled by the US president’s visit, and we all had to leave Jerusalem. But once we were engaged, we decided to be married there.

Ronen grew up in Jerusalem and felt it was like coming full circle to be born and then married with the Old City as the backdrop. I had only been to the venue once, in the winter when the roof was enclosed. I did all the planning off of a few photos and a FaceTime walk-through with my boss, who was visiting the winter before our date.

An Ines Di Santo Bride for a Super Luxe Secret Garden Destination Jewish Wedding at Soho Beach House in Miami, Florida, USA

25/07/2018 by Karen Cinnamon 1 Comment

Today’s Jewish wedding is through-the-roof glam. From the couple, Alfee and Geoff, who are basically supermodels, to the breathtaking floral chuppah (flowers FOR DAYS), to the bride’s custom Ines Di Santo gown, there’s just SO much we adore.

Alfee dreamed of an enchanted secret garden aesthetic, and does this wedding ever deliver… Between that chuppah – seriously, it almost looks like a rose bush just magically grew into the shape of a perfect canopy – and the luxe florals by Jose Graterol Designs adorning the tabletops, this is basically a floral fantasy.

Oh, and did we mention all the fairy lights, and the super cool lanterns hanging from trees?! Davina and Daniel did such a fab job capturing all the stunning details – which is even more impressive given that this wedding took place at night, with no natural light to lean on.

The day was all made possible by the couple’s fantastic wedding planner Kristen Daniel from Mindy Weiss, the wedding planning superstar you may remember from our epic Smashing Summit earlier this year – and if you don’t, what are you waiting for?! We’ve got the whole thing recorded for you to watch at your leisure.

Now over to beautiful bride, Alfee…

A Destination Wedding in Miami

Alfee, the bride: We got married at Soho Beach House in Miami. We wanted to have a destination wedding and loved the vibe of this entire hotel; we essentially took over the whole hotel for the weekend! It was so much fun.

An Ines di Santo Bride for a Destination Jewish Wedding at Villa Grabau in Lucca, Tuscany, Italy

04/07/2018 by Karen Cinnamon

Happy 4^thof July to all our American readers! What are you all doing to celebrate? Jetting off on a quick getaway to, say, Tuscany, by any chance? No? Us neither. But we are doing the next best thing, living vicariously through Helen and Jared’s oh-so-romantic Jewish wedding at Villa Grabau #swooooooon

And what a wedding it was. Can we talk about bride Helen’s out-of-this-world Ines di Santo gown? That train! That tulle! And that’s not even mentioning the painfully delicate beadwork on the bodice. It’s just the absolute perfect blend of sweet and sexy, dramatic and effortless. We are such massive fans of Ines di Santo – you may recall our Facebook Live with her last year– and it’s always a privilege to feature one of her brides on STG.

And once Helen had chosen it, she was pretty much good to go. As busy attorneys, Helen and Jared didn’t have much time to devote to wedding planning, and they were so thrilled that their trusted wedding planners, Benedetta and Elena from Lucca Organizza, were able to give them the dreamy Tuscan day they wanted with minimal guidance.

Benedetta and Elena helped the couple pick everything from their venue(fun fact: it was once featured on the Bachelor), to their phenomenal photographer, Alessandro Colle.

In Helen’s words, “Our planners made everything SO easy for us that I have to pretend to understand what other brides are talking about when they refer to ‘wedding planning stress.’” That’s some serious praise! Now over to the bride herself, who’ll fill you in on all the details of the day…

How we met

Helen, the bride: We are attorneys in Los Angeles – as most tales of romance go, we met in law school at UCLA. Little did we know, despite only crossing paths for the first time in law school, our parents lived mere minutes from each other our whole lives and my sister and one of Jared’s younger brothers were in the same class together in high school! Truly a small world.

A Yolan Cris Bride for a Dreamy Outdoor Destination Jewish Wedding at Givat Brenner in Rechovot, Israel

22/06/2018 by Karen Cinnamon

Where to begin with today’s positively divine Jewish wedding? This one is chock full of clever ideas and sweet traditions – and did we mention that the couple are basically models? Oh, and the venue’s not bad looking either! Eye candy all around today!

Robyn, an area manager and one half of @tworealfoodies, and Josh, a property surveyor, live in Manchester but had their hearts set on an Israeli wedding with a fairy tale garden vibe, and that’s exactly what they got at Givat Brenner. Take one look at Ronen Boidek’s breathtaking photos and we think you’ll agree.

Beautiful Robyn, who looked just like a fairy tale princess in her lace gown from Yolan Cris, is lucky enough to have grown up with some of the best Jewish wedding musicians around: Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor The Portnoy Brothers, who specialize in performing at chuppahs. Naturally, they sang at Robyn and Josh’s – and their father, who happens to be a rabbi, married the couple!

Speaking of keeping it in the family, Robyn’s family has the most beautiful chuppah tradition: when her parents got married, her mum handmade a canopy from her own mother’s wedding dress. Afterward, the couple embroidered their initials on it. From then on, the canopy was passed from relative to relative, with new initials added each time it was used. Robyn’s and Josh’s are the latest additions. Wouldn’t this be a wonderful tradition to start?

We haven’t even gotten to the sweet “message in a bottle” favors/place cards Robyn handwrote (and stuffed!) for every single guest, but we’ll let her tell you more about that – along with all the rest of the details of this dreamy day…

How we met

Robyn, the bride: We met when we were 12 years old at Habonim summer camp. We went to summer camp every year together until we were 16, when we went to Israel on tour for a month. Those were definitely some of the best summers, with friendships and memories that last a lifetime. We stayed close but didn’t become “official” until after we finished University in Nottingham in 2012 and have been together ever since.