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A Garden-Themed Jewish Wedding with an Allure Bridals Gown at Duntreath Castle, Blanefield, Scotland, UK

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Today’s Scottish stunner of a Jewish wedding is right out of a fairy tale. Nicole and Jonny’s day at Duntreath Castle in Scotland was chock full of dreamy florals, with the elegant grounds and gardens serving as a stunning backdrop to the festivities.

These two made the most of their Scottish setting, with a piper greeting guests as they arrived at the castle, creative Scottish-themed canapà©s (mini glasses of Irn-Bru, anyone?!), and a whisky bar featuring bottles of malt from each of Scotland’s whiskey regions. Love it!

The couple planned their wedding all the way from Sydney. Luckily, Nicole’s parents in Glasgow had just retired at the time of the couple’s engagement, and they were able to devote themselves to wedding planning fulltime!

From meeting with vendors in the couple’s place to building the chuppah–Nicole’s dad made it from scratch, and her mum turned her own wedding dress into the canopy! This wedding was truly a family affair…

Photographer Ashley Coombes documentary-style work captured the day perfectly. Now over to Nicole to fill us in on all the details.

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How We Met

Nicole, the bride: We met through close friends who introduced us.
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A Spine-Tingling Old City Destination Jewish Wedding at Mamilla Hotel, Jerusalem, Israel

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We have goosebumps – and after immersing yourself in today’s absolutely beautiful Jewish destination wedding in Israel, we’re pretty sure you all will too. It’s GORGEOUS!

Iliya and Gavin chose to forego a wedding in their native Sydney in favor of a spine-tingling service in Jerusalem. With a chuppah overlooking the Old City, the couple expressed their mutual love of the country and how much it meant to both of them.

We adore the spirit of this wedding as much as the gorgeous Jerusalem-inspired aesthetic – from the Western Wall wish jar (what a moving idea) to the dancing Nachmanim – everything about it felt just perfect.

Iliya and Gavin wholeheartedly agreed that planning the wedding from such a distance would not have been possible without them.

Gorgeous bride, Iliya, 

Iliya and Gavin are clearly both stunning souls, inside and out, and their devotion to each other is so clear in the breathtaking spread of photographs by Ronen Boidek and the moving, cinematic video by Nir Tenenbaum. Those speeches! We may be just a little bit second-hand in love. 

And now, without further ado, we’ll hand you over to Iliya for the story in her own words – enjoy! (And by the way, didn’t she just rock the boho-chic look in her Rhonda Hemmingway gown? A-list-level stuff! )

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How we met

Iliya, the bride: Gav and I attended the same Jewish day school in Sydney – but Gav was five years above me in school and we only met years after graduating. We met through mutual friends in 2013. 

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A Breathtaking Waterside Same Sex Jewish Wedding at a Private Residence, Kittery, Maine, USA

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Today we have a real treat for you because we have not one, but TWO wonderful brides whose boho-beautiful style you’re totally going to want to steal.

Samantha and Elise had their tented waterside Jewish destination wedding at a private family residence and it was absolutely rub-your-eyes-and-look-again beautiful. The natural scenery provided a spectacular backdrop for the couple’s moving, family-oriented Jewish ceremony – oh, and just how cute are those flower girls?? There’s an awesome story about them which we won’t ruin, but read on, because it will just melt your heart.

Let’s talk about the brides’ breathtaking dresses, from Willowby by Watters and Lillian West respectively – they could not have looked more perfect together, with a relaxed but oh-so-chic feel and lush lace embellishments. Serious bridal style goals!

We’re also head over heels for the foliage-covered birch wood chuppah overlooking the water – what a perfect place to say ‘I do’. Oh, and the rustic-look but clean and contemporary reception dà©cor? Sublime. 

The stunning spread of photographs was provided by Alex and Bett, who captured all the love, joy and big-day details with aplomb. We seriously can’t stop staring!

We’ll hand you over to Samantha and Elise for the full story of their perfect day. Get ready to fall in love with these two! 

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How we met

Samantha and Elise, the brides: We met online, on OkCupid, before the days of dating apps.
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A Pnina Tornai Bride for a Family-Oriented Jewish Wedding with a Stunning Chuppah at Al Hayam, Caesarea, Israel

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Brothers Alexander and Jason chose to have their weddings back to back in Israel, so it was only fitting that we should feature their weddings back to back on Smashing The Glass! Jason and Nicole’s big day went live on Wednesday – and Melissa and Alexander’s is featured right now – today!

The decision was made to have the two Jewish weddings in quick succession as the brothers shared many guests and wanted to ensure that they didn’t have to fly to Israel twice. We love that the two brothers shared in each other’s joy in that way – for Jason and Alexander, it really as all about family.

As well as sharing guests, the pair shared an incredible photographer and DJ, but we’ll get to that….

We love the whole aesthetic of this stunning Israeli big day. From the couple’s fashion-forward and elegant outfit choices (that Pnina Tornai dress, though – serious wedding dress envy) to the magnificent floral chuppah, put together by the genius KBY Designs.

We also think the children’s choir is such a moving, and seriously adorable idea – so original and cute!

Melissa and Alexander’s impeccable taste extended, of course, to their choice of photographer Ran Bergman, who we absolutely adore, for reasons which will become obvious as you scroll through his divine set of pictures. We love this wedding!

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An Israeli destination venue

Melissa and Alexander were married at Al Hayam in Caesarea.

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A Magical and Romantic Destination Jewish Wedding at Bait Al Hayam, Tel Aviv, Israel

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What would you do if, at the last minute, your ceremony venue fell through? That’s the scenario that Nicole and Jason found themselves facing. But instead of giving up, the resilient pair recreated their original choice, bringing the amphitheatre they had originally wanted to them. This resourcefulness in the face of a challenge truly shows how ready they are for anything life might throw at them.

It also shows that they had an absolute genius of a planner to bring the whole production together – KBY Designs. Honestly, we are in awe.

New York couple, Nicole and Jason chose to have their Jewish wedding day in Israel, just days away from the groom’s brother’s wedding (Melissa and Alexander’s amazing wedding will be published here on Friday!). Having the two weddings back to back meant that overlapping guests could extend their stay and save on time and money travelling back and forward. What a wonderful idea and such happy time for the family!

The two couples even shared a DJ and a photographer – and given that their photographer was none other than incredible Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor, the one and only Ran Bergman. His incredible spread of images really captures the magic of the day.

There’s so much to love about this extraordinarily moving wedding – we especially adore the way that Nicole describes the ceremony. It sounded absolutely spine-chilling, and everything you would want a ceremony to be.

Bride Nicole chose a stunning Amsale gown, with features reminiscent of Kate Middleton’s iconic gown. She is also a freelance writer in her spare time, which is evident in her fabulous writeup below, so without further ado, please welcome Nicole to fill you in on her and Jason’s wedding planning story.

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How we met

Nicole, the bride: We met through a mutual friend (the groom’s stepbrother) in Miami, but a lot of people, specifically the stepfather, like to argue on who gets credit for the match.

Both born and bred in New York, Jason is from Manhattan and I grew up in Great Neck, Long Island. After Jason’s internship ended in Shanghai, he moved to Miami to continue his hospitality career while I went to pursue my Master’s degree at the University of Miami for Print Journalism.

We officially met in 2011 and started out as friends (and…co-workers, scandalous!). After a wild night in South Beach (June 25, 2012), we admitted our chemistry was undeniable. I paid a toll by sealing the night with a kiss — an inside joke for us and now, the family – the rest was history.

After a long, romantic night filled with teasing and guessing, Jason popped the question in our Miami Beach home on December 18, 2015. A week after, we celebrated our engagement on holiday in San Francisco.

After five years together, we got married in Tel Aviv on June 29, 2017 (just four days away from our dating anniversary).

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