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A Vintage Bride for an Eco-Friendly DIY Jewish Wedding on a Budget, San Juan Island Grange Hall, Washington, USA

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Emily & Jason, San Juan Island Grange Hall, Washington State, USA

We couldn’t be more delighted to feature the gorgeous DIY Jewish wedding of our Brides Club member Emily to Jason! The couple, who live on a sailboat and run a sailing business, planned a laid-back eco-wedding totally in keeping with their values and lifestyle – and in line with their tight budget.

How’d they do it? With a little help from their friends. Emily and Jason asked guests to pitch in on wedding prep in lieu of gifts, and it made for such a special day – from the food cooked by guests to a chuppah constructed from local driftwood by the Boy Scout troop Jason leads! Don’t miss it in the gorgeous images by Nyama Photography.

We loved following Emily’s wedding planning journey during her time in Brides Club, and we’re so touched by her kind words about the community:

“I loved being a member of Brides Club, joining after I got engaged was a no brainer for me because I’d already been in Karen Cinnamon’s Smashing Life and love the community she has created there. I found our ketubah, yarmulkes and invitation/wedding website through Bride’s Club. I received so much support and love in this group.”

Another thing we’re obsessed with? Emily’s gorgeous vintage dress, ordered from Etsy! The classic ‘50s styling is SO chic, and going vintage is such a great eco-friendly option.

Now over to the bride…

Emily & Jason, San Juan Island Grange Hall, Washington State, USA Emily & Jason, San Juan Island Grange Hall, Washington State, USA Emily & Jason, San Juan Island Grange Hall, Washington State, USA Emily & Jason, San Juan Island Grange Hall, Washington State, USA
How we Met

Emily, the bride: We started dating after Emily moved to Bellingham, WA from New York City. Jason quickly told her that he would never live on land again. Emily started taking to life on sailboat having admired sailboats from a far for much of her life. Emily bought a ballet school on San Juan Island and moved to Friday Harbor.

After a brief time living on land and loving hosting large dinners (which Jason especially loved), Emily and Jason decided to move back full-time to the sailboat, where they are very happy and looking forward to extended cruising. We are loving life on our boat and started a sailing business, Essential Sailing Industries. Jason with an emphasis on battery and solar systems, electrical work and generally meeting and helping people work with their boats and solving their boat problems. Emily is putting her years of sewing to work making canvas for boats.Continue ReadingContinue Reading

A Pronovias Bride for a Sustainable Backyard Jewish Micro Wedding in Somerville, Massachusetts, USA

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Today’s fantastic couple, Alana and Leo, are always up for an adventure – whether that means marking their 10-month dating anniversary by taking part in The Amazing Race or retooling their plans for a three-day summer camp-style wedding extravaganza in the Berkshires to an intimate micro affair in their very own backyard!  

And do we ever love the way these two ended up leaning into their homey, sustainable low-pressure celebration. From a gorgeous simple chuppah built by a friend a wedding gift to a ketubah handcrafted by a designer friend featuring hand-pressed wildflowers from the couple’s own garden, this Jewish wedding is just chock full of meaningful touches.

We’re in love with Simi Rabinowitz’s luminous, joy-filled photos of the day. And though only a handful of the couple’s original guest list could attend in person, thanks to the professional live streaming services of Bob Antonelli friends and family around the world were able to take part.

Echoing the sentiments we’ve heard from so many couples who’ve married during the pandemic under circumstances very different than the ones they’d expected, Alana says, “We wouldn’t have done our wedding any other way. It was true to us, and felt like a real celebration of our friends and our neighborhood!”

Over to you, Alana!

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How we Met

Alana, the bride: We met on Tinder in January 2018! And then, right after moving in together six months after we met — all our friends thought we were crazy! — we did something even crazier and applied for The Amazing Race on a whim … and we were cast! It was such a whirlwind. We actually started the first leg of The Amazing Race on our ten-month anniversary!

Racing around the world together wasn’t what convinced us we were meant to be (we’d known that probablyyyy since our third date) but it was such an affirming experience. After you’ve done such wild things with someone and been in such high-stress situations, getting married is a no brainer. We got engaged on our one year anniversary at Walden Pond in Massachusetts.Continue ReadingContinue Reading

A David’s Bridal Bride for a Disney Meets Midsummer Night’s Dream Jewish Wedding at New West End Synagogue and Jumeirah Carlton Towers, London, UK

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Jewish wedding New West End Synagogue and Jumeirah Carlton Towers, London, UK_0056
We’re so excited to be sharing the beautiful Jewish wedding of our beloved STG Brides Club member Melissa, a nanny and cake maker, to Nick, a design technician in a secondary school! Melissa, a self-described hopeless romantic obsessed with Disney, fairy tales, and butterflies, had been dreaming of her big day since she was a child, and did she ever bring all that enthusiasm to play when it came to planning!

Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Alexandra’s Florist helped the couple merged all these passions with a Midsummer Night’s Dream aesthetic, with plenty of white flowers with ivy, green leaves – and butterflies. Melissa and Nick’s gorgeous rustic chuppah featured was swathed in twigs, white flowers, and silver butterflies, and the wonderful centerpieces for the reception followed suit.

And we adore the unique invitations the pair designed, working with STG Recommended Vendor BigDay Designs and an architectural artist, featuring a hand-sketched illustration of their gorgeous ceremony venue, New West End Synagogue.

We also love that the pair incorporated some awesome DIY projects into their big day, most notably Melissa’s handcrafted arches (see pic above), made from cut up hula hoops and covered in artificial ivy and roses, to keep with the theme (she’s even shared a tutorial inside Brides Club should you wish to follow suit!) – and Nick’s heart-shaped wooden table name signs, each etched with the name of the Disney song the table in question was named for!

Photographer Chiko and videographer and Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Denee Motion captured all the special moments of the day so exquisitely – we really feel as if we were there! And Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Toastmaster Jango kept the day running smoothly and stress-free.

There’s so much more to say about this fantastic day, but we’ll let Melissa, who looked beautiful in Davidʼs Bridal, fill you in on the rest…

Jewish wedding New West End Synagogue and Jumeirah Carlton Towers, London, UK_0026
Venue

Melissa, the bride: We got married at New West End Synagogue in St Petersburgh Place – ever since I was a little girl I always dreamed of getting married at this synagogue. The interior is just picturesque, with stunning stained-glass windows, too.

After the ceremony, we made our way to the Jumeirah Carlton Towers in Knightsbridge, which allows the bridal party use of their gorgeous and exclusive private park. This made for a stunning set of photos!

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A David’s Bride for a Rustic DIY Backyard Jewish Wedding on a Budget in Door County, Wisconsin, USA

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We were sold on this DIY Jewish wedding on a budget from the moment we read in the brides writeup, “We wanted the wedding to be about the community coming together.” Because isn’t that really what it’s all about?

Super crafty couple Federica and Nathan did nearly everything either themselves or with the help of family and friends – from building their own birch chuppah (from fallen trees on the groom’s family’s property!) to creating their own playlists to setting up on the day. Nathan’s mother grew and picked the flowers, and designed Federica’s bridal bouquet. Even the photographer, Mandelette, just happened to be the groom’s cousin!

And Federica did her own hair and makeup, baked her own wedding cake, AND designed and illustrated the invitations, on the day stationery, and ketubah – talk about a triple threat!

It’s really touching to hear how this wedding brought the couple’s friends and family together – with the bridal party, the families, and the couple themselves all pitching in to help with setup the morning of the wedding. But we’ll let the bride, who looked stunning in her Davidʼs Bridal dress, tell you about that…

Jewish wedding rustic DIY budget groom's parentsʼ backyard Door County, WI, USA_0070   vvJewish wedding rustic DIY budget groom's parentsʼ backyard Door County, WI, USA_0070 Jewish wedding rustic DIY budget groom's parentsʼ backyard Door County, WI, USA_0070 Jewish wedding rustic DIY budget groom's parentsʼ backyard Door County, WI, USA_0070
How we met

Federica, the bride: We met in 2013 attending Ulpan in Israel. The first time I saw him he had just gotten off his Aliyah flight and still had his suitcase with him. We went from the small Kibbutz where we met to living in Tel Aviv, from Tel Aviv to northern Italy and now Rome.

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A BHLDN Bride for a Literary Jewish Wedding with DIY Touches at the Bride’s Parents’ Family Home in Falmouth, MA, USA

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We love it when a couple makes their Jewish wedding 100% truly THEM. And that’s exactly what Leah, a project manager, and Alex, a lab tech and soon-to-be nursing student, did in their literary-themed backyard wedding, which celebrated the pair’s love of reading, family, and of course their beloved cats!

Their wonderful wedding planner, Luba Gankin from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Primavera Dreams, helped them pull all these strands together to make one ultra-memorable day. We can’t get enough of all the fun details like centerpieces made of old books and escort card bookmarks made of recycled book pages – plus the super colorful chuppah canopy, made from a piece of traditional Egyptian wedding tent cloth the bride brought back with her after spending three years living in Egypt! Photographer Alex Gordias captured it all so beautifully.

Oh, and did we mention that the bride – who looked lovely in her wedding dress from BHLDN – baked the wedding cake (for 150 guests) herself?!

Now over to the couple…

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How we met

Leah and Alex, the bride and the groom: The bride and groom first met 16 years ago at age 15 when they were competitive Latin ballroom dancers in high school! The groom claims he had a crush on the bride at the time.

Fast forward 14 years, and the groom moved in with one of the bride’s closest friends completely by chance. When the bride came to visit her friend, she was surprised to find Alex there but impressed with the excellent job he’d done growing up. And the rest is history! True to their roots, the bride and groom performed a sensual tango to Leonard Cohen’s ‘Dance Me To The End of Love’.
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