Jewish Garden Weddings Archives - Smashing the Glass

A Lazaro Bride for a Family Focused British-American Jewish Wedding at the Groom’s Childhood Home, Bethesda, Maryland, USA

12/06/2020 by Karen Cinnamon

We love it when a couple makes family the center of their Jewish wedding. And that’s exactly what Melanie and Benjamin did, starting with their choice to hold their intimate celebration at the groom’s childhood home. If we had a backyard like this to get married in, we’re pretty sure it would be our choice too – don’t miss the incredible photos of the outdoor sunset chuppah from Stefanie Kamerman Photography.

Family members near and far pitched in to help make the day a success – Benjamin’s sister Jessica even planned the wedding! – and we love the way the pair brought in British elements to honor the bride’s English background, from the flowers to the marmalade favors to the vintage English blue-and-white China.

Most special of all, though, is that the groom’s father, who was diagnosed with cancer just after Melanie and Benjamin got engaged, successfully completed treatment exactly one month prior to the big day, so the day served as a double celebration.

Now over to the bride, who looked ravishing in Lazaro Bridal (speaking of which, don’t miss her wild dress fitting story!)…

How we met

Melanie, the bride: We met on Tinder. When I first got on the app – the app didn’t work correctly. I entered the age range for men I was interested in as 30 and above – he was 28 at the time. Lucky for Benjamin, the age range I entered didn’t go into effect immediately and his profile popped up for me to swipe on. He was too cute to not swipe right on and it was a match!

I immediately freaked out and messaged Benjamin saying I swiped because I thought he was an absolute doll face but he was too young for me. Luckily Benjamin is very persistent and did not let this get in the way. He proceeded to ask me on lots of different dates which I declined because of our age difference. He decided to change up his strategy and started name dropping different restaurants. He dropped the name of a swanky jazz restaurant I had been dying to try – the rest is history.

A Monique Lhuillier Bride for a Nature-Inspired Jewish Wedding at the Chicago Botanic Garden, Glencoe, Illinois, USA

01/02/2019 by Karen Cinnamon

We love a good garden wedding. And we love it even more when a couple really goes all out in making the most of their natural surroundings, like Jane, an actor and a voiceover artist, and Adam, who works in digital distribution.

Elegance meets rustic in this beautiful Jewish wedding, inspired by the pair’s love of nature and celebration of the changing of the season from summer to fall at their September celebration, from a seasonal, produce-driven menu (incorporating recipes the foodie duo put together themselves!), earthy clay kiddush cups, anda gorgeous painted ketubah reflecting their love of nature and the changing seasons by artist Jessica Kraft, purchased from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Ketubah.com.

And speaking of beautiful wedding design, Jane and Adam were lucky enough to work with one of our fave

luxury stationers, Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor E.Y.I. Love, on their invitations. We’re obsessed with the minimalist chic invitations they came up with together, featuring gold foiled text and gilt edging, a custom cactus print envelope lining, and forest green calligraphy on each envelope. If you love the look as much as we do, be sure to enter the competition we’re running to win your wedding stationery from E.Y.I Love. It closes in a few days – so make sure you don’t miss out!

Now over to Jane, who looked stunning in her beaded strapless princess gown by Monique Lhullier, which she found at wonderful Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor The Wedding Club in South Kensington, London…

Jiho Park from Lilly Photography and Hunter Floyd from Hunter Floyd Films captured all the emotion and elegance of the day so perfectly. Enjoy!

A Garden Wedding

Jane, the bride: We got married at the Chicago Botanic Garden in Glencoe, Illinois, in the USA (2 September, 2018). The venue is located close to the bride’s family’s home. Though then it seemed like a far-away dream, when Jane was around 7, she told her parents that she “would marry either a South-African or British man and get married at the Chicago Botanic Garden.” And so it was, she married a British man and got married at the Botanic Garden!

A Limor Rosen Bride for a Gorgeous Garden Jewish Wedding at the Groom’s Parents’ Home in the North of Israel

26/09/2018 by Karen Cinnamon

Today’s Jewish wedding is giving us SERIOUS garden envy.

Lauri, a veterinary nurse and student, and Gal, who is a poet and teacher in addition to managing the Eduard Bar in Tel Aviv’s Carmel Market, always knew they wanted to get married at Gal’s parents’ home in the north of Israel — and if you take a quick scroll through their fantastic, ultra-stylish photos from ultra-talented Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Herschel Gutman, you’ll see why.

This picture-perfect outdoor space was basically an intimate wedding venue waiting to happen. With plenty of stone (so Israeli!), a veritable backyard forest of trees, and even a pond, it’s just the absolute loveliest.

Also pretty lovely? Lauri’s super cool Limor Rosen dress. With stunning beadwork, lace, and a contemporary slim fit and halter neck, it looked just SO perfect on this stunning bride.

We’ll let Lauri take it from here…

Bringing it All Home

Lauri, the bride: We got married at Gal’s parents house in the north of Israel. A small moshav called Mistpe Abirim. We loved the idea of getting married in Gal’s family home. Lauri’s parents got married in her mother’s parents garden and we loved the idea of doing the same. They have a very beautiful garden and it is home to us.
Continue Reading

A Mediterranean Garden Destination Jewish Wedding at El Cortijo de los Caballos in Marbella, Spain

15/06/2018 by Karen Cinnamon

We’re always thrilled to blog the weddings of our real blogging brides, and we could not be more excited to feature beautiful Hayley’s sun-drenched Spanish wedding to Ashley at El Cortijo de los Caballos.

We loved reading along with Hayley as she went through the process of converting to Judaism during her engagement, and couldn’t be more proud to see her and Ashley standing under their lovely DIY chuppah, which put folded umbrellas to use as poles, draped in tulle and lace — including a square from Hayley’s dress! Check it out in Anna Gazda’s luminous photos.

This wedding was chock full of personal touches… between custom kippot inscribed with “Man Utd Rule” with footballs printed on them, as a nod to Ashley’s chosen team, to a very memorable rap by the bridesmaids (they turned Ice Ice Baby into “Ash Ash Hayley”!) Hayley and Ashley injected so much personality into their fun-filled day.

And to make sure their wedding was a party to remember, the couple flew out Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Totem as their band! Performing at both the ceremony and reception, Hayley and Ashley credit their fab band with making the party happen — and report that guests are still telling them how great the music was!

Now over to Hayley, who was lucky enough to have her gorgeous princess gown was custom designed for her by her new sister-in-law, who used to be a pro bridal wear designer…
<span data-mce-type="bookmark" style="display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;" class="mce_SELRES_start">ï»¿</span>

How we met

Hayley, the bride: We met online through Tinder, although I’m sure Ash told a few people we met at a bar in Shoreditch!

An Inbal Raviv Bride for a Magical Forest-Themed Jewish Wedding at Hadera Forest, Baya’ar, Israel

11/05/2018 by Karen Cinnamon

Today’s Jewish wedding has a super inspirational love story behind it: Israeli couple Noa and Shaked were in a long-distance relationship for 6 years (!) while Noa was abroad studying medicine. The two of them are just radiating joy in the gorgeous photos of their day at Hadera Forest Hall, at Baya’ar, and knowing that bit of backstory you can understand why!

Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Ran Bergman’s photos of the day are just so artsy and cool; some of them could easily have come out of a really chic magazine spread (especially given that Noa and Shaked are basically models!).

And he captures the couple’s enchanted forest theme so well — you’ve got to see his shots of the beautiful outdoor ceremony, under a simple white chuppah laden with greenery, amidst the trees of the forest. Pure magic.

Also magical? Noa’s boho-chic Inbal Raviv dress, with lace and tassles galore. Now over to the couple…

A Forest Wedding

We got married at the Hadera Forest Hall, at Baya’ar. The feeling of being in a forest there is just magical; we couldn’t resist the lush greenery. And the location was halfway between the bride’s family home and the groom’s, so it made sense for our guests.