Jewish Garden Weddings Archives - Smashing the Glass

A Pronovias Bride for a Super Spiritual Outdoor Jewish Wedding at the Royal Botanical Gardens, Melbourne, Australia

19/03/2018 by Karen Cinnamon

Could we pretty please order up some of the brilliant Australian sunshine on display in today’s super personal, super spiritual Jewish wedding? This winter thing is getting awfully old here in the Northern Hemisphere!

Bride Liron, a lawyer, and groom Jason, a writer and product manager at an international education company, believe that people should come away from your wedding “feeling like they just had a glimpse into your love,” and that’s exactly the effect their beautiful day had on us.

The couple infused their outdoor wedding at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Melbourne with so much of themselves, and you can really feel the love and intention they put into each step.

How awesome is it that Liron and Jason hand-built their own chuppah?! No mere DIY project, the couple viewed it as symbol of the home they are building together, and they took the time they spent constructing it as a chance to discuss the kind of family life they want together. Isn’t that so lovely? Not to mention that the simple white fabric canopy they chose was the very definition of simple elegance under the eucalyptus trees at their gorgeous outdoor garden ceremony.

Another way the artsy pair connected with each other and their guests on the day was to perform some of the music themselves! In addition to joining in on an acoustic set during the reception, the performed two songs for their guests—as if just getting married weren’t nerve-wracking enough for one day!

Liron looked like a bombshell in her elegant Pronovias gown, with vintage Hollywood waves to match. Photographer Free The Bird and videographer C2 Films really captured the authenticity and spirituality of the day. Now over to the bride…

How we met

Liron, the bride: we met at university (we both studied law). I was involved in the Jewish students’ club and on this particular day we had a stall at the orientation carnival, giving away challah and selling memberships. Jason came by to grab a piece of challah… he walked away with the phone number of his future wife.

A BHLDN Bride for a Vintage-Style Cultural Fusion Peranakan Singaporean and Jewish Wedding at Alfred Caldwell Lily Pool and Lincoln Park Conservatory Illinois, Chicago, USA

23/02/2018 by Karen

Ahhh guys we don’t care how fan-girly we sound, today’s Jewish real wedding is just the COOLEST! Andrew and Lauren’s big day fused their Jewish and Peranakan Singaporean backgrounds in just the most inventive and beautiful ways.

A tea ceremony during the chuppah? Perfect. Pineapple tart rugelach? Yes please. Chocolate Shekel favors in Chinese double happiness red packets? Inspired. We also adore the themed Singapore Sling and Tel Aviv Sunset cocktails – just perfection. Everything, from the music to the menu, was chosen with both cultures in mind, finding amazing ways to bring them together. This wedding looked like a marriage.

Given the stunning aesthetic of the wedding, it will come as no surprise that bride Lauren, is a stationery designer, and put her skills to good use, designing the most stunning stationery suite that managed to honor both cultures and still fit in perfectly with the vintage-inspired vibe.

Lauren looked like an Old Hollywood A-lister in her beautiful lace BHLDN gown, and even more breathtaking under the rustic and charming chuppah using her grandparents’ lace.

The venues, Alfred Caldwell Lily Pool and Lincoln Park Conservatory, are two of the couple’s favorite spots – little oases of calm in their Illinois neighborhood.

The story of the day was beautifully captured by photographer Jaclyn Simpson and the happy couple provided the funny and charming write up below together. We could genuinely go on and on all day, so we’ll stop now and let Lauren and Andrew fill you in on the rest. Please give it up for the bride and groom!

A hidden garden in the neighborhood

Andrew, the groom: Lauren and I got married in our neighborhood, a two-minute walk from where we lived. We had a small family ceremony at the Alfred Caldwell Lily Pool, which is a hidden garden filled with native plants of Illinois. Afterwards, we had a slightly larger reception (just around 50 people) next door at the Lincoln Park Conservatory. Since moving to Chicago we’ve visited these two sites regularly as a way to escape the city and the occasional sub-zero winter. I also worked for the Chicago Park District and knew many of the staff at the conservatory.

The AG & LM penny pattern in the pond was a complete surprise for us from the staff at the Chicago Park District! Many of the gardeners, naturally, are also talented visual artists and my co-worker Gustave spent a good deal of time putting this together without us even knowing. It was definitely a highlight of the reception!

An Ines di Santo Bride for a Classic and Timeless Super Luxe Jewish Wedding at Four Seasons Hotel Westlake Village, California, USA

05/02/2018 by Karen

What happens when some of LA’s, scratch that – the world’s finest wedding vendors come together? A visual feast of classically elegant wedding wonderment, that’s what! Alina and Raphael’s super luxe Jewish wedding was the very definition of what a divine wedding looks like – down to every last detail.

Let’s start with bride Alina’s sophisticated and timeless style. She looked straight off the red carpet in her breathtaking off-the-shoulder Ines di Santo gown. We had the immense pleasure of interviewing Ines Di Santo for a Facebook Live, which is an absolute must watch if, like us, you’ve fallen in love with her work.

We have also featured outstanding florist Butterfly Floral in several past real weddings, and, as you can see from that INSANE ethereal garden-look chuppah, there’s a very good reason for that.

A wedding this spectacular could only have been brought together by a top-tier planner, and they don’t make ’em better than the unstoppable Delicate Details who, you’ve guessed it, has featured on the STG pages several times before (and is also offering all our STG Members Club Brides an exclusive 10% discount!). I think we can all agree that Maryam outdid herself!

It’s also very hard to do capturing a wedding of this calibre justice, but just LOOK at these absolutely phenomenal images by ridiculously talented photographers Lin & Jirsa (also offering our STG Members Club Brides a very special gift!). Everything is amazing about this big day, but those under-the-chuppah shots are out of this world!

We’ll leave you now with Alina’s awesome write up. A warning – you are going to want to steal every single detail about this stunner of a wedding.

How We Met

Alina, the bride: We met at a mutual friend’s birthday.

A Blush and Rose Gold Color Scheme for a Romantic Jew-ish Wedding at The Ballroom at Ellis Preserve, Philadelphia, USA

19/01/2018 by Karen

Today’s real wedding is a very special one – and not just because it’s an absolute beauty (which it TOTALLY is) but because dear Gillian is one of our much-loved real blogging brides of 2017! It’s such an honor and a privilege to finally be able to share her and Pete’s Jew-ish wedding day.

We love a Jew-ish wedding where both cultures and backgrounds are represented, and Gillian and Pete’s mixed-faith ceremony saw their priest and rabbi working together to create something that truly represented them – too beautiful!

Beautiful bride Gillian looked a million bucks in her Tara Keely gown, which she paired with meaningful and custom-made accessories, with a little help from her dad, who is a tailor, and also made Pete’s midnight suit.

A color scheme of blush shades and rose gold is, of course, the ideal excuse to rock that mismatched bridesmaids look, and the overall effect was absolutely stunning.

The couple had so many unique and borrow-able ideas, such as cute-as-a-button custom acrylic signs and the most adorable postcard guest book idea. Guests wrote their good wishes for the couple on postcards, which are still being posted on to them by family to this day. What an excellent way to make your big day last!

The story of the day was captured by the brilliant Blaise Szallasi, whose spread of images you can see below, and the totally stunning cinematic videography is by Wise Films.

We’ll leave you in Gillian’s capable hands for her brilliant writeup. We’ve loved having Gillian’s upbeat voice on the blog, so please give her a standing ovation. Take it away, Gillian!

How we met

Gillian, the bride: We met in graduate school getting our masters in OT.
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A Paolo Sebastian Bride for a Whimsical Outdoor Jewish Wedding at Farmington, Pennsylvania, USA

08/01/2018 by Karen

We do love a whimsical, woodland Jewish wedding – there’s nothing quite like an outdoor ceremony set against a striking, natural backdrop – and we ADORE the origin story of today’s beautifully embroidered chuppah. We won’t ruin it for you, but make sure you check it out, because it’s absolutely wonderful!

Lena and Jacob met when she was hired to design the typography for a book that architect Jacob’s work was featured in. Realizing they attended the same college, she reached out to him on Facebook and the rest, as they say, is history. How romantic is that?

Lena also looked SO luxe and lovely in her stuff-of-dreams Paolo Sebastian gown, which fit her like a glove! Seriously, even if you’re already married, it’s a dress worthy of planning a whole second wedding around!

The gorgeous photography was provided by Steven Dray Images, please do feel free to feast your eyes on the spread of images, as well as Lena’s fabulous writeup. Enjoy!

How we met

Lena, the bride: We met when I was hired to design the typography for a book called “Encoding Architecture” that his work was being published in.

When I was putting his work into the book, I realized that we went to the same college and I reached out to him through Facebook. I said something to him like, “You don’t know me, but I am the designer for that book your work is going to be in.” We met up, and the rest was history.
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