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A Multicultural Nigerian-Jewish Wedding at LJS and Dyrham Park, UK

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We love it when a couple crafts a one-of-a-kind wedding that truly reflects both of their backgrounds and the life they’ve built together – which is exactly what London couple Emma, an investment analyst in finance, and Justin, who works as a senior manager in digital marketing, did.

Emma and Justin’s shared Jewish faith plays a central role in shaping the way they live, so it was only natural for them to choose to hold the religious part of their wedding at their beloved shul,  LJS in St. John’s Wood.

The next part of their day was focused on celebrating Emma’s Nigerian heritage: after the chuppah, everyone moved on to the reception and vibrant Nigerian cultural ceremony at Dyrham Park, a beautiful country house and golf club located in Hertfordshire. The Igbo-Arochukwu cultural wedding featured a wine carrying ceremony, a symbolic moment where the bride carries wine from her father to present to her groom, followed by the blessing of the marriage. The evening also included performances from Ekombi dancers, paying tribute to Emma’s maternal Oron-Nigerian heritage. Helen Weir captured the day so beautifully from start to finish – don’t miss her exquisite imagery!

Now over to Emma…

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How We Met

Emma, the bride and Justin, the groom: We met towards the end of the Covid lockdowns, as restrictions began to ease in late 2021, through the dating app Hinge. Our first date was at the Patch Bar near Moorgate, where we ended up trying karaoke and exploring central London. The rest, as they say, is history! Continue ReadingContinue Reading

Two Dancers’ Interfaith Jewish Wedding at Louland Falls, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA

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When two competitive dancers tie the knot, you know it’s going to be something special! Tori, a musical theatre performer, and Shawn, who works in financial planning, met on the ballroom dance team at the University of Utah, and though they now live in NYC, they decided to return to the state where they met for their interfaith Jewish wedding.

Needless to say, their wedding was quite the party – including an epic first dance that the bride and groom spent three months choreographing and perfecting!

As an interfaith couple – Tori is Jewish, while Shawn isn’t – the duo knew they wanted to plan a ceremony with traditional Jewish elements that would be accessible to all of their guests. They found the perfect ketubah from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Rachelle of The Delicate Brush, centered on a Tree of Life design with Hebrew on one side and English on the other. Tori and Shawn adored having their ketubah at the wedding, and they love it even more now that it’s on display in their home! Don’t miss it in the wonderful images by Courtney Blair Photography.

There’s so much else to say about this joyous wedding – how fun is it that the couple organized a photo scavenger hunt around the venue for guests, with pics of the bride and groom growing up?! – but we’ll let Tori take it from here…

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How We Met

Tori, the bride: Shawn and I met in 2013 on the ballroom dance team at the University of Utah during my freshman year of college! We never danced together on team because of our height difference, but we were drawn to each other. We started dating, got engaged in 2019, and now here we are married!Continue ReadingContinue Reading

An Interfaith Jewish Wedding with Tons of Personal Touches at West London Synagogue, London, UK

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Get ready for a fabulous interfaith Jewish wedding! We love everything about the way Nicole, a client manager for a technology company, and Pedro, a data analyst, built their relationship with Judaism as a couple, and how that shaped their plans for the big day.

When Nicole, who’s Jewish, got together with Pedro, who isn’t, she knew she’d need to find an open-minded and inclusive Jewish community that would welcome the two of them as a couple. She found exactly that in West London Synagogue, where the couple attended classes and an interfaith marriage workshop together, in addition to celebrating Shabbats and holidays.

Given the important role West London Synagogue plays in the couple’s lives – not to mention the fact that it’s absolutely stunning – getting married there was a no-brainer. We love the personal significance of the venue – as well as the other wonderful personal touches Nicole and Pedro included, like having Pedro’s sister hand paint their ketubah, and assigning close friends to give them original blessings rather than the traditional sheva brachot.

The day was captured so beautifully by Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Claire Jonas, who not only captured the Jewish traditions fabulously but also took some knockout portraits of Nicole and Pedro on the streets of Marylebone. We’ll let Nicole take it from here…

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How We Met

Nicole, the bride: We are both Brazilians, and we met at a bar while we still lived in Rio, back in 2017. It’s a funny story actually – I was about to leave the bar because his friend was being too loud. On top of that, when he approached me he told me he was an airplane pilot, and I thought he was just showing off. But he was cute, and when he asked for my number I thought “why not? If I don’t want to speak with him, I don’t have to answer!”. Nevertheless, on his first message he actually apologized for his friend, so I ended replying – and here we are 6 years later! We currently live in London.Continue ReadingContinue Reading

A Multicultural Vietnamese-Jewish Wedding at Temple Akiba and Playa Studios, Los Angeles, California, USA

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Michelle and David, Playa Studios, LA, USA

We love it when a couple merges their two backgrounds into a one-of-a-kind LA Jewish wedding – and that’s exactly what today’s duo did! Michelle, an executive search recruiter, and David, a public school teacher and screenwriter, set out to plan a wedding that celebrated both the pair’s shared Jewish faith and Michelle’s Vietnamese heritage.  

Right before their chuppah – which was held at the couple’s synagogue – Michelle and David hosted a traditional Vietnamese tea ceremony. They donned áo dais (traditional Vietnamese gowns) and served tea to their elders and relatives.

We also love that Michelle rocked three different fabulous bridal looks throughout her day! First the áo dài, then a classic ballgown from Rita Vinieris for the chuppah, and finally a fusion look for the reception, pairing a clean, minimalist gown from Jill Stuart with a matching, white khăn đóng (Vietnamese headdress).

Read on for more about this wonderful wedding, plus exquisite documentary photography by Rebecca y las otras…

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How we Met

Michelle, the bride: We met at a networking event in LA.Continue ReadingContinue Reading

A Magical, Colorful Multicultural Jewish-Hindu Wedding at Mallu Farms, South Delhi, India

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We are so excited to be sharing the gorgeous Jewish-Hindu wedding of our beloved Brides Club with Smashing The Glass member Sara to Deevakar! Like so many couples over the past few years Sara and Deevakar’s planning journey was filled with lots of ups and downs and uncertainty due to the pandemic – but in the end, they pulled off the fairy tale Indian wedding of their dreams – and it is just BEYOND!

From the start, the couple knew it was important to them to honor both of their backgrounds – Sara’s Russian-Jewish and Deevakar’s Indian-Hindu – and they planned the most beautiful interfaith wedding honoring both religions, and highlighting the many commonalities between the two. The wedding was a two-day extravaganza, filled with so many beautiful rituals, delicious food, and, of course, lots of music and dancing! Don’t miss the stunning images from Dhaarna Bhola Photography.

We’re so touched by Sara’s kind words about how valuable Brides Club was to her during the planning stages: “The ladies in Brides Club helped a lot with moral support. I didn’t have bridesmaids, and yet I felt completely supported by the lovely women in the group. From brainstorming creative ideas, to being able to share my planning anxieties, Brides Club had my back. My wedding wasn’t the traditional, cookie cutter Western Jewish wedding I was used to seeing, but because Brides Club is made up of all different types of women who also plan Jew-ish weddings, I didn’t feel alone.”

Sara also used her Brides Club discount to purchase her gorgeous ketubah from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor ketubah.com. Designed by artist Shell Rummel, it depicts two colorful, intertwined circles – a design Sara and Deevakar picked for the way it beautifully represents their marriage and life together – aww!

Now over to Sara…

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How we Met

Sara, the bride: Deevakar and I met in Chicago, USA, and currently live in an apartment overlooking the Chicago River. I’m from Boston, MA, USA and Deevakar is from Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India. Our love of family and similar cultures (Russian-Jewish and Indian-Hindu) bonded us. We got married in July 2020 in a minimony. We had a city hall wedding, and a small barbeque at Sara’s family’s home in Newton, MA. We finally had our religious ceremonies in New Delhi, India—both Jewish and Hindu. It was a large, fun-filled, two-day celebration, which melded the two cultures in food, music, and rituals.Continue ReadingContinue Reading