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A Vera Wang bride for a romantic luxe destination Jewish wedding at the Four Seasons in Westlake Village, California

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Prepare for a fashion frenzy as the names that make today’s Jewish wedding so gorgeous are Vera Wang, Valentino, Jimmy Choo, Christian Louboutin … And of course our super stylish bride and groom Natalie & Alexander who married at the Four Seasons in Westlake Village, California.

Natalie looks breathtakingly beautiful in her Vera Wang gown and veil — it’s just pure romance. Speaking of which, can you believe that these two first met under the Eiffel Tower in the City of Romance, Paris?! Their whole ‘How We Met’ story is like something out of a fairytale – you simply must read Natalie’s account of it below.

I am a certified super fan of Greg Finck who shot and submitted this wedding to me. Everything he snaps just turns into wedding gold, and you’ll see precisely what I mean when you take a peek at the pretty below.

It’s a wedding of global proportions with guests traveling in from all over the world but it was absolutely worth it: the emotion, the style, the 13 (wow!) beautiful bridesmaids, the mesmerising stationery, the music, the chuppah, the florals… it’s all just filled to the brim with style and grace, and not only are Greg’s images and the bride’s wedding report waiting for you, we also have the wedding film at the foot of the post by Wind Productions too. It’s a very happy Tuesday folks!

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How we met

Natalie, the bride: Alex and I met in Paris under the Eiffel Tower (for real). We were traveling in Europe separately and had some friends in common and  the two groups met in Paris for a few days. The moment I looked at him I knew my life was forever going to change. We started dating right away. We were attending different universities in different cities, then after graudation we moved to different cities (Connecticut for him, and LA for me) and then another move to different cities (New York for him, San Francisco for me). We were long distance for 6 years. I finally moved to New York City and he proposed shortly after that to my surprise.

After he proposed he surprised me with a fully planned trip to Paris to take our engagment pics at the Eiffel Tower with Greg Finck who also photographed our wedding.Continue ReadingContinue Reading

A Suzanne Neville Bride for an uber chic elegant Jewish wedding at New London Synagogue and Claridges, London, UK

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Be still, my beating heart. Philippa Bloom’s Suzanne Neville dress is simply DIVINE. As are her metallic Jimmy Choo’s for that matter… But are you surprised when she’s one half of We Are Twinset one of the biggest fashion influencer accounts on Instagram?

Yes folks, we are in for a HUGE treat today with Philippa & Alex’s super chic Jewish wedding at the elegant New London Synagogue followed by their reception at one of my favourite luxury London venues — the one and only Claridges.

And their big day is every bit as glamorous and romantic as you’d expect. An emotionally-charged badeken having not seeing each other for one week prior (wait till you see the moment in the wedding film — it’s goosebumps all around), a gigantic floral chuppah surrounded by pillar candles, the coolest bridesmaids in gold sequinned gowns, exquisite stationery with calligraphy by one of my wedding supplier crushes, Lamplighter London, and crazy jewish wedding dancing thanks to entertainment from the legendary Gilev Show Band.

It’s a truly stylish, luxe wedding and not only do we have the dreamy images from Polly Alexandre, but we also have the film from Gorgeous Films who actually filmed my own London wedding back in 2013 as well!

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A Jewish wedding at the New West End Synagogue and Claridges

Philippa, the bride: Our ceremony was at the New West End Synagogue — we loved how ornate and traditional this synagogue is compared to others in central London. It’s got a beautiful intimate feel and has a strong spiritual vibe which we loved too.

We had our reception and party at Claridges. From an early age, Claridges has always been my all-time favourite hotel in London. I was really conscious of not having a very large Jewish wedding and because of Claridge’s ballroom size it meant that we could control this. We also love its art deco super sophisticated style. Although in general it’s quite a large hotel, it feels really homely and the staff are incredible — there wasn’t anything they couldn’t do!

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Spectacular destination wedding at Ronit Farm, Kfar Shmaryahu, Herzliya, Israel

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I promise you what you’re about to see is truly epic. This folks is how to do a super cool, super chic lavish destination wedding in Israel.

Montana and Justin, from South Africa, married at Ronit Farm (Havat Ronit), one of Israel’s most dazzling wedding venues. What’s more, the clever team at Danny Marx brought to life something I have never seen before: Montana had decided that she wanted to walk down the aisle to the chuppah while everyone was already seated at their tables, so all the guests were seated at one giant ‘S’ shaped table that also served as the ‘catwalk’ down to the chuppah (I mean REALLY!).

There are so many things I love about this wedding that I’d be here until midnight listing them all for you but I will say that I love a bride who chooses a black colour scheme (so different) and 17 bridesmaids dressed in black! I also love that the couple chose the same first dance song as Montana’s grandparents had. Her grandparents have been married for 60 years and joined them on the dance floor for the first dance. So special, right?

Montana and Justin certainly know how to throw a party. And throw a club-like Ibiza-style party they did, complete with pyrotechnics, dancers covered in lights, fire flames… THE LOT! Just wait until you see the photos by Eran Beeri and Eyal Gaziel and wedding film by Aleksey Malev.

Oh and I love the array of favours handed out… from selfie sticks to fans to sandals to hip flasks filled with different cocktails that guests could enjoy on their coach ride home. See? I told you this wedding is EVERYTHING!

Montana and Justin, take it away…

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How they met

Montana, the bride: Justin and I met when we were 14 years old. We were in the same class in our first year of high school. We were best friends and over the years it developed into a love story. We dated on and off throughout high school and reconnected again after school when we were 22. The rest is history — we have never looked back!

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Choosing to get married in Israel

We got married at Ronit Farm in Israel. We attended a wedding there a few years ago and I decided then and there that I would get married there. As a South African, it is hard to have a local wedding that is special and different so we thought a destination wedding would be best. And what better place to get married than in Israel!

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A Carolina Herrera bride for a destination Jewish Wedding in a castle at Castello di Vincigliata, Florence, Italy.

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Today’s gorgeous bride first made contact with me back in 2014, when she was looking for supplier recommendations for her destination wedding in Florence. I immediately noticed that her email signature read ‘Head Scientist at playdohlab.tumblr.com‘ and I thought, WOW, I really do have the coolest readers in the universe!

And her wedding does not disappoint. Whilst it isn’t play doh-themed (which I was secretly hoping for!) it’s a delicious destination set in an astonishing castle in Florence, and the crazy thing is, I attended a wedding in the very same venue last summer!

Anna and Chaim enlisted the help of SposiamoVi (one of my much-loved Smashing Suppliers) to plan their big day, and what a great choice they made. Their fabulous wedding included two bridal gowns (a Carolina Herrera and a MaxMara Bridal), lace-adorned Jimmy Choo’s, exquisite Louis Purple tailoring (with some wonderful embroidered personalisation), Chaim’s father officiating the wedding, a brilliant band that included the bride’s uncle, as well as some glorious Tuscan candle favours (Anna says she wanted to create a memory of the wedding through smell), and an unplugged chuppah ceremony — something that I’m a really big fan of. Anna said:

We requested no cameras, smartphones, or iPad use by any of the guest during the chuppah — we wanted everyone to be in the moment. The only people taking pictures and videos were our photographer and videographer.

And what a fabulous pair they were: Edoardo Agresti captured all the stills, and Marco Caputo‘s film is simply a must-see at the end of the post.

A gorgeous couple in fabulous attire having their day their way. Perfect.

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An orthodox Jewish wedding in Florence

Anna, the Bride: My parents actually met in Florence and live there part of the year. I also have a large extended family that lives in Europe, so Florence was convenient destination for many guests. For those that would have to travel, I knew that a long weekend in Florence would be the most irresistible magical getaway.

Originally, I wanted to get married in the Great Synagogue of Florence, as it just takes your breath away, but then we saw Castello di Vincigliata, a castle in the Tuscan hills- how could we not pick it? We contemplated having the chuppah in the synagogue and then transporting guests to the castle, but ultimately we thought the schlep to and from would disrupt the atmosphere. Chaim had his Shabbat Chatan at the synagogue so guests that attended were able to experience the beautiful Sephardi service and architecture.

Jewish Wedding Florence

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A Lazaro bride for a Hollywood-glam Jewish wedding at a private residence in Los Angeles, California, USA

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Every inch of this Los Angeles wedding is oozing old Hollywood style glamour from the private residence near Malibu where it was held (that only hosts one wedding per year!) to the bride’s incredible one-of-a-kind Lazaro gown.

Positioned on a top of a cliff, with breathtaking views across the beach and the Pacific Ocean, the residence is normally used for filming and photo shoots (I’m talking Rihanna’s cover shoot for Vogue no less) and it’s impossible to imagine a more beautiful or romantic setting for a wedding. The ceremony took place on the beach right by the shore, under a stunning chuppah and one thing’s for sure, if you’re planning a romantic, dreamy beach-y wedding, this post will be taking over your entire Pinterest planning board!

Unusually for a Jewish wedding, the whole event took place on a Saturday, so the ceremony had to take place after sunset. This meant for a an unconventional order of events, with the cocktail reception happening prior to the ceremony. As I always say on Smashing The Glass, it’s your wedding, do it your way — Ali and Duncan certainly did…

Everything about this W Day brings a modern twist to old Hollywood glamour and Marianne Taylor‘s photography captures it all brilliantly — some of these shots could be taken from a glossy magazine! I know you’re going to adore the decor with an abundance of candles everywhere and pretty accents of soft whites, metallics and copper thrown in for good measure…

Without further ado, I give you Ali and Duncan.

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Choosing to get married in Los Angeles by the ocean…

Ali, the Bride: We chose to get married in a private home in the Huntington Palisades in Santa Monica because what is a California wedding if you are not near the ocean! We chose this house because we felt it was the quintessential Los Angeles wedding venue. We wanted to be married on or over looking the ocean and this house gave us that old Hollywood feel while also being on the water.

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