Jewish Vintage Weddings Archives - Smashing the Glass

An Eliza Jane Howell Bride for a Summer Garden Party Jewish Wedding at Southend and Westcliff Hebrew Congregation and Rankins Cricket Club, UK

15/09/2023 by Karen Cinnamon

We could not be more delighted to be featuring the gorgeous Jewish wedding of Smashing The Glass Brides Club member Chloe to groom Eli! They crafted the most gorgeous summer garden party celebration – and did it all while Chloe moved halfway across the world from Singapore back to the couple’s shared hometown of Southend in the UK!

They followed their ceremony at Southend and Westcliff Hebrew Congregation, where both families have deep roots, with the most fabulous garden party reception at Rankins Cricket Club, featuring colorful florals, lush green foliage, tons of paper lanterns, and delectable kosher-style cuisine by Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Adam Nathan Catering.

The day was captured so exquisitely by Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Liam Collard Photography. Chloe and Eli wanted a photographer who could capture all the fun, love, and energy of their big day, and did Liam ever deliver!

We’ll let the bride – who looked so glam in her vintage-style beaded gown by Eliza Jane Howell – fill you in on the rest…

How We Met

Chloe, the bride: I’d been living in Singapore since 2012 and was back in the UK for my cousin’s wedding, my first visit for 2 years thanks to Covid. Montine, Eli’s younger sister, slid into my sister, Fiona’s, Instagram DM’s to see if I’d be interested in going on a date with her eldest brother. I was hesitant at first because I wasn’t living in the same country, but you can’t expect different results from doing the same things, so I took the plunge and responded back with my number to Montine.

Right from the start, I knew Eli was different, his opening text was a great one, a massive attention grabber and so we planned our first date, then another…and on our 3rd date, Eli asked when I was moving home. At the time I felt it was a bit presumptuous, but after 15 months of flying between Singapore and Westcliff, I was making my final descent into Heathrow to start our new life together. On a visit home last summer, 2022, Eli booked us a short getaway to the Isle of Skye.

We spent a wonderful few days foraging, dolphin and puffin spotting, sampling some delicious Scottish fare and generally getting to know each other. On our second to last morning, whilst getting ready for a rainy stroll, he stubbed his toe on the bed, and fell to his knees. The next thing I knew he rummaged in his pocket and whipped out the most gorgeous ring, and before he could even finish proposing, it was a massive YES from me!Continue Reading

Ethereal Garden Vibes for an Afternoon Tea Same Sex Jewish Wedding at Fowler House Mansion in Lafayette, Indiana, USA

15/08/2022 by Karen Cinnamon

This gorgeous Jewish wedding is a very special landmark for us: it’s the very first we’ve published featuring not one but two members of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club!

Both Eliza, a graduate student in Purdue University’s Rhetoric and Composition program, and Jean, a data analyst at an e-commerce marketing tech start-up, were beloved members of the Brides Club community, and we’re so glad to hear their kind words about how helpful and supportive they found the group as they planned their afternoon tea wedding.

We’re in love with the sweet vintage vibes of their day – don’t miss the wonderful photos by Jasmine Norris Photography – featuring lovely touches from a five-course French-style tea, a chuppah built by Jean’s dad, fun loose-leaf tea favors for guests to take home, and a colorful folk art-inspired ketubah by Celia Lemonik, purchased through Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor ketubah.com. Eliza and Jean especially loved ketubah.com’s wonderful options for personalizing the text and making it egalitarian and gender-neutral.

There’s so much more to say about this very special Jewish wedding – but we’ll turn you over to the brides to hear the rest…

How we Met

Eliza: We met at a bar in Indianapolis (while Jean was on a date with someone else!).Continue Reading

An Anna Maier Bride for a NOLA-Meets-Texas Interfaith Jewish Wedding at Race & Religious, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

09/09/2019 by Karen Cinnamon

There are few cities more atmospheric than New Orleans, the city that bride Jordan, the executive director of Bayou City Waterkeeper, a Houston-based environmental nonprofit that works to protect and restore the waters around the region, lived in for nearly a decade and calls her “heart home.” She moved back to her home state of Texas to be with groom Kent, the owner and manager of Whitener Ranch, one of the oldest continuously family-owned ranches in Texas, but always new she’d want to marry in NOLA.

The couple merged their love of New Orleans and their Texas roots in their breathtaking interfaith Jewish wedding at the breathtakingly eclectic Race + Religious, a breathtaking, eclectic New Orleans venue. They went for a full-on old world vibe, full of deep gem tones of burgundy, gold, indigo, and purple, lush greenery, old wood, and candle light.

Guests entered the venue through a magically wild gate, covered in vines and foliage, the couple’s atmospheric chuppah in deep autumnal shades is one for the books, and the couple’s beautiful ketubah by Enya Keshet for Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Ketubah.com featured exquisite papercut menorahs and detailed artistry illustrating verses from the Song of Songs. An eight-piece brass band, New Orleans jazz, Creole food, sparklers, rounded out this memorable day – we’re obsessed with the gorgeous photos from Heather Schneider of Dark Roux Photography.

There’s so much more to say, but we’ll let the bride, who looked stunning in Anna Maier Couture, tell you the rest…

How we met

Jordan and Kent, the bride and the groom: Jordan and Kent met in Austin, Texas in 2014 after literally running into one another at a downtown bar. After exchanging playful remarks, they realized they had a lot in common. Despite living a whole state away for a year – Jordan living in New Orleans and Kent in Austin – they started dating. Fortunately, Jordan traveled to Austin often for work, and Kent had no problem visiting New Orleans. In 2015, Jordan made the move to Austin and the rest is history!

A Vintage Bride with an Heirloom Gown for an Outdoor Wedding at Wente Vineyards, Livermore, CA, USA

13/07/2018 by Karen Cinnamon

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Today’s Jewish bride has got one of the most incredible wedding dress stories we’ve encountered yet. Her gorgeous vintage gown was worn not only by her mother, but by her grandmother and aunt too.. I mean WOW!

It’s hard to believe that Alana’s dress dates all the way back to 1949 (!) — but with some modifications, which the dress’s previous wearers kindly permitted, it’s the perfect blend of contemporary and vintage, and just the thing for an outdoor winery wedding. You’ve got to check out all the lovely details in Nightingale Photography’s pics.

Alana, a customer success manager, and Ben, a landscape architect, initially planned on renting their synagogue’s chuppah, but it turned out it was broken and out of commission! This setback turned out to be a blessing in disguise, since it prompted Ben to build one from scratch — and it turned out just tremendously. We love the modern design, and those flowers in the corners? Perfection!

Now over to Alana for the rest of their gorgeous Jewish wedding story…

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How we met

Alana, the bride: We met online on Jdate!

A Henry Roth Bride for a Magical Rock Garden Jewish Wedding at The Mount, Lenox, Massachusetts, USA

24/07/2017 by Karen

Today’s visually arresting real Jewish wedding marries black tie-chic with a quaint, English country garden theme. Using a soft color palette of nudes and greys, and an abundance of sprawling floral arrangements, Alexandra and Nicholas created an absolute vision of wedding pretty.

The Mount, chosen, in part, for its literary history, provided the perfect backdrop for a vintage-inspired, English garden aesthetic. The rock garden, in which the pair exchanged vows, was an idyllic setting for a truly magnificent, flower-heavy chuppah, which genuinely looked like a permanent part of the magical garden.

Beautiful bride, Alexandra, looked simply incredible in her Henry Roth gown and skyscraper Christian Louboutin heels, surrounded by bridesmaids in gorgeous grey.

The brilliant photography you see below was provided Cling&Peck, and the fabulous write up by bride, Alexandra. We hope you love soaking in all of the overwhelmingly stunning details as much as we did!