Jewish Vintage Weddings Archives - Smashing the Glass

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!

How we met

Alexandra, the bride: Nicholas and I met online through Match.com.
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A Jewish Outdoor Destination Wedding With a Groom in Suit Shorts at Suikerbossie, Cape Town, South Africa

10/07/2017 by Karen

Strap in, folks, because we’re about to jet off to Cape Town for an all-inclusive trip to Barbora and Adam’s divine destination wedding.

Chosen for its stunning outdoor offering, the pair tied the knot in a boho-casual Jewish ceremony at gorgeous Suikerbossie, Hout Bay, Cape Town. The laid-back style was set by groom, Adam, who fulfilled his dream of wearing suit shorts – we do love a groom in suit shorts!

Adam and Barbora proved that nothing is a disaster. From a bridal dress swap, just a fortnight before the wedding, to bridesmaids’ dress dramas, nothing kept these two from their dream day.

A wedding photo booth is always an amazing thing to have, but we’re particularly enamoured with the cute caravan exterior – what an utterly steal-able idea.

The day was full of fun, heart and personality – by the end of the party, even grandma was out of her wheelchair and swearing enthusiastically into the microphone, singing along to old-school music. What a sight that must have been to behold!

Massive props to Paul Toeman Photographers, for capturing such a big, beautiful production so beautifully and sensitively, and stay tuned for groom Adam’s brilliant and entertaining writeup of his big day with his beloved Babs. Over to Adam!

An outdoor experience

Adam, the groom: We got married at Suikerbossie, which is a wedding venue in Hout Bay, Cape Town. We loved this venue, mainly because of the location, and our plan was to try and create an outdoor experience, so this place was perfect.

The garden also had a really cool swing that Babs fell in love with from the moment she saw it! On top of that, the venue offer a Kosher menu, and also played a big role in the on-site management of all suppliers.

Urban Jew-ish wedding with an Anna Campbell bride at Shoreditch Studios in East London

24/04/2017 by Karen

Creative couples – listen up! Today’s real Jewish wedding is a detail-heavy big day that you’re going to want to absolutely devour.

Lucy and Michael wanted every element of their big day to be 100% ‘them’, and they achieved it by the truckload. Every detail of their urban, Shoreditch celebration was personalised to perfection, from the flowers to the favours (make sure you keep reading to the end for the story of the Tequila Sunday tattoo favours – an absolute hoot). All of the quirky, homemade décor choices were captured by the highly rated Miki Photography, who the couple simply raved about.

There are so many brilliant ideas to borrow from this fun-loving pair, including a GIF machine!! A GIF MACHINE!! (Note to selves, do not let the Smashing Team anywhere near a GIF machine, we may never emerge and have to live in GIFland for all eternity).

Beautiful bride, Lucy, looked outstandingly amazing in her Anna Campbell gown – a serendipitous bargain find that had just been waiting for her to come along. Her Gatsby-inspired bridesmaids were the perfect accompaniment.

There were also so many moving stories and touches. As Lucy’s father had sadly passed away, he was commemorated with his tallis forming the basis of a simply beautiful Chuppah. So many of Lucy and Michael’s friends and family came together to lend their skills, expertise, love and care to make the day happen – the mark of a truly loved couple.

Lucy describes the day with aplomb, so we’ll pass you over to her now for the full picture. Take it away, Lucy!

How We Met

Lucy, the bride: I do acquisitions for a property company and Michael is an actor. I, however, have only done this for a year, and, before that, was also ‘actorising’ around the place. We met doing corporate kids’ parties for big banks for their Christmas season. A very strange experience, but we became very close friends (we both fancied each other but was convinced the other one didn’t) and, after a month or so of this, gave into the feelings and the rest is history!

A rustic, horse farm Jewish wedding with an Enzoani bride at The Stables at Fox Crossing, Cochranville, Pennsylvania, USA

14/04/2017 by Karen

Happy Friday, everybody! To celebrate, we’re treating you to the ultimate authentic rustic American wedding.

In typical ‘Smashing The Glass’ style, Sara and Justin didn’t want a cookie-cutter wedding and chose a blank canvas venue (a working horse farm) and filled it with stunning chandeliers, decadent décor and so much love. The juxtaposition of a colourful, yet vintage-looking chuppah against the rustic dark wood of the barn is truly a sight to behold.

Their Jewish wedding was captured in all its glory by photographer Gary Nevitt, including the bride’s epic cowboy (girl) boots – we have serious boot envy over here – and the stunning floral and mossy details, put together by Tonia of Aribella Events.

It also always strikes us how many Jewish weddings are filled with precious family heirlooms passed down through the generations. Sara and Justin’s wedding was no exception, with beautiful relics that even survived the Holocaust. This solemn tribute to our collective history can seem odd to some, but it says so much about the Jewish soul – the ability to commemorate our difficult past in a way that somehow makes the celebration feel all the more necessary in the present.

Over to Sara for the full story on her and Justin’s special day.

How we met

Sara, the bride: Justin and I met through a mutual friend, Jill. We were the only two Jewish friends she had, so she figured we would be a good fit! I was in graduate school at Syracuse University for broadcast journalism and Justin was a sports reporter an hour away at a small station. Jill was my classmate and interned at Justin’s TV station on the weekends.

Justin and I hit it off immediately and the rest is history! We were long distance for a while, and would meet halfway in Scranton, Pennsylvania on the weekends. We would stay at a local Hampton Inn and go see the Tommy Guns Band play music. Hampton Hotels corporate got wind of our story and featured us in a promotional video, in which we also got engaged! Tommy Guns Band wrote us our wedding song and played it at our engagement.

A rustic farm venue

We were married at a working horse farm in Cochranville, Pennsylvania called The Stables at Fox Crossing. Justin, my husband, and I dreamed of having a horse farm wedding, but every rustic wedding venue we visited seemed extremely commercial and like a “wedding factory.”

We wanted a space that was truly unique. We wanted guests to feel as if they were attending a wedding at someone’s personal residence, not at a commercial banquet facility. Our wedding planner, Tonia of Aribella Events, found this farm for us, and the owners generously allowed us to use it as our venue.

A Jew-ish Industrial Vintage same-sex wedding with a Lyn Ashworth gown at St Pancras Renaissance, London

16/01/2017 by Karen

Tissues at the ready, folks, because I guarantee that you won’t make it through this gorgeous lesbian Jew-ish wedding without welling up – especially if you watch the tear-jerker of a wedding video at the bottom of this post, artfully and sensitively shot by Love Storage.

Charlotte and Ellie wanted a dramatic and industrial meets romantic, dark florals-vibe for their big day, and they found the perfect venue in the iconic St Pancras Renaissance Hotel in London. The story of the day was expertly captured by fantastic photographer, Dale Weeks.

We simply adore the moody aesthetic and jewel-toned theme; Charlotte and Ellie’s vintage-industrial look made their whole day so quirky and unique, but still so chic and stunning.

The attention to detail from artistic bride Ellie was simply phenomenal. Each item was carefully and lovingly picked with the theme in mind: the home-designed invitations, the rust-coloured chairs, the Victoriana table decorations and whole flower stems strewn down the aisle. The style extended to the brides’ outfits, which were simply beautiful and perfectly in keeping with the tone and theme of the wedding.

We love the birch pole Chuppah, complete with Charlotte’s grandfather’s tallit, and that the start of the Jewish ceremony was signaled with one of our all-time favourite wedding songs, Sunrise Sunset. Could there be a more perfect or sincere way to conduct a Jewish ceremony?

Over to Charlotte and Ellie to fill us in on all the details from their divine wedding day.

When you know, you know

Charlotte: Ellie and I met online. There was no woo-ing and no long conversations. Ellie sent me a message saying “Shall we go for a drink then?” and when I agreed she informed me that I had to choose the location.

I chose The Bridge in Hoxton and we met outside Hoxton station that Saturday afternoon because we both already had evening plans.

We sat side by side in the boudoir-like surroundings, drinking coffee and chatting for hours. It felt very natural from the start, like we’d known each other for years. It didn’t take long before we were spending every spare day together!