Outdoor Archives - Smashing the Glass

An Enzoani Bride for a Nature Lovers’ Country Chic Jewish Wedding at Glynwood Farm, New York, USA

17/01/2022 by Karen Cinnamon Leave a Comment

If getting married in the rain is good luck, then how much better to get married in a hurricane?! Yep, today’s couple, Rachel and Mitch, made it official at a gorgeous farm venue in New York’s Hudson Valley in the middle of Hurricane Henri.

Lots of couples would’ve been thrown by the dramatic weather, but – thanks largely to their fabulous team of vendors – Rachel and Mitch took it all in stride. As you’ll see if you scroll through the gorgeous photos from Golden Hour Studios, the day could not have been more perfect, dramatic weather or no!

Rachel and Mitch are huge nature lovers, and their aim for their country chic Jewish wedding was for “the whole wedding to feel like just grew out of the landscape,” with shades of green and white abounding.

The nature vibes extended to the couple’s beautiful custom ketubah, which they knew from the start needed to include trees. After much online searching, when Rachel found Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Tallulah Ketubahs, she knew she’d hit the jackpot. Rachel crafted the most exquisite arboreal ketubah – after getting to know Rachel and Mitch, their love story, and their vision – which now hangs proudly in the couple’s living room!

Now over to the bride, who looked radiant in Blue by Enzoani…

How we Met

Mitch and I met on the dating app Hinge. Our first date was August 22, 2018 in Union Square Park and it was love at first sight! We fell in love that night and the rest was history. Mitch met my whole family a week later and we moved in together 2 months after that. Everyone thought we were crazy but we just knew we were meant to be together. We always knew we were going to get married on August 22, 2021 – 3 years to the day of our first date. Our anniversary!Continue Reading

A Robert Bullock Bride for a Homegrown Jewish Wedding at Crested Hen Farms, High Falls, New York, USA

14/01/2022 by Karen Cinnamon Leave a Comment

We love it when a couple plans a Jewish wedding that’s thoroughly, completely them. Which is exactly what Sarah, a bioethicist for a non-profit advocating for dignity at the end of life, and Joshua, a patient care manager for a specialty pharmacy, did.

They involved friends and family in their day as much as possible, and even their venue, Crested Hen Farms, is located in New York’s Catskills, where the groom grew up. Lots of vendors came from the pair’s own circles: the couple found their photographer, Sloane Dakota, through a friend of a friend, and Joshua grew up with videographer Sam Falconi. It was important to Sarah and Joshua to have an egalitarian ceremony – each circled the other three times, and they did one circle together – and they had special people in their lives bless them with the Sheva Brachot.

We’re especially in love with Sarah and Joshua’s incredible hamsa ketubah, featuring gorgeous stained glass elements and sunset colors, which they worked to design alongside Britt Yudel of Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor BritColors. In Sarah’s words, “Britt was so amazing in how she helped make our vision a reality. Our ketubah very much feels like our hearts living outside of our bodies in the form of original art.”

Now over to Sarah, who looked so elegant in her ivory crepe gown from designer Robert Bullock…

How we Met

Sarah, the bride: We met in New York City at a synagogue named Romemu on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Joshua had been attending Romemu for years, since it was founded in 2006, and Sarah started attending after she moved to the city for graduate school in bioethics, in the fall of 2015. They were both in relationships at the time that Sarah started attending. One day that Fall, Sarah brought a friend from school to shabbat services on Friday night, who elbowed her and said, “Sarah, look at that guy…I want a partner like that.” Joshua doesn’t remember making eye-contact with Sarah, but she remembers it vividly. We didn’t meet until three years later.

We officially greeted each other in that same Friday-night shabbat space at Romemu in June of 2018, with a smile and a big hug. Most everyone else had left the space for the night, and Joshua was slowly packing up his things. Sarah was helping to tidy up in preparation for shabbat services the next morning. When she saw Joshua, they made eye contact again, and she introduced herself: “Hi, I’ve seen you around but I don’t think we’ve actually met. I’m Sarah. Shabbat shalom.” Joshua smiled, introduced himself, and gave her the biggest, warmest hug.

From there, they slowly started to circle in each other’s orbit, joining community potluck meals and striking up a friendship. By the early spring of 2019, Joshua asked Sarah if she wanted to join him at an event by his favorite Israeli Rabbi, Reb Doniel Katz. But Sarah didn’t realize that Reb Katz’ event was a date… until Joshua again asked her to join him at a performance of Freestyle Love Supreme – an improv comedy rap performance led by Hamilton’s creator, Lin-Manuel Miranda – at 10pm on a Monday. They ended up going on fun dates for about a month — like going to the Morgan Museum and eating sushi at Kazu Nori (delicious, highly recommend when you are in Manhattan!) – before they shared their first kiss.

Joshua had always desired a partnership that was rooted in seeing what was possible to create in a relationship instead of what’s lacking. Sarah always yearned for a kindred spirit to share life with and grow old together, surrounded by family and community. Today, there remains an underlying resonance of the importance of Judaism to both Sarah and Joshua. Since the beginning, with Sarah’s “Shabbat Shalom,” everything that encompasses Shabbat and larger Jewish life cycle events creates an underlying foundation in their lives. Shabbat, for example, is an important pause from the working bustle of their life, arriving every week like the steady beat of a metronome.Continue Reading

Two Bevin Dillon Brides for a Laid-Back Jewish Wedding on the Beach at Las Terrazas Resort, Belize

22/11/2021 by Karen Cinnamon

There’s so much to love about the chilled-out beachside Jewish wedding of beautiful brides Ashley, a beloved member of our Smashing Life Jewish community, and Amanda! Obviously the setting was second to none, and we love that the couple’s top priority in planning the day was making sure their 90 guests had a blast.

We’re obsessed with their gorgeous ceremony in the round (held right on the beach, naturally), which lent the proceedings an intimate feel and meant as many guests as possible got a front-row view. Ashley and Amanda walked down separate aisles, meeting in the center under the chuppah – love it!

Ashley and Amanda both work in the fashion industry, so naturally choosing their gowns was serious business. Ultimately, the opted to work with New York-based designer Bevin Dillon to have their dresses custom made – both choosing the same beaded champagne fabric to have two totally different, and totally gorgeous, designs made. Don’t miss them in the wonderful photos by Leonardo Melendez!

We also love the pair’s approach to our favorite Jewish wedding tradition, smashing the glass! Both Ashley and Amanda were apprehensive about trying to break a glass with their heels on the sand, so instead they opted to do the smashing with hammers, festively wrapped in blue ribbon! Other things we can’t get enough of: the couple’s modern marble geometric ketubah from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Ink with Intent, and the fact that the duo opted to highlight Ashley’s late mother’s favorite flowers – bougainvillea and orchids. How beautiful?!

Now over to Ashley…

How we Met

Ashley, the bride: Amanda and I are both in the fashion industry in Los Angeles. At the time we were both sales managers for different fashion brands and they were represented by the same showroom in Atlanta. We were at a fashion trade show in Atlanta and Amanda hit on me with an awkward pickup line that I rebuffed because I was in a relationship, but I was secretly intrigued.

We chatted a bit that night before she had to catch a flight back to LA and then we followed each other on social media. We ran into each other a couple years later at another fashion trade show in Dallas and could no longer ignore the obvious spark that was there. We’ve been inseparable since. Continue Reading

A Pronovias Bride for an Outdoor Jewish Wedding with TWO Ketubahs at Bear Brook Valley, Fredon, New Jersey, USA

08/11/2021 by Karen Cinnamon

Lots of couples find that choosing a beautiful ketubah is one of the most meaningful and fun parts of planning their Jewish wedding. Well, Melanie and Keith enjoyed it so much they did it twice!

Let’s back up a little. Like with so many couples, COVID got in the way of the pair’s initial plans to wed in September 2020. Nevertheless, they decided to make it official on their original date with just immediate family present – and a gorgeous colorful ketubah by Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Nava Shoham – 1800ketubah. Melanie and Keith adored their design so much that when the time came to plan their big celebration in June 2021, they decided to get a second lovely ketubah from Nava to mark the occasion! Don’t miss ketubah #2 in Anthony Ziccardi Studios’ wonderful photos!

And while that’s got to be our favorite story about this awesome Jewish wedding, it’s not the only unique touch. We love that Melanie and Keith wrote and read their own personal vows – heartfelt, but with a touch of humor – and we’re also crazy about their doughnut board exit station! Instead of traditional favors, guests could choose a donut from the wall on their way out, placed in personalized bags as a sweet treat for the trip home. How fun is that?

There’s so much more we could say, but we’ll leave the rest to Melanie, who looked so elegant in Pronovias…

How we Met

Melanie, the bride: We met on a dating app, Coffee Meets Bagel, in September of 2016. At the time, we were both in graduate school in New York City. We now live in Central New York, in the Syracuse area, where we moved for a great opportunity for Keith. Keith is a Podiatric Surgeon and he works in a group practice and I am a Licensed Mental Health Counselor and I work at a middle school. Continue Reading

A Rustic Israeli Jewish Wedding at Ein Yael, Jerusalem, Israel

25/10/2021 by Karen Cinnamon

There’s nothing like a good outdoor Jewish wedding. And we’re especially in love with the one Dana, a graduate student in linguistics at Hebrew University, and Chaim, a lawyer, pulled off – no matter that their initial decision to opt for an open air affair was driven by COVID restrictions.

Luckily, Israel is chock full of stunning outdoor venues – and we’re obsessed with Dana and Chaim’s choice of Ein Yael, a breathtaking archaeological park right next to a forest and packed with Jerusalem stone, history and lots of nature. The rustic, outdoorsy vibe was perfect for their day – aside from a few carefully placed flowers, the pair opted to let the natural beauty speak for itself rather than laying on the décor.

And, as always, we’re totally and completely in love with the couple’s exquisite photos from the amazing Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Herschel Gutman. Herschel is such a popular photographer among STG couples getting married in Israel – and between his incredible talent and calming presence on the day, it’s easy to see why! Don’t miss the couple’s post-wedding Old City photoshoot, either – Herschel got some positively magical shots of the newlyweds wandering around Yemin Moshe at 2 AM!

Now over to the couple…

How we met

Dana, the bride: Her version: A mutual friend

His version: I had just gotten back from a 6+ month trip to South America and wasn’t yet looking for a serious relationship. Finding a new job and getting settled again were priorities for me. But then again, man plans and God laughs…

A friend messaged me with a “random question”, which translates to “are you seeing anyone?” when you’re a single religious guy in Jerusalem between the ages of 23 and still alive.

I told my friend that I wasn’t really looking at the moment, but was happy to hear about her friend and maybe grab drinks. She told me about Dana and I was obviously immediately interested. After a few more messages my friend came back with “I know you’re taking it slow, but don’t drag this out… like she knows you have her number”. Great.

So I called her.

“Ken?! MAH?!” (yeah?! WHAT?!)

“Uh, hi…it’s Chaim. Ariella gave me your number….?”

“Oh, uh, hi!”

Apparently I was tenth in line after nine straight spam calls. Not exactly the smooth start I was looking for, but we then spoke for a good few minutes, had some laughs and I asked her out to drinks. That was almost three years ago, and it was the best intro call I’ve ever made.Continue Reading