Outdoor Archives - Smashing the Glass

A Milla Nova Bride for a Multicultural Outdoor Jewish Wedding at Hatzer Netzer in Netser Sereni, Israel

17/08/2018 by Karen Cinnamon Leave a Comment

One of the things we love most here at Smashing the Glass is seeing the ways couples combine their cultures and traditions into their big days. It’s not always easy, whether you’re planning a Jewish wedding or a Jew-ish one, but we see couple after couple pulling it off in their own imitable style.

And today’s pair is no exception. Bronwyn, an occupational therapist and Tal, who is in sales, had two very different sets of traditions to combine: the bride is Ashkenazi and South African, while the groom is Sephardi and Israeli, with roots in India.

It was important to the bride and groom that both the ceremony and the party reflect their respective backgrounds, and we love the clever ways they made sure to give each other’s traditions equal billing on the big day.

During the ceremony, Bronwyn and Tal mixed and matched their favorite elements, holding a Sephardi chuppah with some key Ashkenazi elements: Bronwyn circled Tal seven times, and the duo took some time for themselves in a yichud room after the ceremony. At the reception, the DJ mixed South African beats with Indian tunes – plus some Israeli pop for good measure!

The other thing we adore about this wedding is Bronwyn’s dress: her long-sleeved lace gown by Milla Nova proves you don’t have to show a lot of skin to look dreamy as you walk down the aisle. We can’t get enough of this soft, romantic bridal style, and we love the way Smashing the Glass Recommended Vendor Herschel Gutman captured it – and everything else about this gorgeous day, from the emotion under the chuppah to the wild dancing at the reception (and he’s an amazing guy to boot!)

Bronwyn will fill you in on the rest…

How we met

Bronwyn, the bride: We met via Jswipe. Love at first swipe!

A Berta Bride for an Ultra-Chic Vegan Jewish Wedding at Mamilla Hotel in Jerusalem, Israel

10/08/2018 by Karen Cinnamon Leave a Comment

This Jewish wedding is just SO wonderfully chic. It also happens to be 100% vegan. Sara and Ronen, animal lovers and ethical vegans, planned the whole affair with zero animal products in sight. Everything from the menu to the attire was plant-based through and through.

That’s no easy feat – especially when it comes to finding a fab gown with no silk. But Sara pulled it off and then some. We absolutely adore her sexy, ultra-feminine dress from Berta Bridal (the eponymous designer of which just so happens to be Israeli!). Ronen looks pretty snazzy in his wool-free suit, himself.

Despite the marked absence of meat from the festive meal, venue Mamilla Hotel’s plant-based food service got rave reviews from nearly all the guests – many told the couple afterward it was the best wedding food they’d ever had!

We love that Sara and Ronen weren’t afraid to stay true to themselves and their values on their big day – and love even more that it paid off!

The other awesome thing about this wedding? The view. The rooftop of the stunning Mamilla Hotel, where the couple held their breathtaking ceremony, just happens to overlook Jerusalem’s fabled Old City, and the skyline is just BEYOND.

It doesn’t get much better than this – and the setting was extra meaningful to the couple, since Ronen grew up in Jerusalem. You’ve GOT to check out Ori Carmi‘s dazzling photos and Idan Hershko’s outstanding video of the day.

Now over to Sara…

A Jerusalem Wedding

Sara, the bride: My husband, Ronen, and I got engaged in Tel Aviv, Israel, in May of 2017, but his original plan was to propose at the rooftop restaurant of the Mamilla Hotel in Jerusalem. That plan was foiled by the US president’s visit, and we all had to leave Jerusalem. But once we were engaged, we decided to be married there.

Ronen grew up in Jerusalem and felt it was like coming full circle to be born and then married with the Old City as the backdrop. I had only been to the venue once, in the winter when the roof was enclosed. I did all the planning off of a few photos and a FaceTime walk-through with my boss, who was visiting the winter before our date.

A No Holds Barred DIY Carnival Backyard Jewish Wedding in Los Angeles, California, USA

08/08/2018 by Karen Cinnamon Leave a Comment

We have NEVER seen a wedding like today’s one before. Fact.

Plenty of couples choose themes, and pull them off beautifully, but the level of dedication this couple put into their carnival Jewish wedding is just off the charts. We’re not just talking about a wedding that hints at a fair aesthetic; Talia and Danny actually set up a full-on carnival in the bride’s parents’ backyard. We’re talking a Ferris wheel, games (complete with life-sized stuffed animal prizes!), photo booths, claw machines, a balloon artist and a stilt walker… and that’s just the beginning!

Even more impressive is how much of the work the couple – along with Talia’s family – put in themselves, from artistic details to heavy-duty stuff like wiring. With the help of their multitalented florist, Dawn of Tularosa Flowers – who did so much more than just florals – the pair made their dream into a reality, with everything from the big stuff (that Ferris wheel!) to the smallest details (the floral centerpieces were inside popcorn containers – genius).

It doesn’t hurt that Talia has got to be one of craftiest brides we’ve encountered – so much so that this fall she’s opening an arts and crafts business where people can come and make projects of their own. After seeing the ah-mazing photo props she crafted from cardboard boxes – Zoltar’s head, a popcorn machine, and more – plus her spiffy ticket booths (also crafted from cardboard) we think you’ll agree she’s found her calling.

Photographer Shimmy Lautman and videographer Michael Newman did SUCH a fantastic job capturing all the glorious details (a drone was involved!).

We haven’t even gotten to the carnival cart food, or the Kinder Surprise Egg invitations (yes!) – but we’ll leave it to Talia to tell you the rest.

A Backyard Wedding

Talia, the bride: We got married in my parents’ backyard. It’s the house I grew up in since I was born, and my father also grew up in the house. It meant a lot to me to get married there because it’s where all the milestones of my life happened. From taking my first step, to losing my first tooth, to graduating high school, all of my memories took place there, so it made it extra special to also have my wedding there.

A Romona Keveza Bride for a Glam Multicultural Destination Jewish Wedding at Ronit Farm in Kfar Shmaryahu, Israel

03/08/2018 by Karen Cinnamon Leave a Comment

We’ve blogged a lot of gorgeous multicultural Jew-ish weddings here on STG, from Jewish-Greek to Jewish-Japanese. But every once in a while we’re reminded that even a wedding where both partners were born Jewish can be a merging of cultures in its own right.

Today’s wedding is a prime example. American bride Jillian and Israeli groom Eliad brought their backgrounds together in their bilingual ceremony – most of the bride’s guests spoke only English, while many of the groom’s spoke only Hebrew – and combined the best traditions from their both their cultures to create one stunning day.

Jillian’s side fell in love with the Israeli tradition of guests coming into the chuppah to congratulate the couple following the ceremony, rather than the couple exiting in a procession!

The pair also came up with a few great traditions of their very own. One we think it just genius: they decided to reserve toasts and speeches for the pre-wedding welcome dinner, so that they could get some quality time in with family and friends beforehand and then focus on keeping the party going on the day. Such a smart way to break things up, rather than trying to pack it all into a few hours!

Oh, and did we mention that this wedding was ultra-glam and oh-so-romantic, with twinkly lights aplenty? As if you couldn’t tell from that gorgeous rose chuppah.

Photographer Ronen Boidek and videographer Itzik Elemelich captured everything about the day so exquisitely, from the details to the emotion. Jillian – who looked SO chic in her silk ballgown from Romona Keveza (purchased from Kleinfeld) – will fill you in on the rest.

How we met

Jillian, the bride: We met on JDate in NYC!

A Laid-back, Colorful Jewish Wedding (with two glass smashes!) at High& in Tel Aviv, Israel

27/07/2018 by Karen Cinnamon Leave a Comment

What’s better than smashing the glass at a Jewish wedding? How about smashing TWO glasses? Today’s fab couple, Yael, a travel coordinator, and Kfir, an enterprise manager, had a smash glass each at their free-spirited Tel Aviv wedding. What an awesome way to add some gender equality into the traditional Jewish wedding ceremony – and to double the drama of the big moment!

From start to finish, this Jewish wedding is full of one-of-a-kind touches like that, and we love that Yael and Kfir did so much to combine their tastes and personalities with tradition.

For example, Yael followed tradition and chose to wear white – but she went for a super simple, yet very sexy, dress, rather than an OTT ballgown. And to keep the all-white look from getting too cookie-cutter, she made sure to add in fuchsia shoes and an ultra-colorful flower headpiece in fuschia and violet – as brilliantly captured by photographer Lior Rotstein.

And the double smash glasses weren’t the only unusual thing about the ceremony, either. Yael and Kfir opted not to get married through the Israeli Rabbanut, opting instead for a customized ceremony that embodied their own values while remaining true to Jewish tradition. Our favorite (well, second favorite) bit? Their officiant opened the ceremony with a special speech he wrote based on things the pair had told him about themselves and their relationship. Aww!

Yael will fill you in on the rest…