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A Stella York Bride for a Rom-Com Inspired Jewish Wedding at Chiswick House & Gardens, London, UK

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A rom-com inspired Jewish wedding?! Um, yes please! We love that today’s bride, Lucy, planned her wedding to groom Joel with inspiration from the romantic comedies she grew up on. In her words, “I always wanted my wedding day to give me and my guests that warm feeling inside I got from watching them as a little girl” – and we think she nailed it!

From the dreamy garden setting at London’s Chiswick House & Gardens to the fabulous chuppah from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor The Happy Chuppah People to Lucy’s princess gown by Stella York to the wonderful music by Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Ambassador Band that kept guests on the dancefloor (including to two sings from The Parent Trap, one of the bride’s favorite films!), this day was picture perfect from start to finish.

And speaking of pictures – the photos by Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Kate Swerdlow Photography were pretty darn perfect too! Lucy and Joel wanted someone who could capture authentic moments throughout the day, and Kate fit the bill perfectly. Kate also made them feel comfortable on the day – something that’s so important to factor in when choosing a photographer!

Now over to Lucy…

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How We Met

Lucy, the bride: I am an Account Manager in Influencer Marketing and Joel is a Sales Director. We met on a dating app called Hinge in 2019 and met shortly after 3 days later. I immediately knew Joel was the one. We instantly clicked and it was a feeling I had never had with anyone before. We spent loads of time together before being intensely locked down during Covid. This only served to bring us closer together. We already wanted to spend every single day together and when Covid struck it meant we could and without external distractions. 

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A Galia Lahav Bride for a Luxe Disney-Inspired Jewish Wedding at Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel, California, USA

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Aliza & Nathan, Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel, California, USA

This isn’t the first Disney-themed Jewish wedding we’ve seen, but we’re pretty sure it’s the one with the most wow factor! Aliza, a freelance Casting Associate Producer who’s worked on shows such as Love is Blind and Married at First Sight, and Nathan, a stay-at-home-husband with a background in the non-profit world, are big Disney fans, and they knew from the start they wanted their big day at Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel to feel like a magical fairy tale come true.

And did it ever! The pair dreamt up an elegant-yet-whimsical enchanted forest wedding featuring a Mickey head made of rose petals, a real-life Cinderella carriage, and mango sorbet served in “Glass Slippers” carved out of ice!

To make their magic mirror meets “through the looking glass” motif a reality, Aliza and Nathan hunted for rare collectable Disney figurines and memorabilia to incorporate into their centerpieces and spent countless sleepless nights DIYing favors and decorations. All their hard work paid off big time – you don’t want to miss a single stunning detail in the luscious images by Michael Anthony Photography and cinematic video by Custom Made Productions.

Naturally, when it came to Aliza and Nathan’s ketubah only the best would do. And so they turned to Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Rachelle Tchiprout of The Delicate Brush, who crafted a custom watercolor creation featuring flowers and ivy to match the couple’s wedding décor. Rachelle worked closely with Aliza and Nathan to bring their vision to life, and they were totally bowled over by the results!

This mega-luxe wedding is chock full of details, but we’ll turn you over to Aliza – who looked simply ravishing in of Galia Lahav – to fill you in on the rest…

Aliza & Nathan, Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel, California, USAAliza & Nathan, Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel, California, USAAliza & Nathan, Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel, California, USAAliza & Nathan, Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel, California, USA
How We Met

Aliza, the bride: In 2014, we matched on JSWipe, bonding over having several unlikely and random mutual friends. After exchanging long messages about everything from music and tech to travel and languages, we had our first date at the Santa Monica promenade, which lasted 12 hours! I left that date knowing that I had just met “The One.” We went on to have our second date at Disneyland, which, as a hopeless romantic, was a dream come true. Admittedly, our relationship wasn’t always smooth sailing.

As we each navigated our early twenties and found ourselves living in different places, we dated on and off for a few years. It wasn’t until 2017 that we reconnected once and for all at a Shabbat dinner & the rest was history! In 2019, Nathan proposed to me in front of Sleeping Beauty’s Castle, making our engagement extra magical. My engagement ring features a hand cut diamond from the early 1910’s. Nathan worked with Steve from Korshak Diamond Corporation to custom design both my engagement ring and my diamond wedding band!

Full of excitement and imagination, we began planning for a July 5, 2020 wedding, We chose July 5th as our wedding date because it was the day after Nathan’s grandparents’ wedding anniversary – July 4th. At the time of our choice, they had been married for 65 years and we felt it would be good luck! (They made it to 68 years, before Nathan’s grandma sadly passed away in January 2023.) When the pandemic hit in early 2020, we were left with no choice but to postpone our celebration.

While a party can wait, we felt that we didn’t want to put our love story on hold, so we decided to still get married as planned on our original date in a beautiful intimate ceremony in my parents backyard in Boca Raton, FL. What we lost by having to postpone also afforded us an extra year to fully bring our dream wedding celebration to life. We spent the months leading up to, what would now be our July 4th, 2021 “vow-renewal” and belated reception, planning out every unique detail!Continue ReadingContinue Reading

A Mia Pava Bride for an Ultra-Personal Family-Focused Jewish Wedding at Tur Sinai, Jerusalem, Israel

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We love it when a couple has their Jewish wedding, their way… and that’s exactly what today’s couple did! Laura, a photographer, and Ray, a public health consultant, made it their top priority to craft a wedding that was “so incredibly us,” and they put their own stamp on everything from the color scheme to the vibe, the music to the souvenirs.

Laura and Ray even designed the invitation themselves, along with matching programs and seating cards! And when it came to the ketubah, they opted for a gorgeous design by Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor The Delicate Brush.

Laura is a mother of six mostly grown kids, and it was important to her that they all had major roles in the wedding ceremony. Two of the kids were the emcees, Laura’s oldest daughter was her attendant, two kids sang Laura down the aisle, and her youngest daughter was her maid of honor – so special!

Given that Laura herself is a professional photographer, she naturally wanted only the best when it came to photographing her wedding – and so she opted for none other than Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Herschel Gutman! His images of the day are so full of emotion and love, we can’t stop scrolling through them.

Read on for more fabulous details of the day in the couple’s own words…

 

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How We Met

Once upon a time there was Ray, a public health professional living in the US with no plans to move anywhere. And there was Laura, a divorcee, mom of 6, living in a settlement in Israel. Their mutual friend, Shoshanna, came up with the crazy idea that these two people should date each other. She told them. They were unimpressed… And did nothing about it at the time.

When Covid took Laura’s dad summer of 2020, just a few months after it took Ray’s dad, Ray reached out to Laura via Facebook messenger with a really kind message and even followed up a few weeks later to see how she was. Laura was impressed. With the ice broken they began speaking occasionally via Facebook messenger. Laura was charmed by Ray’s unique sense of humor and skill at SongPop. Ray was astounded by Laura’s seemingly endless cocktail concoctions and her ability to stay up later than God…

Their conversations grew more frequent and deeper and by October they were messaging daily, and starting to add phone calls and FaceTime as well. And yet, they had never met in real life. Because of covid, they could not even entertain the idea of travel for months. Finally, in April 2021, Laura flew to the US and they met for the first time at the airport when Ray came to pick her up. That first date lasted 11 hours and started two weeks of what they dubbed ‘concentrated craziness’.

Since then Ray and Laura have been back and forth to Israel and the US numerous times, documenting it all with a steady stream of photos. They even managed to meet in ‘neutral territory’ with a trip to Switzerland. Finally, on July 8, 2022, on a bluff overlooking the Sea of Galilee, and over a glass of cabernet, Ray proposed to Laura and the rest is history 🙂 (Meanwhile, there’s no doubt that their dads have met up in heaven and are kvelling together over this beautiful turn of events…)Continue ReadingContinue Reading

An Intimate Farm-to-Table Jewish Wedding with Pacific Northwest Vibes at Christianson’s Nursery, La Conner, Washington, USA

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When Isabel, who’s completing her PHD in clinical psychology, and Kyle, who works in tech, set out to plan their Jewish wedding, they knew they wanted to focus on keeping things local. Taking their inspiration from the glorious Pacific Northwest surroundings of the bride’s hometown, the duo planned a local, natural, intimate farm-to-table Jewish wedding, and we are all about it!

Christianson’s Nursery in La Conner, Washington, was the perfect setting for the day, which featured tones of cream, green, and terracotta for a smoky late summer Pacific Northwest wedding vibe. They opted for natural flowers to complement the nursery setting – and incorporated lots of the nursery’s own potted plants into the décor, including potted herbs in terracotta pots as table centers!

Photographer Madison Bay and videographer Kyle Olthoff were the perfect fit for the natural feel of the day – read on for the full story in Isabel’s own words!

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How We Met

Isabel, the bride: We met on Tinder many years back! It was unexpected but we clicked instantly and the rest is history. Continue ReadingContinue Reading

A Grace Loves Lace Bride for a California Cool Jewish Wedding with a Touch of Hollywood Glam at Spencer’s Restaurant, Palm Springs, California, USA

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Ashleigh and Brett, Spencer’s Restaurant, Palm Springs, California, USA

It’s always fun seeing the choices wedding pros make when it comes to planning their own big day. So naturally we were pleased when the Jewish wedding of Ashleigh, who works in finance by day and is a wedding coordinator by night, and Brett, a lawyer, crossed our path!

Floridians Ashleigh and Brett decided to make it official across the country in Palm Springs – partly because, well, it’s gorgeous, and partly as a tribute to the bride’s beloved late grandmother, who adored the desert.

The couple decided to go all in and embrace the vibe of Palm Springs in crafting their day, and we are here for it! Ashleigh says she wanted her day to feel like “an upbeat Lana Del Rey music video,” and does it ever! With touches of Old Hollywood glamour and pops of bright color, this was one stylish day – don’t miss it in the wonderful photos by Anchored Photographs and video from Lady Mouse Productions!

There’s so much more to say – like, how fun is it that Ashleigh and Brett served mini latkes as one of their appetizers during cocktail hour?! – but we’ll let the bride fill you in on the rest…

 

Ashleigh and Brett, Spencer’s Restaurant, Palm Springs, California, USAAshleigh and Brett, Spencer’s Restaurant, Palm Springs, California, USAHow we Met

Ashleigh, the bride: We met at the University of Central Florida in 2016. Brett had recently returned back to Orlando after serving as a lone soldier in the IDF, and I had just finished a summer abroad program in Tel Aviv. Our mutual love for Israel was an immediate part of our connection. We met a few times but didn’t have each other’s phone numbers–so I downloaded J-Swipe so that I could easily find him and chat! The rest is history! Continue ReadingContinue Reading