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A Nicole Colet Bride for a Festival Jewish Wedding with DIY Touches at Kenwood House Kitchen Garden, London, UK

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We are head over heels for Georgia and Micah’s epic festival London Jewish wedding! Georgia always knew she wanted to have her wedding reception at her grandmother’s house in Hampstead, and she and Micah found the perfect ceremony venue in nearby Kenwood House’s Kitchen Garden.

Having a reception at home is so meaningful, but putting everything together isn’t easy. Luckily, Georgia and Micah found the perfect partner to transform the yard into a dreamy woodland festival ground in Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Arabian Tents.

In Georgia’s words,

Katherine from Arabian Tents was just amazing… I never once heard her say no to anything, nothing was too much trouble, everything was possible. The whole team were so helpful and so creative it was such a relief.

Arabian Tents also provided Georgia and Micah’s chuppah, handled their lighting (which included a bespoke disco ball chandelier!), and even took on on-the-day coordination services. One look at Carine Bea’s luminous photos and we’re pretty sure you’ll be as smitten as we are!

We also love that Georgia and Micah opted to do as much DIY as they could. Micah’s sister Lil handled stationery and wedding favors, while Georgia and her mum took on the dessert station, table decorations, and flowers (including waking up at 3am to go to New Covent Garden flower market!).

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How We Met

Georgia, the bride: We met during Freshers week at Manchester University (at a really awful bar called Baa Bar). We dated briefly but then became really good friends for about 5 or 6 years before we became a couple. We stayed in touch and were very close after uni, I guess it was a case of never having been single at the same time before… when that finally happened it was one of those ‘why aren’t we together’?! sort of realisations.Continue ReadingContinue Reading

A Luminary Bride for a Multicultural Irish-Israeli Jewish Wedding in Chaldika, Greece

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Or-and-Paul-Chaldika-Greece

We love a multicultural Jewish wedding, and today’s is really something special. Bride Or is Israeli, while groom Paul is Irish – so they decided to split the difference by making things official in Greece!

The pair turned to Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Sirtaki Events to help them craft the perfect wedding weekend, combining both their traditions plus the vibrant local culture of Greece. Anat and Yonathan of Sirtaki helped Or and Paul find their dream venue, an intimate hotel by the sea with beautiful grounds and an epic pool that the couple secured for exclusive use through the weekend.

In Or’s words,

Working with Anat and Yonathan from Sirtaki Events was incredible. They immediately understood our vision and the vibe we wanted for our wedding, which significantly simplified the process. Their suggestions perfectly aligned with our tastes, even introducing us to ideas we hadn’t considered.

Anat and Yonathan introduced Or and Paul to their photographer, George from Papacharalampous Photography, and they absolutely adore the way he captured the love, joy, and fun of the day.

There’s so much more to say about this very special day – like, how gorgeous did Or look in her dress from Israeli designer Luminary Studio by Lihi Shamrich Cohen? – but we’ll turn you over to the bride for the rest…

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How We Met

Or, the bride: Paul is Irish and I am Israeli, we met in 2012 while traveling in Thailand! We ended up spending 2 weeks together there exploring the country and another year doing long distance, but at that point we decided to end the relationship as long distance was too difficult. Many years later, we serendipitously met again in Amsterdam.

I was visiting with a friend and Paul was on a work trip in the Ukraine, he wasn’t meant to be in Amsterdam at the time but he got stuck there because of a big storm in Ireland where they had closed Dublin airport. We got reunited and the rest is history.Continue ReadingContinue Reading

An Essense of Australia Bride for The Ultimate Pacific Northwest Jewish Wedding Weekend at The Evergreen PDX, Portland, Oregon, USA

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Allison-and-Dan-The-Evergreen-PDX-Portland-Oregon-USA

Portland transplants Allison and Dan are understandably smitten with their new home – and when it came time to plan their wedding, they wanted to share their love of the Pacific Northwest with their mostly East Coast guest list.

And did they ever! Crafting a full-on wedding weekend capturing both the natural grandeur and urban charm of the area, this Jewish wedding has it all: trees, bold colors, and of course Portland’s trademark quirky character at full strength.

We’re absolutely in love with Allison and Dan’s outdoor chuppah set in a clearing amidst Hoyt Arboretum’s lush evergreens, made of dark, natural wood and adorned with a canopy of greenery and roses in hues of white, soft oranges and corals – don’t miss it in the wonderful images by Kate Holt Photography!

Read on for all the details of this very special day in the bride’s own words!

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How We Met

Allison, the bride: We met for our first date on June 9, 2017. Dan had just moved back to New Jersey from Oklahoma and Allison was living in Philadelphia, PA. Thanks to Jeff and Anna Fineberg (Dan’s brother and sister-in-law), Dan was dog-sitting Josie Beagle. We both swiped right and, after a few conversations, made a date to meet up for iced coffee. After meeting up, we sat on a bench talking outside of the Benjamin Franklin museum for a few hours. A Philadelphia resident came up and asked when the wedding would be; we still need to locate him to let him know he might be in the running for best man! In late 2018, we moved in together in New Jersey and then in January 2020, across the country to Portland, OR with our cat Zoë.

Since moving to Portland, we have braved a pandemic, job changes, a lot of hard work, nearby fires, a few snow storms, and a flood!

Our Engagement Story: Allison’s maternal grandmother (Renée, also known as Grandma Nay) always valued the finer things in life. In fact, Grandma Nay instructed two year old Allison to ask for rubies, diamonds, and pearls when someone asked her what she wanted as a gift even though at that point, Allison was more focused on toys and puppies! Grandma Nay passed away in August of 2020 and Allison was gifted grandma’s engagement ring. While they didn’t have the same style, Allison was excited to use her grandmother’s center stone in her own engagement ring.

Allison grew up knowing that her mother and father had designed their engagement ring, so always envisioned a custom ring in for her own engagement. Instead of leaving anything to chance, when she and Dan began talking about marriage, Allison worked with a jeweler from Philadelphia and was involved in the entire ring design process, making her dream of a custom engagement ring a reality! In addition to Nay’s center stone being a key element in the design, Allison also included baguettes from Grandma Nay’s ring in her wedding band. We were engaged on October 7, 2021, when the ring came in the mail via FedEx. The package was opened and, in the kitchen in our PJs and exercise clothes, the ring was immediately placed on Allison’s finger. And while it wasn’t exactly a cover of a magazine moment, (Dan had just gotten through with a strenuous bike ride) it was the perfect engagement and 100% true to us!Continue ReadingContinue Reading

A Liancarlo Bride for a Jewish Wedding Full of Wildflowers, Tacos, and DIY at The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, Austin, Texas, USA

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Emily and Brant, Wildflower Center, Austin, Texas, USA

It’s always a special day when we get to feature the gorgeous Jewish wedding of one of our Brides Club members – and that goes doubly for today’s bride, who’s been a beloved member of our Smashing Life community for Jewish women for years prior to her engagement to groom Brant.

When the pair got engaged, it was only natural for Emily to join Brides Club, where she couldn’t get enough of the supportive community, inspiration, and helpful resources. In her words,  

The encouragement and support was also invaluable as my mom passed 9yrs ago, and I just didn’t know who to ask about some of the important things. Coping with decisions I would normally ask my mom is also where Karen and her monthly sessions made me feel less alone – I could again, brag or problem solve or just talk weddings. Karen and the other Brides Club members stepped in, in a way, where I was missing my mom. 

Honoring her mom was a big part of Emily’s wedding planning vision – and the couple’s stunning venue, Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin, Texas, was chosen in part because Emily had fond memories of visiting with her mom during her student days at The University of Texas at Austin.

We’ve also got to tell you Emily’s hilarious ketubah story. She won her gorgeous tree ketubah from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Ink with Intent via a Smashing The Glass giveaway – before she was even engaged!

There’s so much more to say about this very special wedding, from Emily’s DIY prowess to the chuppah built by the groom to the taco menu – read on for the full story in her own words, plus the most joyous photos by Caitlin McWeeney Photography…

Emily and Brant, Wildflower Center, Austin, Texas, USA Emily and Brant, Wildflower Center, Austin, Texas, USA Emily and Brant, Wildflower Center, Austin, Texas, USA Emily and Brant, Wildflower Center, Austin, Texas, USA
How We Met

Emily, the bride: I am a professor of health communication and I was working in Tyler, Texas. Brant had moved back to his hometown outside of Tyler (Brownsboro) to take care of his grandparents’ and their home and land. He was working with a company recalibrating gas station pumps at the time. And let me tell you, making friends in East Texas as a single, childless, Jewish 30-something was hard enough. But dating? So, the apps made it a bit easier, especially with a diameter of 100 miles.

But the problem is, I hate notifications: red bubbles, numbers telling me how many unread messages, and so forth. So after work one day, right before heading to Rose City Drafthouse (probably), I attempted to clear all of the notifications on my apps: Mail, Texts, and dating apps. As such, I answered all the “new” messages that had come in and were causing that red bubble to appear. One such message asked me what three movies I would take on a deserted island.

Easy: Remember the Titans, How to Lose a Guy In Ten Days, and apparently I didn’t have a third, so not as easy as I thought. His: Temple of Doom, From Russia with Love, and “maybe Cast Away.” We messaged back and forth about traveling, college, and jobs, this guy, Bobby, asked If I wanted to get dinner that Saturday once he was back in town. The conversation was easy and fun, and his Bumble profile says he’s over 6ft and he sometimes worked out. Sure! But I couldn’t Saturday, because of my friend’s surprise party, but how about Sunday?

As I pulled up to the restaurant (BJ’s Brewhouse, because they have gluten free options he said), I got frantic text messages from a new colleague. I texted Bobby (Brant? Who knows!) to tell him I was in the parking lot but had to take a work call. Only 10min late walking in (he says 30min… in fact every time he tells the story, the time increases), we then spent the next two or more hours talking and having a great time.

Unfortunately, he paid with cash so I couldn’t sneak his last name to stalk him on socials, but I did snag his digits to tell him I got back to Joey, my weenie dog, safely. Although I pretended I wasn’t into dating exclusively, I swept him to Dallas to see Billy Joel, we dressed up for Halloween pretty grandly, picked out pumpkins all basic-like at a pumpkin patch, and he helped me hobble around in my knee high walking boot. I knew by the time I took him to that Texas football game things were different this time.

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A Vera Wang Bride for an Israeli-American Jewish Wedding at Hagiva, Givat Brenner, Israel

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If you can’t get enough of Israeli weddings, we’ve got a treat for you! The fabulous Jewish wedding of Alexa and Nitay, at gorgeous Hagiva, has all the things we love about weddings in Israel: a gorgeous outdoor setting filled with greenery and Jerusalem stone, gorgeous chuppah, Israeli food and music, and, of course, epic party vibes.

Nitay is Israeli, while Alexa is American – and the pair perfectly combined the best of both wedding traditions to make sure everyone felt comfortable and included on the day. They turned to Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Vanessa Ohayon to help bring their vision to life – and did she ever! In Alexa’s words,

Vanessa is a true professional at what she does. When we first met Vanessa, we connected instantly and she understood our vision from the start. Vanessa brings her amazing energy into every detail of any wedding. She had a solution for everything and when there were any hiccups (there are always hiccups), she knew how to bring us down to earth and find the best way to handle them. We couldn’t have done it without her!

We’re also obsessed with the couple’s exquisite photos by Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Tzahi Shemesh. Have a scroll through and we’re pretty sure you’ll agree with Alexa’s assessment:

He made us laugh, feel comfortable, and most importantly, captured our “in the moment” memories. Him and his team were at every angle and made sure to not miss a thing! He is an artist and makes us relive our special day every time we look back at the photos. They’re magnificent!

There are so many more fabulous details to share about this very special wedding – we’ll turn you over to the bride, who looked timelessly elegant in Vera Wang, to fill you in…

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How We Met

Alexa, the bride: Nitay and I both lived in Chicago after college. We had many mutual friends who all met up one night to go out in January 2017. Nitay approached me the second he saw me and made sure he didn’t leave without getting my number! Later that week we went on our first date to a sushi restaurant. The rest is history 🙂Continue ReadingContinue Reading