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Home > Real Jewish Weddings > Outdoor > Page 88

A bohemian Jewish wedding bringing the outdoors inside at Lourensford Wine Estate, Cape Town, South Africa

27/03/2017 by Karen

Jewish-Wedding-South-Africa
Today’s stunner of a real wedding comes all the way from Cape Town, South Africa, and is, unbelievably, only our second STG South African real wedding. Needless to say, if this is the level of wedding pretty coming from that part of the world, then we’d definitely like to see a lot more, please!

When presented with a chuppah this breathtaking, it seems ludicrous not to talk about it first, and, frankly, this divine design deserves all the positive adjectives. Decadently draped in fresh flowers, it’s so astounding that you’d be forgiven for almost failing to notice the awe-inspiring mountainous backdrop of Gavin and Kelly’s Jewish ceremony.

Beautiful bride, Kelly, looked a million bucks in her sublime custom-made, boho-inspired dress, flanked by no fewer than 12 bridesmaids.

With a natural ethos in mind, Kelly’s brief for wedding planner, Veronica, from Petals Group, was to bring the outdoors inside, which Veronica managed with aplomb.

The day was immortalised in images by much-sought-after photographer, Shanna Jones who did such a phenomenal job that she earned one of the most passionate reviews of a supplier we’ve published on these pages. We can certainly see what all the fuss is about — just look at this spread, a picture of perfection.

We’ll pass you over to Kelly’s capable hands to tell you more about her and Gavin’s ethereal and whimsical wedding day.

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An idyllic Cape Town venue

Kelly, the bride: We got married at Lourensford Wine Estate in Somerset West, Cape Town. Gavin is originally from Cape Town, which really is one of the most beautiful places in the world, so we decided to look at venues there. We loved the relaxed and informal, homey feel of Lourensford and we knew we wanted to get married there from the second we viewed it.

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Bringing the outdoors inside

We knew what we wanted from the beginning. We wanted a very earthy, natural boho look and feel. We wanted it to be understated and nothing over the top. We knew we wanted flowers, but, more so, we wanted greenery. If we could have done the whole wedding outside we would have, but with Cape Town weather being temperamental it wasn’t worth the risk, so we wanted to try bring outside inside. We used, Veronica, from Petals Group. She was outstanding and we could not have done a thing without her. She really guided us throughout the process.

Overall, what we really wanted was our wedding not to be a big show. We wanted it to be small, intimate and authentic and really just to celebrate our love. Every part of my day felt sincere and genuine and all the love and care for me and Gavin was so present. I think people felt that sincerity, and enjoyed the evening because of it. That’s what made it special to me.Continue ReadingContinue Reading

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A spiritual Jewish wedding with an epic boat journey at Natural Bridge State Park in Slade, Kentucky, USA

24/03/2017 by Karen

Madeline-Alex
Madeline and Alex met through their shared Jewish faith and, after a long friendship, their romance began followed by a beautifully planned literary proposal.

As a wedding planner, bride Madeline had a real head start and the couple had no problems planning their perfect day. From the breathtaking location with its stunning autumnal colours to the grand entrance made by groom Alex on the couple’s boat, affectionately dubbed the ‘Oar Vey’.

Their ‘book of love’ theme was captured by photographer Ben Keeling and incorporated a plethora of literary and library-related details, to celebrate the couple’s shared love of reading and, of course, their unique proposal.

We adore the idea of having themed ID badges to help the wedding party stand out so that people knew where to direct their questions — that’s definitely an idea to steal, especially for festival-themed celebrations!

We’re also totally in love with incredible Smashing Supplier, Ink With Intent’s beautifully crafted Ketubah and the couple’s ‘Tree of Life’ Chuppah, onto which they sewed personal materials, packed with meaning and memories.

Madeline and Alex wrote a beautifully eloquent account of their wedding planning journey, so we’ll hand over to them to tell you all about it! Enjoy!

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How we met

Madeline and Alex, the bride and groom: Alex sat on the interview panel when Madeline applied as choir director at our synagogue. He rolled his eyes and asked snide questions, showed up late for the first rehearsal, and convinced Madeline that he hated her. However, we quickly formed an unconditional friendship. Four years later, in an ironic twist, the friendship went on hiatus when Alex thought Madeline hated him. Convinced Alex was angry with her, Madeline avoided temple for the next two years.

Alex finally called on 25 September, 2015 to let Madeline know a mutual friend had suddenly passed away. He didn’t expect her to answer, and she nearly didn’t. During the brief conversation, she felt prompted to ask him to meet. He told her to call back in an hour, after Erev Shabbat services. She drove to temple and stood in the sukkah as a cold rain began to fall. Alex stood next to her with his arms crossed as she apologised for ending their friendship. He brushed the apology aside, then gave the greatest impromptu, heartfelt speech a man has ever made.

“I had to stop looking for you. I wanted you to be there. I wanted you to be there so bad, and you weren’t. So I had to put it away. I had to put all that in a box, and put it up on the shelf, and close the door. Because I couldn’t keep looking for you anymore.”

After a few minutes of uncertain conversation, we parted. Alex’s final words were, “Call me every five minutes.” Four months later, on a trip to meet her mother in Washington, DC, Alex visited the Library of Congress with Madeline. Having made almost a full circle of the mezzanine, he stopped her in her tracks.

“This is the place for questions, right?” he asked.

“No,” she replied, “This is a library. It’s a place for answers.”Continue ReadingContinue Reading

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A fun festival Masorti Jewish wedding with a bride in an Alice Temperley dress at South Farm, Hertfordshire, UK

27/01/2017 by Karen

rustic-Jewish-wedding-South-Farm
Every now and then, one of those real weddings lands in the STG inbox that just genuinely looks like so much fun that we wish we would have been invited too!

Between the vintage funfair games, pink flamingos, glamping, bouncy castle, ice cream truck (in that order, we hope) and photobooth, as well as providing a crà¨che for their friends’ kids, this conscientious couple could not have put more effort into keeping their guests entertained.

Charlotte and Dan’s fun-filled, laid-back, festival-style wedding took place at South Farm in Royston, Hertfordshire and was shot by photographer Kristian Leven.

Bride, Charlotte, wowed with fresh flowers in her hair and an an Alice Temperley dress fit for a boho bride (and for a quick go on the bouncy castle!).

Charlotte and Dan didn’t let the disappointment of their outdoor ceremony being rained off spoil their big day. Instead, they ran with their plan B, moving the ceremony to the barn. Forget crying babies, this couple had to contend with oinking pigs and crowing cockerels, making their Masorti ceremony all the more interesting.

Equality was also an important factor in the planning of the day. The Masorti ceremony was chosen due to its inclusivity and Charlotte delivered a speech, as did her close, female friends. Who runs the world?

In true festival style, the party went on until the early hours — a roaring success all round. Let’s hand over to Charlotte to tell us more about her and Dan’s special day.

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How we met

Charlotte, the bride: Dan is my big brother Paul’s best friend. Naughty naughty…

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A quirky, outdoorsy venue at South Farm in Royston, UK

We chose to get married at South Farm in Royston due to its laid-back style and country feel. It was the only venue we looked at because we knew exactly what we wanted. We aren’t into fussy formal weddings and we wanted everyone to feel relaxed and happy.

The venue is quirky yet beautiful and we had free range to personalise it which was really important to us. I grew up in the country and am quite outdoorsy and so wanted the venue to reflect that.

South Farm is not too far from London (50 minutes) but still has that rural feel. We wanted to make the wedding as stress free as possible for everyone especially seeing as were married on a Monday.

Everyone that worked at South Farm was so passionate about the venue, in particular the incredible chef Matt and our beyond amazing event organizer Becky. I could not have asked for more helpful, dedicated and lovely people to help plan the day with.

Continue ReadingContinue Reading

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Yukie & Jason’s Moroccan-themed destination wedding, with three designer dresses, at Caesar Yam, Caesarea, Israel

28/11/2016 by Karen

jewish-wedding-caesar-yam-caesarea-israel
Yukie and Jason’s Moroccan market-themed Israeli destination wedding was an epic, four-part production, thanks to super helpful mother-in-law, Victoria and their incredibly talented planner, Adena at A to Z Events.

Bright colours abound with lavish gold accents, maximalist patterns and oh my goodness, check out that cake! At Smashing the Glass HQ, we’re also loving the drama of those fantastically opulent thrones for the bride and groom (move over Posh and Becks), and these brilliant stylistic choices are matched only by the loveliness of the couple’s story.

For anyone out there who is living the sometimes taxing reality of the old adage, absence makes the heart grow fonder, take heart – this loved-up pair have proved that long-distance relationships can have a truly happy ending. With a groom from New York, a bride from Tokyo, the groom’s parents from Moscow but living in Israel and most of the guests taking their first trip to the Holy Land for the couple’s wedding, this is a love that brought together cultures from all over the world for a truly beautiful celebration.

The ceremony was custom built for Yukie and Jason. While it was important to them to have a ceremony that was “official” according to the religion, with Yukie having recently joined the tribe, they also wanted it to reflect their own feelings and personal connection to Judaism. Some of the personalised details included a reciprocal ketubah, and when the groom smashed the glass, the bride simultaneously smashed a plate. The rabbi composed his speech by asking the bride and groom for three important memories and three reasons they were each other’s one and only — from this, he created an incredibly moving tribute to their relationship.

Oh, and if you’re not already sick with jealousy over Yukie’s amazing Oscar de la Renta gown, she also had two more gorgeous dresses for the evening parties! Feast your eyes on it below, all perfectly captured by photographer Shabi Kedem and Levi Dovid.

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How we met

Yukie, the bride: I am Japanese and spent my entire life in Japan before I met Jason. We met nine years ago in Tokyo while he was on vacation with his brother.

Although at first I thought he wasn’t my type, once we started talking we got along so well that we had a date every day for the week he was in Tokyo. We kept in touch after he left – he called me every day for the next two years.

We visited each other any time we could — he even came to live in Japan for a year. We kept our long-distance love going for for years between Tokyo and New York.

Then, four years ago, I finally decided to move to New York and we started living together.

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Art Deco Jewish wedding in an airport museum and hangar, at the 1940 Air Terminal Museum, Houston, Texas, USA

14/06/2016 by Karen

 Airport-Museum-Wedding
It goes without saying that your choice of venue is one of the most important pieces of your wedding puzzle. I personally love unusual wedding venues so when Elisheva Golani‘s submission dropped into my inbox, and I saw a wedding that took place in an Airplane Museum and hanger, I literally squealed with joy!

And it gets better — one of Talia’s bridesmaids was Balushka of the incredible Balushka Paper Floral Artistry who created an abundance of paper flowers to adorn the chuppah as well as decor for the entire space. Her work is totally and utterly gorgeous, and the paper floristry fills the space brilliantly.

There’s also a blush-coloured wedding gown, a surprise bottle dance choreographed by the groom and his friends, a sparkly confetti canon, and a bride and groom entrance from a vintage airplane to the sound of Rocky’s Theme Tune!

Talia and Barry are one super cool, super creative couple and I cannot wait to show your their W Day. Fasten your seat belts folks!

paper decor flowersAirport Museum Weddingpaper flower decorFiddler on the Roof bottle dance
How we met

Talia, the Bride: Ours is an interesting story – we were first set up 10 years prior to our engagement, by my dad and his tennis partner in 2005. We went on our first date and Barry took me to an Ethiopian restaurant, opened doors, brought me flowers… the whole 9. He was a total gentleman, but alas I was just beginning to explore life as an adult and so was he – needless to say we were both very different people back then. After one date, he called, but I wasn’t interested. Of course, years later, he stuck in my mind as being the kind of guy I needed to date,  we reached out to each other on a few occasions- but we were never able to meet up. Finally, we were able to meet for coffee and we were together ever since… He proposed 10 years to the day of our first date- we even went to that same Ethiopian Restaurant! (good thing about engineers is that they keep EVERYTHING).

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