Real Jewish Weddings Archives - Page 130 of 227 - Smashing the Glass

A Limor Rosen Bride for an Ashkenazi-Yemenite American-Israeli Jewish Wedding at Bayit Al Hayam in Jaffa, Israel

09/11/2018 by Karen Cinnamon

We are totally and completely obsessed with Stacey and Elkana’s GORGEOUS wedding at Bayit Al Hayam. The views of the Mediterranean are just BEYOND, and the Tel Aviv skyscape isn’t too shabby either. That perfect seaside chuppah is totally the stuff our wedding dreams are made of.

But don’t be fooled – even though the aesthetics of this fab day are totally contemporary, this couple packed a ton of tradition into their wedding too. Blending Stacey’s American Ashkenazi background with Elkana’s Israeli Mizrachi heritage was key during planning, and we’re in love with the results: the hora AND traditional Yemenite dances; music from both traditions (in addition to contemporary American and Israeli hits); a traditional (and super moving — don’t miss Roman Balashov’s exquisite photos) Mizrachi badeken in the aisle.

And lest you think good old America traditions were neglected, we love that these two planned a pre-wedding “Cake and Cocktails” night just for the Americans in attendance, featuring American-style wedding speeches, a heartfelt exchange of personal vows by the couple, and, of course, wedding cake! What a great way to incorporate some of these fun traditions that didn’t quite fit into the Israeli style of the wedding itself.

If you’re looking for some tips on how to plan a wedding that reflects you and your spouse-to-be, as well as this wedding reflects Stacey and Elkana, make sure you sign up to our FREE online event: ‘The secrets to an unforgettable Jewish wedding’ with our founder and editor, Karen, happening on Monday November 12. It’s going to be totally unmissable, with some really fantastic a-ha moments!

Okay, now we’ll hand you over to the bride, who could not possibly have looked any cooler in her boho-chic gown by Limor Rosen…

How we met

Stacey, the bride: From our wedding site:

“Elkana will tell you that the moment he met Stacey he knew he was going to marry her. For Stacey it was a love story that fell into place as she was planning to go back to Chicago. But something about Elkana was different, and she fell hard.

Fast forward to countless Euro trips, America adventures, swims in the Mediterranean, walks with Mack, cartons of Ben and Jerry’s, and Elkana got down on one knee to ask Stacey to spend the rest of her life with him.

The answer was easy, of course… this was the fairytale she only dreamed of. Our story is truly one from the books. It’s unique, it’s different, it’s two completely different worlds joining as one! Our wedding is not only a celebration of our commitment to spend the rest of our lives together, it is a time to bring together the most important people to us, in the most incredible city in the world, and share our lives with you and the love we share!”

A Monique Lhuillier Bride for a Jewish Wedding at the Natural History Museum, South Kensington, London, UK

07/11/2018 by Karen Cinnamon

For years, we’ve been dreaming of blogging a Jewish wedding at one of the most spectacular venues in all of London: the majestic Natural History Museum in lovely South Kensington. An absolute masterpiece of Victorian architecture, it doesn’t get much more iconic than this.

And today, our wedding blogger dreams are coming true with the epic wedding of Orly and Zak! Following a ceremony at the New West End Synagogue in Bayswater — no slouch in the architecture department itself — the pair and their guests decamped to the museum’s stunning Hintze Hall — if you’ve been, or seen it in pictures, it’s the main space with the whale skeleton overhanging! HOW awesome is that?! And how cool are the epic action shots from Pascale at Reportage Gallery?

Orly, an OB/GYN, and Zak, who works in property development, rounded out their marvellous day with kosher catering from fabulous STG Recommended Vendor Food Story (the pair are STILL getting compliments on their unique canapà©s, cocktails, and everything else by the amazing Food Story team), and they also benefitted from the ultimate day-of coordination (plus a little assistance wrapping up the last few weeks of planning) from the amazing Georgia of Moriarty Events.

Orly’s princess-perfect Monique Lhuillier gown purchased from much-loved STG Recommended Vendor The Wedding Club (who added the PERFECT lace straps to keep Orly’s shoulders covered for the ceremony).

If that’s not enough to catch your attention, there’s also a super sweet story about the couple’s history with the venue, plus a dramatic Hora incident (don’t worry, though, it all ended well!).

We’ll hand you over to the bride in a moment, but first a quick reminder that our FREE online event, ‘The secrets to an unforgettable Jewish wedding’ with our founder and editor, Karen, is happening next Monday November 12 and spots are filling up FAST! Grab your place now to ensure that your Jewish or Jew-ish wedding is as unforgettable as Orly and Zak’s…

An Iconic Venue

Orly, the bride: We got married at the New West End Synagogue in Bayswater and had our reception in Hintze Hall at the Natural History Museum, South Kensington. The synagogue is really one of the most beautiful in London with such magnificent architecture and such a warm, welcoming community.

The Natural History Museum has always been a really special place for us as a couple — on our very first date I told Zak about a little mistake I had noticed on a poster in the dinosaur exhibition. A few weeks later, unbeknownst to me, Zak had already decided we were going to get engaged and started trying to convince them to give him the poster for when he proposed.

It took him a few years, but eventually the NHM gave him the poster and he surprised me with it during his speech on our wedding day! Now it’s up in our hallway! Hintze Hall is such a stunning space and it was such a privilege to party under Hope the whale in such an iconic London venue!

A Botanical Chic Destination Jewish Wedding with a Flashmob at Gioia Mia in Nashonim, Israel

02/11/2018 by Karen Cinnamon

We first discovered today’s wedding on Instagram when we posted this amazing video… Goosebumps right?

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A post shared by Jewish Wedding Blog (@smashingtheglass) on Sep 24, 2018 at 1:27pm PDT

The gorgeous bride, Kim, got in touch with us and here we are, a month later with the whole wedding on Smashing The Glass (and what a stunning W Day it is!)

We LOVE a good Jewish wedding flashmob. Usually they’re planned by the couple as a surprise to their guests, and that’s pretty cool. But you know what’s even cooler? Guests planning a flashmob as a surprise for the couple!

Kim and John’s best friends managed to stealthily gather all the guests’ emails, and before the big day they emailed one and all a video of a dance they were instructed to learn so they could break it out en masse when Happy by Pharrel Williams came on!

We’re obsessed with all the touching surprises the couple’s family and friends planned for them, and the flashmob is just the tip of the iceberg. There was also a time capsule from the couple’s BFFs, a surprise musical performance by the bride’s family, and a sweet video from the families with recordings of good wishes and humorous remarks to the newlyweds. Awww!

Oh, and did we mention Kim, an Israeli-Swiss trader, and John, a Dropbox salesman from Belgium (they currently live in Ireland — how’s that for international?!), also happened to put on a totally gorgeous day?

Full of natural greenery (including some super cool boho wreaths hanging from the ceiling in the reception space), it’s one of those perfectly, effortlessly elegant Israeli celebrations we can’t get enough of. Photographer Jen Sladkov took the most beautiful, natural pictures, capturing everything from the botanical details to the wild dance party!

If you suspect your family and friends may not be quite so creative as Kim and John’s, you and your spouse-to-be might be left to your own devices when it comes to making your wedding super unique and memorable. But no worries, we’ve got you! Just sign up to our FREE online event: ‘The secrets to an unforgettable Jewish wedding with our founder and editor, Karen, happening on Monday November 12. It’s going to be unmissable!

Okay, now over to Kim, who looked absolutely beautiful in her dress from Emanuel Brides…

How We Met

Kim, the bride: John and I met 7 years ago. I have an aunt who lives in Belgium, and I went to visit my cousin while John was in the Israeli army (he volunteered for one year). It turned out we were in Belgium in the same time, because he had some time off.

We have a friend in common who I was supposed to see, but we had reschedule and it turned out the only day she could see me she’d be with a friend of hers visiting from the army who she couldn’t cancel on. I told her no problem, we could all hang out together. That was John.

We clicked immediately. We spoke on and off for a year. When he finished the army I had a trip planned with friends to Belgium so we agreed to meet (it was January 2013). We met and I came back telling my parents I have a boyfriend.

We dated long-distance for 4 years while he was studying business in Nottingham, and I was studying psychology in Geneva. After 4 years we decided we wanted to move in together and that’s when we ended up in Dublin. He proposed 7 months later, and now we’re married. â˜º

A Vera Wang Bride for a Magical Outdoor Jewish Wedding at The Vineyards in Simi Valley, California, USA

31/10/2018 by Karen Cinnamon

We are absolutely and unequivocally in love with today’s gorgeous outdoor Jewish wedding. The garden chuppah, the California vibes, the perfect summer light… just WOW. Miki and Sonja Photography captured it all SO perfectly, and videographer Stavro Productions made such a moving recording.

But this awesome celebration was about so much more than the magnificent surroundings. Lisa, a therapist who works with Holocaust survivors in addition to running her own concierge practice, FeelingConfidential, and Alexander, a personal injury attorney, also made sure their big day was full of unique personal touches.

For instance, we love how the duo designed their ceremony programs to be folded into fans, so that guests could use them to keep cool during the outdoor ceremony.

And how sweet is it that Lisa recorded herself reciting a blessing, and then arranged to have it played while guests (and the groom, of course) were waiting for her to walk down the aisle?!

Now over to beautiful Lisa, who looked like an absolute modern day princess in her gorgeous Vera Wang…

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How We Met

Lisa, the bride: Although we both lived in NYC at the same time, lived in Israel at the same time, and attended various parties and events over the last 10 years, we had never met.

3 years ago Lisa was living in Los Angeles, and Alex in his hometown of Las Vegas. My best friend and Alex’s best friend set us up the old fashioned way. We went on our first date in Las Vegas on the strip… the date lasted 7 hours 🙂

Flash forward a few months later, Alex knew he couldn’t take the LA girl out of LA, so he quit his job, passed the CA state bar, and started anew in LA to be with me. The ultimate sacrifice for love 🙂

A Same-Sex Air Travel-Themed Jew-ish Wedding at Kings Place, London, UK

29/10/2018 by Karen Cinnamon

We are totally and utterly obsessed with today’s air travel-themed Jew-ish wedding. It’s really like nothing we’ve ever seen before, from the departure board seating charts to the drag act dressed up as cabin crew! (Yes it’s THAT good!)

Unusual? Absolutely. But when you find out that Ewan and Greg were in a trans-Atlantic long-distance relationship for 7 (!) years, with all the shuttling back and forth between Ewan’s home in London and Greg’s in New York that entails, it all makes sense. (Greg, an HR manager for a public relations firm, eventually made the big move across the pond to be with Ewan, a solicitor who works in-house for a Hollywood studio.)

We love how much effort Ewan and Greg went to with all the details, from the place cards — folded paper airplanes made from New York and London street maps — to the monogrammed air sickness bags (in case the wedding speeches got too nauseating!), beautifully captured by Ross Willsher Photography.

But there’s no question that the piece de resistance was the elaborate in-flight safety video the duo filmed as a surprise for their guests during the reception — they even hired out a real plane for a few hours for the filming! Yes, it’s EXACTLY as hilarious as it sounds — make sure you check it out below!

There’s so much more to say about this awesome day, from the way the couple worked to combine Ewan’s Scottish and Greg’s Jewish heritage to the lovely (and STG-inspired!) chuppah, but the time has come for us to hand you over to the grooms to hear the rest!

Before we do, though… if you want some practical tips on crafting a wedding that is just as you as Ewan and Greg’s was them, make sure you sign up to our unmissable FREE online event: ‘The secrets to an unforgettable Jewish wedding with our founder and editor, Karen, happening on Monday November 12.

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