Real Jewish Weddings Archives - Page 161 of 231 - Smashing the Glass

A Vera Wang Bride for a Super Luxe Fashion-Forward Jewish Wedding at Mandarin Oriental New York, New York

08/12/2017 by Karen

Start spreading the news – because today’s NYC Jewish wedding is the dictionary definition of city chic!

A wedding set against the stunning New York skyline deserves nothing less than the very best vendors – and that’s exactly what happy couple, Marianna and Peter opted for. The celebration was held at the iconic Mandarin Oriental hotel, with floristry by the fabulous Bride & Blossom, who submitted today’s fashion-forward wedding to STG.

We’re totally enamored with the origami crane chuppah – what a great way to fuse wedding traditions from different cultures! We’re also all hearts for eyes over the unique all-red dà©cor scheme, and bold bridesmaids in black dresses. Absolutely sublime! Also take a look at that absolute centerpiece of a cake – we’re both in love with the visuals and very, very hungry!

Gorgeous bride, Marianna, opted for a classic fashionista outfit – a timeless Vera Wang gown with something-blue Manolo Blahnik. So luxe Carrie Bradshaw herself would weep with envy!

Of course, it’s an STG wedding, which means it’s more than likely one of our own was involved! Our brilliant Recommended Vendor, Bella Figura, provided the rose-gold, classic letterpress invitation design.

Photography was provided by none other than absolute wedding photography royalty, the Fred Marcus Studio. We’re massive fans here at STG, and it will soon become clear why as you look at the phenomenal spread of pictures.

We’ll leave you with Marianna for the rest of the details of her and Peter’s stunning big day. Take it away, Marianna!

The perfect NYC venue

Marianna, the bride: I knew I wanted to get married in our favorite city, New York. NYC is also home, having been born and raised here. I wanted a venue to showcase the skyline and central park. We also had our second date at Columbus Circle. Mandarin Oriental was the perfect venue.
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A Pronovias Bride for a Party-Vibe Destination Jewish Wedding with an Epic Chuppah at Finca La Concepcion, Marbella Spain

06/12/2017 by Karen

Pass us a cocktail, please, it’s Wedding Wednesday and we’re off to sunny Marbella, Spain, to vicariously attend the fabulous, party-vibe wedding of Tamara and Craig!

We love a good Jewish destination wedding, particularly one with such avid attention to detail, and such a STUNNER of a chuppah with a breathtaking view behind it! Would you believe the ceremony took place in a totally made over car park?? We could barely believe it either!

Tamara and Craig really made the most of their incredible location, with a pre-wedding pool party (yes!) and an overall party atmosphere with incredible production: stage sound, a giant screen, lighting, smoke machines, indoor fireworks and LED wrist bands, as well as Magic Mirror selfies! So much fun!

Bride Tamara looked eye-poppingly amazing in her subtly glittering Pronovias gown and trademark Valentino heels – total bridal chic goals!

And the ceremony boasted Moni Tivony from STG Vendor, Totem as chazan, and guests partied all night to sounds by 14-piece band and DJ, Club Live. Tamara even went with the flow and got up to say a few impromptu words.

Of course, such a fabulous wedding had to involve an incredible Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor. Fabulous photographer Jeremy Standley was on hand to capture the magic, along with Reynard Productions, who provided the heartfelt wedding video below.

Oh and if you’re planning a destination wedding of your own, you must tune into tonight’s Facebook Live at 8pm GMT – it’s a Destination Wedding Q&A special!

We’ll leave you in Tamara’s capable hands now for the full report – we hope you love it as much as we do!

A destination venue

Tamara, the bride: We got married at Finca La Concepcion in Marbella Spain. We chose Spain, as we wanted to make a whole weekend away for everyone, and we love the sun.

We used the best wedding planner in Marbella — Scott from Sunshine Weddings. The second we saw the venue, we fell in love. It was perfect, but it was also a blank canvas, and we knew exactly how we would style it.

We also had a pre-wedding pool party at Avanto Beach Club.

A Greenery-filled Rustic Jewish Wedding at Aquatopia, Ottawa, Canada

04/12/2017 by Karen

Greenery is the Pantone Color of the Year 2017 and it seems that Taylor & Dovi intentionally, or unintentionally, took a huge note of that! Just look what you can achieve with well-placed greenery! We’ve just spent our whole morning swooning over Taylor and Dovi’s nature-inspired Jewish wedding, and with very good reason! The whole effect was just enchanting, and the perfect setting for a heartfelt family day.

These gorgeous high school sweethearts held their simply beautiful, rustic-look wedding at Aquatopia in Ottowa, Canada. Incorporating beautifully-placed greenery, rustic signs and romantic lanterns, the dà©cor was understated enough to let the natural surroundings of the venue shine, but still stunning in its own right. Absolutely dreamy!

We literally gasped when we saw the magical chuppah design, with vines hanging down, framing the happy couple. Such a unique idea and so well executed – we’ll definitely be filing that one under ‘totally steal-able’!

Beautiful bride, Taylor, looked like a whimsical woodland princess in her two-piece gown, comprised of designs by Saja Wedding and Wtoo respectively. We LOVE the idea of combining two designs to create the dream dress!

There were unique touches galore: ‘meant to bee’ honey pot Rosh Hashanah favors, marvellously mismatched bridesmaids, a Polaroid guestbook and one very emotional bride’s speech!

The story of the day was captured with aplomb by photographer Agatha Rowland and the wonderful writeup is by bride Taylor, who we’ll hand over to now for the full report! Enjoy – and don’t forget to Pin the pictures you love.

How we met

Taylor, the bride: We met in high school ten years ago!
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A Bright and Beautiful Family-Oriented Jewish Wedding With a Homemade Chuppah at St Andrew’s Scottish Guesthouse in Jerusalem, Israel

01/12/2017 by Karen

It’s no secret that we LOVE an Israeli wedding – but there’s something about a wedding in Jerusalem that is particularly spine tingling. Jerusalem is the beating, living, bustling heart of the country, and means so much to so many religions and cultures. It’s also absolutely divine, with an energy like nowhere else, and a beauty that is really hard to describe in words – to get married there is something truly special.

Ronee and Lior’s Jewish wedding took place at St Andrew’s Scottish Guesthouse. There’s something really brilliant about the idea of a little slice of Scotland in the Middle East, and for bride, Ronee, it was the perfect little nod to her British background.

We were bowled over by the happy couple’s self-made chuppah. Every element of it had deep, personal meaning, including groom Lior’s family crest in the center, and friends and family were also involved in contributing squares with their own symbol for the bride and groom. This is such a gorgeous idea, and they pulled it off magnificently.

Bride Ronee looked absolutely beautiful in her two wedding dresses, and stunning braided up ‘do – simply breathtaking – we’re sure there will be a fair few brides Pinning her style!

We’re also pretty sure you’re going to want to steal the couple’s unique mirror ‘reveal’, a great idea for personalizing for the traditional badeken, and the brainchild of fabulous photographer, Larry Brandt Photography who expertly captured the gorgeous big day.

Hannah Larkin Photography was also on hand to capture some truly sensational images, and there were also SO many unique touches and flourishes – the very Israeli flower station trend juxtaposed with a fantastically fun, and very British, game of wedding bingo, that really made the night – oh and illuminated balloons on the dance floor! Fantastic!

Groom Lior was so instrumental in the wedding planning that friends joked he should be on Don’t Tell the Bride, while bride Ronee made a speech. This gets ALL the thumbs up from us!

It’s Ronee’s turn as our latest STG bride to take over the blog for a post, so we’ll leave you in her capable hands. Take it away, Ronee!

A venue reflecting both backgrounds

Ronee, the bride: We got married in the grounds of the St Andrew’s Scottish Guesthouse in Jerusalem, on the top of what is known as the ‘Bible Hill’. We wanted a wedding venue which reflected our geographical backgrounds (I’m from the UK; Lior is from Israel). My favorite place in the UK is the quiet, beautiful and historical land of Scotland. The Scottish Guesthouse therefore seemed a fitting place to get married!

There were also some practical considerations – we got married in July and wanted the wedding outdoors and we didn’t want to risk the humidity and heat of Tel Aviv. This decision was the right one, as there was a heatwave in early July, so we were very happy to be in Jerusalem!

The Guesthouse is a mini castle in Jerusalem with a beautiful terrace with a stunning view over the old city. We had the chuppah on the terrace overlooking the walls of the old city.

Our fantastic lighting supplier, Ofer, made the castle and garden look beautiful in the night with romantic and atmospheric lighting; each light was perfectly colored and positioned to create a unique atmosphere. This worked brilliantly!

We were very lucky, as on the evening of our wedding there was a light show on the walls of the old city, which was part of the light festival of Jerusalem. We also managed to accommodate our 60 foreign guests at the Guesthouse, so they didn’t have to go far after the wedding! Everyone loved staying at the Guesthouse (including us!). It was immaculately clean and comfortable. The staff were all so friendly and accommodating and we look forward to returning next year for a holiday.

A Vera Wang Bride for a SUPER Luxe Jewish Wedding with a 20-Person Bridal Party and Epic Chuppah at Bacara Resort & Spa, Santa Barbara, California

29/11/2017 by Karen

OK, we do not say this lightly: prepare yourselves. Seriously, Adriane and Sam’s super luxe Jewish wedding had us rubbing our eyes in disbelief, because it’s genuinely one of the most INCREDIBLE (note the gratuitous and well-earned use of all caps) real weddings we’ve ever featured on the blog. No exaggeration, this wedding is truly something else. There are not enough adjectives in the thesaurus to describe just how divine it is.

Editor Karen found this beauty on Instagram and immediately knew it HAD to grace the Smashing The Glass pages.

Where to start? The dà©cor was simply out of this world, which is no surprise, given that the wedding brought together some of California’s most coveted wedding vendors. The epic two-night celebration took place in dreamy Santa Barbara, California, at Bacara Resort & Spa, with its beautiful view of the ocean. Night one had a whimsical, boho-chic aesthetic (and a two-hour silent disco), while the second night boasted a stunning, clean all-white formal design with an abundance of white orchids and a stunning display of hanging lights.

Their chuppah was the stuff of fairytales, with a romantic, rustic walkway (those doors!!) leading to a showstopper of tumbling flowers and lit candles. It is genuinely gasp inducing and spine tingling in equal measure.

We don’t have enough words of praise for wedding planner Kate Carlson Event, florist Butterfly Floral and LIV Entertainment for forming what is every bride’s dream team and creating something so special it looks pulled from the pages of Vogue. Just amazing.

Words don’t really do any of this justice, but fortunately the happy couple had the one and only, yes THE Jessica Claire (!!) on hand to capture the magic (pro tip, if you’re going to have a larger-than-life wedding, make sure you have one of the world’s best photographers) as well as incredible videographer, David Medill, whose gorgeous, cinematic wedding video you can watch above.

Bride Adriane looked like a Hollywood A lister in her perfect blend of bridal and sexy Vera Wang gown, and with her expert hair and makeup artist team at her side. Adriane also layered phenomenal pieces of jewelry from her own bohemian-chic jewelry company, JAE Jewelry, which she co-owns with her sister, so she really knew her stuff (and you guys should totally check it out)!

Adriane had no fewer than 17 bridesmaids, two bridesmen and one maid of honor, making it a 20-person-strong bridal party!!

OK, if we don’t stop gushing now, we never will. Ladies and gentlemen, please get your best Pinning fingers ready, and give it up for bride Adriane and her fabulous writeup.