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A Rosa Clara bride for a festive Winter Wonderland Jewish-Humanist wedding at The Underglobe, Globe Theatre, London, UK

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Today’s Jew-ish wedding takes the term ‘White Wedding’ to a whole new level! Phoebe & Ben were married in December 2015 and love winter, the festive season, and the way it brings the whole family together, so wanted their wedding to capture that sparkly, wintery, celebratory feeling.

They picked their stunning venue, The Underglobe (the museum beneath Shakespeare’s world-famous Globe Theatre in London) because of their love of theatre, and Wildabout Flowers expertly decorated the space to look like a dramatic Winter Wonderland straight out of Narnia.

Some of my favourite details include Phoebe’s sublime Rosa Clara gown, a colour scheme that included silver, purple and all out sparkles, live cabaret by a Drag Queen in leather shorts and knee high boots, and a first dance to I Can’t Fight This Feeling Anymore (genius!). Then there’s the off-the-scale Abigail Bloom cake, a show-stopping speech by the bride, an unplanned (unrehearsed) rendition of Bohemian Rapsody by the couple’s friends, a hugely meaningful Humanist-Jewish wedding ceremony, movie-themed icebreakers on the tables… Phew, what a wonderful glorious mix!

Come on in and delve into Jew-ish Wedding Narnia… We have the perfectly captured images by Richard Payne and the oh-so-romantic film by Allora Visuals. Take it away gorgeous Phoebe!

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How we met

Phoebe, the bride: Ben and I meet at University, he was on the Kent Falcons American football team, and I was a first year who had just joined the Kent Falconette cheerleading team. We be came friendly on the team tour to Prague, and eventually Ben asked me out.

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Spectacular destination wedding at Ronit Farm, Kfar Shmaryahu, Herzliya, Israel

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I promise you what you’re about to see is truly epic. This folks is how to do a super cool, super chic lavish destination wedding in Israel.

Montana and Justin, from South Africa, married at Ronit Farm (Havat Ronit), one of Israel’s most dazzling wedding venues. What’s more, the clever team at Danny Marx brought to life something I have never seen before: Montana had decided that she wanted to walk down the aisle to the chuppah while everyone was already seated at their tables, so all the guests were seated at one giant ‘S’ shaped table that also served as the ‘catwalk’ down to the chuppah (I mean REALLY!).

There are so many things I love about this wedding that I’d be here until midnight listing them all for you but I will say that I love a bride who chooses a black colour scheme (so different) and 17 bridesmaids dressed in black! I also love that the couple chose the same first dance song as Montana’s grandparents had. Her grandparents have been married for 60 years and joined them on the dance floor for the first dance. So special, right?

Montana and Justin certainly know how to throw a party. And throw a club-like Ibiza-style party they did, complete with pyrotechnics, dancers covered in lights, fire flames… THE LOT! Just wait until you see the photos by Eran Beeri and Eyal Gaziel and wedding film by Aleksey Malev.

Oh and I love the array of favours handed out… from selfie sticks to fans to sandals to hip flasks filled with different cocktails that guests could enjoy on their coach ride home. See? I told you this wedding is EVERYTHING!

Montana and Justin, take it away…

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How they met

Montana, the bride: Justin and I met when we were 14 years old. We were in the same class in our first year of high school. We were best friends and over the years it developed into a love story. We dated on and off throughout high school and reconnected again after school when we were 22. The rest is history — we have never looked back!

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Choosing to get married in Israel

We got married at Ronit Farm in Israel. We attended a wedding there a few years ago and I decided then and there that I would get married there. As a South African, it is hard to have a local wedding that is special and different so we thought a destination wedding would be best. And what better place to get married than in Israel!

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A Ritva Westenius bride for an Italian Garden-themed wedding at Home in London, UK

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Today’s bride, Katie, is just the cutest, and what amazing fashion choices — a W-day gown from  Ritva Westenius  (she chose it as she was after  something pure,  spiritual and simple to reflect the chuppah), dusty pink Manolo Blahnik‘s, and then fired up her look with  a sparkly belt, headpiece and earrings for the  evening party. So so chic!

The venue  is very  special too. It’s Katie’s childhood home and it set the scene for a truly  intimate and meaningful day. The symbolism of their Jewish wedding was so important to these two, and they honoured a  traditional Jewish wedding ritual that I’ve  seen only a few times on the pages of Smashing The Glass: they  spent the entire week before the wedding apart. They didn’t speak, they didn’t even text! In Katie’s words, this made the day so much more special, and it really did  remind them of what the day is all about. Katie’s brother, Ben, spoke under the chuppah, and I love what Katie says about their chuppah design too:

We felt the beauty of the chuppah should come from what is happening underneath rather than what it looks like. We wanted it to be pure and spiritual allowing our guests to focus on the ceremony rather than the chuppah structure itself.

Another detail that was evidently very important to these two was their  Italian garden  theme. They  both spend a lot of time in Tuscany and love that part of the world and they wanted to bring Italiana into every  corner of their wedding! They brought their ideas to life with the help of Ben Krieger from  Outrage Events, and an incredible Italian feast  by Food Story  including spaghetti meatballs, tiramisu, and of limoncello!  The  beautiful themed stationery, designed by one of our much-loved Smashing Suppliers,  Emily & Jo, was even printed in Italian,  and  home-made olive oil  favours alongside oodles of  fresh herbs and lemons  were placed  on every table. You could literally see, touch, taste and smell Italy!

The stunning photography is  by another  of our  hugely talented Smashing Suppliers,  David Pullum Photography.  And there’s also a  fabulous film by Atmotion  too.

So all that leaves me to say is… Cin Cin. Sit back, relax, and enjoy!

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How we  met

Katie, the Bride: We met through a friend and started talking on Facebook in that classic way  ?

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A Modern Trousseau Bride for an intimate ‘dinner party-style’ Jewish wedding at Kettle Cove and Five Fifty-Five Bistro, Maine, USA

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Lauren and Aaron met online (they’re actually one of several online dating success stories featured on STG!), and Lauren says she knew by the second date that she wanted to meet Aaron under the chuppah… 😉

…And when it came to deciding how they would celebrate that eventual meeting under the chuppah, they knew they didn’t want a traditional wedding with bridal parties or first dance formalities. All they truly wanted was simply to marry one another with the people they love close by their sides.

I love it when couples make their weddings a representation of who they are and feel free to remove anything that just doesn’t fit them, and Lauren & Aaron’s Big Day is exactly that — a wedding that reflects who they are and what they wanted, which was a truly intimate outdoor ceremony on the water, followed by a small ‘dinner party style’ reception at a local restaurant.

From the farmhouse they rented in Southern Maine that housed their closest friends for a week,to the intimate ceremony on a peninsula jutting out into the foggy Atlantic, and the cosy dinner in downtown Portland, Maine where they could turn in their chairs to talk to anyone in attendance, their entire wedding was an intimate, homely, warm affair.

And since their wedding was held in a public park (Kettle Cove), they knew that they needed a simple chuppah that they could transport, put up, and take down easily. They ended up purchasing four tall birch branches and using Aaron’s tallit for the top of the chuppah. Aaron is great at engineering solutions and mechanical design, so he created a tension-free system using twine, the tallit, and four small hooks in each of the birch branches to create the chuppah of their dreams. Who said Jewish boys are no good at DIY?! (Oh, and if you want to build your own chuppah for your wedding, there’s a lovely tutorial on the blog, right over here).

Lauren and Aaron joke that their wedding theme was a “wedding-themed dinner party.” They knew that they wanted to be able to spend quality time with their families and closest friends, and wanted their ceremony to incorporate the beauty and experience of the outdoors, with a cosy reception with great food where they could spend time appreciating their family and guests.

All the pretty and emotion has been captured perfectly by Sarah V. Martinez. Enjoy!

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How we met

Lauren, the Bride: Aaron and I met via a dating website and exchanged a few witty emails before meeting in person at a coffee shop called ‘The Thinking Cup’, right off of the Boston Common. After coffee and tea, I asked Aaron if he was hungry, to which he replied “of course,” and we walked through the Common to a pizza shop on Charles St. The rest is history…

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A Rustic Chic Jewish barn wedding at Heaton House Farm in the Cheshire countryside, UK

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Meredith & David  have got the balance of rustic AND glamorous just right. The combination of gorgeous wild flowers, pastel  tones and personal touches,  alongside the beautiful barn  setting of Heaton House Farm in the  Cheshire  countryside is utterly perfect.

Meredith is American, and David is British but they both live in NYC now, so this is actually a Jewish destination wedding in the UK! Their W Day  is  bursting at the seams with thoughtful details, elegance and fun, like the bride’s sky  high pink Prada heels, a beautiful lopsided wedding cake (read on to hear the story behind that!), a meaningful ceremony,  and girls on roller skates giving out shots at  the after party! F-U-N !

Something that really touched me was hearing about a keychain made by the bridesmaids for Meredith depicting her beloved brother and stepfather who had tragically passed away some years before the wedding. Meredith attached the keychain  to her bouquet for the wedding day itself, and to this day,  carries it on her keys for a  beautiful daily reminder of her  wedding and her brother and stepdad.

Enjoy this sweet treat of a wedding — it’s romantic and whimsical but also sleek and stylish. And looks effortlessly so at that.  All of the  fabulousness was captured by STG regulars,  Reportage Gallery, with the most gorgeous film by Minty Slippers at the end.

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How we met

Meredith, the Bride: Dave  is British (he’s from Manchester) and I’m American (born and raised in New York) and we  met though a mutual friend. My brother’s friend introduced me to his wife, who is from Manchester. We became friendly and she set me up with dave.  This is really meaningful to us, as Dave never got  to  meet my brother Gregg, who passed away in 2008. In a way, it feels like Gregg brought Dave into my life. Dave reminds me a lot of my brother and having this connection to my brother is very special.

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