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A Casablanca Bride for a Hanukkah Wonderland Jewish Wedding at the Hyatt Regency Downtown Boston, Massachusetts, USA

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There’s something so special about a Hanukkah wedding – and we’re obsessed with the way Brides Club member Jennie, a Ph.D. student at Cambridge, and Ben, a software developer for a financial firm, went all out incorporating the holiday vibes into their big day.

With their Jewish wedding falling on the first night of the Festival of Lights, Jennie and Ben opted for a full-on Hanukkah wonderland theme, and we are ALL about it. From the blue-tinged color scheme to the giant (5-foot!) menorah the pair lit at the start of dinner to the dreidels-and-gelt wedding favors, this wedding was chock full of wonderful festive touches. And we haven’t even gotten to the food yet – Jennie and Ben not only served delectable sufganiyot with their dessert; they also had a latke station with several different toppings at the end of the night! How fun is that?

Throughout her wedding planning, Jennie was a member of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club, and we’re so touched by her kind words about how the community “made the wedding planning process a whole lot easier, especially since I was planning everything from overseas. All of the checklists and resources really allowed us to think about what was important for us. It was also great to have a group of brides who were going through the same process as me or had already completed their weddings – they really helped us not sweat the small stuff. Everyone in Brides Club is so kind and supportive of each other!”

Jennie also found some of her wonderful vendors via Brides Club, including Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Talia C, who provided the couple’s smash glass and then made the shards into Shabbat candle sticks, and their fabulous ketubah designer, Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Ink with Intent. Jennie and Ben chose Ink with Intent’s custom night sky design, featuring the star map for their wedding date! Don’t miss it in the wonderful photos by Simi Rabinowitz.

There’s so much more to this wonderful wedding, but we’ll leave it to the bride to fill you in on the rest…

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How We Met

Jennie, the bride:  We live in London but we originally met back in 2016 in Boston, where we were both working at the time. Ben was the flatmate of one of my colleagues, who brought him to an after-work meet up one evening. We kept seeing each other at group hangouts for a few years after that, then slowly became friends and started seeing each other more and more. Our friendship very naturally grew into a romantic relationship over time. The friend who introduced us was our Best Man!Continue ReadingContinue Reading

A Mikaella Bride for a Very Southern Interfaith Jewish Wedding at Southern Oaks, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

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When Louisiana State University grads Rachael, a Social Media Manager for the Office of the Lieutenant Governor, and Cody, a Manager of a Sunbelt Rentals Power and HVAC Store, were ready to make things official, they knew they wanted their wedding to include some nods to the state where they met and fell in love.

From their choice of the oh-so-charming Southern Oaks in New Orleans as their wedding venue, a jazz band, and delectable Southern cuisine, this celebration was full of atmosphere – plus a few ultra-personal touches like a grooms cake made from mini bags of Spicy Doritos, complete with a specially designed bag featuring Cody’s name!

When it came to the Jew-ish ceremony, Rachael, who’s Jewish, and Cody, who’s Catholic, made sure they came up with something that worked for both of them. And it was actually Cody who found the couple’s beautiful ketubah by Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Nava Shoham. The couple picked her Tree of Life Infinity Ketubah, customized with text that fit their feelings for each other and the relationship. Don’t miss it in the wonderful images from Brenner Photography & Films!

Now over to Rachael, who looked ever so elegant in Mikaella…

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How We Met

Rachael and Cody met at LSU in early 2015 through mutual friends. Their friendship grew and eventually, they both invited each other to their sorority and fraternity events. What grew out of this friendship was a connection that laid the groundwork for a beautiful relationship soon to form.

Much of the time that Cody and Rachael dated, was spent long-distance. Cody was based in Houston, Mobile, and Puerto Rico due to his job. But their commitment was strong for four years of dating, until on July 12, 2020, when Cody proposed.

For the proposal, they drove up to Poplarville, Mississippi, where Rachael’s family farm is located. Rachael was told, that they were going to be taking family pictures on the farm. This is where she had her suspicions that it might be the BIG moment. So she secretly went out and bought a new dress for the special day. Cody had requested to make sure Rachael’s nails would be done for the proposal since this is something she told him she wanted so her mom helped get Rachael to a nail salon.

The Maas and Mitchell families arrived to set up a surprise celebration while Cody whisked Rachael away on a side-by-side into the fields overlooking the farm for a little bite to eat. He had a plan to purposely leave a small speaker in the side-by-side to ask Rachael to go back and get it. When she would turn around he would be on one knee. Instead, Rachael being the helpful person that she is, grabbed the speaker out of the side-by-side when they got out of the car and foiled his plan. They then set up a picnic blanket and fruit and talked for a while. At one point Cody turned to Rachael and asked the big question, “Will you marry me?” After Rachael said yes, they popped some champagne and celebrated!

They then headed back to celebrate with both of their families, who had helped set up a beautiful table of decorations and a huge lunch.Continue ReadingContinue Reading

A Stella York Bride for an Ultra-Personal Jewish Wedding at Marriott Regents Park, London, UK

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When Georgia, a Speech and Language Therapist for the NHS, and Joel, a Marketing and Communications Manager, set out to plan their ultra-personal London Jewish wedding, they knew they wanted to be able to enjoy the big day with their nearest and dearest stress-free.

And so they made what turned out to be one of their best wedding planning decisions: hiring with Victoria from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Linda Abrahams & Co for on-the-day coordination. Georgia and her mum planned most of the wedding themselves, and then, with 12 weeks to go, Victoria came on board. In Georgia’s words, she was “an absolute dream to work with” and took all the pressure off so the couple could enjoy the lead up to the wedding without worrying about logistics – not to mention the day itself!

And you can tell just what a wonderful time everyone had in the end from Smashing The Glass Recommended vendor Liam Smith’s wonderful documentary wedding photography. Georgia and Joel “have always felt that our favourite photos are the ones where we didn’t know they were being taken,” and Liam’s discreet style was the perfect fit, allowing him to capture ALL the love and emotion.

There’s so much more to say about this wonderful wedding, but we’ll let Georgia – who looked radiant in Stella York – take it from here…

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How We Met

Georgia, the bride: We met on our first day of university when we moved into Hillel House in Birmingham (the Jewish halls of residence). Joel asked me out on a date a few weeks later and we’ve been together ever since! It is actually a family tradition to meet your wife in Birmingham – as all three of Joel’s older brothers started dating their wives while attending university in Birmingham! Continue ReadingContinue Reading

An Essense of Australia Bride for a Minimal Chic Jewish Wedding at The Park Savoy, Florham Park, New Jersey, USA

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We love it when a couple hones in on togetherness and love as their top Jewish wedding planning priorities – which is exactly what Hannah and Greg did. Shying away from extras when crafting their special day at The Park Savoy in New Jersey, the couple created an effortlessly elegant celebration ALL about the emotion.

That’s not to say the wedding wasn’t absolutely gorgeous – just take a peek at the stunning photos by Jen Brister from Story and Gold Weddings and video by Jonathan from 4k Weddings to see just how beautiful the big day truly was.

And then there’s the couple’s exquisite ketubah designed by the incredibly talented Britt Yudell from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor BritColors. We’re not only obsessed with the minimal chic design of the ketubah itself, but also with the way Hannah and Greg structured their ketubah signing: their rabbi had all those present for the signing form a Blessing Circle, where the couple’s closest family and friends came together to share their best wishes and memories – how special is that?

There’s so much more to say about this very special Jewish wedding – but we’ll turn you over to Hannah, who looked radiant in Essense of Australia, for the rest…


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How We Met

Hannah, the bride: An unlikely pairing….I work in Digital Marketing and Greg is a Software Developer. A likely meeting….we met on Hinge back in 2017!Continue ReadingContinue Reading

A Rosa Clara Bride for a Laidback Hampstead-Meets-Haifa Jewish Wedding at Home in London, UK

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We love it when a couple does their Jewish wedding, their way – and that describes Natasha and Coren’s wedding to a T! Opting to wed at the bride’s family home in Hampstead, London, these two did away with the usual formal seated dinner in favor of a chill evening party featuring comfy sofas, open fires, and big sharing tables for people to sit at between the dancing. Don’t miss the super cool setup in the photos by David Pullum!

In Natasha’s words, structuring their wedding this way “gave a relaxed, organic, authentic energy to the evening, people could move around and speak to who they wanted” – and it was such a hit their friends are now asking to borrow the idea! This is such a great reminder that your wedding can be whatever you want it to be – you don’t need to do things that don’t feel authentic to the two of you, just because they’re “the done thing.”

We also love that Natasha and Coren worked with a number of fabulous Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendors to make their wedding the smashing success it was. Their planner, Joe of #STGvendor Goodnight Events, perfectly understood the couple’s style and vision, and helped them manage family dynamics and competing priorities throughout the planning process. #STGvendor Dvash handled catering, serving up Ottolenghi-style sharing dishes so utterly delicious that “people were shocked it was kosher!” And #STGvendor Denee Motion was responsible for Natasha and Coren’s exquisite videography.

There’s so much more to say about this beautiful Jewish wedding, but we’ll leave it to Natasha – who looked radiant in Rosa Clara – to fill you in on the rest…


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How we Met

Natasha, the bride: In 2017, I was living in Edinburgh after having recently graduated there. Coming home to London one September I wanted to meet someone Jewish so switched on J-Swipe. Coren and I started chatting and arranged to meet when I was next in London. So, that December, Coren asked if I wanted to meet him for a drink on Christmas Eve. Politely declining, because I’d already planned to go to a party at KOKO that night, I told him, I’d be happy to meet him on Boxing Day instead.

Christmas eve rolled around and in the middle of KOKO, we locked eyes 2 metres away from each other on the dance floor. A couple of seconds later, he came up to me and said “Hey Natasha, we’re meant to be going on a date in two days, but why don’t we start now?” And that was it! We still met on Boxing Day, which turned out to be our second date.Continue ReadingContinue Reading