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A Needle and Thread Bride for a Backyard Jewish Wedding in Kfar Chabad, Israel

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How gorgeous is the intimate backyard Jewish wedding of Israeli couple Libby, who  has recently graduated with a bachelor’s degree in bioinformatics, and Yanki, a product designer for a start-up?!

By the time these two got engaged, COVID had already hit – so they knew from the start that they’d need to keep their affair on the smaller side. This was just fine with the bride, who’d always dreamed of a cozy, intimate wedding – and if we had a backyard like her parents’, we’re sure we’d feel the same! The whole space was transformed into an absolute floral fantasia, and we just can’t get enough of it.

Libby and Yanki wanted to make sure they found photographers who’d really get the vibe they were going for on the day, and sure enough their choice to work with Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Luz Weddings did not disappoint. We’re in love with their stylish images capturing everything from the gorgeous design details to the couple’s happiness.

Being a designer, Yanki took charge of the couple’s invitations, creating a logo using the pair’s initials that ended up featuring on all of the wedding stationery. Yanki even designed the ketubah, which came out so beautifully! Another thing that came out beautifully? Libby’s stunning gown, which she ordered online from Needle and Thread – obsessed with the delicate embroidery and sweet pink flowers!

Now over to the bride…

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How we met

Libby, the bride: I spotted Yanki at my cousin’s son’s bris, about a year ago. We met there and the rest is history 🙂Continue ReadingContinue Reading

An Essense of Australia Bride for a Drive In Jewish Wedding at Micklefield Hall, Hertfordshire, UK

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Happy 2021! To ring in the new year, we’ve got something extra special for you today: the drive in Jewish wedding of Sophie, a program manager at a beauty college, and Marc, a TV set designer! When faced with England’s 15-guest limit, these two came up with the most creative way to include more of their guest list in a legal and COVID-safe way, retooling their vision for the big day to encompass a retro drive in movie theater style setup at their original venue, Micklefield Hall, who “were amazing throughout adapting to all our plans.” We can’t get over the incredible day they crafted, and once you have a peek at Iain Gomes Photography’s incredible photos, we bet you will too.

They ended up with 41 cars outside, with 86 people watching the proceedings on a big screen and listening through their car radios (plus a Zoom stream for those who couldn’t make it to the drive in). The wedding was also streamed on zoom so everyone who couldn’t make the drive in could watch online. Marc being a designer, he created videos, graphics, and artwork to amp up the drive-in feel, including a fun welcome pack delivered to each car on arrival. The packs included photo props – the couple asked guests to take selfies with the props, which they then assembled into a guest book – and a wedding speech bingo card: the couple read out wedding speech phrases from the barn, and guests in cars honked their horns when they won! Then, after the ceremony, the pair drove around on a farm truck greeting their drive in guests (from a safe distance, of course).

Extreme Production filmed the day – and lit it to look good on the big screen – with some films by Marc, pre-recorded wedding speeches and a video with the couple’s first dance song playing in the background so guests could dance along from their cars or from home, played in between the live broadcasts.

Sophie and Marc couldn’t have pulled this epic day off with help from some wonderful Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendors, including Alexandra’s Florist, who not only created the couple’s gorgeous floral chuppah but was also “amazing throughout and always adapted to our ever changing plans,” the legendary Toastmaster Jango, and ever-innovative kosher caterer Feast by Ed Shaerf, who were “so understanding with constantly changing plans” and put together a fantastic afternoon tea featuring sandwiches, cakes, doughnuts, and macarons with iced tea – all packed in boxes and delivered directly to guests’ cars!

We just love how Sophie and Marc found so many creative ways to make sure their drive in guests were truly involved and engaged – read on for more of their excellent ideas!

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How we met

Sophie, the bride: We met in December 2016 after matching on Jswipe! Marc moved to London in March 2016 from Manchester and I’m from Stanmore. Our first date was in a bar in Shoreditch. I actually saw Marc in the same carriage as me on the way to our first date and thought it would be awkward to get off together at the same station so I stayed on an extra stop and luckily went back!

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A Nouvelle Amsale Bride for an Autumnal Outdoor DIY Jewish Wedding on a Budget at Camp Holiday Trails in Charlottesville, Virginia, USA

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We could not be any more overjoyed to be featuring the gorgeous DIY Jewish wedding of our beloved Brides Club member and blogging bride Erin as our very last wedding of 2020!

Erin, a medical education coordinator at the University of Virginia, and Josh, a musician and fourth-grade teacher at a forest school, had originally planned to wed at their synagogue, followed by a reception at a local restaurant. But like so many 2020 couples, they had to retool their day when COVID hit. They were intent on marrying on their original date, but knew they needed a mostly outdoor venue that allowed for social distancing.

Luckily, Erin and Josh live in beautiful Charlottesville, Virginia, and they were able to find a spot that perfectly fit the bill in Camp Holiday Trails, which during the summer functions as a camp for children with medical needs – so not only did they end up with incredible natural scenery  requiring very little in the way of added decor (abundant fall foliage AND the Blue Ridge mountains as a backdrop? Yes please!), they were able to support a good cause too.

Erin and Josh were on a tight budget – but luckily they also happen to be super craftsy, and they ended up creating so many incredible DIY touches that really made their day pop. The highlight has got to be the ketubah they created together, featuring a gorgeous composite photo of the couple sitting by a local pond looking up at the Milky Way (with photos by the groom) – perfectly in keeping with their loose theme of “a starry fall night in the mountains.” We also love the cool copper pipe chuppah these two built – which they plan to repurpose in the future as parts for their sukkah! Don’t miss it – and all the other handcrafted touches – in the incredible photos from Steve of Photography Champloo.

The couple also had some help from their wonderful friends and family – Erin’s sister, Kaley Agee, happens to be a professional photographer, and she pitched in with some getting-ready shots on the big day in addition to manning the videography (which Erin and Josh will be editing themselves). And when Erin determined a florist was out of budget, her amazing friend and fellow Brides Club member Karisa, sent over some unused Sola Wood Flowers left over from her own wedding, which Erin dyed and hand-painted herself.

There’s so much more to say about this fantastic wedding, but we’ll let Erin tell you the rest…

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How we Met

Erin, the bride: Josh and I met how any good millennials meet – on a dating app! Josh and I had the unusual courtship of two months of talking before we ever met in person (it was the Thanksgiving holiday, then I went down to Florida to see my family over the winter holidays, and then by the time I got back, Josh was on a Birthright trip to Israel!)

We were finally able to meet in January of 2018, and we both fell hard pretty quickly after our first date at a local coffee shop (where we both unknowingly ordered the same drink!)Continue ReadingContinue Reading

An Alexandra Grecco Bride for an Ultra-Emotional Jewish Wedding Celebrating Life at the Dorint Park Hotel in Bremen, Germany

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Like lots of 2020 couples, Eunice, a Brazilian criminal lawyer, and Louis, a Dutch mathematician (who met in Hebrew class in Bremen, Germany!) had a very different wedding than the one they’d originally planned. However, in their case it wasn’t due to the pandemic: tragically, Louis’s father, Theo, was diagnosed with terminal cancer this year. Getting married without him there was, in the bride’s words, “not an option,” and so the couple shifted their plans from a June 2021 beach wedding in the Netherlands to a local affair close to home in Bremen in September 2020.

It wasn’t easy – not least since, due to COVID, only Eunice’s mother was able to make it to the wedding from Brazil – but Eunice and Louis managed to plan the most incredibly beautiful, joyous day with Theo present to bless them, deliver an ultra-moving speech, and even dance with them in his wheelchair. It was incredibly bittersweet – Theo passed away just three days after the chuppah – but the couple were so grateful to have him present, and for the way their photography and videography team, made up of Sabine Lange and her sister Beate of Photo Lauricella, managed to capture not only the love and happiness of the day but also the sorrow of the pair’s impending loss.

Every so often, we come across a wedding that really shows us what it’s all about – and this was most certainly one of them. In Eunice’s words:

I honestly can say it was the best day of my life. I can’t say it was the setting I dreamed, but it was the setting I needed to grow and to become a stronger woman and closer to G’d. For that I’m grateful.

Read on for more wisdom from this wonderful bride.

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How we met

Eunice the bride: We met while trying to improve our Hebrew. We ended up signing up for the same class at the university of Bremen, where we met, live and got married.

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A Martina Liana Bride for a Backyard Jewish Wedding in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania USA

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Alyson and Josh, private residence, USA

Aly, a pre-K teacher, and Josh, a warehouse manager, were planning a big wedding at a winery – until COVID came into the picture. Opting to move forward with their plans to wed on their original date, these two cut their guest list down by 100 and shifted the proceedings to the bride’s parents’ backyard.

But if we hadn’t known all this backstory, we’d never have guessed Aly and Josh’s gorgeous wedding was anything other than plan A. Their intimate day was so full of love – not to mention beautiful details like a chuppah swathed in gauzy white fabric and dramatic fall florals and an exuberant, colorful ketubah inspired by Philadelphia’s famous Love sign by Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Nava Shoham of 1-800-Ketubah. And, of course, personalized hand sanitizer favors for the guests.

Now over to the bride, who looked simply ravishing in Martina Liana…

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How we Met

Aly, the bride: Josh and I technically met on the app Snapchat! One of my good friends posted a photo of him stating he was single and I didn’t waste a minute to tell her to hook us up. The next morning I got a phone call from her telling me to be ready by 9:00 and that we were going on a double date. The second we met we knew that we wanted to continue to get to know each other. We went on another date, then another, then another until we started seeing each other every day and eventually he asked me to move in.Continue ReadingContinue Reading