Smashing the Glass | Jewish Wedding Blog

Inspired Jewish Weddings

Jewish Newlywed Spotlight: Nalda Levy

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Nalda is a member of Smashing Life, our community membership club for Jewish + Jew(ish) women. 

 

ABOUT NALDA

Where are you from? I was born in Kingston, Jamaica but I’ve lived most of my life in Bridgeport, CT.
What do you do for a living? I’m a licensed massage therapist, with my own little practice. I adore it!
How did you meet your partner? We met on Hinge!
When did you first know you were in love? About 2 weeks after our first date. We sat down to discuss whether we had a future and we agreed this was likely short lived because of our differences in religion (I’m Christian, he is Jewish). 2 weeks later we admitted we’d both lied because we were already in love. We became exclusive that same day, and haven’t looked back since.
 

A Classic Jewish Wedding with Plenty of Shtick at Hyatt Regency Scottsdale, Arizona, USA

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Tamara & Josh, Hyatt Regency Scottsdale, Arizona, USA

We’re so delighted to be featuring the gorgeous Jewish wedding of Smashing The Glass Bride’s Club member Tamara, a middle and high school history teacher, and Josh, who works in property management. 

We’re obsessed with their Scottsdale venue – nothing like an outdoor chuppah with those stunning southwestern mountains in the background – and the way the couple seamlessly tied in their classic wedding style and lilac and white color scheme. Don’t miss the wonderful pics from photographer John Solano!

Tamara is, in her own words, “obsessed with shtick,” and her crew delivered! Lots of the humor was based around the fact that Tamara and Josh attended rival schools University of Arizona and Arizona State University, respectively, and the bride’s Chabad rabbi from U of A went so far as to mention that if these two couple get together, world peace can happen! The pair also had a friend do schtick where he was eating “hand sanitizer” (jello)  and “mouthwash” (probably Gatorade)!

Tamara’s got a wild wedding gown story, too… but all’s well that ends well, and if you ask us she couldn’t have looked lovelier in the finished product!

Now over to the bride…

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A Michal Taylor Bride for a Colorful Jewish Wedding at Bezzela Hahar, Machasiya, Jerusalem, Israel

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Elinoa-and-Yonah-Bezzela-Hahar-Israel

Even though Israeli couple Elinoa and Yonah held their Jewish wedding during the pandemic, they were lucky enough not to have to make major changes to their plans. Sure, they changed venues two weeks(!) before the big day – but, happily, they made that change in order to be able to invite MORE guests (including Yona’s entire army unit), not because they had to cut their list down.

As always, we’re totally and completely blown away by the couple’s incredible wedding photos by Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Herschel Gutman. Like so many couples, Elinoa and Yonah knew they wanted him as their photographer before they were even engaged. In Elinoa’s words, “Herschel has this magical way of just capturing moments – being truly in them with you but also making you feel like it’s only the two of you. There was not a moment throughout the wedding where I noticed a camera on me or in my face and I think that’s a testament to the true skill Herschel has.”

There’s so much more to say about this gorgeous wedding – just for starters, we love that Elinoa designed all the wedding stationery herself! – but we’ll let the bride, who looked exquisitely elegant in Michal Taylor, fill you in on the rest…

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How we met

Elinoa, the bride: We’ve both always sort of been in the background of each other’s lives. Our parents were all part of Bnei Akiva in England, which if you’re familiar with anyone who grew up in England and went to BA – everyone knows everyone. My father-in-law was a madrich to both my parents, Yonah’s uncle was my dad’s madrich & my mother in law was a good friend of my uncle through-out high school. The four of them made Aliyah around the same time & lived in the “merkaz klita” in Ra’anana. Our families both settled down in Ramat Beit Shemesh and we grew up always sort of aware of each other but were never necessarily friendly (although we have got a few pictures of us together from when we were little). Eventually my family moved to America and then to Ra’anana meaning the next time we crossed paths was when they would come to stay with us for Shabbat.

Yonah’s second cousins live in Raanana and they are good friends of ours so every time they had a simcha, Yonah’s family would stay with us. In August 2016 they came to stay with us and Yonah and I sort of caught each other’s attention. A few days later I noticed he had FB messaged me wishing me good luck in my year of sherut leumi in Jerusalem. Turns out he was just being nice and not flirting but I took it as flirting and told him to let me know next time he was in Jerusalem and we would hang out. 9 months later he texted me asking if I was free, May 26th 2017 we went on our first date and we’ve been together ever since. Our relationship has spanned 2 year of sherut leumi, Yonah’s army service (and subsequently many, many drives to his base), almost an entire degree, traveling, and much, much more.Continue ReadingContinue Reading

Elegant Museum Jewish Wedding Inspo at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, UK

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Here at Team STG, we love a museum wedding (even our founder Karen had one!). And when it comes to Jewish weddings, museum venues don’t get much better than Oxford’s Ashmolean. The Ashmolean Museum, set in the heart of Oxford – the city of dreaming spires – is a magnificent venue for Jewish weddings. The neo-classical architecture, iconic entrance, grand sweeping staircases and opulent galleries offer a wonderful range of stunning and romantic spaces, each offering its own unique backdrop for your special day.

And we’re obsessed with this stunning styled shoot the Ashmolean events team put together showcasing their Jewish wedding prowess – featuring amazing Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendors Rachel Flax Events, Liv and Luc, and Contemporary Judaica (all of which happen to be run by fabulous Jewish women!).

Dating back to 1683, the Ashmolean is the oldest public museum in the world. Displaying half a million years of art and history, all of the museum’s galleries are licensed for daytime and evening ceremonies. Opt for an intimate celebration during the day, or wait until the museum’s magnificent tall blue doors close to daytime visitors, when the Ashmolean can be exclusively yours for an impressive evening reception complete with dinner and dancing.

Since the Ashmolean joined the STG community last year, we’ve been so impressed by their commitment to hosting stunning, unique Jewish weddings.

In the words of Wendy Ball, Head of Events at The Ashmolean, “From our initial conversations with Emily (client relations at STG), we knew we’d found a perfect fit! STG are renowned for helping couples create ‘Your Jewish (or Jew-ish) Wedding, Your Way’ and we are a world-class museum, that values the art of telling human stories across cultures and across time. Adding to this an experienced, diverse and passionate team of event professionals who take time to really listen to couples, getting to know their stories and wishes, we have helped create many memorable and unique celebrations.”

Whether an intimate ceremony with loved ones, an Oxford city elopement, or a luxury wedding reception, the Ashmolean’s spaces, inside and out, provide a stunning and romantic backdrop for a wedding.

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Jewish Newlywed Spotlight: Sam Levitz

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Sam is a member of Smashing Life, our community membership club for Jewish + Jew(ish) women. 

 

ABOUT SAM

Where are you from? Brooklyn, NY
What do you do for a living? Project Manager for a social agency
How did you meet your partner? OkCupid
When did you first know you were in love? 1 month into dating. He told me he loved me 2 weeks in, but I needed a couple more weeks to realize I felt the same!

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