Smashing the Glass | Jewish Wedding Blog

Inspired Jewish Weddings

Free 7-Day Passover Prep Party with Smashing The Glass (Starts in 48 hours!)

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It’s hard to believe that for most of us, it’s going to be another lockdown Passover. I think we were all really hoping the pandemic would’ve wound down by now. But as far as making the holiday special goes, we’ve got you!

I’m hosting free online gathering with sessions on how to host a Seder + Passover recipes + live music + Haggadah ideas + cook-a-longs + prizes + more – all inside a pop-up Facebook group.

In a year when we need community more than ever, we’ll be making chocolate caramel matzah crunch (and other how-to sessions). We’ll listen to live music, and get ready for Seder (whether it’s your first or you’re a regular), all whilst chatting about the symbolism of it all.

You’ll meet like-minded Jewish women from not just your local area, but all over the world #squadgoals.

I’ll be going live every day inside the Passover Prep Party pop-up Facebook group to talk about a different element of Pesach and everyone who takes part will get a ‘Passover Prep Party bingo card too!

Each square will have something different on it ranging from very basic things like ‘buy your Matzah’ to making table decor to more meaningful squares about breaking free from things that are holding us back etc. We’ll all have fun trying to get a line on the bingo card – or even a full house…. and there will be PRIZES too!

On yes – prizes like Amazon vouchers, a Pesach Box from Israeli Box and a mystery grand prize that I will reveal during the Challenge!

And did I mention it’s 100% FREE?!

The challenge starts on Thursday and it’s for everyone whether you’re Jewish, Jew-ish, married, engaged or single… come on in!

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An Anne Barge Bride for a City Chic Jewish Wedding at Gotham Hall, NYC, New York, USA

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Remember when weddings could be inside? And have triple-digit guest counts? Hopefully the day when weddings no longer have to be socially distanced will come sooner rather than later… but until then, feast your eyes on the gorgeous pre-pandemic Jewish wedding of Caroline, who runs operations at a diagnostics start-up, and Alex, a chemist-turned-management consultant.

These two worked withwedding planner Susie Blumenfeld of Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Pink House Productions to craft their perfect Manhattan glam celebration – complete with the perfect grand midtown venue, Gotham Hall; classic letterpress invitations designed by the multi-talented  Susie Blumenfeld of Pink House Productions; and an elegant Anne Barge gown purchased from none other than Kleinfeld! And, in one of those quintessential only-in-New-York moves, at the end of the night the couple capped things off with a 3 AM visit to a Korean restaurant for a late night snack – still wearing their wedding clothes. Don’t miss Rebecca Weiss Photography’s images of the whole NYC-perfect day.

We also love that Caroline and Alex each had their own tisch before the ceremony, where they could gather with their friends and family to get the celebration started. Alex didn’t have a ton of demands for the big day, but the one thing he was set on was having at least three types of herring at his tisch – and in the end, the venue (who also handled catering) supplied eight!

We’re also obsessed with the couple’s minimalist ketubah by the wonderful Stephanie Caplan of Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor The Ketubah. Featuringa simple circular design with coppery-gold detail, it bears a quote from the Book of Ruth across the top: “Ki el asher telchi eilech,” “Wherever you go, I will go” – the same quote that’s inscribed on the inside of Alex’s ring.

We’ll leave it to the bride to fill you in on the rest…

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How we Met

Caroline, the bride: We met through OKCupid, a dating app, in 2018.Continue ReadingContinue Reading

A Pronovias Bride for an Elegant Pandemic Jewish Wedding at the Intercontinental Paris Le Grand, Paris, France

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We’re absolutely obsessed with the uber-chic Jewish wedding of Parisian couple Lauren, a resident in medical oncology, and Eitan, a dental surgeon. These two planned such a perfectly elegant celebration in the luxe ballroom of the Intercontinental Paris Le Grand, if not for the masks in their photos we’d never have guessed they wed during the pandemic.

Though the pair did have to postpone from July to September, they were fortunate in being able to stick with their original venue – at the time of their wedding, France’s only restrictions on gatherings were that masks and social distancing were required, and by cutting their original guest list in half Lauren and Eitan were able to make the Intercontinental’s ballroom work by spacing tables far apart and keeping the crowd at 1/3 the space’s full capacity. And we’re so glad they did, because this venue is really something special – don’t miss it in all its glory in Sprod Events’ gorgeous photos!

Because of the need for social distancing, not much dancing was possible – and so Lauren and Eitan had the clever idea to have a light show to keep everyone entertained! We also can’t get over the fact that their venue hired a security guard to walk around and make sure all the guests were wearing their masks properly throughout the wedding – and Lauren reports that to this day, guests are still joking about the “Mossad agent” they had at their wedding!

We can’t turn you over to Lauren without mentioning that she is a beloved member of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club, and we’re so touched to hear how much she valued the group during her wedding planning – so much so that, in her words, “joining the club is my first advice to other brides!”

Take it away, Lauren!

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How we Met

Lauren, the bride: We met through mutual friends, during a Birthright trip to Israel in summer 2015.

I did this trip with my best friend, who brought her sister, and the sister brought some of her friends. One of them was Eitan. We got to know each other during the trip, then we kept in touch, and became good friends. Two months and a half later we were finally dating. 4 years later we were engaged, and 11 months later, we are married !

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Real Jewish Brides: Orli on Her Upcoming Wedding

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Orli will be marrying Ben on 30th May 2021 at St Pancras Renaissance Hotel, London, UK. Click here to read all Orli’s planning posts to date.

THREE FACTS: (1) Orli and Ben met on Jswipe. (2) Although their venue, the St Pancras Renaissance Hotel, couldn’t be more quintessentially London, Orli and Ben are going for a countryside feel. (3) Orli is a member of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club!


When we first decided we were going to postpone in June of 2020, we had thought that by our new date 30 May 2021 everything would look normal and we would be able to have our planned wedding with 220 guests. We thought we would be able to get married with all of our family and friends around us and it would be at our original venue St Pancras Renaissance. However, the closer we got to our original date of 6 September 2020, the more we realised that things wouldn’t be back to what we used to think was a ‘normal wedding’. By November, we had postponed our honeymoon to South Africa and I had cancelled my hen. 

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A Last-Minute Jewish Micro Wedding in the Forest, Eshta’ol, Israel

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Today’s gorgeous Jewish wedding took place right at the start of the pandemic last year (hard to believe it’s been a year, right?), when we were just starting to hear about micro wedding and minimonies. But Mayan, a student in dance and movement therapy, and Mola, an animation student, pulled off their intimate celebration so expertly you’d never guess they were COVID wedding pioneers.

The Israeli couple had initially planned a big wedding in Jerusalem for May 2020, but as the situation started getting more serious they realized their Plan A was unlikely to work. Instead of waiting it out, Mayan and Mola decided to bump their wedding up, so they could make things official before Israel’s first lockdown began.

With just a few days’ notice, the pair planned a whole new wedding for an intimate crowd of 18, set outdoors in a beautiful forest near Jerusalem. Since their surroundings were so naturally gorgeous, they didn’t need to do much – the groom set up a little décor the morning of, and the couple opted for a simple chuppah with white cloth atop wooden poles, held by Mola’s brothers and cousin. Luckily, the couple’s amazing photographer, Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Jossef Si, was able to make it – and we are absolutely in love with his dreamy photos of the day.

Being such a last-minute affair, there were a few challenges along the way – the groom’s suit wasn’t ready in time, and the bride’s got an amazing only-in-Israel story about how she sourced her wedding shoes on short notice when most shops had already closed due to COVID. But in the end, Mayan and Mola say they wouldn’t have had their wedding any other way. In the bride’s words, “I am glad that our wedding ended up being very simple and modest. Sometimes the stress of planning a large event takes out the fun and excitement of just getting married!”

We’ll let her take it from here…

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How We Met

Mayan, the bride: We were introduced to each other through a mutual friend who Mola met travelling in India and I met in a group with which I studied in “Nefesh Yehudi” in the campus of the Hebrew University. Gali and Adi who were in my group thought of the ‘Shiduch’ together, and that’s how we started dating.Continue ReadingContinue Reading