Smashing the Glass | Jewish Wedding Blog

Inspired Jewish Weddings

A Stella York Bride for a Jewish Shift Wedding at the Inn at the Forks, Winnipeg, Canada

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Just two weeks before their wedding day, Faye-Rae and Aaron had to completely rethink their plans when their city’s COVID restrictions limited gatherings to just ten people. Despite having to change venues and reorganize the whole day on very short notice, in the end their Jewish wedding turned out to be nothing short of fabulous.

In order to include as many people in their celebration as possible, the couple opted for a shift wedding, where separate groups of guests attended for a couple of hours at a time. Since the cap on how many guests could be present at one time was so low, Faye-Rae and Aaron had two ceremonies – one for the bride’s family and one for the groom’s – and three mini cocktail hours, rotating family and friends throughout the day. This way, they were able to include more of their loved ones while sticking to the local regulations – and for those who couldn’t participate in person, the duo livestreamed their ceremony.

We’re in love with Black and Gold Photography’s luminous images of the day – not to mention the couple’s beautiful tree of life ketubah by Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Nava Shoham!

Now over to the bride, who looked so elegant in Stella York…

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How we met

Faye-Rae, the bride: We both work in the insurance industry and met at our company’s Christmas party.Continue ReadingContinue Reading

Real Jewish Brides: Jenna on Postponing for the Third Time

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Jenna will be marrying Mat in November 2021 at The Lodge at Ventana Canyon in Tucson, Arizona. Click here to read all Jenna’s planning posts to date.

THREE FACTS: (1) Jenna + Mat have known each other all their lives – they met when they were both one-year-old at a baby class! (2) Their relationship began at the University of Arizona in March 2012 (3) Mat proposed at Jenna’s parents house in December 2018


Things have been quite crazy these past few weeks! We packed up our apartment in Brooklyn & started a cross-country drive to move back home to Tucson, AZ. So thankful for pods-style moving services that let you pack up, then they ship the moving pods, & deliver when you’re ready!

We already have our hands full driving with a cat, I’m glad we don’t have to be driving a Uhaul. Can’t wait to be fully moved into our large, less expensive than our one-bedroom-NYC-apartment house! Our drive will have taken us through 12 states total & with 2 stops along the way to see people: one with a friend from college & a 2nd stop with my brother, sister-in-law, & nephews, just in time for Purim!

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A Rebecca Schoneveld Bride for a Magical Backyard Jewish Minimony in New York, USA

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We’ve seen our fair share of backyard micro Jewish weddings, and each and every one has been beautiful, but the nuptials of Smashing The Glass Brides Club member Lilia, who works in arts philanthropy as a grants manager, and Alex, a digital solutions manager for an international publishing company, take it to a whole new level.

These two postponed their plans for a big wedding due to COVID but still wanted to make things official, and so they went forward with a micro celebration in Lilia’s parents’ backyard that was nothing short of magical. It doesn’t hurt that Lilia’s mom’s garden is totally stunning, and we love the way the couple ran with the vibe in planning their décor – for instance, how awesome is their chuppah?! Don’t miss Rachel Rodgers’ luminous photos of it, and all the other details of this ultra-memorable day.

Beyond the exquisite aesthetics, we love how much thought Lilia and Alex put in to making their minimony special in a way that wouldn’t leave them feeling like the bigger wedding they have planned for the future won’t feel “like just a performance.” To that end, they opted to leave some traditions, like circling and their ketubah, for Wedding 2.0. In place of a ketubah, the couple decided to write their own take on tenaim (a traditional Jewish engagement document that stipulates the conditions of the marriage that both families need to maintain prior to the chuppah), featuring promises to each other – kind of like vows!

Before we turn you over to Lilia, we want to leave you with her beautiful words about her experience as a member of our Bride’s Club:

I have found the group to be SO warm and welcoming, and a joy to be a part of. Karen has been such a great help – she even helped brainstorm ideas for when we were reimagining a wedding with no dancing (which is my favorite part of weddings!). It has been so wonderful to have so many knowledgeable brides and brides-to-be at my fingertips, and I’m so grateful to be part of the community.

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How we met

Lilia, the bride: We met on OKCupid in 2017.Continue ReadingContinue Reading

Two Gorgeous Brides for a Same-Sex Backyard DIY Jewish Micro Wedding in Cambria, California, USA

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We are absolutely obsessed with the joyous, intimate, family-focused micro Jewish wedding of Smashing The Glass Brides Club member Sidnie, a diagnostic medical sonographer, and Monique, a cafe manager. Due to COVID, these two shifted their plans from a 115-guest wedding at a winery to a micro affair in Mo’s parents’ backyard.

While this obviously wasn’t their first choice, we love how the pair embraced the opportunities their minimony opened up for them – from being able to include all their friends and family from all over the world via livestream to special touches like a rehearsal dinner flower arrangement party, where everyone teamed up to assemble bouquets, corsages, and boutonnières for everyone at the wedding!

We love how Sidnie and Mo involved their family in everything from building their chuppah to cooking the reception meal to setting up and taking down all the décor – even their photographer, Adrian Throckmorton, is a cousin, and of course we’re SO incredibly touched by Sidnie’s beautiful words about her experience as a member of our Brides Club:

As a newly converted Jewish woman, it was incredibly powerful to feel such a sense of community with Jewish brides all over the world. From advice on a wedding dilemma to celebrating WPWs, these women made me feel like I had hundreds of the most dedicated bridesmaids supporting me! There were times I didn’t want to pester the people in my life with what was happening with the wedding and in those moments, Brides Club was there for me.

And we’re all over the couple’s stellar bridal fashion sense – Sidnie’s Essense of Australia gown, featuring  elegant off the shoulder straps, buttons all the way down the back, and pockets, and Mo’s custom suit she created with LGBTQ+ and size inclusive company Sharpe Suiting, where, with the help of her consultant, she was able to tie in everything from the wedding colors and flowers to embroider “Ani Ledodi V’Dodi Le” inside her jacket!

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How we met

Sidnie: We met working at a movie theater in Los Angeles 7 years ago!Continue ReadingContinue Reading

Your Engagement Ring, Your Way: Use 21st-Century Tech to Design the One-of-a-Kind Ring of Your Dreams with Lottie Leigh

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Hands up: who’s sneaking a peek at STG while waiting to get engaged? If that’s you, we’ve got something really special today – a brand new, 21st-century way of making the engagement ring of your dreams a reality.

The CAD Difference

When mega-talented London-based GIA-qualified jewelry designer Charlotte Leigh got engaged herself, she had a vision of what she wanted for her engagement ring – but working with a jeweler to turn her vision into reality proved trickier than she’d expected. Frustrated and feeling like there had to be a better way, she merged her tech know-how with her love for design and came up with a foolproof system using CAD (Computer-Aided Design) and 3D printing to make sure every bride ends up with the ring of her dreams – no disappointments, no surprises, just a one-of-a-kind piece you’ll never want to take off. 

But if your proposal’s already a thing of the past, don’t stop reading – Lottie Leigh also works with couples to create the wedding bands of their dreams (or any other special piece of jewlery, for that matter – necklace, bracelet, earrings, you name it), and if you’ve got any unloved heirloom jewelry tucked away in your drawers she’s got a fantastic jewelry remodeling service to turn those stones into something 100% you, using the same up-to-the-minute CAD approach to make sure your new piece turns out exactly the way you envision it.

Read on to find out exactly how Lottie Leigh works, what sets her process apart, and how you can get started on a journey to create the jewelry of your dreams!

The Forever Yours Journey

If you’re looking to create an engagement ring that’s thoroughly, completely you – whether together as a couple or as a surprise for your beloved – let Lottie Leigh take you on the journey of a lifetime.

The Forever Yours Journey is Lottie Leigh’s four-step path to your perfect engagement ring – and what really sets it apart is the fact that, before committing to your final design, you’ll get an actual 3D-printed model of your ring to try on. This ensures that it’s exactly as you imagined and gives you a chance to make any changes before the real one is made – so you can be sure the finished product will be exactly the way you want it, no disappointments! And no worries if you’re not based in London – the whole process can be done remotely.

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