Smashing the Glass | Jewish Wedding Blog

Inspired Jewish Weddings

A Sareh Nouri Bride for an Elegant Urban Jewish Micro Wedding at Gramercy Park Hotel, New York, New York, USA

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How NYC chic is the gorgeous Jewish micro wedding of Amy, who works in marketing for a real estate developer, and Adam, who works in finance for a media company?!

These two had a big NYE wedding planned, but the pandemic forced them to reimagine their big day. With the help of the fabulous Joanna Greenfield of Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Ruby J Events, Amy and Adam opted for an ultra-intimate celebration – the guest list was limited to immediate family and one friend each for the bride and groom – at the elegant Gramercy Park Hotel.

Amy went into planning without much of a vision for her micro wedding, but Joanna honed in on what she was looking for and put together the day of her dreams. Amy worked with Joanna independently to plan the day, and the details ended up being a surprise to all – even her mother! Needless to say, the results were nothing short of breathtaking – don’t miss the joyous images from Steven Young from Stak Photography. Due to Amy and Adam’s tight schedule once they set their new date, they needed a ketubah fast – and Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Ketubah.com’s selection of beautiful “quick ship” options came to the rescue, as it so often does for couples facing a time crunch.

Now over to the bride, who looked luminous in Sareh Nouri…

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How we Met

Amy, the bride: We met in 2008 at Penn State University. Adam knew then that I was going to be his person; I had no idea; thought I just had a new friend. We remained friends until 2016 when we started dating.

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Real Jewish Brides: Maggie on Wedding Planning in Full Force

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Maggie will be marrying Danny on 6th June 2021 at Stone House of St. Charles in St. Charles, Missouri. Click here to read all Maggie’s planning posts to date.

THREE FACTS: (1) Danny proposed to Maggie on his birthday! (2) Maggie is in the process of converting to Judaism (3) Maggie is a member of STG Brides Club!


Wedding planning is in full force again. With only 5 months left till the big day things are starting to be put into motion.  As many of my friends and family already know our save the dates went out at the end of December.

They are beautiful and classic, going right along with the theme of our wedding, all thanks to the talents of Abbie Rudolph of Abbie Takes Pictures  for our amazing photograph on the save the dates and our friend Leah Sachs of Leah E Moss Designs who designed the whole save the date and will be continuing with our invitations, signage, as well as the big item, our ketubah.

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A Rime Arodaky Bride for a Backyard Jewish Micro Wedding in Connecticut, USA

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We are absolutely in love with the beautiful backyard Jewish wedding of NYC couple Alexis, a physician, and Marc, a lawyer! Alexis’s work as a front-line provider during the peak of the pandemic in New York made the pair realize it was time to seize the day and seal the deal.

Since Alexis and Marc didn’t want to wait long before making it official, a backyard wedding at the bride’s parents’ home made perfect sense. The couple didn’t have much time to spend planning, so they sought out micro wedding expert Susie Blumenfeld of Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Pink House Productions to plan the rustic celebration of their dreams. And are we ever obsessed with the outcome – the perfect intimate romantic day, strewn with white blooms and greenery (including the most beautiful birch chuppah). Don’t miss the gorgeous photos from Dreamscapes Studio – or the stunning ketubah from Our ketubah was from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Ketubah.com.  

We also love that in shopping for the perfect dress for her casual outdoor day – something she had to do all online, since bridal stores were closed due to the pandemic – Alexis sought out French designers whose lines included civil ceremony dresses. And did she ever find her match in the most exquisite Rime Arodaky!

We’ll let her take it from here…


How we Met

Alexis, the bride: We both work very busy and opposite schedules and somehow were lucky enough to cross paths on the app Hinge in January 2019.Continue ReadingContinue Reading

A DIY Jewish Garden Micro Wedding in London, UK

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We are absolutely in love with the quintessentially English garden micro wedding of Rebecca, a teacher, and Joel, an engineer. These two needed a convenient all-outdoor venue where they could throw a COVID-safe celebration – and fortunately, the school where Rebecca teaches happens not only to have a gorgeous garden but is also located just around the corner from the pair’s home.

With some help from their friends, Rebecca and Joel put together a beautiful day starting with a tisch and badeken in the couple’s own garden, followed by a procession down the street to their venue. Then there was the ceremony – which came together with lots of participation from not only those guests who were able to attend in person, but also some VIPs who joined in via the couple’s livestream. These included the bride’s parents, who were able to give the couple a blessing, and her brother, who sang to them as they stood under the chuppah.

Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Kate Swerdlow captured the day so perfectly in her emotion-filled photos – and Rebecca and Joel can’t stop raving about how much they loved working with a photographer who not only put them at ease on the day with her warm, easygoing nature but also just “gets Jewish weddings”!

Now over to Rebecca…

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Garden Venue

Rebecca, the bride: We got married in the garden of the school where I work which is around the corner from our home. We picked this venue because it was beautiful, surrounded by an orchard, a vegetable patch, with easy parking and close by. It had a big green space where we had small marquees with tables that we used for lunch.

The chuppah was made out of bamboo and designed and constructed by my husband and his friends, and they built it onsite. The location was intimate and green and perfect.Continue ReadingContinue Reading

Real Jewish Brides: Introducing Chris + Ariel: How They Met To The Present Day…

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Today on the blog we’re introducing our latest gorgeous crop of 2021 Real Jewish Brides! Please give a warm welcome to Chris, who will be marrying Ariel on 6th June 2021 in Chris’ Aunt and Uncle’s front yard. 

THREE FACTS: (1) Ariel proposed to Chris in November 2020 (2) Chris swiped right on Ariel and the rest is history! (3) Chris + Ariel will be having an intimate 10-person wedding.


How We Met

Every week in 2018 (and every week since up until the pandemic hit) I would go to dinner at Caitlin and Topher’s house. I introduced them and they have now been together for over a decade. She always said she wanted to return the favor, so one day after dinner I handed her my phone to swipe for me. Caitlin, having never done online dating herself, and now having two small children, squealed at the idea of doing an activity that had nothing to do with Baby Shark or Superheros.

She swiped right on Ariel and it was a match. I sent the first message and we decided to meet for tacos by the waterfront in Downtown Boston. When Ariel walked in it was clearly her, but her photos had not done her justice. We sat down, and I honestly don’t remember much of the first date. I was half nervous and half exhausted from a decade of online dating that had never worked out. But Ariel thought I was very tall, very funny, and the date flowed really well.

After we left the restaurant I took her hand as we walked to the train and it felt like home. I hugged her goodnight and told her to text me when she got home. 

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