Smashing the Glass | Jewish Wedding Blog

Inspired Jewish Weddings

An Enzoani Bride for an Elegant Jewish Wedding at Warren Weir at Luton Hoo, UK

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Natasha-Simon-Warren-Weir-UK

There’s not much that makes us happier than seeing a couple pull off the Jewish wedding of their dreams thanks to the work of some of our very favorite Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendors. So as you can imagine, the wedding of Smashing The Glass Brides Club member Natasha, a marketing manager, to Simon, a recruitment consultant, is giving us ALL the feels.

Natasha reports that she loved her time in Brides Club – in her words, “it was so great to know there was a group of other brides going through similar things that you could confide in, get advice from or just get support where needed” – and she also found two of her wonderful vendors through the group! Natasha and Simon’s toastmaster, Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Jango, is a firm favorite among Brides Club members, and true to form he kept everything running smoothly on the big day. And a recommendation via Brides Club led Natasha to Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Ann Louise Bridal, where she found her gorgeous Enzoani dress and veil! Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Alexandra’s Florist was responsible for the incredible floral chuppah, featuring an elegant mix of white hydrangeas, white roses, and greenery.

We’re also obsessed with the fact that Natasha and Simon opted to open their ceremony with a flashmob by the amazingly talented Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor XS Showband! What a fun surprise for the guests – and indeed, Natasha reports that people are still talking about it to this day!  

This is truly a special wedding – be sure not to miss the emotion-packed photos by Chiko and trailer from AtMotion!

Natasha-Simon-Warren-Weir-UKNatasha-Simon-Warren-Weir-UKNatasha-Simon-Warren-Weir-UKNatasha-Simon-Warren-Weir-UK
How we met

Natasha, the bride: We were set up by Simon’s sister. I became friends with her through some mutual friends and she always said that she wanted to set us up. Simon was living in Manchester at the time and one day we arranged to go on a blind date at Dim T in Hampstead. As the say, the rest is history…

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These Menorahs Are Guaranteed to Light Up Hanukkah 2020

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Nosh Menorah by Modern Mensch via ModernTribe
(10% discount for Smashing Life members)

PSA: Hanukkah’s less than a week away! (It starts the evening of Thursday, December 10.)

Are you ready?

Here at Team STG, we definitely are! We’re putting up our Hanukkah decor, mailing out some carefully selected gifts and cards, planning our Hanukkah menus, listening to the new Daveed Diggs Hanukkah song on repeat – and, most importantly, dusting off our menorahs!

Lighting the menorah (aka chanukiah aka hanukkiah), a nine-branched candelabra lit, is the key ritual performed each night during Hanukkah. Each night, one additional candle is lit – so there’s one candle on the first night, two on the second night, three on the third night, and so on, until the final night when all eight candles are lit. That extra ninth candle? It’s the shamash (which means “helper” or “servant”), set aflame first on each night and used to light all the other candles.

Lighting the menorah, reciting the customary blessings, and watching the candles do their thing is such a special experience – and it’s even more special when you have a menorah you love using, whether that’s because it’s a family heirloom, you crafted it yourself, it was gifted to you by someone special, or its style is a perfect fit with yours.

These days there’s such a diversity of menorah styles, and we wanted to take this opportunity to highlight some of our favorites – so if you’re currently using one that doesn’t spark joy, have a look through our roundup and see if you find something that speaks to you.

Another thing that can make your Hanukkah extra bright this year? Smashing The Glass’s FREE online 8 Days of Hanukkah Festival, starting this Tuesday, December 8. Come together with our wonderful community of Jewish and Jew-ish women from around the world to share recipes, crafts, decor, music, and more – and to make some new friends, of course! Sign up to reserve your spot today.

RBG “I Dissent” Menorah by the Glamorous Elephant via ModernTribe
(10% discount for Smashing Life members)

You went crazy for this menorah honoring Ruth Bader Ginsburg when we shared it on Instagram @yourjewishlife!

Leah Menorah  by Joy Stember via ModernTribe
(10% discount for Smashing Life members)

How fun is this modular menorah? You can arrange it however you like (even a different setup each night if you want!), while the sleek design of pewter blocks keeps things firmly grounded in contemporary style.

Brass Bird Chanukiah by Jonathan Adler via Contemporary Judaica
(10% discount for Smashing Life members)

This elegant brass bird menorah is just the right of amount of unexpected to bring some fun to your Hanukkah setup while still keeping things chic.

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A Magical Rustic Jewish Micro Wedding in the Forest at San Moritz Lodge, Crestline, California, USA

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Ashley & Jeff, San Moritz Lodge, California

We are beyond thrilled to be featuring the incredibly gorgeous wedding of our beloved Brides Club member Ashley to Jeff! These two nature loving attorneys dreamed of making it official in the middle of a forest – and they found the perfect spot in San Moritz Lodge, two hours east of their home in Los Angeles. 

Then came the pandemic. Ashley and Jeff knew they wanted to get married on their original date, whatever it took, and while the wedding they had looked very different from the one they’d planned initially – they had to cut their indoor reception and catering, in addition to a vastly reduced guest list – it was totally and completely exquisite nonetheless. Karissa Breann Photography’s dreamy images absolutely blow us away.

We’re so touched to hear that that this wedding’s success was in part due to the incredible support and inspiration Ashley received as a member of Smashing the Glass’s Brides Club, which she joined just a month before her big day hoping for help dealing with the stress of planning a wedding during the pandemic. And, in her words,

Once I experienced the overwhelming support of the community and took advantage of the resources, I wondered why I had not joined sooner. Using the plethora of helpful guides and checklists and seeing how other brides were navigating this time made such a difference for me. The brides in Brides Club found so many creative ways to make their weddings safe, unique, and absolutely gorgeous during the pandemic. 

One fab idea Ashley picked up from the group was writing each guest a personalized thank you card for making the effort to attend the wedding in the middle of a pandemic – as suggested by none other than Karen Cinnamon gave during one of Brides Club’s monthly Wedding Planning Solved Zoom chats.

Ashley and Jeff worked with wonderful Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Ink with Intent to create the custom ketubah of their dreams, incorporating an image of a couple painted by Chagall, an artist who holds special meaning for the pair. We’re totally in love with how Adriana of Ink with Intent put it all together!

We also love how these two adapted the pre-ceremony tradition of kabbalat panim (“welcoming of the faces”), where the bride sits, surrounded by her mother and soon-to-be mother-in-law, as guests line up to approach her for an individual chat and a wedding day blessing, for the COVID era. Traditionally, only female guests participate, but Ashley and Jeff opened their kabbalat panim up to everyone – and since every household came up to speak with Ashley individually, it was the perfect pandemic-safe way to socialize.

There’s so much more we could say about this wonderful wedding, but we’ll leave it to Ashley to fill you in on the rest…

Ashley & Jeff, San Moritz Lodge, CaliforniaAshley-Jeff-San-Moritz-Lodge-CaliforniaAshley-Jeff-San-Moritz-Lodge-CaliforniaAshley-Jeff-San-Moritz-Lodge-California
How we met

Ashley, the bride: We met on JSwipe the very same night my stepdad suggested I expand my geographical search radius for matches.  My mom and stepdad were interested in learning how JSwipe worked, so I walked them through the process as we all looked at the screen together.

I previously had my search radius at 15 miles, but my stepdad suggested I increase it to 50 miles.  (When he and my mom were dating, the two lived 100 miles apart, and he drove to see her every weekend!)  Right after I changed my filter from 15 miles to 50 miles, a picture of a curly-haired cutie feeding a chipmunk popped up.  He lived 22 miles away.  We seemed to have similar interests, so I swiped yes on him. Continue ReadingContinue Reading

8 Days Of Hanukkah Festival With Smashing The Glass {Sign Up Now – It’s FREE!}

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I’m so excited to invite you to join my free 8 Days of Hanukkah Festival, whether you’re Jewish or Jew-ish, single, engaged or married… YOU are invited!

Over 8 days I’ll be sharing yummy Hanukkah recipes, DIY crafts, table decor, music, and cocktail ideas, plus we’ll delving into the spiritual side of the holiday, because in 2020 who doesn’t need to find some light in the darkness?

Did I mention I’ll also be giving Hanukkah gifts from ModernTribe to Festival-goers every day too?!

And of course we’ll be lighting our menorahs ‘together’ too (and it doesn’t matter whether your menorah is DIY or a family heirloom – I want you to get involved just as you are!).

It’s FREE to join, but you need to reserve your spot now!

Hanukkah will feel different this year, with communities unable to get together for parties and menorah lighting in the way they’ve done so for thousands of years.

But it doesn’t mean that this year Hanukkah can’t be just as fun, celebratory and meaningful!

It’s FREE to join, but you need to reserve your spot!

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Real Jewish Brides: Charlotte on Getting the Wedding Spark Back

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Charlotte will be marrying Adam on 25th April 2021 at Swynford Manor in Newmarket, UK. Click here to read all Charlotte’s planning posts to date.

THREE FACTS: (1) Adam proposed to Charlotte on holiday in Cyprus (2) Charlotte and Adam met at work in London (3) Charlotte is a member of STG Brides Club!


The last update I wrote was about the latest guidance given by the government and the impact it had on me. The announcement really knocked me and I was devastated. For days after I cried or felt angry. It was comforting to know that I wasn’t alone and all of us felt sad, angry or both.

6 months before the wedding we were due to meet with our wedding coordinator and plan the details of the day. I had been so excited to do this and get those decisions made and start to see our day come together.

Ahead of the planning meeting Adam and I talked, a lot, about a wedding for 15 and how we felt about it and we decided that if it’s a wedding of 15, we will likely postpone the whole day. Our magic number for the wedding to go ahead as planned is 17. Whilst we have so many more we want to be there (it’s planned to be a wedding for 140) without these 17 people there, the day, for us, just wouldn’t be the same. There have been some absolutely breath-taking micro-weddings and whilst I don’t doubt that the day would still be beautiful, Adam and I aren’t can’t envisage our day without our siblings and our grandparents being there.

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