Smashing the Glass | Jewish Wedding Blog

Inspired Jewish Weddings

A Galia Lahav Bride for an Ultra-Personal Israeli-American Jewish Wedding at Alma, Even Yehuda, Israel

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Rachael and Yuval, Alma in Even Yehuda, Israel

There’s nothing quite like an Israeli wedding. Today’s American-Israeli couple used that to their advantage as they planned their big day with the overarching aim of “showing the Americans a real Israeli wedding” – and did they ever!

American Rachael, an elementary school teacher who made Aliyah from Atlanta, and Israeli Yuval, who owns his own marketing company and sells products on Amazon, had friends and family attending from all over the world – many of whom had never attended an Israeli wedding or even visited the country before. So the bride had the great idea to prepare a guide to things that guests from abroad might find different from the weddings they’re used to – like how you will see the bride and groom before the ceremony and how once the groom smashes the glass, you’re supposed to run up to the chuppah to congratulate the couple. Such a smart thing to do!

We love that the two were married by Rachael’s family rabbi from Atlanta, who partnered with a local Orthodox rabbi to perform the ceremony in alignment with Israel’s legal requirements. And how special is it that the gold wedding band they used in the ceremony originally belonged to the bride’s great-grandmother?!

Speaking of family heirlooms – Rachael’s grandparents wanted to gift them with something really special that would be used for years, maybe even generations, to come. After going through lots of ideas, Rachael and Yuval decided a ketubah would be just the thing. But not just any ketubah – these two opted for a gorgeous handpainted nature-inspired piece by Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor The Delicate Brush that they now hang proudly in their home. Don’t miss it in Ariel Aricha Photography’s gorgeous pics.

Now over to the bride, who looked radiant in Galia Lahav…

Rachael and Yuval, Alma in Even Yehuda, IsraelRachael and Yuval, Alma in Even Yehuda, IsraelRachael and Yuval, Alma in Even Yehuda, IsraelRachael and Yuval, Alma in Even Yehuda, Israel
How we met

Rachael, the bride: Yuval and I swiped right on Tinder and met in October 2017, 2 months after I made Aliyah from Atlanta, Georgia. We chatted for a few hours before he asked me to meet him at Tamara in Tel Aviv for a smoothie. I accepted and that was our first date – smoothies and a walk on the tayelet. We got engaged a little after a year of dating and then married 9 months later.

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Announcing ‘Your Jewish Life’ – Our New Sunday Jewish Lifestyle Feature!

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Here at Smashing The Glass, we’ve always been dedicated to helping you plan your Jewish wedding, your way – from providing inspo for stylish, contemporary, creative celebrations via the blog and Instagram to building a wonderful community of likeminded Jewish and Jew-ish brides-to-be over in our membership space Brides Club.

But more and more, we’ve been seeing our audience craving a place where likeminded women can come together to celebrate ALL aspects of Jewish life, far beyond weddings. Especially since the pandemic hit, I think just about all of us have been craving connection and meaning in our lives – and there’s so much to be found in Judaism.

So in order to help us all tap into the beauty of our people and tradition, we’re starting something new for Smashing The Glass: in addition to our trademark Jewish wedding inspo, from here on out each Sunday we’ll be publishing the kind of Jewish content that matters to you, from ideas for meaningful ways to observe Shabbat and holidays to talk about what it feels like to be Jewish in 2020 to discussions of our favourite Jewish media to roundups of contemporary, stylish Judaica and home decor we love.

Basically, content that will help empower all of us to live our best Jewish lives – even right now, in 2020, when times are, to put it mildly, weird. But most of all, this space is for you, and if you have ideas about what kinds of content you’d like to see in this slot, we want to hear about it in the comments!

Or you can always shoot us a DM over on our brand new Jewish lifeInstagram account, @yourjewishlife– where we’re sharing more of the Jewish and Jew-ish lifestyle content you’re craving.

So be sure to check in every Sunday on Smashing The Glass for Your Jewish Life. And here’s to living our best Jewish (or Jew-ish) lives!

Real Jewish Brides: Maggie on Wedding Stress

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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!

Blogging Bride Maggie and Danny

I found it more difficult to write this month’s post as I have not really checked off any boxes when it comes to planning my wedding. We looked back through some vendors we saved for things such as cake and photo booth, worried about how we were going to pay for our catering deposit and tried to figure out a kosher caterer. We did however have our first meeting with our friend Leah Sachs of Leah E Moss Designs to discuss our wedding paper goods.

She gave us some much good information, much of which I already knew from following her blog and Instagram, but she taught a lot to my fiancé who surprisingly agreed with what I wanted without any convincing. I wish I could have screenshot her face though when we told her that we wanted her to make our custom ketubah. She was so honored, and we are so excited to have a friend design this for us. It will make our ketubah even more special to us as we believe in supporting and helping our friends. Besides all this, life has just been too crazy to really focus on wedding planning when the big stuff is taken care of and the wedding is 8 months away.

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An Eliza Jane Howell Bride for a Sustainable Jewish Wedding at One Marylebone, London

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Natasha-and-Jacob-One-Marylebone-London

We love it when a couple crafts a Jewish wedding that stays true to their values – so naturally we’re crazy about the fab celebration of Natasha, who runs Urban Cordial, an all-natural, low-sugar cordial brand made using British surplus fruit, and Jacob, a theatre producer who grew up in Australia!

Given Natasha’s business, it’s no surprise that sustainability is important to these two – and they incorporated it into their day through touches like sourcing seasonal vegetarian British food, reusing the chuppah canopy of their friends Ashley and Adam, and donating their flowers to a hospice and a women’s shelter at the end of the night.

Possibly the coolest sustainable touch, though, is the way Natasha and Jacob created their wedding jewelry: the two worked with goldsmith Rachel Jones to create their rings from heirloom pieces. Natasha’s engagement ring was made using gold from Jacob’s grandmother’s bracelet, a diamond from his grandmother’s engagement ring, and a sapphire gifted to the couple from Jacob’s mum. Then, the couple did a workshop with Rachel where they handcrafted each other’s wedding bands – how special is that?! Photographers Lina and Tom captured everything so perfectly, as did videographers  Moon and Back.

Natasha and Jacob are lucky enough to be friends with the incredible Dan of beloved Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor The Function Band, so they were a natural pick when it came to entertainment for the reception – and true to form, the band went all out learning new songs, keeping guests on the dance floor all night, and even throwing in an impromptu song and dance bracket featuring some Aussie classics in honor of the groom! The Function Band also provided the epic lighting for the party – something Jacob was especially attuned to given his theater background.

Oh, and did we mention that this duo smashed not one but TWO glasses (one each)? We could go on and on, but we’ll let Natasha – who looked radiant in Eliza Jane Howell – take it from here…

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How we Met

Natasha, the bride and Jacob, the groom : We met at a mutual friend’s house and Jacob helped Natasha take some photos of drinks using her cordials for social media. He still helps her with this kind of stuff.Continue ReadingContinue Reading

An Allison Webb Bride for a Beachy Destination Jewish Wedding at Ana y José Hotel in Tulum, Mexico

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Julia-and-Nick-Tulum-Mexico

There’s nothing like a Jewish wedding on the beach, and Julia and Nick’s minimalist celebration in swoonworthy Tulum, Mexico, ticks all our boxes and then some.

First off, we love that these two knew they’d stumbled onto something special with their venue – I mean, can you believe that beach?! – and decided to keep a low profile with their décor so as to let the surroundings speak for themselves. They stuck with mostly natural materials and native flowers, greenery, and pampas grass (with the exception of some prominently placed protea flowers in a nod to the couple’s shared South African roots).

And we’re totally obsessed with Julia and Nick’s simple but stunning chuppah, consisting of nothing more than natural driftwood-esque branches and the couple’s grandfathers’ talitot. Against the backdrop of the ocean, does it ever make an impact! Don’t miss the incredible photos from Someplace Wild Photography.

We’ll let the bride, who looked so beautiful in her lace gown from Allison Webb, fill you in on the rest…


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How We Met

Julie, the bride: Nick and I have known each other forever, and I know a lot of people say that, but really, we have! Both coming from South African Jewish families, our lives have been intertwined for as long as I can remember, so it only seemed natural then when I got to high school (two years after Nick) that he was a kind, familiar face in a see of thousands of new ones, as I was coming from a small private school to a large public high school. Our story begins in high school, dating off and on as teenagers and A LOT of sneaking out of my parents house! When it was time for college, we parted ways, Nick two years older and off to New York City for his own adventure.

Fast forward a bit, and we are both at NYU, both living in New York City. It was an incredible and very intense way to reconnect. Somehow, even when we were “broken up” we kept finding our way back to each other. Once we both had matured a bit, we finally decided it was time to really be together. After a few years in New York, we decided to make our way back to our home base, Atlanta, where both our families and extended family lives.  

Although a rollercoaster, we really have watched each other grow up and taken time to do that separately. To be with someone who has witnessed a lot of your life is pretty crazy and we are constantly grateful to continue to have the front row seat to each other’s life. 

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