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Real Jewish Brides: Introducing Maggie + Danny: How They Met To The Present Day…

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Today on the blog we’re introducing our latest gorgeous crop of 2020 / 2021 Real Jewish Brides! Please give a warm welcome to Maggie, who will be marrying Danny on 6th June 2021 at Stone House of St. Charles in St. Charles, Missouri.

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

How We Met

Well this is your traditional love story, one that your parents could have potentially told. Mine is like my aunt’s, who constantly told me “you will find him when you least expect it.” She met her husband through his sister who she worked with. My fiancé hates how I tell the story of our meeting (no, just a few of the details – the fiancé).

The year is 2018, the month is August. I had decided to move back closer to my family in St. Louis, Missouri in July of 2018. Danny moved to St. Louis earlier in the week we met. The weekend before, I had gone on a trip with my friends from high school. On the way back my friend Abby tells me the next weekend she and her husband planned a trip to a local winery with one of her husband’s friends from work. I agreed to go in hopes of making new friends. Danny was staying with this friend,  the friend invited Danny very last minute. Danny decided to go since he didn’t have anything else to do that day.

We go to lunch where I meet him briefly but don’t pay attention since there are 12 of us and we are at opposite ends of the table. Lunch is finally over, and we all begin to talk. He states that he just moved which is what caught my attention. We discover that we each studied math in college (meanwhile he is an engineer now and I am a hotel manager, not so useful for me) as well as comparing how long we had lived in St. Louis.

Maggie-and-Danny

He of course mentions right away about his adorable 7-month-old niece who he tried to kidnap when he was moving. At one point I remember texting my friend Abby saying how Danny was my type. The whole day I constantly try to stay close to him and flirt with him. Finally, we got to the wine tasting section where we shared a table and even shared each other’s drinks! I knew I wanted to date him after I made a mention of my favorite movie The Princess Bride and he stared to quote the movie with me.

The day ends and he doesn’t even ask me for my number. As we were walking out my friend Kayla and her husband Cameron teased me about how close we were, I mentioned my disappointment with him not asking for my number. That’s when Cameron mentioned he had gotten Danny’s number. For the first time in my life I got the courage to tell him to send my number to Danny. Well he did and 30 seconds later I receive my first message from Danny.

Now Danny loves to argue that he knew I was flirting with him but did not want to ask for my number as he had made friends with my friend’s husbands (yep, I didn’t want to be creepy – the fiancé again). Either way we connected and had our first date on August 21, 2018.  We went to dinner and then got edible cookie dough, we then sat outside the cookie dough place and talked for hours, past when the place closed.

It was a 6-hour date, our second date was 8 hours and our third was 7 hours. I remember coming home after our first date and freaking out to my dad about how I really liked this guy but was hesitant to continue dating him because he was Jewish.

Maggie Danny

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Coming Together in the Face of Coronavirus: #STGvendors Helping #STGbrides

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Mayan and Mola’s micro Jewish wedding in the face of COVID-19 | Photo by Jossef Si

In these uncertain times, one thing we’re finding really comforting is seeing how all strands of the wedding community are coming together to support each other. We see it every single day in our Brides Club, and we’re seeing it in all the new initiatives our wonderful Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendors have come up with to help couples whose weddings have been affected by the pandemic.

A digital change-of-date design by Liv & Luc

There’s no denying that this is a challenging time, but the outpouring of generosity we’re seeing these days is so heartwarming, and we want to share with you some of the creative ways vendors are working to help couples make the best of this difficult situation.

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Kristin and Bryan‘s ketubah by The Ketubah  | Photo by Perfect Circle Photography

Change the Date

A stunning suite of wedding stationery by E.Y.i. LOVE

If coronavirus has forced you to postpone your wedding, you may as well inform your guests in style. And luckily, a bunch of our wonderful stationers agree – and they want to help!

E.Y.i. LOVE – one of the finest bespoke luxury wedding stationers around – are offering a free digital design service to couples who need to let guests know they’ve been forced to postpone their weddings. If that’s you, get in touch at info@eyilove.com.

How cheery is this floral change of date card from Papier?!

Papier has a wonderful range of change-of-date or postponement cards – whatever your style, whether sleek and modern, whimsical, using a photo from your engagement shoot – they’ve really got all tastes catered for.

Liv & Luc are also providing complimentary digital save-the-date designs. They’ll pop your names and date into one of four gorgeous templates, and you can even mix and match your preferred colors and fonts. If you’d like one, get in touch and they’ll get you set up.

Malka Klein has created a free digital file for couples to download to announce that they’re rescheduling or postponing their weddings, and she’ll even add your names in calligraphy.

Dresses at Your Doorstep

A Berta gown from The Wedding Club | Photo by David Pullum from Salena and Stefan’s wedding 

The Wedding Club, one of London and Birmingham’s very finest bridal boutiques – and a favorite among STG brides -have made a selection of sample sale dresses available for delivery right to your doorstep, available to purchase via email – perfect for any bride finding herself in need of a dress ASAP during this time of self-isolation whether it’s due to manufacturing delays or because you’ve had to move your wedding date up. The range of gowns on offer includes pieces from Pronovias, Berta, and many, many more. For more info and to see the styles and sizes currently available, email appointmentsbham@thewedding-club.co.uk

Take Away, but Make It Gourmet

Adam Nathan’s delectable canapés for Bethany and Gavin‘s wedding | Photo by Voyteck

Adam Nathan Catering – one of our very favorite London-based kosher-style caterers – has risen to the present challenge of, in his own words, “having to create new businesses overnight” by temporarily pivoting from events catering to home delivery. Yes, this London-based kosher-style caterer is now bringing his delectable Middle Eastern-inflected dishes right to your (UK) doorstep – at very reasonable prices. And it’s all kosher-style (so no meat+dairy), using kosher meat. Plus, everything’s freezable, so you can buy in bulk and save for later.

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Passover in the Time of Social Distancing

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Made by Rebekah’s #NextYearInPerson Campaign

Why is this Passover different from all other Passovers?

One of the most important and beloved times of the Jewish year, Passover starts tomorrow night. But for most of us, the holiday isn’t going to look the way we expected it to. Social distancing means no getting together with friends and family for seders, and grocery limitations will likely lead to some lackluster menus.

As Smashing The Glass’s Community Manager, I know so many of our Brides Club members have had to cancel long-held plans to celebrate with loves ones, in favor of staying home.  

No seder plate, no problem: Made by Rebekah‘s got a great tutorial for making your own.

I feel you. As The World’s Singlest Wedding Blogger™, I’ll be spending Passover all alone in my studio apartment in New York City, which seems to be the world’s coronavirus epicenter at present. It all happened gradually, and then suddenly, and by the time I realized how serious the situation was, and long it was likely to last, it was really out of the question to travel out of state to be with my parents.

I’m going to be honest, it’s pretty scary here. I haven’t left my apartment in three weeks (I think? Time is weird now)—not even to go to the grocery store. For a while it was looking iffy as to whether or not I’d even get my hands on a box of matzah (thankfully, I was able to secure myself a grocery delivery slot, eventually). Other than a furtive thank you to said grocery delivery guy, I’ve had zero human contact that hasn’t taken place through a screen.

The prettiest Zoom seder you ever did see, courtesy of Made by Rebekah 

We’re lucky to live in a time when it’s so easy to be virtually connected, of course, and where Zoom seders are a possibility. But it’s not the same. And whether you’re in lockdown alone, with a partner, or even with a kid or two, it’s never easy. Nothing drives it home (or not, haha) like a holiday. It’s okay to be sad. I certainly am.

In addition to the plethora of roles I serve at Team STG, I also run Poppy and Prune, a Jewish food history and culture blog, and so it was only natural for me to conclude that it might be worthwhile to spend some time reading up on how Jews have observed Passover in difficult circumstances throughout history. Because the truth is, while what we’re facing this year is totally unprecedented for most of us living today, throughout history there’ve been plenty of plagues afflicting the Jewish people—both literal and metaphorical ones.

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An Allison Webb Bride for a Gluten-Free Jewish Wedding at El Caribe, Brooklyn, NY, USA

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We’re so excited to be blogging the beautiful Jewish wedding of STG’s very own features writer, Sam Levitz! We got to know Sam as a beloved member of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club, and based on her talent for writing, wise words of advice, and great sense of humor, we realized she was just the person to join Team STG.

Sam, who in addition to serving as STG’s features writer works in publishing, and Ethan, a patient coordinator, had a totally gorgeous, 100% heartfelt wedding that also happens to have been 99% gluten free! Both bride and groom are GF – and Sam, who’s been allergic to wheat her whole life, never thought she’d be able to eat cake at her own wedding. But thanks to the baking wizardry of Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor By the Way Bakery, the pair were able to have their (gluten-free, dairy-free, and kosher pareve) cake and eat it too! They can’t stop raving about what a delight By the Way’s owner Helene was to work with – or how scrumptious the cake was! Plus, how cute is that rubber duck cake topper, which now sits proudly in Sam’s prized rubber duck collection?!

Lest you think this wedding was all about the food, Sam and Ethan also had an exceptionally moving ceremony. The two incorporated lots of personal touches: they wrote and read their own vows, were wrapped in the groom’s late father’s tallis under the chuppah, and instead of Sam circling Ethan seven times per tradition they each circled each other three times and then simultaneously did a circle together – symbolizing their equal partnership. We also love the beautiful Lori Loebelsohn ketubah they ordered from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Ketubah.com.

We’ll leave it to Sam, who looked positively ravishing in her Allison Webb gown, to fill you in on the rest…

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How we met

Sam, the bride: We met on OkCupid right before New Year’s Eve going into 2017. We were a 98% match, but because of different traveling obligations we couldn’t meet up for almost 3 weeks after meeting. After that first date we were pretty much inseparable.

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An Enzoani Bride for a Forest Garden Jewish Wedding at Hacienda Del Alamo, Malaga, Spain

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Remember when we were able to do things like go on getaways to Spain (and, er, leave the house)? Until we’re able to get back at it, let us invite you on a quick virtual getaway to sunny Malaga, for the beautiful Jewish wedding of Kimi and Richard.

This one really is a stunner – Kimi and Richard took full advantage of the rustic forest garden vibes of their venue, complete with the most exquisite outdoor chuppah featuring birch poles, white flowers, and greenery. 

We’re also obsessed with the bride’s Enzoani gown, which she found at wonderful Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Ann Louise Bridal in London. The minute Kimi stepped inside the shop and met with owner Cheryll, she knew Ann Louise was the place for her – and we’re not surprised to hear that she was super impressed with the selection and service throughout her dress fitting process.

Now over to Kimi, who’ll fill you in on the rest…

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How We Met

Kimi, the bride: We met when we were 16 as I was on FZY tour with lots of his friends and the Essex boys’ and North London girls’ worlds collided! We were friends for years, regularly speaking and catching up but on a purely friendship level.

However, 9 years after meeting and a couple of years without seeing each other, a big group of 30 of us from North London and Essex all attended a music festival in Malta where Richard and I spent the whole weekend inseparable and the rest is history! We had loads of mutual friends, had met each other parents’ years earlier and everything just clicked.  

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