Smashing the Glass | Jewish Wedding Blog

Inspired Jewish Weddings

How to Create a Memorable Experience for Your Guests {with Michelle Jacobs}

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Luxury wedding planner Michelle Jacobs of Elegante by Michelle J is the best of the best when it comes to working with Jewish and Jew-ish couples to craft standout wedding experiences that will make your guests feel comfortable and included at the same time you’re knocking their socks off with your individual spin on the big day.

Working out how to make your wedding pop while at the same time keeping everything accessible for guests is a topic I get asked about by couples ALL the time, so I asked the amazing Michelle if she’d share all her best tips with me and you!

Michelle helped Emma and Pete plan a Mary Poppins-themed wedding – talk about unique! Photo by Claudine Hartzel

She’ll be going over ways to make your wedding truly unforgettable – including a breakdown of just what it is that sets apart weddings that pop from those that don’t. She’ll show that there isn’t just one path to a standout day; there are as many possibilities as there are couples, from picking a unique venue to going for an alternative (and extra delicious!) food service, entertainment with a difference, and beyond.

Then she’ll go over her top tips for making your guests feel comfortable and included in whatever way you choose to personalize the big day – everything from how to approach your seating chart, to ensuring your guests will be confident about how to get home at the end of the night!

Michelle will be chatting with me on our Smashing The Glass Facebook page this Thursday, 5 March, live from central London’s The Wedding Gallery, all about how to create an unforgettable experience for your guests.
 
Michelle will be answering all your questions live, so if there’s anything you want to know about planning the wedding weekend of your dreams, ask away!

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A Magical, Colorful Jewish Wedding with a Missing Ketubah at Bayaar, Hadera, Israel

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Jewish wedding Bayaar, Hadera, Israel

A Disney-inspired fairy tale forest-themed Jewish wedding? Um, yes please! Everything about Shelly and Harel’s big day just exudes joy, and we are for it.

We adore the way the couple’s planner and designer, Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Yana of Craspedia Events, brought the pair’s vision of a colorful, youthful celebration to life – a true necessity given that they’re both medical students! The whole day was a riot of whimsical, bright flowers, fairy lights, and offbeat vintage touches. Yana even took the couple out to the flower farm so they could choose their blooms themselves! Don’t miss the wonderful photos from Noa Magger and Amir Ganun.

Given the theme, it’s no surprise the bride looked like the perfect fairy tale princess – we can’t get enough of her enchanting hair and makeup by Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Keren Rimon, chosen for her expertise working with long, thick, wavy hair. She really knows what she’s doing, because Shelly reports that her glam look didn’t budge all evening – even after dancing!

All seems pretty perfect, right? Well, it was… except for one thing: groom Harel forgot the couple’s ketubah at his parents’ house on the big day! Luckily, their wonderful venue Bayaar was prepared with a backup ketubah kept on hand for just such a situation – crisis averted!It just goes to show, there’s always going to be that one thing (or maybe a couple things) that won’t go to plan on the day. But they won’t make your wedding any less wonderful – and they may even leave you with a fun story or two that you’ll be recounting for years to come!

Now over to the bride…


Forest Vibes

Shelly, the bride: We got married at Bayaar, Hadera. We chose the venue because we wanted to have a “forest” vibe wedding. We both loved the nature with its green and brown colours and the magical feeling it gives.

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The Latest Jimmy Choo Bridal Collection Will Sweep You Off Your Feet

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There are so many elements when it comes to wedding planning, but one of my favorite details that I can’t stop obsessing over are the wedding shoes! This might be the most exciting detail of your bridal look —besides the dress of course. These are the shoes you’ll take your first steps in as a newly married couple, and the shoes that will always remind you of your first dance together.

I think it’s an understatement to say that a little splurging on the right pair is most certainly allowed! I know I’m not the only one guilty about an overflowing closet of footwear, but your weddings shoes will always be the most special pair of shoes you’ll ever own, and that’s something worth investing in.

Say I Choo!

I still can’t believe how incredible this year’s Jimmy Choo collection is. I wish I could bring this year’s bridal collection back in a time machine with me when it was time to choose my own pair of wedding shoes. (I might have even bought a second pair to change into for the reception!)

Jimmy Choo is by far the most popular bridal shoe worn in Smashing The Glass’s real Jewish weddings. We have literally had 100s of Real Jewish Brides in Choo! 

And now you can even give your bridal CHOOS a personal touch.

Yes – their made-to-order service can include a hidden golden inlay of your dreams. Whether it’s your special date, or even a personalized wedding hashtag, each personal touch will make your CHOOS unlike any other.

It was so hard to narrow this list down to my favorite designs. I wish I had about 10 more pairs of feet! From satin stiletto beauties, to mesh and glitter glam, here are my absolute favorites from this year’s 2020 collection. The best part is, no two CHOOS are alike so there’s always a style that will have you saying, “I Choo You!”

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Register for the Judaica of Your Dreams with the Jewish Museum Shop

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In Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club, we’re constantly fielding questions about where to register for beautiful Judaica that suits your style. Your bridal registry is a perfect opportunity to begin your new life together with unique and beautiful Judaica, and while there are so many options out there these days, it’s not always easy picking out pieces that work with your lifestyle and aesthetics – not to mention finding a one-stop shop where you can register for all the Judaica you might need to round out your collection.

Enter the Jewish Museum Shop. Located inside New York City’s Jewish Museum, on the Upper East Side’s Museum Mile, the Jewish Museum Shop specializes in Judaica and gifts that fit all tastes and lifestyles, from traditional, to contemporary; from formal for special occasions to casual and modern – and they offer international shipping, too. They also do gift cards, which are just the thing to give or get as wedding presents!

Their tastefully curated selection makes it a pleasure to pick out the pieces that are right for you – and the Jewish Museum Shop’s universal registry, which can by synced with registries from other retailers through MyRegistry.com, makes the process convenient and seamless. And best of all, every purchase supports the Jewish Museum – total win-win.

Shabbat Shalom

So what kinds of Judaica do Smashing The Glass couples love to register for? With the Jewish Museum Shop, the sky’s the limit, but items to enhance your Shabbat table are a much-loved place to start. Shabbat is a beautiful end to a busy week, and a meaningful way to bring Judaism into your home, and the Jewish Museum Shop has an incredible selection of candlesticks, kiddush cups, and challah plates, knives, and covers.

Gear Up for the Holidays

You can also make sure you’re covered for all of the holidays:

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Real Jewish Brides: Jos’s Grooms’ Eye View into Wedding Planning

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Jos will be marrying Daniel on 28th June 2020 at Hackney Town Hall, London, UK. Click here to read all Jos’ planning posts to date.

THREE FACTS: (1) Before meeting Daniel, Jos was known for her torrid dating tales – so much so that her friends used to call her Bridget Jonestein! (2) Daniel proposed to Jos in the Greek island of Naxos! (3) Jos is a member of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club!

The lead up to Daniel and I getting engaged was one of great anticipation. My mum called me one day and said ‘just tell him, the minute he proposes, I’m ready to get organising’. I too had tentatively started googling things… not wanting to tempt fate, but just to prep.. you know… just in case. Fast forward to the week after Daniel proposed, and I received of the biggest shocks of the wedding planning process so far.

Daniel, had an opinion. 

And I really don’t blame myself for the surprise I felt. We’re conditioned to believe that the wedding is the biggest day of a girl’s life. That the bride is the centre of attention. And if you think about popular culture, that’s really not surprising.

Take movies as an example. A cursory google brought up 99 films with ‘Bride’ in the title. These of course don’t include films that focus on a bride, but don’t specifically call it out in the title (i.e. almost every Disney cartoon). It does include the ‘Bride of Chucky’, which is not exactly within the romantic genre, but this isn’t an exact science.

Guess how many films I found with the word groom in the title? Five. Four of those films were made in the 1930’s, and one, confusingly, was called ‘The Well-Groomed Bride’, so, it doesn’t count. TV is another example. 

The only TV show I can think of that really features a groom is called… ‘Don’t tell the Bride’. So, I think I can be excused for the surprise when it dawned on me that this wasn’t the movies, it was real life and in real life, the Groom has a say. 

So, in true British style, I’ve decided to dedicate this post to the underdog. The most underrepresented demographic in the wedding world. The Groom.


From left to right: Jen, Jos, Charlotte and Jocy, all Brides Club Members and actual/former Real Blogging Brides. Their partners have been interviewed by Jos.

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