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Real Jewish Brides: Jos Gets Real about Body Image and Planning Curveballs

13/11/2019 by Smashing The Glass

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!

Fiction Vs Reality

As a child I grew up with a beautiful view of love. Disney princesses with impossibly small waists and hair that seems to just fall into place meet similarly beautiful men, usually on horseback and then suddenly appear, doe eyed, at their weddings.

Yes, there are a few bumps in the road, a few wicked witches, maybe a poison apple or two, but the end game is always the same. We all live happily ever after.

So, with such high expectations, the experience of being engaged so far has fallen somewhat short. Don’t get me wrong, I am 100% sure that I am marrying the right guy, he’s an angel. However, there are two things that have been making the past few months difficult, and they are two things that Disney did not prepare me for.

A Carolina Herrera Bride for an Elegant Argentinian-American Jewish Wedding at the Gramercy Park Hotel, New York City, USA

11/11/2019 by Karen Cinnamon

Today’s real Jewish wedding is just SO very NYC… which is appropriate, because this week Karen’s taking the Big Apple by storm! All of us at Team STG are VERY excited for her first official STG trip to the greatest city in the world – check out our Instagram Stories for the next few days to see what she’s up to!

But back to the wedding… wonderful STG Brides Club member Julie and groom Guillermo got married at the Gramercy Park Hotel, which is also where they went on their first date! The fact that it’s got killer NYC views didn’t hurt either.

Everything about this wedding was perfectly NYC chic, from the understatedly elegant floral chuppah to the simple, timeless ketubah the couple chose from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor (and East Village local!) The Ketubah to the artsy, creative photography by Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Jossef Si (who Julie and Guillermo loved so much they flew him in from Tel Aviv – and no wonder, his style was such a perfect fit for their big day). The pair even brought in quirky entertainment like a tarot card reader and a poet to write personalized haikus for guests!

And in true New York tradition, this wedding was delightfully multicultural, with all kinds of touches incorporating Guillermo’s roots in Argentina, from Argentinian dance music to late night empanadas.

As always, we’re so happy to hear that Brides Club helped make this wedding the smashing success it was – Julie loved our planning resources and vendor recs, and she was able to take advantage of a bunch of amazing discounts offered just to members of the club!

There’s so much more we could say, but we’ll let Julie, who looked stunning in Carolina Herrera, fill you in on the rest…

Venue

Julie, the bride: We got married at the Gramercy Park Hotel in New York City. We chose this venue because it is where we had our first date! The story goes… I was moving from Boston to NYC, and while on a trip to NYC for work/apartment hunting, I stayed at the Gramercy Park Hotel. We connected through an app the day I arrived in the city and arranged to meet one week later (my last day before returning home). I asked if he could meet me at the hotel bar, since I needed to grab my bags before heading to the train.

Two hours before the date, I got an unexpected job offer in London, which was a city I’d been dreaming of living for 10+ years. I debated with my friends if it was more rude to cancel last minute or to show up and say I was moving to London! Good thing I didn’t cancel 🙂 One year later, we celebrated our engagement with a night at GPH and dinner at the hotel restaurant where we had our first date.

Aside from its significance, we loved the venue because it provided stunning views of New York City and a unique floorplan. Rather than a standard ballroom, the hotel has an outdoor terrace surrounding multiple interior rooms. We did not want to follow the typical wedding structure (skip the long sit down dinner, and let’s get right to the party), and this venue naturally lent itself to something less traditional. Bonus: it is also covered in incredible modern artwork from Andy Warhol, Damien Hirst, Jean-Michel Basquiat and more.

A Limor Rosen Bride for a Meaningful Family-Centered Jewish Wedding at Ba’yaar, Israel

08/11/2019 by Karen Cinnamon

We adore the magical forest vibes of today’s Jewish wedding at incredible Israeli venue Ba’yaar. This is one stunning celebration, no question – and the couple’s photographer, Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Ran Bergman, captured all the emotion and beauty of the day in his signature style.

But the thing that REALLY warms our hearts about how Shira, an occupational therapist, and Jonathan, who works as a political consultant, celebrated their marriage is the way they made their big day all about tradition and family – while making sure their own personalities always shone through.

Take the ceremony. For Shira and Jonathan, there was no question that crafting a personal, moving, yet traditional ceremony was priority #1. To make sure their ceremony truly spoke to who they are as a couple, the pair each spoke under the chuppah, shared individual vows to each other, and exchanged rings. We also love that in between the traditional 7 brachot said by men, they asked 4 women to each add their own personal blessing.

And then there’s the couple’s incredible paper cut ketubah from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Danny Azoulay Art– truly a work of art!

But what really, REALLY blew us away about this ceremony was something we don’t usually remark on: the groom’s wedding band. Jonathan used his grandfather’s wedding ring from before World War II, to his first wife who perished in the Holocaust along with the couple’s two young children. What an incredible heirloom to pass down through the generations.

There’s so much more to say, but we’ll let the bride (who wore an absolute stunner of a gown from wonderful Israel designer Limor Rosen) take it from here…

A Magical Forest

Shira, the bride: We scoured throughout Israel to find something that conveyed a feeling of magic while also providing the highest quality. When we walked into Ba’yaar we knew we found it. Nothing compared to the feeling you get of walking into a magical forest when you walk into their perfectly lit and beautiful garden of orange trees and blossom. Additionally, they stood out with the very high quality food, technology and professional staff.

We got married in spring, and another important factor was a stunning indoors due to what turned out to be a realistic fear of rain. The spectacular glass incased room surrounded by lit greenery was exactly the combination of class and nature.

Real Jewish Brides: Janine Is Planning Her Wedding From Afar

06/11/2019 by Smashing The Glass

Janine will be marrying Paul on 26th July 2020 at Fasque Castle, Scotland, UK. Click here to read all Janine’s planning posts to date.

THREE FACTS: (1) Janine and fiance Paul met on Bumble. (2) The two of them are planning an interfaith Jew-ish wedfest weekend, to include everything from a whiskey tasting to mini highland games! (3) Janine is a member of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club!

Our Vision for Our Wedding

From the day Paul and I knew that we wanted to get married, way before we were engaged, we decided that we didn’t want to get married in London; we wanted to marry in a place with meaning.

I recall the day that we got our inspiration – we were watching a rom com, which Paul claims to hate, but I know that he secretly loves; maybe not for the content but for snuggling up on the sofa and relaxing.

The film, Leap Year, showed a beautiful wedding set against a lake with a mountainous backdrop, that’s when I exclaimed, we should marry in Scotland(!) – I have Scottish heritage, it’s a beautiful place, and will be ideal for the small wedding that we wanted. That’s when we set about on our mission to find our perfect venue…

Our search began with a very long list (Paul likes to have options), which we whittled down to six venues. On December the 19th last year we set off in my car on the long drive to Scotland.

Our plan involved viewing six venues in three days across different parts of Scotland, of varying styles, but all exclusive use venues because we want our wedding to be a party with just our families and friends, it was a busy trip but we were determined to find THE place for us!

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A Galia Lahav Bride for a Jewish Wedding at Villa di Maiano, Florence, Tuscany, Italy

04/11/2019 by Karen Cinnamon

There’s nothing like a Tuscan Jewish wedding. And we’re totally obsessed with the incredible nuptials of London-based couple Chloe, who works in PR, and Danny, who’s in property.

The couple’s incredible planner, Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Elegante by Michelle J, helped them bring the day of their dreams to life – not the easiest feat when planning from abroad! Michelle set them up with many of their fantastic vendors – like photographer David Bastianoni and videographer Waterfall Visuals– and suggested their picturesque venue, Villa di Maiano.

With grounds straight out of a Renaissance painting and epic views of Florence, this is a venue that doesn’t need much help to shine. But even so, Michelle knocked it out of the ballpark with her incredible chuppah setup – and the table décor’s pretty fantastic too.

There’s so much more to say about this gorgeous wedding, but we’ll leave the rest to the bride – who could not have looked more elegant in her Galia Lahav gown, which she worked with beloved Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Browns Bride to customize…

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