Smashing the Glass | Jewish Wedding Blog

Inspired Jewish Weddings

A BHLDN Bride for a Literary Jewish Wedding with DIY Touches at the Bride’s Parents’ Family Home in Falmouth, MA, USA

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We love it when a couple makes their Jewish wedding 100% truly THEM. And that’s exactly what Leah, a project manager, and Alex, a lab tech and soon-to-be nursing student, did in their literary-themed backyard wedding, which celebrated the pair’s love of reading, family, and of course their beloved cats!

Their wonderful wedding planner, Luba Gankin from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Primavera Dreams, helped them pull all these strands together to make one ultra-memorable day. We can’t get enough of all the fun details like centerpieces made of old books and escort card bookmarks made of recycled book pages – plus the super colorful chuppah canopy, made from a piece of traditional Egyptian wedding tent cloth the bride brought back with her after spending three years living in Egypt! Photographer Alex Gordias captured it all so beautifully.

Oh, and did we mention that the bride – who looked lovely in her wedding dress from BHLDN – baked the wedding cake (for 150 guests) herself?!

Now over to the couple…

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How we met

Leah and Alex, the bride and the groom: The bride and groom first met 16 years ago at age 15 when they were competitive Latin ballroom dancers in high school! The groom claims he had a crush on the bride at the time.

Fast forward 14 years, and the groom moved in with one of the bride’s closest friends completely by chance. When the bride came to visit her friend, she was surprised to find Alex there but impressed with the excellent job he’d done growing up. And the rest is history! True to their roots, the bride and groom performed a sensual tango to Leonard Cohen’s ‘Dance Me To The End of Love’.
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New York Bridal Market Fall 2020 Recap {and Top Bridal Trends for 2020}

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Ines Di Santo | Photo Courtesy of Ines Di Santo

Hello from New York! Emily here, reporting back from New York Bridal Fashion week on all the hottest Fall/Winter 2020 collections.

Viktor & Rolf | Photo Courtesy of Viktor & Rolf / Marijke Aerdens

Bridal Market happens twice a year in NYC, in April and October (you can check out my recap of last April’s highlights here).

Eisen Stein | Photo Courtesy of Eisen Stein 

The October show is the bigger of the two, with lots of high-impact runaway shows and all the designers vying to show their latest and greatest.

Monique Lhuillier | Photo Courtesy of Monique Lhuillier

This market, designers were focused as much on weighty topics like inclusivity and sustainability as on aesthetics. Models were more inclusive than ever before, with lots of designers featuring plus-size models,  Theia including a model in a wheelchair in their runaway show, and Galia Lahav‘s campaign video for their new collection starring a transgender model. 

Peter Langner | Photo Courtesy of Peter Langner

But I know you’re here for the dresses, so let’s go…

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Planning A Wedding Without My Dad

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Sarah who will be marrying Rich on 21th June 2020 at Tikitano Beach, Marbella, Spain. Click here to read all Sarah’s planning posts to date.

THREE FACTS: (1) Sarah knew Rich was the one when he brought a gift of dog treats for her toy poodle Nuala along to their fourth date! (2) They are crafting an amazing destination wedding weekend in Marbella with beloved Smashing The Glass Recommended vendor optimum weddings as their planner. (3) Sarah is a member of  Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club!

So this is an emotional post, it’s heartfelt and it’s raw and it hasn’t been easy to write. I suppose that my main aim of writing it is in the hope that other brides to be realise that they are not alone in their feelings if they have lost someone special and that there is nothing wrong with having mixed feelings at such a happy time because it is normal. So here goes…

I lost my dad when I was five years old and I also lost my mums sister last year and my nanny, uncle, grandparents and very close family friends over the past 26 years.

For the most part I have always accepted this and been ok with it, even though I have really missed dad and my other loved ones at landmark events on special occasions like graduation, my first job, when I needed a male perspective on various boyfriend dilemmas, when I watched a father of the bride speech at a wedding or a father daughter dance at a wedding. However, I never expected the wave of emotions which hit me when I got engaged. 

Getting engaged was one of the best days of my life, I knew that it was the start of a wonderful life with my best friend and the man that I love. However, I had this overwhelming sense of emptiness and loss. I couldn’t understand what was wrong with me? How could I be feeling down at such an exciting and happy time, maybe I’m just not normal? 

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A Heidi Hudson for an Intimate Second Marriage Destination Jewish Wedding on a Budget at the Mount Zion Boutique Hotel, Jerusalem

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Gorgeous chuppah alert! We’re obsessed with the way Nicki, head of trust fundraising at a national charity, and Andrew, who runs his own business as in commercial energy surveying and is a qualified pilot on the side, worked with their venue’s already stunning in situ outdoor foliage-laden chuppah, by adorning it with white roses and marking the path down the aisle with pillar candles and eucalyptus leaves. Pure perfection!

This was a second marriage for both members of the UK-based couple, and we love how they kept things intimate and family-focused, with a clear understanding of what mattered – celebrating with their nearest and dearest – and what didn’t. This was really a day all about love, and that comes through so clearly in the wonderful, natural photos from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Herschel Gutman.

With a tightknit guest list of just 50 people and a commitment to spending sensibly, Nicki and Andrew made sure to involve their families in the big day – their four children participated in the ceremony, and other relatives read the Sheva Brachot.

There’s so much more to say, but we’ll leave the rest to Nicki, who looked stunning in her off-the-shelf (and affordable!) Heidi Hudson gown (chosen with the help of her 16-year-old daughter/bridal stylist!)…

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How we met

Nicki, the bride: We met on JDATE!

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An Adam Zohar Bride for a Laid-Back Israeli Jewish Wedding on the Beach at Al Hayam, Caesarea, Israel

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We’re so excited to be sharing the beautiful Israeli beach wedding of our beloved Smashing The Glass STG Brides Club member Genna to Yoni!

These two were faced with the touch task of planning an epic Jewish wedding thousands of miles from their home in NYC in under five months – and did they ever pull it off! To scroll through their gorgeous photos from Idan Hasson, you’d never guess it all came together on such a tight timeline.

And we’re so delighted to hear that Genna attributes her success in large part to the beautiful community that is Brides Club – which she was introduced to by her wonderful wedding planner, Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Vanessa Ohayon, the other key ingredient in bringing this amazing day together seamlessly.

In her own words, on joining Smashing The Glass Brides Club

“I instantly felt a sense of calm that I had a supportive community of women I could bounce questions and ideas off of. I was able to make the quick decisions I needed to by reaching out of the many other brides who were married in Israel.”

Thanks Genna – hearing this makes us sooooo happy!!!

We’re totally in love with the laid-back, totally Israeli beach aesthetic the couple went for – Israeli groom Yoni wanted to make sure the big day kept that Israeli party vibe. There’s a fab chuppah, the most incredible seaside setting, the dreamiest florals… and we’re obsessed with Genna’s bridal style, too. She wore a stunning lace mermaid gown by Adam Zohar (an Israeli designer, natch), and we don’t think she could possibly have looked any more gorgeous.

Over to you, Genna!

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How we met

Genna, the bride: Yoni and I met at a party on December 12, 2012 (12/12/12!) when we were both living in Tel Aviv. We started off as friends, and then dated, at points we were “on and off,” but our relationship grew and morphed into a truly solid, loving friendship and partnership. I moved back to New York in 2016 and he arrived shortly after. He proposed in Central Park in February of this year, after a 6-year relationship full of lots adventure, hard times and plenty of good. 

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