Smashing the Glass | Jewish Wedding Blog

Inspired Jewish Weddings

Real Jewish Brides: Janine Is Planning Her Wedding From Afar

by

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! 

Continue ReadingContinue Reading

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

by

Jewish wedding at Villa di Maiano, Florence, Tuscany, Italy_0029

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…

Jewish wedding at Villa di Maiano, Florence, Tuscany, Italy_0035
How we met

Chloe, the bride: We met at Glastonbury for the first time about 5 years ago but we only started dating 2 years ago.

Continue ReadingContinue Reading

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

by

Jewish-wedding-bride’s-parents’-family-home-in-Falmouth-MA

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…

Jewish-wedding-bride’s-parents’-family-home-in-Falmouth-MA Jewish-wedding-bride’s-parents’-family-home-in-Falmouth-MA
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’.
Continue ReadingContinue Reading

New York Bridal Market Fall 2020 Recap {and Top Bridal Trends for 2020}

by

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…

Continue ReadingContinue Reading

Planning A Wedding Without My Dad

by

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? 

Continue ReadingContinue Reading