Smashing the Glass | Jewish Wedding Blog

Inspired Jewish Weddings

A Galia Lahav Bride for an Elegant and Energetic Persian Jewish Wedding at the Sheraton Universal, Los Angeles, CA, USA

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We love a good Persian Jewish wedding here at STG, and today’s is no exception. Sadaf, a clinical pharmacist, and Payam, a personal injury lawyer, had an epic party – with over 500 guests, how could they not?! The awesome energy kept everyone on the dance floor nonstop, and we really do mean nonstop – the bride and groom were so busy tearing up the dance floor that they skipped dinner!

And we love how they followed the Persian Jewish tradition of having the wedding party and close relatives  walk down the aisle before the bride and groom and their parents – for Sadaf and Payam, that amounted to over 40 people, each of whom danced down the aisle to a song of their choice!

We’re obsessed with the glam photos from  V Production – and how cool is the post-wedding shoot they did of the couple at Malibu Creek State park?!

We’re so touched by how the couple included Payam’s mom, who had tragically passed away two years before, into the wedding, by dedicating the wedding to her on their invites and displaying a picture of her under the chuppah.

We’ll let Sadaf, who was nothing short of ravishing in her dreamy Galia Lahav mermaid gown, tell you the rest…

Jewish wedding Sheraton Universal in Los Angeles CA USA_0019
How we met

Sadaf, the bride: Two and a half years ago, Payam and I attended a mutual friend’s house party. We never talked or met at the party. After the party, a mutual friend told Payam that she thinks we may be a good match for one another.

A few days later Payam send me a message on Facebook. Since we were not Facebook friends, his message went into my spam folder. After a few months I accidently came across his message, which was upper, cute. In the message he wrote: “a mutual friend has spoken highly of you and I would like to get to know you”. It was too cute to say no. I messaged him back and we started a conversation. On June 27th 2016, we finally went on our first date and the rest was history.

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BIG NEWS: Announcing Smashing The Glass’s FREE Jewish Wedding Planning Bootcamp!

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If you’re planning a Jewish or Jew-ish wedding, I’ve got some really exciting news for you! Yes — for the first time in my 5 years as founder and editor of Smashing The Glass, I’m running a FREE Jewish Wedding Planning Bootcamp in 10 days time. 

Monday 3 June through Thursday 6 June, I’ll be going live every day to help you plan the Jewish (or Jew-ish) wedding of your dreams. 

I know wedding planning can be overwhelming… but it doesn’t have to be, and Jewish Wedding Planning Bootcamp is all about helping you have the wedding you really want, stress-free (or as close as you can get).

Jewish Wedding Planning Bootcamp starts Monday June 3, 2019 @ 3:30 PM EST (that’s 3:30 pm New York, 12:30 pm Los Angeles, 8:30 pm London, 10:30 pm Israel)

CLICK HERE TO RESERVE YOUR PLACE AND GET A REMINDER

Karen Cinnamon Smashing The Glass_1224During Bootcamp, I’ll be showing you exactly how to:

♥ Deal with any awkward family members

♥ Come up with creative wedding ideas for an unforgettable, one-of-a-kind wedding

♥ Maximize your wedding budge

♥ Nail your guest list

♥ Have a unique, modern ceremony with all the Jewish wedding traditions 

♥ Find your perfect venue, and your ideal wedding vendors

♥ Make non-Jewish guests and family members feel included

And I’ll be answering every single one of your questions (however big or small!)

During Jewish Wedding Bootcamp, I’ll be answering all of these questions and more – and most importantly, I’ll be ready and waiting to help you out with every single one of your own wedding planning questions, no matter how big or small.

(And by the way you’ll benefit from Jewish Wedding Planning Bootcamp whether you’re using a planner or not — this is an absolute must-attend for every Jewish / Jew-ish bride-to-be!)

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A Phase Eight Bride for an Interfaith Jewish-Scottish Wedding Planned in Two Months at the Pergola on Hampstead Heath, London, UK

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Can you believe this gorgeous interfaith Jewish wedding was planned in under two months?! Yes, that’s right – a beautiful wedding in under sixty days!

Jude, a business analyst, and Del, who works in regulation, made it work by keeping the crowd small – they held an intimate celebration with just immediate family and their closest friends – and the day streamlined.

Their venue, the Pergola on Hampstead Heath, not only had a ton of meaning to the couple (it’s where Del proposed to Jude!), it’s also the kind of naturally stunning space that easily stands on its own without any need for additional décor.And given the timeline, the bride opted to shop the high street, endingup with a lovely ‘20s inspired beaded gown from Phase Eight.

We love how these two brought together the bride’s Jewish identity and the groom’s Scottish heritage, too. They made sure traditions from both sides were represented, smashing the glass together and choosing flowers that incorporated Del’s Scottish heritage.

We’re obsessed with Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Kate Nielen’s soft and dreamy photos of  this big day… read on to hear all the rest of the details.

   
How we met

Jude, the bride: We met on Match.com

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Real Jewish Brides: Alexandra Is Getting Married In Five Days!

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Alexandra will be marrying Jordan this coming Sunday (!) at The Grove in Cedar Grove, New Jersey. Click here to read all Alexandra’s planning posts to date.

THREE FACTS: (1) Alexandra and Jordan met in college and have been together ever since. (2) They are planning a romantic fairy tale garden wedding inspired by A Midsummer Night’s Dream – LOVE! (3) Alexandra’s wearing Galia Lahav for the big day – one of our absolute fave Israeli designers!


My 5-days countdown

Hey STG community – Alexandra here for my final post before I say “I DO” on May 26th! Our wedding is quickly approaching and there is a seemingly never-ending list of to-dos. At the one-month-out point, brides are likely crazed with hair and makeup trials, dress fittings, food tastings, final conversations with the officiant, venue, band, photographer, florist, etc.!

Aside from plans for the wedding, there is also likely much to do for the honeymoon. For our trip to Greece and Paris, we have been researching and booking wine tours, cooking classes, ATV tours, boat days and much more! It is natural to be stressed, but I think that it is important to go with the flow (or at least try your best to) and remember to ENJOY these beautifully precious moments of your life.


Jordan and I in a heated baguette fight at the Eiffel Tower. We cannot wait to go back and also experience Greece for the 1st time!

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A Mira Zwillinger Bride for a Casually Elegant Destination Jewish Wedding at The Lawrence, Old Jaffa, Tel Aviv, Israel

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Jewish wedding at The Lawrence Old Jaffa Tel Aviv Israel_0083
Planning a wedding from 7,000 miles away isn’t easy. But you’d never know it looking at this gorgeous Jewish wedding, which LA-based Rachel and Yonatan planned all the way on the other side of the world in Tel Aviv.

Their secret? Amazing wedding planners. Specifically, Naama and Yael of Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Naama Raicher Event Workshop. These two not only set the couple up with some of the best vendors Tel Aviv’s got to offer, they enabled the pair to actualize their vision of a wedding that felt less like a formal event and more like a casually elegant dinner party.

Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor LUZ, who managed both photo and video, did an awesome job capturing the vibe. Rachel and Yonatan say booking LUZ was one of the best wedding planning decisions they made, and we love Rachel’s description of LUZ’s stylish work as “something you would see across the room and think, ‘Wow, that’s a beautiful shot,’ and then as you approach closer ‘wait a minute, is that your wedding?’”

We’re obsessed with the pair’s Rothko-inspired ketubah by Stephanie Caplan of Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor The Ketubah, and we love Rachel and Yonatan’s tip for making a destination wedding as painless as possible for your guests: over the months leading up to the big day, they sent a series of custom travel guides covering everything guests needed to know at that point in time, from favorite movies about Israel, to hotels and flight recommendations, to what to expect upon arrival at Israeli immigration, and go-to bars, restaurants and walks about town. Such a great idea!

There’s so much more to say about this stunner of a wedding – from the enchanting venue to the sunset ceremony held on the fly in a public park – but we’ll leave it to Rachel, who looked smashing in her Mira Zwillinger gown (followed by a fun, non-traditional floral party dress from Zimmerman) to tell you about all that…

Jewish wedding at The Lawrence Old Jaffa Tel Aviv Israel_0083
How we met

Rachel, the bride: I am in brand development and global marketing for the beauty industry and Yonatan is in finance and real estate. Although we had offices on the same hallway at the original WeWork location in Soho, it took us a few years to finally meet. We would often say “Hi, there” as we would pass each other but we both were so absorbed in our budding start-ups that there wasn’t much more than that.

Sometime later, I moved to a larger office on the other side of the floor and Yonatan finally felt compelled to knock on my door, introduce himself, and congratulate me on growing my team. Again a few months passed and nothing came of it. Then one day he popped up on my Tinder account. I swiped right and we’ve been together ever since. I came to find out later that I was also the first swipe to come up when he first opened his Bumble account. I guess we are just a match made in the social media stars 😉

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