Smashing the Glass | Jewish Wedding Blog - Page 2 of 285

A Maggie Sottero Bride for an Industrial Rustic Jewish Wedding at the Art Factory in Paterson, New Jersey, USA

27/07/2020 by Karen Cinnamon Leave a Comment

Okay, HOW gorgeous is Avi and Daniel’s birch chuppah?! We adore every detail of the rustic industrial Jewish wedding of Avi, a pediatric audiologist, and Daniel, who works in real estate, but this chuppah really takes the (wedding) cake. Artfully adorned with occasional pops of red, white, and pink flowers plus hanging greenery – and covered with family tallitot – we’re totally in love with the overall effect.

The chuppah was the perfect fit for Avi and Daniel’s super cool venue, the Art Factory in Paterson, New Jersey. We love the eclectic warehouse vibe, the big windows and abundant natural light, and even comes with its own prop room! These two dressed the space up perfectly with giant paper flowers, vintage sewing machines, and all kinds of other awesome touches. We’re loving every single detail in Amy Sims’ wonderful photos, and Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Kiss the Bride Films’ trailer is so full of emotion and love – pure perfection!

And how special is it that the couple’s beautiful navy paper cut ketubah was crafted by the groom’s mother?! She designed and calligraphed it from start to finish, all by hand.

We’ll let Avi, who looked so lovely in Maggie Sottero, tell you about the rest…

Warehouse Vibes

We got married at the Art Factory in Paterson, New Jersey. It has a very eclectic warehouse vibe, and you can use the entire space however you want, using their prop room or bringing in whatever materials you want. This made our celebration so personalized because the space was completely naked and we decorated how we wanted to. Continue Reading

A Liancarlo Bride for a Multicultural Hindu-Jewish Wedding at Tarrytown House Estate and Tappan Hill Mansion, Hudson Valley, NY, USA

24/07/2020 by Karen Cinnamon Leave a Comment

We love it when a couple combines their backgrounds into one truly memorable day – and that’s exactly what Laura, a registered dietitian, and Raj, who owns two urgent care facilities in New Jersey, did in planning their interfaith Hindu-Jewish wedding.

With two ceremonies in one day – Hindu during the day, followed by Jewish in the evening – the couple approached planning with the overarching goal of crafting a cohesive day illustrating the true merging of their families, lives, and cultures. Take one look at Dave Robbins Photography’s gorgeous captures of the day and you’ll see just how successfully they pulled it off.

Laura and Raj took advantage of the fact that Hindu and Jewish weddings both take place under a canopy – symbolizing the home the couple will build together – and decided to use the same structure for their mandap and chuppah to symbolize the fact that they are building one home that embraces both of their cultures and religions.

And we totally and completely adore the couple’s custom floral ketubah by Rachel Marks of Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Tallulah Ketubahs. Laura and Raj wanted their text written in English, Hebrew, and Hindi, and Rachel made it happen – plus she incorporated some of the colors and flowers the pair used in their wedding! And, unsurprisingly, Laura reports that Rachel was an absolute dream to work with.

There’s so much more we could say about this awesome wedding, but we’ll leave the rest to the bride, who looked stunning in both her traditional Indian outfit and red and gold as well as her white wedding dress by Azul by Liancarlo…

How We Met

Laura, the bride: Raj and I met our sophomore year at Franklin and Marshall College. We were in the same friend circle for many years, but did not start dating until 2014. We were nervous we would break apart our group of friends if things didn’t end up working out. In the end, it was definitely worth taking the risk!

Real Jewish Brides: Orli on the Upside of Postponement

22/07/2020 by Smashing The Glass Leave a Comment

Orli will be marrying Ben on 30th May 2021 at St Pancras Renaissance Hotel, London, UK. Click here to read all Orli’s planning posts to date.

THREE FACTS: (1) Orli and Ben met on Jswipe. (2) Although their venue, the St Pancras Renaissance Hotel, couldn’t be more quintessentially London, Orli and Ben are going for a countryside feel. (3) Orli is a member of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club!

2020 the year of our wedding. At least that was what we had thought…

Looking back to the beginning of the year, I had imagined exactly how the year was going to pan out. I knew when I had to do each task with wedding planning and how every aspect of our wedding would look. Never could I have imagined that it would not be going ahead due to a pandemic.

Everyone kept saying to us was that it would be fine, it was totally unprecedented, there was nothing we could do but wait, and have we’d have nothing to worry about because September would be absolutely fine. So, that’s exactly what we did. We patiently waited and then we waited a little longer. The more we waited the more we realised the importance of what we wanted out of our wedding and how we wanted to be surrounded by the people closest to us and not having any restrictions on who we could hug.

A Monique Lhuillier Bride for an Autumnal Luxe Jewish Wedding at Cipriani 42nd Street, Manhattan, NY, USA

20/07/2020 by Karen Cinnamon Leave a Comment

Okay, HOW incredible is this tree chuppah dreamed up by Julia and Max for their New York Jewish wedding? Despite getting married smack dab in the heart of Manhattan, the couple, both of whom work in finance, love autumn in New York (who doesn’t?) and wanted to bring the feel of the city’s most beautiful season to their decidedly indoor affair.

And they really, really did, through the creative use of lots and lots of gorgeous indoor trees decked out with those signature autumn leaves. That’s where the chuppah comes in – and is it ever a stunner! – but the autumn tree effect extended to the couple’s wonderful centerpieces as well. The overall feel was totally magical – almost like an indoor walk through Central Park on a beautiful October day. Don’t miss Andrew Henderson’s beautiful photos of the day.

And as if that weren’t enough NYC fabulousness for one wedding, we’re also smitten with Julia and Max’s adorable invitations by Bella Figura, featuring whimsical sketches of classic NYC icons – like a subway train pulling away with a “Just Married” sign! Too cute!

There’s so much more to say, but we’ll leave it to the bride – who looked ravishing in Monique Lhuillier – to fill you in on the details…

How we met

Julia, the bride: Max and I met over a summer internship at Morgan Stanley while still in college. The two of us were alphabetically seated next to each other during a week of training in Manhattan, and immediately thought the other was special. Even though we had planned to work on different coasts post-graduation, we made our relationship work long distance. A few years later, Max joined me in California where we’ve now been living together for 4 years.

Everything You Need to Know about Jewish Genetic Carrier Screening {with JScreen}

19/07/2020 by Karen Cinnamon Leave a Comment

If you’re thinking of starting a family in the next few years, you might have heard about genetic carrier screening. You may even have considered getting screened yourself. But it can be hard to know where to start. The process can seem intimidating, expensive, and scary – but it doesn’t have to be any of those things. Knowing where you stand genetic disease-wise – and what your options are going forward if it turns out you are a carrier – is actually really empowering!

That’s why I’m so excited to tell you that this Wednesday, 22 July, at 9:00 am PDT / 12:00 pm EDT / 5:00 pm GDT, I’ll be chatting on Facebook with Hillary Kener Regelman, Director of National Outreach at JScreen, a US-based not-for-profit at-home education and carrier screening program for Jewish genetic diseases.

JScreen‘s mission is to give individuals and families easy access to information convenient home testing (so you can get the process started even in lockdown) at a reasonable price point. Screening for over 200 genetic diseases – including those that are commonly found in Ashkenazi, Sephardic, and Mizrahi Jewish populations – is performed by a certified laboratory and results are reviewed and reported to participants by genetic counselors, so if it turns out you are a carrier for a disease, your counselor will be there to talk you through the options (and there ARE options!).

Hillary will be addressing a range of topics including the following:

What is genetic carrier screening?
Who should consider genetic carrier screening?
What diseases does JScreen test for?
How accurate are the results?
Is it worth testing through JScreen if I’ve already done genetic carrier screening?
How much does JScreen cost? How does it work with insurance?
How does JScreen’s process work?
What are the next steps if a couple finds out they are carriers for a disease?

If you decide to go forward with genetic testing through JScreen, you’ll also be eligible for an $18 discount as a Smashing The Glass reader – just use the code “JScreenAtHome”

While JScreen only covers testing in the United States, this Facebook Live will include general information about genetic screening that’s relevant to individuals and couples anywhere in the world.

Hillary will be answering all your questions live, so if there’s anything you want to know about Jewish genetic screening in general or JScreen’s offerings in particular, ask away!