Smashing the Glass | Jewish Wedding Blog

Inspired Jewish Weddings

A Sincerity Bridal Bride for a Mountain Top Jew-ish Wedding at Kachina Basin, Taos Ski Valley, New Mexico, USA

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Jewish Wedding at 11,420 feet on the top of a mountain (Kachina Basin) in Taos Ski Valley, New Mexico USA_0008
Yes, you read that right: today’s couple, Tema and Brad, really did hold their Jew-ish wedding on top of an actual mountain at 11,420 (!) feet. How high is that exactly, those of you from flatter locales may be wondering? So high, guests could only attend via chairlift, that’s how high!

The couple’s whimsical boho wedding style was the perfect fit for their mountaintop surroundings — rustic enough to work for the extreme location, simple and sweet enough not to distract from the natural grandeur of the surroundings.

Tema, who provides sustainability consulting services to commercial real estate owners, and Brad, a business analyst, had the sweetest birch chuppah, keeping it simple with just a touch of floral dà©cor draped over the top and Tema’s mother’s wedding veil as the canopy (aww!) — this is a great example of how you can pull off a beautiful floral chuppah while keeping things subtle!

And the couple’s delightful ketubah from Smashing the Glass Recommended Vendor Tallulah Ketubahs, adorned with whimsical watercolor succulents, is so on point we just cannot even. Have you seen a sweeter ketubah?

Rockstar photographers Shaun and Shannon Menary got THE most stunning captures of the day, from Tema’s fab boho bridal style — did she rock that Sincerity Bridal dress + flower crown combo, or what? — to the majestic mountaintop views.

Oh, and did we mention Tema and Brad have one of the cutest how-they-met stories of all time? Prepare to be charmed…

Jewish Wedding at 11,420 feet on the top of a mountain (Kachina Basin) in Taos Ski Valley, New Mexico USA_0015

Jewish Wedding at 11,420 feet on the top of a mountain (Kachina Basin) in Taos Ski Valley, New Mexico USA_0021

Jewish Wedding at 11,420 feet on the top of a mountain (Kachina Basin) in Taos Ski Valley, New Mexico USA_0015

Jewish Wedding at 11,420 feet on the top of a mountain (Kachina Basin) in Taos Ski Valley, New Mexico USA_0021

Jewish Wedding at 11,420 feet on the top of a mountain (Kachina Basin) in Taos Ski Valley, New Mexico USA_0015
How We Met

Tema, the bride: The story of how we met is very unusual and funny. We both had our cars towed and met at the impound lot picking up our cars! We stood in line for 3 hours and Brad was there with his dad.

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Real Jewish Brides: Jay’s On Her 100 Day Countdown!

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Jay will be marrying Tom on 24th November 2018 at Hyatt Churchill, London, UK. Click here to read all Jay’s planning posts to date.

THREE FACTS: Jay and Tom met on Tinder (Tinder For The Win!) (2) These two are planning a big fat Jew-ish wedding (Jay is Jewish, Tom is not) but in Jay’s words: “Tom was brought up in Edgware and has more of a love for chopped liver and bagels than I do!” (3) Jay is a Personal Trainer and Fitness Instructor and Tom works at Facebook.


Enjoying Our Friends’ Weddings

Wedding life is all starting to feel very real now! We’ve had a very busy few months celebrating our friends’ weddings, both in the UK and abroad (but this has also allowed us to steal a few cheeky ideas and get lots of inspiration for our own wedding!).

Although each wedding has been completely different (and ours too being different from theirs) it is so nice sharing all these special times together!

We went to our last wedding of the summer last weekend, and my fiancà© and I sat down at the end of the evening just observing the night and had a little moment of ‘oh my gosh, we are next!’ – the realisation kicked in and made it all the more exciting.

I had taken a little pause with wedding planning over the summer as I got myself quite organised before this time and wanted to relax and enjoy the fun over the summer. But now as we head into the start of September the countdown is on and wedding planning is back in action!Continue ReadingContinue Reading

A Monique Lhuillier Bride for an Outdoor SoCal Jewish Wedding at Hummingbird Nest Ranch, California, USA

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Jewish Wedding Hummingbird Nest Ranch, CA, USA_0049
You know who sometimes doesn’t get enough love around here? Child wedding attendants. Flower girls, ring bearers, and the like bring so much joy (not to mention just plain cuteness) to so many of the Jewish weddings we feature here on STG.

So today we’re putting them front and center where they belong. I mean, it’s hard not to when Jessica and Matthew’s sweet little ring boys drove a mini purple Porsche(!) with strings of tin cans down the aisle!!! So adorable, right?

But not so adorable as to overshadow Jessica’s stunning two-piece gown from Monique Lhuillier. Featuring a silk Chantilly lace beaded corset top (with a beaded shrug the bride wore for the chuppah) and a gorgeous trumpet skirt, it’s an absolute stunner. And Jessica’s made the most of it, saving the bolero to wear on her one-year anniversary and the top for the big ten-year! Such a cool idea, especially if you’re going with separates that can easily be dressed down.

There’s so much more to say about this fab wedding — we haven’t even gotten to how fantastically Armen Asadorian and Eric Film captured the day, or the gorgeous SoCal surroundings, or the fabulous Harutyunyan Events planning the whole thing to perfection!

Let’s hand over to beautiful Jessica to tell you about all the rest…

Jewish Wedding Hummingbird Nest Ranch, CA, USA_0049

Jewish Wedding Hummingbird Nest Ranch, CA, USA_0049 Jewish Wedding Hummingbird Nest Ranch, CA, USA_0049
A Ranch Wedding

Jessica, the bride: We got married at Hummingbird Nest Ranch, CA. We wanted to get married somewhere different and pretty low key — kind of like us.

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An Essense of Australia Bride for an Enchanted Autumn Jewish Wedding at Garnethill Synagogue and Oran Mor in Glasgow, Scotland, UK

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Jewish Wedding Garnethill synagogue and Oran Mor converted church Glasgow Scotland UK_0051
It’s always a good day when we hear from couples who loved used Smashing the Glass to plan their Jewish  weddings — like today’s fab couple, Stephanie, an architect, and Darren, a retail director for Aspinal.

We’re so pleased that the bride was a loyal reader of STG in the lead up to her big day, even finding fantastic videographer Velvet Wedding Studio on the blog! He and photographer David Grant Simpson did the absolute best job of capturing the magic of the couple’s enchanted autumnal wedding (over Halloween weekend, no less!).

As an architect, Stephanie was focused on getting married in a beautiful space — and she ended up with not one, but two of them! With the chuppah at the majestic 19th-century Garnethill Synagogue and the evening party at super cool converted church venue Oran Mor, this wedding was basically non-stop architectural splendor.

We love how Stephanie and Darren decided to include a ceilidh in their big day as a way of honoring the bride’s Scottish background and providing some familiarity to balance out the novelty of the Israeli dancing for their non-Jewish guests. Good sport Darren even let Stephanie cajole him into putting on a kilt for the Scottish dancing!

Stephanie, who looked stunning in her Essense of Australia dress, will fill you in on the rest of the fantastic details…

Jewish Wedding Garnethill synagogue and Oran Mor converted church Glasgow Scotland UK_0047  Jewish Wedding Garnethill synagogue and Oran Mor converted church Glasgow Scotland UK_0051Jewish Wedding Garnethill synagogue and Oran Mor converted church Glasgow Scotland UK_0051
How We Met

Stephanie, the bride: I never ever thought I would try online dating, but as time went on I just realized that it was now the ordinary way to meet someone and gave it a go. We both have stressful jobs, which can make it difficult to find time to date. I still can’t believe that I met my now-husband on Jswipe but I guess that’s modern day romancing for you!

So many people ask me when we knew we wanted to get married. About a month into the relationship after coming in from a night out with, Darren we were laughing about something and then told me he would marry me tomorrow. I know it was a passing comment after I made him laugh, but I guess in the back of our minds we both knew that we wanted to settle down. It sounds odd to many but I think when you meet someone in your thirties you have both already seen the world, been around the block and essentially are in a totally different mindset when you are getting into a relationship. Online dating is literally like modern‐day matchmaking! I guess in a way you could say it was love at first sight, or love at first selfie.

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How to Experience the Spiritual Side of a Jewish Wedding (when it so often gets lost in the madness of putting the wedding together)

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Jewish Wedding Spirituality_1210
This is a guest post by Micaela Ezra (Micaela on her wedding day above)

The days leading up to my wedding were some of the most beautiful yet stressful of my life. One thing was certain – the experience of the ceremony was as essential to me as the reception, and I wanted the guests to feel something special.

Identifying this early on, was the lifeboat that kept me in the right place when things went array (like a freak hurricane in the California desert on the day of an outdoor wedding type of chaos).

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Truth, love and all things eternal

There is something otherworldly that happens on a wedding day. We are moved to tears more easily, we get goosebumps, there is a surge of joy, of optimism and adrenalin for everyone.

I believe it’s because we are tapping into an absolute truth – the power of LOVE – and because through that truth we are connecting to a realm beyond the physical world. A realm which is eternal.Continue ReadingContinue Reading