Smashing the Glass | Jewish Wedding Blog

Inspired Jewish Weddings

An Eddy K Bride for a Modern Vintage Jew-ish Wedding at Sixth & I Synagogue and Loft at 600 F, Washington, DC, USA

by

Jewish-wedding-Sixth-I-Synagogue-and-Loft-at-600-F-Washington-DC-USA
We always love hearing from couples who’ve used Smashing The Glass as a wedding planning resource, and today is no exception. Beautiful bride Kiki reports that she loved STG for the real wedding inspo and vendor suggestions, and especially the Jewish 101 sections, which she found super helpful in planning her Jew-ish ceremony. Aw, thanks Kiki!

It was important to Kiki and Rob to plan an inclusive Jew-ish wedding that would be equally welcoming to Rob’s family, who are Jewish, and Kiki’s, who are not. They found the perfect spot in the historic Sixth & I Synagogue in their hometown of Washington, DC — you’ve got to check out the gorgeous photos from Ryan Hicks of Lily & Lime — with the reception nearby at Loft at 600 F, another cool historic building, just the thing for a modern vintage-themed wedding!

Also perfect for the modern vintage aesthetic? Kiki’s stunner of a gown by Eddy K, a strapless lace low-backed number with a dramatic train.

But the visuals are far from the only thing we’re loving about this wedding. Kiki and Rob incorporated all kinds of personal touches into the day. Our favorite: before the wedding, their rabbi had them each write ten things they love about each other and email it to him. Then, on the day, before the seven blessings, he talked about the pair as a couple and mentioned the things they had said about each other. Isn’t that the sweetest?!

Before we hand things over to Kiki, we’ve got to mention that we’re so pleased we were able to help guide Kiki and Rob toward Smashing the Glass Recommended Vendor Ink with Intent for just the right ketubah. In Kiki’s words, working with them was “nothing short of amazing,” with customer service that went above and beyond.

Sixth & I Synagogue and Loft at 600 F, Washington DC, USA Sixth & I Synagogue and Loft at 600 F, Washington DC, USASixth & I Synagogue and Loft at 600 F, Washington DC, USA

Jewish-wedding-Sixth-I-Synagogue-and-Loft-at-600-F-Washington-DC-USA

Sixth & I Synagogue and Loft at 600 F, Washington DC, USAHow we met

Kiki, the bride: We met when I started working at George Washington University in fall of 2013 and became friends first through lots of happy hours with coworkers and mutual friends. He now works at NIH in research imaging and I work at GWU assisting in patient care. We started dating that December, and got engaged while on vacation in Florida in December 2016 on the beach at sunrise.

Continue ReadingContinue Reading

Engagement Ring Inspo {Our Top Picks from Browns Family Jewellers}

by

Helen Warner Photography | IG: @helenwarnerphotography | Facebook : @HelenWarnerPhotography

Alright, hands up – how many of you out there are sneaking peeks at STG while waiting to get engaged? Well, today we have something special for you lot: engagement rings! They’re one of the most fun aspects of engagement, but one that we don’t tend to talk about too much here on the blog. 

That’s all changing now, because we have an awesome collection of our top picks for engagement rings from STG fave Browns Family Jewellers. Based in the UK but shipping worldwide, Browns has got a fantastic selection of engagement rings to suit all styles, from vintage to modern, simple to ornate – and  if you’re looking to branch out from the standard diamond, they’ve got some amazing options featuring colorful stones. They’re known for their fantastic and attentive customer service, too. 

We’ve chosen our favorites from their extensive range, and we’re so excited to share them with you – there are some seriously stunning rings on offer, with some really unique styles that will make you stand out from the pack of engagement selfies on Insta – and some classics too, of course! Read on to find your perfect engagement ring from Browns Family Jewellers. 

Continue ReadingContinue Reading

An Ines di Santo Bride for a Destination Jewish Wedding at Villa Grabau in Lucca, Tuscany, Italy

by

Destination Jewish wedding Villa Grabau Lucca Tuscany Italy_0051
Happy 4th of July to all our American readers! What are you all doing to celebrate? Jetting off on a quick getaway to, say, Tuscany, by any chance? No? Us neither. But we are doing the next best thing, living vicariously through Helen and Jared’s oh-so-romantic Jewish wedding at Villa Grabau #swooooooon

And what a wedding it was. Can we talk about bride Helen’s out-of-this-world Ines di Santo gown? That train! That tulle! And that’s not even mentioning the painfully delicate beadwork on the bodice. It’s just the absolute perfect blend of sweet and sexy, dramatic and effortless. We are such massive fans of Ines di Santo — you may recall our Facebook Live with her last year— and it’s always a privilege to feature one of her brides on STG.

And once Helen had chosen it, she was pretty much good to go. As busy attorneys, Helen and Jared didn’t have  much time to devote to wedding planning, and they were so thrilled that their trusted wedding planners, Benedetta and Elena from Luccaorganizza, were able to give them the dreamy Tuscan day they wanted with minimal guidance.

Benedetta and Elena helped the couple pick everything from their venue(fun fact: it was once featured on the Bachelor), to their phenomenal photographer, Alessandro Colle. 

In Helen’s words, “Our planners made everything SO easy for us that I have to pretend to understand what other brides are talking about when they refer to ‘wedding planning stress.’” That’s some serious praise! Now over to the bride herself, who’ll fill you in on all the details of the day…

Destination Jewish wedding Villa Grabau Lucca Tuscany Italy_0053 Destination Jewish wedding Villa Grabau Lucca Tuscany Italy_0053 Destination Jewish wedding Villa Grabau Lucca Tuscany Italy_0053 Destination Jewish wedding Villa Grabau Lucca Tuscany Italy_0053How we met

Helen, the bride: We are attorneys in Los Angeles — as most tales of romance go, we met in law school at UCLA. Little did we know, despite only crossing paths for the first time in law school, our parents lived mere minutes from each other our whole lives and my sister and one of Jared’s younger brothers were in the same class together in high school! Truly a small world.

Continue ReadingContinue Reading

Real Blogging Brides: Jennifer: Our Trad(ish)ional Egalitarian Jewish Wedding

by

Jennifer will be marrying Charlie on 5th August 2018 at Dartmouth House in Mayfair, London, UK. Click here to read all Jennifer’s planning posts to date.

THREE FACTS: (1) Jennifer and Charlie first met when they were just 17 years old! (2) They are planning an intimate elegant black tie trad(ish)ional Jewish wedding incorporating plenty of personal touches, their sense of humour, and love of all things rose gold (3) Jennifer is a wedding photographer herself so is planning her wedding as an industry insider!


An egalitarian wedding

I have always had a very strong sense of my Jewish identity. I grew up as a member of Belsize Square Synagogue (editor’s note: see the wedding published yesterday at Belsize Square Synagogue, here). I sang in the choir, taught in the Cheder and really understood what it was to be part of a community.

Belsize Square is an independent Synagogue, with a modern, egalitarian approach to Judaism, which is important for Charlie and I to reflect at our wedding. Charlie joined at the beginning of this year and has also fallen in love with the unique character of the Synagogue.

There is no “right” or “wrong” way to have a Jewish wedding, and this is something I love about our religion, it can be interpreted whilst respecting tradition. For us, having an egalitarian wedding is paramount.

Continue ReadingContinue Reading

A Kenneth Winston Bride for a Musical Jewish Wedding with DIY Touches at Belsize Square Synagogue and the Liberal Club, London, UK

by

Jewish wedding Belsize Square Synagogue and Liberal Club London UK_0039
We all know how overwhelming wedding planning can be. There are so many choices to be made, from color schemes to venues to symbolism and more — and so many vendors to choose from. Of course a wedding planner can be a huge help in sorting through everything that’s out there and focusing your vision, but what if you want to do a lot of the planning yourself?

Today’s couple, Bekka, a lecturer in international relations, and Benjamin, a musician and lecturer in music went for a wedding consultancy session with Smashing the Glass’s own Karen to help and advise with their Jewish wedding.

She directed them toward many of their fantastic vendors, from Smashing the Glass Recommended Vendor Once Upon A Paper, who provided the couple’s beautiful watercolor guest book, to Adams Photography, who captured all the emotion and excitement so exquisitely, to Smashing the Glass Recommended Vendor Prezola registry, which Bekka and Benjamin loved for its wonderful selection of gifts from different stores in the UK, as well as cash funds, Judaica, and charities, to The Wedding Gallery, the world’s first wedding department store, for the groom’s outfit.

All this freed up their time and energy to focus on the many DIY elements the pair incorporated into their wedding.

Bekka and Benjamin designed their invitations themselves and built their own chuppah, but music is where the pair really put their own stamp on the day. For one thing, their ceremony venue, Belsize Square Synagogue, was chosen because Benjamin is the congregation’s music director. So it was only natural that he arranged and composed pieces to be performed during the ceremony, performed by Benjamin’s quartet, bOYbershop, and three (!) choirs that he conducts.

We’ll leave it to Bekka, who looked beautiful in her ivory lace Kenneth Winston dress, to fill you in on the rest…

Jewish wedding Belsize Square Synagogue and Liberal Club London UK_0048Jewish wedding Belsize Square Synagogue and Liberal Club London UK_0036

Jewish wedding Belsize Square Synagogue and Liberal Club London UK_0036 Jewish wedding Belsize Square Synagogue and Liberal Club London UK_0036
A Venue with History

Bekka, the bride, and Benjamin, the groom: We got married at Belsize Square Synagogue. We chose it as Benjamin has worked there as musical director for 12 years.

The evening was at the Liberal Club (1 Whitehall Place). Bekka found the venue online. The venue had a small personal connection as Benjamin’s grandfather was a member of the Liberal Party, and Bekka’s father is fascinated with William Gladstone.

Mainly, however, we just loved the venue when we saw it. We also loved the idea of a dusky double decker bus ride through London from the synagogue (particularly for our international guests).

Continue ReadingContinue Reading