Search Results for: ceremony

Carmel & Edo | Forest theme rustic Jewish wedding at Baya’ar Hadera, Israel

02/09/2014 by Karen

Carmel and Edo certainly know how to throw a party. And throw a party they did — more specifically a big day that embraced their American and Israeli backgrounds, with lots of Jewish traditions modernised by the couple in a fun, original way.

Personally I have a lot of love for this wedding. Carmel’s exquisite Mira Zwillinger wedding gown? I adore it. The incredible song that Carmel walked down the aisle to? I love it and cannot actually stop listening to it… Personalised ‘CARMELychee Martinis’ and ‘MojEDO’ cocktails? Yes, absolutely need those in my life!

And let’s not forget the epic dancing at the end — this hot couple and their guests had ALL the moves!

AN AMAZING VENUE SURROUNDED BY NATURE
Carmel, the Bride: The venue we decided to have our wedding at was Baya’ar, which translates to “In the Forest”. It was actually the very first and last venue we went to — we both completely fell in love with the place the second we arrived and booked it immediately.

I wanted to be surrounded by nature during my wedding, which is exactly what this beautiful place offers. The grounds are filled with every colour of green imaginable; it really feels like you’re in a forest. This feeling is just the same inside, which is filled from floor to ceiling with glass windows with a view to the same beautiful greenery. The best part about the place is its lighting! It has the most incredible lighting system, which creates an amazing ambiance both during the dinner and especially on the dance floor! On top of everything, the owners of the venue took such great care of us and were there from early in the morning during set up and literally ordered us a cab to go home at 3:00am!

Natalya & Alex | Wine-themed ‘vintage glam’ Jewish wedding at Jacuzzi Family Vineyards, Sonoma, California

26/08/2014 by Karen

Oh my! I have a sneaking suspicion that you are going to fall in love with this morning’s California vineyard wedding. To Natalya and Alex (both originally from Russia), their big day was particularly special to them, as their parents didn’t get a chance to get married in a traditional Jewish ceremony, under a chuppah, in the former Soviet Union.

Natalya is BEAUTIFUL with delicious bridal accessories to match — I mean you just can’t help but gawp at her super sparkly Jimmy Choo shoes and that divine necklace on her bare back.

It’s s perhaps one of the most eloquently executed themed wedding I’ve seen on these pages from the grapevine-themed stationery to the wine bottle cork place cards to the olive oil favours. I also love all the vintage-glam touches, particularly the EPIC portrait shots by in that super sexy 1962 Buick Electra .

Also, I must add that I love that Natalya’s niece wrote her toast on Jenga pieces, as Natalya and Alex met playing Jenga…

OK enough from me, take it away you gorgeous pair!

A BEAUTIFUL VINEYARD VENUE
Natalya, the Bride: Our wedding was in Sonoma, CA at Jacuzzi Family Vineyards. We knew we wanted to get married in the wine country. It is a place we love coming to any time of year. We also wanted our guests to have a relaxing weekend with us away from the busy city life. As our wedding was in April, we chose a venue with options for both indoor and outdoor events. The building at Jacuzzi Winery is beautiful from an architectural standpoint, and the property has what seems like a never-ending vineyard in the back.

Hannah & Raf | Laidback, colourful ‘English Garden’ Jewish wedding at The Priory Barn, Little Wymondley, Hertfordshire, UK

20/08/2014 by Karen

An english country garden jewish wedding
Hannah and Raf’s big day is bursting at the seams with colour, fun and some very original ideas, and if I had to describe their wedding in one (ok two) words, it would be utterly joyous. From Raf’s beaming smile to Hannah’s multi-coloured nails, through to the wild summer flowers dotted about everywhere, and the most original first dance I’ve heard about in a long while (I’ll let Hannah surprise you with that one).

I want to be a guest at this wedding. I want to receive a homemade invitation designed by the bride. I want to stand amongst the moorhens and weeping willows. I want to hear a klezmer version of The Final Countdown. I want to have a slice of hundreds and thousands cake. And I want to have every moment captured by Marianne Chua whose images are appearing for the first time on STG which I’m so very thrilled about!

Get ready because you gorgeous lot are going to be pinning until your fingers are raw.

colourful English garden Jewish wedding_0033

A MIDWEEK WEDDING AT A WONDERFUL GARDEN VENUE
Hannah, the Bride: We chose to get married at The Priory Barn in Little Wymondley. We researched various venues, but had difficulties in that a lot of the London venues wouldn’t allow religious ceremonies and we didn’t want a hotel. We also wanted outside space and The Priory has an amazing garden complete with a stream, weeping willows and baby moorhens! We had budget concerns and The Priory had a great midweek deal. Our wedding was on a Thursday but this really didn’t seem to affect turnout.

Can I have the Wedding Blog Award cake and eat it?

19/08/2014 by Karen

Can I? Well with the competition I’m up against (read Love My Dress, Rock n Roll Bride, Bridal Musings and Juno & Joy to name but a few ) it’s certainly not going to be a piece of cake. But if I were to win, it would be the icing on the cake. Ok, ok, I hear ya.. enough of the cake gags. I’ll stop now! It’s just this gorgeous creation, so kindly made by the Cinnamon Cake Company (no relation by the way) is begging to be blogged for such purposes, and I for one, cannot resist.

Just in case you have absolutely no idea what I’m talking about, let me tell you that Smashing The Glass has been nominated for not one but TWO esteemed 2014 Wedding Blog Awards! Yes STG has been shortlisted in both the Best Bridal Newcomer Blog category and the Best Real Life Weddings Blog categories and I could not be more thrilled. I want to give great big bear hugs to everyone who took the time to nominate me as it’s all by virtue of your wonderful support that I’ve made it this far (WARNING: X Factor-style clichà© phrases are almost over).

It’s a total honour to be named alongside so many of my favourite blogging peers (including some of the biggest blogs in the world!) but the challenge isn’t over yet. In order to be in with a chance of winning I need you to unleash your voting powers once more. It’s a 50/50 reader vote/judges’ decision situation, so your vote really will make the difference! If you have a spare moment (it will literally take you 10 seconds) I can’t tell you how much I’d appreciate your support.

Some of my favourite bloggers are also up for awards, so if you’re not in a hurry, I know it would mean a lot to them if you chose your favourites in the other categories too.

So if you’re ready, head over to the Wedding Blog Awards shortlist page to cast your vote – you’ll find me in the Best Real Life Weddings Blog category (in the top right hand corner) and the Best Bridal Newcomer Blog category (in the bottom left hand corner). Voting closes in under a fortnight on 31st August, but why not do it now? It can be your good deed for the day!

The glamorous Awards ceremony is being held at the exquisite Savoy in central London and I can’t wait to attend, and tell you all the news from the night. Thank you so much for getting me this far, but now let’s win this thing (and eat cake!)

To wedding planner or not to wedding planner, that is the question…

18/08/2014 by Smashing The Glass

Image: David Bastianoni

Today I’m delighted to be introducing a very awesome guest poster, the divine Anna MacDougall from Bride & Glory. Lovely Anna has written a very enlightening piece on the hows, whys and wherefores of wedding planners. Should you, shouldn’t you, what should you be looking for if you do want one, and what exactly will you be getting for your wonga? Anna has all the answers…

Hello my Darling STG readers — I couldn’t be whooping with joy any louder for having the pleasure of writing to (and for) you today. I have a habit of yacking, so I shan’t ‘preamble’ too much and will dive right in. If, however, you do want to know more about why I may know a thing or two about this topic, just have a look here.

HIRE OR FIRE

Soooo — to hire a wedding planner or not, that is one of the questions you may or may not have been contemplating on your wedding planning journey. Please don’t think “oh here we go, a hidden sales piece”. This truly isn’t — it’s just to give you a little insight and perhaps food for thought.

And if you only take one nugget of information away from this then please please let it be that no, wedding planners are not like the movies (I’m really nothing like J-Lo) and we’re also not clipboard-wielding tyrants who will take over your day. At least most of us aren’t.

Search Results for: ceremony

Share this post:

Share this post:

Share this post:

Share this post:

Image: David Bastianoni

HIRE OR FIRE

Jennifer Lopez in the 2001 romantic comedy, ‘The Wedding Planner’

Share this post: