Smashing the Glass | Jewish Wedding Blog

Inspired Jewish Weddings

Etsy Wedding Style: Our Favourite Finds for Jewish Weddings + Win a £ 500 Etsy Gift Card!

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Here at Smashing The Glass, we are massive Etsy fans. Whatever your wedding style and budget, the global online marketplace for unique handmade and creative goods has got something for you. With so many unique items, it’s the perfect place to snag some special touches to help make your day totally you.

From invitations to decorations to favours and so much more, Etsy’s got you covered.

Today, we’re thrilled to be featuring a selection of some of our favourite Etsy products for Jewish (and Jew-ish) weddings that we personally adore. From flip flops to hand out to your guests to the loveliest floral lolly favours to beautiful order of service programs, we can’t wait to share our latest finds with you.

Oh yeah, and did we mention that our very own super stylish Smash Glass Pouches for under the chuppah are now available as a standalone purchase on Etsy, too?! That’s right, the days when your only options for wrapping your smash glass in a napkin or stodgy old velvet pouch are  gone, thanks to this contemporary and oh-so-Instagrammable option!

We’re also delighted to announce that Etsy is running a competition on their Instagram channel, open to all UK STG readers, to win a £500 gift card! For full details, please visit @EtsyUK on Instagram (#EtsyWeddingStyle).

Competition Details

One winner will win a £500 gift card for Etsy.com. To enter, follow @EtsyUK’s Instagram account, like this post, and comment answering the question, “What’s your wedding style?” No purchase necessary. Open to UK residents 18+ only. 1 prize available. Ends June 5th. T&Cs apply.

Order of Service

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Order of Service | BeijaFlorStudio

How beautiful is the art on this order of service?! A custom-illustrated order of service is such a special memento of your day. Plus it is so helpful for any non Jewish guests you have at your weddings as you can include explanations of the Jewish wedding traditions they might not be familiar with. 

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A Theia Bride for an Intimate Rooftop Destination Jewish Wedding at Sugar, Miami, Florida, USA

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Jewish Wedding at Sugar on the rooftop of the East Hotel Miami FL USA_0057
Wow – that chuppah! The colors! The smiles! Looking at the fab photos of today’s colorful, laid-back wedding, you’d never guess what a bumpy wedding planning ride Dana, a product manager,, and Alex, who works in corporate strategy, had!

After a venue mishap forced the San Francisco-based couple to cancel their original wedding plans — for a large, traditional event — Dana and Alex decided to take a step back and rethink what really mattered to them on their day. Their “wedding planning reboot” inspired them to start from scratch and create an ultra-personal day reflecting their personalities and values.

Oh, and just three weeks before the wedding, Dana broke her elbow snowboarding — not that you’d be able to tell from how gorgeous she looked in her delicate petal-covered Theia dress.

The silver lining of all this drama was that it made Dana and Alex focus on what really mattered to them — which meant that their fun-filled, close-knit brunch (yes, brunch!) wedding at Sugar on the rooftop of the East Hotel in downtown Miami turned out to be such a wonderful reflection of their personalities. You can really feel the joy shining through Andrea Harborne and Diana Hogan’s vibrant photos of the day.

We love how the duo incorporated their values into the day was by authoring their own ketubah text. Dana reports that writing their own marriage contract was a great way to stay grounded during wedding planning, and what a special memento of this phase of their relationship. It doesn’t hurt that the finished product is stunning, with a lovely modern floral design courtesy of much-loved STG Recommended Vendor Ink With Intent.

And we can’t get enough of the couple’s DIY handheld chuppah. Constructed by Dana’s family (with a gorgeous, colorful tablecloth standing in as the canopy, which Dana and Alex can continue using in their home!) and held up by friends during the ceremony, it added an ultra-meaningful touch to the day. Now over to the bride…

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How we met

Dana, the bride: We met around 6 years ago when we were both working at the same company in Manhattan, and we moved out to San Francisco together 3 years ago.

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2018/19 Real Blogging Brides: Introducing Rebecca + David: How They Met To The Present Day…

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Today on the blog we’re introducing our 5th gorgeous bride from our crop of 2018 and 2019 Real Jewish Brides! Please give a warm welcome to Rebecca who will be marrying David on 7th October 2018 at a secret location in Israel!

THREE FACTS: (1) Rebecca and David met on JSwipe (so old school we know 😉 (2) They are having a destination wedding in Israel at a secret location! (3) They are getting married on Rebecca’s grandparents wedding anniversary (who have been married for 64 years). We LOVE that!


How We Met

David and I met one year ago, so it really has been a bit of a whirlwind! I had been single for about a year and a half and was pretty happy being single! I was enjoying time with my friends and had recently moved into a flat in West Hampstead. I was turning 30 in the summer and my best friend and I had just booked a huge road trip round the USA ending in Las Vegas. I was dating and of course wanted to meet someone but was being relaxed about it having lots to look forward to!

One night last year in March I was swiping on Jswipe and I came across David. We had lots of mutual friends, one of which being my best friend I had just booked my holiday with, so when we matched I instantly called her and said ‘who’s’ this?!’ to which she replied ‘OMG I love him he’s a really good friend you should definitely go on a date with him – I don’t think he’s THE ONE but I think you will fancy him and he is super tall’.

Being 5ft8 height is a REAL thing for me. I was like ‘how tall’ and she said ‘put it this way, you will be able to wear your highest heels’. To which I was delighted! I am 5ft 8 (my brother is 6ft7 and my sister is 5ft11 — I have no idea where we have come from!).

The struggle is really real for tall Jewish girls to find a tall Jewish man, I was so sick of wearing flats and worrying about how tall someone was — so knowing he was tall I already knew my outfit for the first date!

My friend messaged David saying you have matched with my friend and if he wanted my number — all he said was ‘oh she’s hot and he will have a look’. I wait 1 week and receive NO MESSAGE FROM HIM! I am obviously furious so decide to take matters in my own hand and message him first! #independentwoman (He still to this day said the app was “deleted” which is why he didn’t message me as he didn’t see it!)

We start messaging and we get on like a house on fire and start to arrange a first date. I am originally from Leeds and it was round Peseach last year so was back home for the holiday, so we waited to meet up for a drink after.

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A Jadore Bride for a Sundrenched Destination Jewish Wedding in Santorini, Greece

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In the five fabulous years since Smashing The Glass’s inception, having lovingly blogged hundreds of incredible real Jewish weddings, we have always ALWAYS wanted to blog a Jewish wedding from Santorini (surely one of the most magical places on earth) and today the day has finally come. and seriously guys… this wedding is EVERYTHING.

It’s a destination Jewish wedding that has us absolutely picking our jaws off the floor. Australian couple Katie, who works in PR, and Aaron, a commercial airline pilot for Virgin Australia, wanted a spectacular backdrop for their once-in-a-lifetime day, and so they chose to marry on the sun-drenched Greek island of Santorini. And did it ever deliver! HannaMonika Wedding Photography’s images from the day are just beyond.

Every photo is its own little work of art — and a whole bunch of them could’ve easily been plucked from the pages of a super-glam travel magazine. Take a scroll through, and we guarantee you’ll be fighting the urge to book yourself a ticket on the next flight to Greece. And don’t even get us started on Orriss Films‘ Hollywood-perfect trailer – seriously, Katie and Aaron look like absolute movie stars, and every scene is shot so exquisitely.

We just can’t get enough of photographers Hanna and Slavomir’s style: bright and crisp, romantic and modern. They could not have done a better job of capturing the amazing light and colors of Santorini. The blue skies, the whitewashed houses, the lush greenery of the chuppah… yep, we’re smitten with this one.

Oh, and did we mention that beautiful Katie — who looked so effortlessly summer chic in her Jadore dress — was an avid Smashing The Glass reader in the lead up to her wedding? She reports that she found the blog especially useful for Jewish music inspo for the horas and the procession. So glad we could help, Katie! Now over to the bride…

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How we met

Katie, the bride: We met at a pub in Sydney. Aaron saw me with a girlfriend sitting at a table and wanted to introduce himself without being sleazy, so he and a friend asked if we minded if they shared a table with us while they ate their dinner.
We said fine, not realizing he had actually already had dinner but ordered a second meal so that he could sit at the table. Slowly they worked their way into our conversations, and soon after he was telling me about his friend that he thought I might like. He handed me a card for his friend if I was interested and that’s when I saw “Aaron” on the card and realised he was telling me about himself, haha.
Needless to say I ended up texting him later in the night after a couple of glasses of wine. It took us about a month to finally catch up after that initial meeting because I was being difficult (sorry hubby!), but the rest is history. I never would have thought that night I was going to meet my future husband.

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A Paloma Blanca Bride for a Beachside Destination Jewish-Scottish Wedding at Al Hayam, Caesarea, Israel

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Destination Jewish wedding Al Hayam, Caesarea, Israel
Today’s destination Jewish wedding is serious #chuppahgoals. UK couple Natasha, who is a head of sales, and Adam, an investment banker, opted for a destination wedding at gorgeous Al Hayam in Caesarea, Israel.

The pair wanted a statement chuppah, but at the same time didn’t want anything to overshadow the jaw-dropping ocean view from their venue — take a look through their photos by STG Fave Ronen Boidek and you’ll see why!

What they ended up with hits just the right balance between luxe and simple: four narrow poles covered in greenery and white and cream flowers, all under a canopy of delicate lace. It’s just so elegant, yet exquisitely delicate at the same time.

Bride Natasha said she wanted flowers on her chuppah (not only because, well, why would you not?) but also because of all the beautiful things they represent: “life, a new start, and all things alive and living” — all the right notes to hit at the start of your marriage.

Though Natasha and Adam went for an elegant classic style, they did bring some quirky touches to their day. Our favorite: a Scottish whisky bar, in honor of the groom’s Scottish origins, with different types of whisky for guests to sample. Oh yeah, and there was also a bagpiper in attendance too!

Speaking of music, these two picked our latest and greatest STG Recommended Vendor, Teta Band to set their wedding atmosphere on fire! Teta played live all night, from jazz to pop to Israeli to even French, Portuguese, and Motown live music all night, and in Natasha’s words, “phenomenal doesn’t even describe it… Teta had the guests all up on their feet all night long!”

Beautiful Natasha, looking absolutely radiant in her ivory lace gown from Paloma Blanca, will fill you in on all the rest of the juicy details… Happy Fri-yay!

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Destination Jewish wedding Al Hayam, Caesarea, Israel

Destination Jewish wedding Al Hayam, Caesarea, Israel

Destination Jewish wedding Al Hayam, Caesarea, Israel_0071
A Venue with an Ocean View

Natasha, the bride: We got married at Al Hayam, Caesarea, Israel. We picked this venue due to the open nature of the venue, yet somehow it felt like there was a sense of intimacy. The gorgeous view overlooking the ocean was the winner for us!

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