Smashing the Glass | Jewish Wedding Blog

Inspired Jewish Weddings

A Mori Lee Bride for a ‘20s Hollywood Glam Jewish Wedding at the Eglinton Grand, Toronto, Canada

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Today’s super cool Jewish wedding absolutely epitomizes old Hollywood glam. Heather and Amos married at the Eglinton Grand in Toronto, a historic landmark Art Deco former movie theater. Inspired by their retro-fabulous venue, they went for a ‘20s film palace theme via some super creative DIY touches.

Amos, who has a graphic design background, took on ALL of the couple’s day-of stationery needs, from table numbers to ceremony handouts to menus, which he did in a vintage glam style that tied everything together beautifully.

Even cooler? Amos designed movie posters, featuring photos of the couple, that were displayed inside and outside the venue — check out the one he modeled on Mr. & Mrs. Smith just below! Such a clever idea.

Talented photographer Shauna Heron captured the old Hollywood feel perfectly — Heather said it was important to her and Amos to find a photographer whose images were truly pieces of art, and she delivered and then some. I just love how much the couple’s personalities come through in their photos — you can tell they really weren’t afraid to have fun with their day.

Oh, and this couple has an unbelievably adorable how-we-met story. Heather, who could not have looked chicer in her Mori Lee gown, will fill you in on all the details…

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How we met

Heather, the bride: We are the product of a successful shidduch. My parents met Amos at an Israeli brunch hosted at the local JCC. After deciding they wanted to play matchmaker they invited him over to Shabbat dinner (not mentioning that they had 3 daughters about his age), asked me to come home for dinner and voila, the magic began. He almost fell over when I answered the door, but the matchmaking was a success: we talked all evening and he asked me out the next day. We’ve been inseparable ever since 🙂

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10 Bridesmaid Dresses We Can’t Get Enough Of for 2018/19

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Image by Jeremy Blode from Lori and Josh’s wedding

Happy Thursday! I’m Emily, Smashing The Glass’s new(-ish) features writer, and I’m so excited to be officially introducing myself to all you lovely readers. I’m a New York City-based writer, editor, and food blogger with a passion for baking, books, and barre class. I’ve been a fan of Smashing The Glass since 2015, when I was planning my own Jewish wedding (which ended up getting called off, but that’s a story for another time – if you know any eligible 30-something NJBs, hit me up!).

Since February, I’ve been working with Karen behind the scenes on blog content, planning some exciting projects in NYC, and hanging out in STG’s Brides Club where Team STG offers round the clock support and advice on any and all things wedding.

Speaking of all things wedding – bridal fashion is one of my absolute favorite wedding topics, so I’m thrilled to share some of my top bridesmaid dress picks for 2018/19.

We get so many brides asking for bridesmaid inspo, so we wanted to share some of our favorites with you.

These days we’re lucky to have nearly infinite options when it comes to our ‘maids attire, from long and romantic to short and sassy, with a pantsuit thrown in for good measure!

Read on for some fresh looks that your best girls really will like enough to wear again (yes, I’m going there).Continue ReadingContinue Reading

Membership Intake to VIB Club (our Members Club for Jewish and Jew-ish Brides) closes today!

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Are you engaged and planning your Jewish or Jew-ish wedding? If you’re hanging out on Smashing The Glass, chances are you are – yay !!! Well first of all BIG MAZALS(!), and second of all you may very well want IN on my Members Club for Jewish + Jew-ish Brides before the doors close today, Thursday April 26!

If you sometimes feel overwhelmed or stressed by all the decisions to make, or are in any way time-poor whilst planning your W Day, or you just want to take advantage of the 100’s of vendor discounts and gifts worth tens of thousands of dollars (or pounds!), and all handpicked by me to meet my rigorous standards, the VIB Club is for you.

Day or night, pick my brains, receive instant expert advice, personalized vendor recommendations, epic bridal masterclasses and ‘Ask The (non-judgemental) Rabbi’ sessions, plus the unconditional support we all need when organizing the biggest day of our lives (whether or not you’re using a wedding planner).

I have to be honest, I’m absolutely obsessed with VIB Club (VIB stands for Very Important Bride) as I LOVE diving deep with brides and assisting in a more personal way, but don’t just take my word for it, here’s what Catherine, one of our members planning a Jewish wedding in New York City, has to say about how VIB Club has transformed her wedding planning:


And have a listen to another much-loved member, Yael (below) planning her Jew-ish destination wedding to her gorgeous non-Jewish fiancà© this coming summer. Here’s what she has to say about VIB Club and ALL the benefits!


Inside VIB Club you really can say  goodbye to wedding overwhelm and stress. It’s a safe (in-law free!) space where I’m always on hand to advise you personally with your wedding plans — however and whenever you need assistance.

I’m closing the doors tomorrow to ensure a bespoke service and would LOVE to see you in there to empower you to have your wedding your way.

Find out more, and join up here – I can’t wait to help you plan the wedding of your dreams – let’s do it!

PS Every member gets one of these gorgeous Smash Glass Pouches (below) for under the chuppah too… just one of the many VIB perks!

A Vera Wang Bride for an Urban Chic NYC Foodie Jewish Wedding with a Tequila Bar at Weylin, Brooklyn, NYC, USA

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This has got to be the ultimate NYC foodie dream Jewish wedding! Rachel and Dan got married at Weylin, an iconic 19th-century former bank space in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. As New Yorkers, it was important to the couple to wed in their home city — and to showcase some of its finest food offerings.

For starters, there was the cake: supercool bakery Momofuku’s rainbow layered birthday cake. Then, for the afterparty, a late-night snack from NYC pizza joint Lil Frankies. And guests even got a little taste of the city to take home with them at the end of the night, in the form of cookie favors from beloved bakery Levain, a neighborhood favorite for the Upper West Side couple. These are truly some of the most delicious cookies NYC has to offer — good going, guys!

But that’s not even the coolest thing about this wedding. What is? The tequila tasting room (!). Rachel and Dan are both tequila fans, and they figured their wedding was the perfect time to share their passion for the drink with their family and friends. They report that it was a massive hit, and I believe it! What a fun way to personalize your wedding, if you and your beloved happen to be connoisseurs of a particular drink — it’s like signature cocktails on steroids!

Photographer Maya Myers took the most elegant shots of the couple’s chic day, and Rachel looked classically elegant in sublime Vera Wang. Take it away Rachel!

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How we met

Rachel, the bride: Dan and I met through jSwipe.

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Real Blogging Brides: Clare – Advice to myself to get me through my final two weeks of wedding planning!

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Clare will be marrying Chris on 5th May 2018 at Laura Ashley The Manor in Elstree, UK.

THREE FACTS: (1) Clare is not Jewish but discovered Smashing The Glass via her Jewish sister-in-law and during her wedding planning journey it has (in her own words!) became her favorite and most useful wedding blog (2) She finds STG refreshing in a sea of wedding blogs as she loves reading stories of couples for whom the ceremony itself is as pivotal as all the other details. (3) Due to falling in love with so many amazing Jewish weddings through the blog, and then booking a wedding consultancy session with STG founder, Karen, it confirmed to her that there were a number of Jewish elements she was going to bring into her wedding that symbolise a lot of things that are very important to her and her fiancà© in their future marriage – she will be having a ‘Jewish-inspired’ wedding!

As I write this it is only a couple of weeks until my wedding day. I cannot believe the time has gone so quickly. Having a near two year engagement I assumed everything would be done really easily, I’d be stress free, have my dream body for my wedding and be totally ready for the big day. 

Oh how wrong I was! 

I’ve definitely been experiencing the stress and pressure in the last few weeks. I’m not sleeping well, every moment is taken up by thinking about weddings and the minutiae of my day. 

So as I considered what I could write about at this stage in the day, when I don’t want to give much away regarding what the actual day will look like; I decided to give myself a bit of a talking to and some good advice to get me through the next couple of weeks as stress free as possible. In doing this I called to mind all the many pieces of wedding advice and wisdom that have been passed on to me by friends, family and anything I have read that has stuck with me. 

So here is a summary of the advice I have come across. The good, the bad, and the bits I might have ignored!


Image by Shane and Lauren Photography from Taylor and David‘s Jewish wedding

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