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Real Blogging Brides: Clare – putting the ‘Jew’ into our very ‘ish’ ceremony

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Image: Lin & Jirsa from Alina and Raphael’s wedding on Smashing The Glass
 

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!


Beautiful rituals

Now with only three months to go until our big day the planning has reached a crucial stage of multiple to do lists and a constant state of panic – have we forgotten something/someone/got enough time left to create the day of our dreams?!

All of the big things are now booked and it’s only the finer details to be arranged. One very important factor to be confirmed though is our ceremony plan.

Back in 2016 when Chris and I were first engaged I began to search high and low for the right person to perform our ceremony. We wanted a very personal ceremony, incorporating different traditions that were meaningful to us.

Chris and I both have some similarities in our religious views and backgrounds but neither of us are ‘practicing’ anything as such. I have always been fascinated by others beliefs and have been known to be extremely quizzical of other people’s backgrounds. Weddings in particular are a wonderful opportunity to gain insight into some beautiful cultural traditions.

Whether it’s been Catholic weddings, Jewish, Hindu, or a combination, I have often observed certain rituals that I think are really beautiful and thought to myself – I’d really like to do that one day. Regardless of how or where you were brought up or of your ideas on religion, many of the rituals from different religions can contain meaning and symbolism for any couple.

Image by M2 Photography from Yana and Archita’s multicultural wedding
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A Lee Petra Grebenau Bride for a Super Luxe Jewish Wedding with a Performance by THE Gipsy Kings at David Citadel Hotel, Jerusalem, Israel

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Today’s super luxe Jewish wedding contained plenty of surprises, from the astounding floral arrangements throughout the reception to the insanely gorgeous chuppah, the violinists during cocktail hour to Moshe Peretz and the ACTUAL Gipsy Kings playing the reception!

The couple chose to have a religious ceremony, conducted by none other than the Chief Rabbi of Israel, in Jerusalem, originally home to bride Natalie. Careful nods to their faith were included throughout the celebration, honoring the history and atmosphere of the incredible surroundings.

Beautiful bride Natalie looked a million bucks in her TWO(!) divine, sexy and gorgeous Lee Petra Grebenau gowns, with a see-through leg and gorgeous illusion embellishments. We. Are. In. Love! 

Wedding planner and florist, Kby Design, created an incredible aesthetic, as you can see from the beautiful spread of images below from none other than our fabulous Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor, the one and only Ran Bergman.

This is the kind of divine big day that can only really be described through the medium of pictures, so we’ll now pass you over to Ran and to Natalie for the full story.

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How we met

Natalie, the bride: We met on Rosh Hashana three years ago at a mutual friend’s house.

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A BHLDN Bride for a Vintage-Style Cultural Fusion Peranakan Singaporean and Jewish Wedding at Alfred Caldwell Lily Pool and Lincoln Park Conservatory Illinois, Chicago, USA

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Ahhh guys we don’t care how fan-girly we sound, today’s Jewish real wedding is just the COOLEST! Andrew and Lauren’s big day fused their Jewish and Peranakan Singaporean backgrounds in just the most inventive and beautiful ways. 

A tea ceremony during the chuppah? Perfect. Pineapple tart rugelach? Yes please. Chocolate Shekel favors in Chinese double happiness red packets? Inspired. We also adore the themed Singapore Sling and Tel Aviv Sunset cocktails – just perfection. Everything, from the music to the menu, was chosen with both cultures in mind, finding amazing ways to bring them together. This wedding looked like a marriage. 

Given the stunning aesthetic of the wedding, it will come as no surprise that bride Lauren, is a stationery designer, and put her skills to good use, designing the most stunning stationery suite that managed to honor both cultures and still fit in perfectly with the vintage-inspired vibe. 

Lauren looked like an Old Hollywood A-lister in her beautiful lace BHLDN gown, and even more breathtaking under the rustic and charming chuppah using her grandparents’ lace. 

The venues, Alfred Caldwell Lily Pool and Lincoln Park Conservatory, are two of the couple’s favorite spots – little oases of calm in their Illinois neighborhood. 

The story of the day was beautifully captured by photographer Jaclyn Simpson and the happy couple provided the funny and charming write up below together. We could genuinely go on and on all day, so we’ll stop now and let Lauren and Andrew fill you in on the rest. Please give it up for the bride and groom!

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A hidden garden in the neighborhood 

Andrew, the groom: Lauren and I got married in our neighborhood, a two-minute walk from where we lived. We had a small family ceremony at the Alfred Caldwell Lily Pool, which is a hidden garden filled with native plants of Illinois. Afterwards, we had a slightly larger reception (just around 50 people) next door at the Lincoln Park Conservatory. Since moving to Chicago we’ve visited these two sites regularly as a way to escape the city and the occasional sub-zero winter. I also worked for the Chicago Park District and knew many of the staff at the conservatory.

The AG & LM penny pattern in the pond was a complete surprise for us from the staff at the Chicago Park District! Many of the gardeners, naturally, are also talented visual artists and my co-worker Gustave spent a good deal of time putting this together without us even knowing. It was definitely a highlight of the reception!

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’Smashing Summit’ Full Replay Featuring Mindy Weiss, Monique Lhuillier, Ron Ben-Israel, Galia Lahav’s Chief Designer and many more!

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Seriously, how AMAZING was January’s Smashing Summit?

Four hours worth of wedding industry superstars (we’re talking Mindy Weiss, Monique Lhuillier, Ron Ben-Israel, Galia Lahav‘s Chief Designer, Duke Photography, Bruce Russell, Blake Ezra, Food Story, and host of other icons expertly  answering ALL your Jewish (and Jew-ish) wedding questions.

The Summit celebrated our brand new (and already very in demand!) Members Club where brides save time, save money (hello 10% vendor discount!), get matched with their perfect wedding vendors, receive the coolest Smash Glass Pouch ever, AND get advised directly by me and a community of sophisticated fellow brides

 

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Talking with Bruce Russell about ‘How to create a wedding that reflects who you are and what is important to you’ at the Smashing SummitSmashing Summit Smashing The Glass
Showing off the Smash Glass Pouch at the Smashing Summit!Smashing The Glass Smashing SummitReal Bride and Groom, Caroline and Robbie (and Bruce Russell in the background!) enjoying the music of Jonny Mosesson at the Summit

We’ve got the full Summit, in one 4 hour block, ready and waiting for you in the video at the top of the post, (and fully itemised at the foot of the post if you want to skip to your favorite bit!).Continue ReadingContinue Reading

Sisters Doing it for Themselves at a Quirky, Converse-Filled Jewish Wedding at Rosewood London, UK

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There is no bond like that between sisters and nothing demonstrates that more readily than Megan and Sam’s Jewish wedding. Yes, today’s real wedding is a bit of an unusual one, as it was submitted (and the report was written by) Dani Tucker, the founder of the amazing Social Kitchen, and sister of bride, Megan.

Dani runs one of editor Karen’s favorite Instagram accounts (which is saying something as Karen is a huge Insta-enthusiast) and there is a very moving story behind it all, paying homage to the sisters’ late mother.

Having met Dani several times, Karen absolutely adores her and we are big fans of her here at Smashing The Glass, and even more so after reading today’s touching write up. 

Dani’s sister, Megan (the bride), wasn’t really into the whole wedding thing. She just wanted to be married and have fun at the wedding. So Dani planned the party of a lifetime for her dear sister. What an incredible gift, and what a phenomenal job she did all round. Dani organized every detail, with Megan deciding on her shoes (personalized Converse – we love it), the groom and the first dance. Probably not quite in that order.

Dani describes gorgeous bride Megan as “quirky, independent, strong and yet beautiful” – the wedding she planned completely reflected Megan and her new husband, Sam. 

With everyone in Converse, even the rabbi, a sweet bar and a Shwarma goodie bag, this unique big day was planned with so much love and attention to detail, and Dani found so many wonderful ways to honor their mother.

Photography was provided by Chiko Photography and the beautiful film by AT Motion is below.

Let’s hand over to Dani to tell Megan and Sam’s story in the lovely and eloquent writeup below. Tissues at the ready, guys. 

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How they met

Dani Tucker, the sister of the bride: Megan and Sam met on Jcrush. Her work colleagues set up her profile and swiped for her – set up the date for her – he lived in Manchester, came down for the date and then a few months later, she went on holiday. He picked her up from the airport in London and never went back to Manchester other than to collect his things.

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