Smashing the Glass | Jewish Wedding Blog

Inspired Jewish Weddings

Home > You searched for ceremony > Page 253

Search Results for: ceremony

Rachel & David | Garden Party Jewish Wedding at Home in London

by

LONDON JEWISH WEDDING 64
Back garden weddings always look so cosy, warm and welcoming and today’s is no exception. There are so many things that I like about this wedding — the homely setting is perfect and I love all the budget-friendly DIY ideas from the quotes attached to the drinks straws, to the colourful photo booth / guest book idea,  to the pashminas on hand to warm up the guests – so  very thoughtful! Rachel and Davids’ families and friends look like a really lovely, happy group of people, and it’s an overall joy to view this wedding through the eyes of their truly fantastic photographer, Dominique Bader.

Rachel and David met when she was invited to his 30th birthday party by mutual friends. She didn’t know that there was a theme (1980s TV and films) and that he would be dressed up as Tom Cruise from Top Gun in a flight suit. The first thing he asked, after looking at her non-costume, was who she had come dressed as. Twenty minutes later she gave him a delayed response and did an impression of the car voice from Knight Rider. They didn’t stop talking from that moment onwards…
LONDON JEWISH WEDDING 5 LONDON JEWISH WEDDING 9 LONDON JEWISH WEDDING 22
VENUE AND THEME
Rachel, the Bride: The wedding was at my parents’ house where I grew up. It was funny how Friday evening dinner at my parents also became about going to see the venue! The house has a beautiful garden so we simply went with a garden party theme and picked a colour palette of soft greens, whites and pale pinks. I think it’s good to have a loose colour scheme to help create a cohesive look, but one shouldn’t be too worried about it — guests brings the colour and in our case, my 4 year old nephew Theo decided to wear a Fireman Sam costume in pillar box red!
LONDON JEWISH WEDDING MENU
GARDEN PARTY THEMED INVITATION DESIGN
The invitation design process was the unique part! I was writing about design at the time and have always been fascinated by print. I also thought that the invitation sets the tone of the wedding and searched for a long time for existing garden party themed designs that felt right for us.

I ended up appointing Australian graphic designer Tabitha Bray (who I discovered through a blog) to design a bespoke floral motif and illustrated map. Closer to home, graphic designer Rebecca Leggett created the most beautiful calligraphy for the main invitation and printed the invitation suite in Dorset. Paperless Post might have been an easier route, but we loved the end result.

Continue ReadingContinue Reading

Sarah & Mike | DIY Inspired Jewish Wedding, Woodbridge, Connecticut, USA

by

CONNETICUT JEWISH WEDDING 1
I am really excited to bring you this wonderful craft-filled wedding from over the pond in Conneticut, USA.  Our gorgeous couple live in Brooklyn but got married in Connecticut after meeting at university six years ago. Sarah the bride designed so many creative elements of her big day including her stunning wedding dress (with Modern Trousseau), a wonderful ‘papercut-style’ chuppah designed with her very talented mum, our very own Smashing Supplier Jeanette Kuvin Oren, not to mention the beautiful table decorations, and exquisite letterpress invitations. Feast your eyes on their gorgeous day and take in all their lovely DIY details!
CONNETICUT JEWISH WEDDING HALL
VENUE – CONVERTING A SIMPLE SPACE INTO A STUNNING RECEPTION
Sarah, the Bride: We booked my synagogue as the ceremony/reception venue. Being a traditional Jewish wedding, this was an appropriate locale. But don’t be fooled by a “lack of pizzazz” if your synagogue’s social hall isn’t as ideal as you’d like it to be. I had a vision, and was able to convert a large, relatively simple space into a stunning wedding reception. No one recognised the room once the decorations and lighting were set up. We also picked this location since we had a large guest list, and many venues would force us to cut our guest list in half (that wasn’t going to happen!).
CONNETICUT JEWISH WEDDING KETUBAH
COLOUR SCHEME
The colour scheme came out through the process of seeing my likes and dislikes regarding dà©cor. I didn’t have a true vision until all the pieces began coming together. I knew I wanted neutral, timeless colours; so I stayed in the beige, tan, ivory genre. When I added gold to the mix, I thought we were set. It looked so beautiful and ethereal. Once I chose my bridal party dresses, the final colour came to be: “Dusty Shale,” a grayish seafoam/teal variety. It was a perfect medley of neutral, yet beautiful and timeless colours for a wedding.

Continue ReadingContinue Reading

Liran & Etay | Desert Wedding at Mitzpe Ramon, Israel

by

DESERT-WEDDING
Isn’t this photograph one of the most dramatic wedding portraits you’ve ever seen? Well if you’ve ever thought of getting married amid a breathtakingly beautiful primeval landscape ie. *the desert*, and you choose the oh so talented Dima Vazinovich as your wedding photographer, then that’s the kind of shot you’ll end up with!

Today’s gorgeous couple, Liran and Etay, chose the Beresheet hotel, a destination spa hotel in Israel’s Negev desert, as their wedding venue as they wanted somewhere where they could relax and enjoy quality time with their guests over the course of a few days, and additionally somewhere that reflected their modest and serene personalities.
DESERT WEDDING BERESHIT ISRAEL 71 DESERT WEDDING BERESHIT ISRAEL 25 DESERT WEDDING BERESHIT ISRAEL A
WHY WE DECIDED TO HAVE OUR WEDDING IN THE DESERT
Liran, the Bride: Well before Etay popped the question we started talking about having a destination wedding and getting married somewhere abroad. The idea was that our guests wouldnʻt feel like theyʻre at a wedding but like theyʻre on a little holiday (weddings go so fast we wanted to enjoy time with our loved ones over the course of at least a couple of days and hang out at ease as much as possible).

Having gotten engaged and established an idea of guest count we realised that we needed to find a venue in Israel. Last year we enjoyed our stay at Beresheet Spa Hotel in Mitspe Ramon so much that we decided that this would be the best place for us: peaceful, calming, romantic and the exact sense of beauty that we were looking for.

Continue ReadingContinue Reading

Sarah & Ben | Vintage Tea Party Jewish Wedding at London Zoo

by

LONDON ZOO WEDDING
Now this is a wedding that I seriously would have LOVED to have attended. It’s so different, so creative and incredible fun. I mean what could be better than a vintage tea party at London Zoo culminating in an outdoor Jewish dancing session and big party (not forgetting a drunken guest attempting to climb into the gorilla enclosure!)?

Just scroll down and you’ll see the bride arriving in a flower-bedecked Karma Kab,  the groom arriving by canal boat,  a seriously jaw-dropping vintage styled bride, a hand-drawn animal-themed ketubah, stunning photography by  Steve Poole  and David Klein  that captures some of the most amazing Jewish dancing energy I’ve ever seen, and on top of everything this report is a little bit special as not only do we hear from Sarah, the bride, there is also a bit of commentary thrown in now and again from our groom, Ben. A Smashing The Glass first! The idea for holding their wedding at such an unusual venue was triggered by Ben proposing to  Sarah in the Penguin Pool building…. aaaah, I’ll let Ben take over from here:

IMAGERY BY STEVE POOLE UNLESS OTHERWISE CREDITED

LONDON ZOO WEDDING SP 14 LONDON ZOO WEDDING SP 15
WHY WE CHOSE LONDON ZOO
Ben, the Groom: I proposed to Sarah at London Zoo  as when she was a child she wrote to Jim’ll Fix It to ask him to let her into to the zoo’s penguin pool building. She loved the architecture as a little girl – that space age type of feel – and she was a bit besotted with the building. When I proposed to her I organised with the zoo to take her round and then led her into the Penguin Pool building and proposed to her in there.

We also knew that we didn’t want a party in a hotel or ballroom, and we ideally loved the idea of getting married somewhere outdoors, but finding an outdoor London venue that could hold 250 guests for both the chuppah and the party on the same site, and that could also incorporate a kosher caterer didn’t leave us with many choices. Luckily London Zoo ticked all the boxes and we chose it as our wedding ceremony and party venue.
WEDDING PREPARATIONS
LONDON ZOO WEDDING SP 10 LONDON ZOO WEDDING SP 8
THEME
Sarah, the Bride:  We knew that we wanted to have a summer fete / vintage tea party feel and that really worked in the  beautiful garden terrace where we held the chuppah and Jewish dancing. We were fortunate enough to have an amazing, sunny day and the space couldn’t have worked out better for us.

Continue ReadingContinue Reading

5 ways to ‘incorporate Jewish’ into your non-Jewish or Interfaith wedding

by

jewish_wedding hora
image: Chyna Darner Photography

Mazel Tov, you’re engaged! You are starting to put together Pinterest boards, you’re buying every wedding magazine going and bookmarking all the best wedding blogs. There’s only one hitch – you are Jewish, and your fiancà© isn’t. But no need to worry, because by adding Jew-ish touches to your wedding and reception, you can honour both sides and have everyone “kvelling” in no time.

Here are five simple and fun ways to incorporate Jewish wedding traditions into your special day:

1. FIND AN INTERFAITH KETUBAH: There are Ketubot written in English with no mention of God or religious beliefs. Every couple should agree to love, commitment and laughter (three things the Ketubah represents); it’s good for the soul! interfaith_ketubah [image: Interfaith ketubah from Daphna & Godwin’s Tuscan castle Jewish wedding ]

2. HAVE YOUR PARENTS WALK YOU DOWN THE AISLE: Every Jewish mother dreams of the day she’ll walk her child down the aisle (wearing a dress that’s the envy of all her friends). Don’t deprive her of this proud moment! Plus, your soon to be in-laws will no doubt find it charming, thereby giving you some serious brownie points.

3. HAVE A CHUPPAH: The chuppah represents your new home and forms a beautiful, striking central space for the wedding ceremony. Also, designing a chuppah will be a special way for you both to create something symbolic and beautiful together. Just add it in to the floral budget and enjoy the experience and symbolism. CHUPPAH [image: Chuppah from Lee & Gary’s Jewish Wedding at The Criterion, London / Peachy Productions ]

4. SMASH THE GLASS! Since even Jews can’t agree on why we break a glass at a Jewish wedding, there’s really no reason not to include the tradition. It’s fun! Everyone shouts “Mazal Tov” and everyone claps and hollers. Who doesn’t want a standing ovation on their wedding day?

Continue ReadingContinue Reading