Smashing the Glass | Jewish Wedding Blog

Inspired Jewish Weddings

Real Jewish Brides – Mel: The Chance To Be Creative

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Mel  will be marrying Mitch on Sunday 18 March 2018, in a Jewish wedding at Warren Weir at Luton Hoo, UK.

THREE FACTS: (1) Mel and Mitch met online on JDate (2) Their Jewish wedding will be classy and traditional with plenty of modern touches  (3) Mel is a member of Smashing The Glass’s private Jewish & Jew-ish Brides Facebook Group. Not yet a member? Come join us here!

FAMOUS SIMILARITIES

What do I have in common with Albert Einstein, Ben Stiller, and Lisa Kudrow (aka, Phoebe from Friends)? Other than being Jewish, we are all left-handed.

As well as allegedly being more likely to have a higher IQ, they say left-handed people are more creative than right-handed people. How true this I don’t know. But it does (kind of) set the scene for this blog.


Image by Stacey Able from Melinda and Tobin’s wedding
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A Spine-Tingling Old City Destination Jewish Wedding at Mamilla Hotel, Jerusalem, Israel

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Destination Jewish wedding Mamilla Hotel in Jerusalem Israel_0024

We have goosebumps – and after immersing yourself in today’s absolutely beautiful Jewish destination wedding in Israel, we’re pretty sure you all will too. It’s GORGEOUS!

Iliya and Gavin chose to forego a wedding in their native Sydney in favor of a spine-tingling service in Jerusalem. With a chuppah overlooking the Old City, the couple expressed their mutual love of the country and how much it meant to both of them.

We adore the spirit of this wedding as much as the gorgeous Jerusalem-inspired aesthetic – from the Western Wall wish jar (what a moving idea) to the dancing Nachmanim – everything about it felt just perfect.

Iliya and Gavin wholeheartedly agreed that planning the wedding from such a distance would not have been possible without them.

Gorgeous bride, Iliya, 

Iliya and Gavin are clearly both stunning souls, inside and out, and their devotion to each other is so clear in the breathtaking spread of photographs by Ronen Boidek and the moving, cinematic video by Nir Tenenbaum. Those speeches! We may be just a little bit second-hand in love. 

And now, without further ado, we’ll hand you over to Iliya for the story in her own words – enjoy! (And by the way, didn’t she just rock the boho-chic look in her Rhonda Hemmingway gown? A-list-level stuff! )

Destination Jewish wedding Mamilla Hotel in Jerusalem Israel_0055Destination Jewish wedding Mamilla Hotel in Jerusalem Israel_0024 Destination Jewish wedding Mamilla Hotel in Jerusalem Israel_0024
How we met

Iliya, the bride: Gav and I attended the same Jewish day school in Sydney – but Gav was five years above me in school and we only met years after graduating. We met through mutual friends in 2013. 

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A Breathtaking Waterside Same Sex Jewish Wedding at a Private Residence, Kittery, Maine, USA

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Destination Jewish wedding Private Residence, Kittery, Maine USA
Today we have a real treat for you because we have not one, but TWO wonderful brides whose boho-beautiful style you’re totally going to want to steal.

Samantha and Elise had their tented waterside Jewish destination wedding at a private family residence and it was absolutely rub-your-eyes-and-look-again beautiful. The natural scenery provided a spectacular backdrop for the couple’s moving, family-oriented Jewish ceremony – oh, and just how cute are those flower girls?? There’s an awesome story about them which we won’t ruin, but read on, because it will just melt your heart.

Let’s talk about the brides’ breathtaking dresses, from Willowby by Watters and Lillian West respectively – they could not have looked more perfect together, with a relaxed but oh-so-chic feel and lush lace embellishments. Serious bridal style goals!

We’re also head over heels for the foliage-covered birch wood chuppah overlooking the water – what a perfect place to say ‘I do’. Oh, and the rustic-look but clean and contemporary reception dà©cor? Sublime. 

The stunning spread of photographs was provided by Alex and Bett, who captured all the love, joy and big-day details with aplomb. We seriously can’t stop staring!

We’ll hand you over to Samantha and Elise for the full story of their perfect day. Get ready to fall in love with these two! 

Destination Jewish wedding Private Residence, Kittery, Maine USA Destination Jewish wedding Private Residence, Kittery, Maine USA Destination Jewish wedding Private Residence, Kittery, Maine USA Destination Jewish wedding Private Residence, Kittery, Maine USA Destination Jewish wedding Private Residence, Kittery, Maine USA
How we met

Samantha and Elise, the brides: We met online, on OkCupid, before the days of dating apps.
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Why we adore Caroline Castigliano’s Ultra Feminine and Timeless ‘Celebrating Romance’ Collection

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In My Dreams by Caroline Castigliano

Do you believe in love at first sight? To be honest, we were a little skeptical… until we clapped eyes on the sensational 2018 ‘Celebrating Romance’ collection by Caroline Castigliano. We are totally and utterly OBSESSED with these gowns!

True to the Castigliano signature style, the stunning new collection, all handcrafted in the UK, is the embodiment of understated effortless glamour. The clean, classic lines with contemporary touches are SO perfect for fashion-conscious-without-being-trend-obsessed STG brides. The word that comes to mind is ‘timeless’ – the type of gorgeous gowns you’ll look back on in 20 years and still be blown away by how incredible you looked.

The latest collection promises the aforementioned timeless designs with ultra-feminine twists, elevated textures and highly luxurious accents – and it certainly delivers. All of the gowns have a secret, hidden structure, which is a subtle, but crucial, ingredient when it comes to those astounding bridal silhouettes.

One of the elements we love most about Caroline’s designs is her absolute master of corsetry. Each panel is hand cut to mould and sculpt the figure, they are a true work of art.

Burgundy by Caroline Castigliano

A range of silhouettes from A-line, to circle skirts and fishtails

We talked to Caroline about her latest collection of designer wedding gowns. “The inspiration for ‘Celebrating Romance’ was ultra feminine gowns — very fluid, I just wanted to create gowns that feel light and airy but create shape and power — the collection needed to be sensual and playful yet only suggestive”

“There is a range of silhouettes from A-line, to circle skirts and fishtails, all creating beautiful movement and a powerful but understated vision.”

We couldn’t agree more — and we’re sure you will too when you meet the divine dresses from the new collection. Look out for more of our illuminating chat with Caroline below!

The Celebrating Romance collection is available through selected stockists worldwide.

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A Ritva Westenius Bride for a Moving Jewish Wedding at Rosewood London

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Jewish Wedding Rosewood London UK

All together now – say “aaaaw!” Good. Now you’re all prepared for your reaction to today’s wonderful Jewish real wedding.

Serena and Philip got chatting at a family member’s birthday party and love immediately blossomed. So much so that Serena forgot she had a taxi waiting outside (we did prepare you)!

Their beautiful Jewish wedding was a late Saturday celebration, which meant that friends and family could get the party started after the evening chuppah, while the photos were being taken, so that by the time the couple arrived, everyone was already on their feet. 

Bride Serena looked absolutely breathtaking in her Ritva Westenius gown, with material from her mother’s and grandmother’s wedding dresses sewn in. Serena also honored her grandmother by wearing her brooch as a hairpiece. Philip’s late father was remembered through the use of his tallit and his wedding ring.

Three fabulous Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendors helped to bring this beautiful big day together. Florist Mary Jane Vaughan created a stunning floral motif that told a story as the day progressed, the stunning spread of photographs was provided by the one and only Blake Ezra (did you catch him in our Smashing Summit?!) and Chazan Simon Cohen
treated the couple to his divine voice under the chuppah. 

In fact, you can watch Simon in action in the wonderful chuppah video below, provided by Matt Camlin.

We’ll leave you in Serena’s good hands for the full story – take it away Serena!

 Jewish Wedding Rosewood London UK

Jewish Wedding Rosewood London UKJewish Wedding Rosewood London UK Jewish Wedding Rosewood London UK
How we met

Serena, the bride: Philip was best friends with my first cousin and even though we had been to parties and weddings together over the years, we had never met (probably because he was married at the time).

It was my cousins 50th birthday party (Philip had been separated for a year) and just I was leaving. As my taxi was outside to take me to another party, Philip came over and said ‘hello’. The rest, you might say, is history.

We stood there talking in a ‘bubble’ till the end of the party, unaware of anyone around us and the taxi sat outside waiting the whole time.

Strangely, my parents met him at Christmas lunch the year before and I my dad left saying he knew Philip and I would be together, which is ridiculous because we had never met.

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