Smashing the Glass | Jewish Wedding Blog - Page 258 of 282

Dana & Stuart | Autumn city rustic Jewish wedding at the spectacular Angel Orensanz Foundation, Lower East Side, New York City

19/06/2014 by Karen

Dana and Stuart’s wedding has Autumn completely wrapped up. Long farm tables with flowers and candles, orange and cream colours with pops of russet inspired by Dana’s amazing auburn hair, and a total sense of joy, warmth and tenderness thoughout.

Our bride is so very elegant but at the same time clearly having the time of her life… That smile – it’s so infectious! And what’s one of my favourite moments? When Dana swaps her jewelled Manolo Blahniks for white low top Converse when the former falls off during the Hora – so down to earth! I also love the little creative details like classic movies of their favourite Hollywood icons playing in the background during the cocktail hour.

Oh… and have you ever heard of ‘Dudesmaids’?! Dana had two – see them posing with the girls above?!

All the fantastic photography is by the one and only Karen Wise.

I’d love you to nominate Smashing The Glass in the 2014 Wedding Blog Awards!

17/06/2014 by Karen

Yes that’s me up there, holding up a Wedding Blog Award, montaged over Halle Berry winning an Oscar. I was going to montage myself over Gwynnie with her Oscar and make a joke about teary speeches, but her flat chest and pale skin were never going to match my features, so Halle will do nicely. I’ve always wanted a Bond girl’s body so that’s one wish already come true!

But I digress… the wish I’m really after is to win the Best Newcomer category in Wedding magazine’s highly regarded Wedding Blog Awards. I’ve been working hard on Smashing The Glass for exactly a year now and I started it just after my wedding when I realised that there wasn’t any one place that brought together creative ideas for out-of-the-ordinary Jewish (and Jew-ish!) W-days. It became — and still is — the UK’s only Jewish wedding blog, and the only blog worldwide focussing on original and unusual Jewish ‘I-Do’s’.

I’m super proud of the blog, and the reaction and overwhelming support I’ve received in this first year, and I’m so addicted to working on it that I wasn’t even able to keep away in the early days after I’d given birth to my baby daughter, Sacha late last year. Everyone would tell me “rest when the baby rests” but as I snuck into the bedroom, the laptop would come out from under the bed… I just couldn’t keep away from my other baby — my e-baby!

Now my darling daughter is 7 months old and I am able to spend much more time on the blog. So much so, that in a couple of weeks time I am relaunching the site with a rebrand and lots of new features including a greatly enhanced Smashing Suppliers section. I can’t wait!

But the heart and soul of SmashingTheGlass.com are the Real Jewish Weddings. It’s hard to pick a favourite but I have a very soft spot for this outrageously cool London Jewish wedding, this gorgeously-designed music themed wedding, this Wedstock-themed wedding featuring a bride who made her entire dress out of paper; this breathtaking ‘HinJew’ wedding at the Mandarin Oriental where the bride and groom intertwined their Indian and Jewish heritages incredibly beautifully; the New Years Eve fancy dress wedding held in an Arthouse cinema; the ’surprise’ brunch wedding for just 20 guests with the ceremony held on a street corner… I could go on and on! The common thread throughout these, and all STG weddings, is that they are as unique as the couples that planned them.

I also regularly post wedding planning articles and have blogged about everything from what are the best chuppah entrance songs, to tips for getting great wedding photography to how to incorporate ‘Jewish’ into a non-Jewish or interfaith wedding, and of course lots more. I love helping my readers plan their weddings whether it be through the real weddings, inspiration and ideas that I publish or the advice that I write, and if you enjoy reading STG I would be so honoured and thrilled to have your nomination. VOTE HERE or click on the logo button below. (The ‘Best Wedding Blog Newcomer’ category is second from the bottom.)

Thank you. I’d be so very delighted to genuinely hold that award up high after Thursday 26th June when nominations close!

Tali & Dan | ‘Gin in teacups’ 1920’s Jewish Wedding at Heatherden Hall, Pinewood Studios, Buckinghamshire, UK

16/06/2014 by Karen

Blake Ezra, one of our Smashing Suppliers, always captures bucket loads of love and emotion in his wonderful photography, and this is most definitely true of Tali and Dan’s big day which I’m beyond excited to be featuring on the blog today.

This stylish pair were married at Heatherden Hall at the legendary Pinewood Studios, just outside London, and this has got to be one of the most iconic wedding venues to have yet graced the pages of STG. Pinewood has been home to many productions over the years from huge blockbuster films to television shows, commercials and pop promos but is most famous as the home of the Carry On, Superman, James Bond and Harry Potter film series. What a perfect venue for film buffs!

Despite the fantastically cool venue, this wedding is all about the people — you can see joy in every singe image, and Blake Ezra tells me that, “there was a massive emphasis on friends throughout the day with their big crowd of amazing mates getting involved in all aspects of the ceremony, music and general entertainment.”

You can really see the fun factor complete with comedy DJs, barber shop routines, drum circles, dancing, a fire show (and a very moving ceremony) in the wedding film by the uber-talented Charlotte Armitage right at the end of the post.

Tali’s bridal style is to die for… I am expecting plenty of pinterest action for her vintage dress which incidentally was made entirely out of sustainable and ecological fabrics.

And lastly I must mention that Dan, who is a journalist, recorded a message to Tali from Boris Johnson as part of his speech (see 10:38 in the film at the bottom of the post). I’m a big Boris fan — that’s immense!

So come and have a look at this gorgeous ‘I Do’ jointly narrated by the bride and groom.

VENUE
Tali, the Bride, and Dan, the Groom: Tali and I chose to get married at Pinewood Studios in Gerard’s Cross. We wanted a ‘London’ wedding so it was accessible for elderly family and all our friends, and Pinewood had indoor and outdoor space, was very cool, and they allowed us to do whatever we wanted.

Now THIS is how you break the glass at your Jewish wedding!

15/06/2014 by Karen

World Cup 2014! Football themed wedding – moodboard and creative ideas

12/06/2014 by Karen

Image from Mishie & Misha’s Destination Jewish wedding on the Amalfi Coast, Italy

With the World Cup kicking off today, even I can’t escape thinking about the the so-called beautiful game right now. It’s fair to say I’m not a huge fan, but if you happen to be a footie fanatic, and your partner shares your passion, I’ve come up with loads of fun ideas for a football-themed wedding.

Football inspired weddings are a little bit tongue-in-cheek so you can have a whole lot of fun with this theme. How about walking down the aisle to the ‘Match of the Day‘ theme tune for starters?! Incorporate your team’s colours into your and your groom’s accessories, and you don’t have to dress your bridesmaids in football tops — you could again simply have them wear shawls and shoes in your team colours.

If you can manage to hold your ceremony at a football stadium (this Jewish wedding was held at Old Trafford, the home of Manchester United!) there will be unlimited candid photo opps, but remember that at any venue, you can set up your wedding photos to be done in “team shot” style

Hire a table football game, create football ticket invitations, have a football wedding cake, use red and yellow cards as place settings, have flower arrangements in football boots, use football scarves as favours and decorations, name your tables after some of your favourite players, have a football themed table plan… and the fun doesn’t have to stop there!

Tell me about if you have a football or sporty themed wedding planned — I’d love to hear all about it in the comments section below!