Smashing the Glass | Jewish Wedding Blog

Inspired Jewish Weddings

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

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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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Real Jewish Brides – Charlotte: My Best Bridesmaids Dress Shopping Tips!

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Charlotte will be marrying James on 26th August 2018 at The Brewery, in London, UK.

THREE FACTS: (1) James proposed to Charlotte in Florence… on her parent’s 36th wedding anniversary (aaaah – we love that!)  (2) They are planning a Jewish urban-rustic wedding in East London (3) They have already decided on their wedding hashtags — it’s #dropitlikeitshart !


Bridesmaid dress shopping tips!

When bridesmaid shopping I instantly thought about the scene from ‘Bridesmaids‘ where they are comparing the prices of designer dresses — “But it’s a Fritz Bernaise!” And equally the scene that followed…”It’s happening!” Or being the bridesmaid who has 27 dresses that are completely outrageous was good enough inspiration for these handy tips!

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Image by Jeremy Standley from Lisa and Joey’s Jewish wedding
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An Ines di Santo Bride for a Classic and Timeless Super Luxe Jewish Wedding at Four Seasons Hotel Westlake Village, California, USA

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What happens when some of LA’s, scratch that – the world’s finest wedding vendors come together? A visual feast of classically elegant wedding wonderment, that’s what! Alina and Raphael’s super luxe Jewish wedding was the very definition of what a divine wedding looks like – down to every last detail.

Let’s start with bride Alina’s sophisticated and timeless style. She looked straight off the red carpet in her breathtaking off-the-shoulder Ines di Santo gown. We had the immense pleasure of interviewing Ines Di Santo for a Facebook Live, which is an absolute must watch if, like us, you’ve fallen in love with her work. 

We have also featured outstanding florist Butterfly Floral in several past real weddings, and, as you can see from that INSANE ethereal garden-look chuppah, there’s a very good reason for that. 

A wedding this spectacular could only have been brought together by a top-tier planner, and they don’t make ’em better than the unstoppable Delicate Details who, you’ve guessed it, has featured on the STG pages several times before (and is also offering all our STG Members Club Brides an exclusive 10% discount!). I think we can all agree that Maryam outdid herself! 

It’s also very hard to do capturing a wedding of this calibre justice, but just LOOK at these absolutely phenomenal images by ridiculously talented photographers Lin & Jirsa (also offering our STG Members Club Brides a very special gift!). Everything is amazing about this big day, but those under-the-chuppah shots are out of this world!

We’ll leave you now with Alina’s awesome write up. A warning – you are going to want to steal every single detail about this stunner of a wedding.

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How We Met

Alina, the bride: We met at a mutual friend’s birthday.

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A Bright and Bold Quirky Jewish Wedding at Woodberry Wetlands, London, UK

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Here at STG HQ, we’ve just about come down from the high of our Smashing Summit and launching the VIB club – so normal service resumes once more in the form of this amazing, colorful and uplifting Jewish real wedding. 

Ruth and Dan are both journalists, and they applied their creative skills to their wedding with aplomb! The day was an absolute visual feast, from the eco-friendly and foliage-heavy floristry, to the magically lit marquee and the bright, color-pop giant balloons. Just gorgeous! 

Bride Ruth showed off her unique and stunning sense of style with her two-piece BHLDN ensemble, and looked a vision in it, pairing it with some killer heels from ASOS, before changing into her sensible-but-gorgeous Kurt Geiger bridal flats.

Even their chuppah has an adorable origin story, with the couple constructing it together with their best friends, who tied the knot the week before Ruth and Dan’s wedding. 

Both bride and groom made a speech (hooray) and the couple had a moving Reform Jewish ceremony, involving the whole family, and honoring Ruth’s late grandfathers by using their tallit to cover the chuppah.

Jordanna Marston absolutely smashed the photography, with her expert eye for character and emotional moments, while the tear-jerking wedding trailer was provided by Olive Grove Films.

We’ll leave you now with Ruth’s incredibly eloquent write up – we know you’ll all enjoy reading it and gazing at all the wedding pretty as much as we did!

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How we met

Ruth, the bride: We met at a Halloween party in 2009 (our costumes are too embarrassing to share… let’s just say it’s a miracle we got talking). The two friends who brought each of us to that party were at our wedding, pleased as punch.
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