Smashing the Glass | Jewish Wedding Blog

Inspired Jewish Weddings

How to Decide Whether or Not To Invite Children to Your Wedding

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Every engaged couple must, at some point in their wedding planning journey, address the eternal question: to invite kids or not to invite kids? For some, it’s an absolute no brainer – but for others, the issue can be agonizing and even divisive.

So we thought we’d write up a little pros and cons piece for those of you grappling with whether or not to involve children in your big-day plans! Here is our entirely objective take on the issue:

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The case for inviting kids

1. There are many advantages to having children present at your special day. Kids are full of joy – there’s nothing more heartwarming than looking over at your wedding and seeing kids playing, perhaps symbolizing the family in your own future, if you want to have one. Continue ReadingContinue Reading

A Jewish Outdoor Wedding with a Hand-Embroidered Chuppah at Stellenbosch Winelands, Cape Town, South Africa

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As far as romantic and dreamy destination weddings go, a dusty, beautiful vineyard in South Africa is definitely up there! And that’s where we’ll be whisking you off to today to celebrate Jenna and Blake’s moving Jewish wedding.

Jenna and Blake are living proof that long-distance relationships can definitely have their happily ever after. Being apart for nine years, Jenna and Blake demonstrated how good things certainly come to those who wait.

Family was at the heart of this gorgeous big day – with a chuppah hand embroidered by Blake’s mother, which now serves as a quilt in the couple’s home, and Jenna’s moving tributes to her own mother, who had sadly passed away. 

Gorgeous bride Jenna looked like a vision in her La Sposa gown – unsurprising, given that she owns a small clothing boutique and really knows her stuff. We particularly loved her advice on finding the perfect wedding dress.

All of the details and whimsical couple shots were captured by Organictales Photography, and the cool and cinematic trailer below was created by Latsky Multimedia.

Jenna’s wonderful writeup is full of pearls of wisdom, so take a moment out of your day and dig into this stunning South African wedding! 

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How we met

Jenna, the bride: Blake and I met straight out of high school in 2002 while he was visiting from Johannesburg for summer vacation. We started dating the following year, and had a long-distance relationship for nearly nine years until he moved to Cape Town. He proposed in October 2015 and the rest, as they say, is history.

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Real Jewish Brides – Gillian: DIY-ing Our Own Ketubah

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Gillian will be marrying Pete on 8th September 2017 (just 3 days from now!) in a Jew-ish wedding at the Ballroom at Ellis Preserve in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, so today is her final blog before her Big Day! You can click here to read all Gillian’s planning posts to date.

THREE FACTS: (1) Gillian is Jewish and Pete is Catholic (2) A Rabbi and a Priest will officiate at their wedding (3) Gillian is a Health & Wellness Coach and Pete is a Travel Occupational Therapist.

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What’s The Right Ketubah For You?

Anyone who has started planning a Jewish or Interfaith Wedding has thought of what they want their Ketubah to look like. It’s an important part of the Jewish wedding ceremony and it’s something that you will hopefully hang on the walls of your home forever. So where does any modern bride start when planning this element of her wedding? Obviously Smashing The Glass, Pinterest, Etsy, and the World Wide Web. Only to realize that Ketubot (plural form of Ketubah) also come with their own gammat of choices to be made.

What text should you choose, should you have English and Hebrew, who should you ask to sign your Ketubah, what size paper do you want, and how much do you want to spend? The choices are endless, and then you have to pick an aesthetic you like to match – that you and your future spouse both like!

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Gillian’s DIY Ketubah!

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A Jewish-Indian Wedding with an ‘East Meets West’ theme at Sopwell House, St Albans, UK

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What happens when you blend two beautiful, family-oriented cultures? The Jewish-Indian wedding of the year, that’s what! 

Sharon and Simon took their favorite elements from their respective upbringings and brought them together for a gorgeous cultural fusion, celebrating their globetrotting history as a couple, and culminating in an epic party, led by our sensational Recommended Vendor, The Function Band. Check out their incredible dance floor-filling mashup in the video below!

Catering a Jewish-Indian wedding, of course, meant enough food to feed a small army – with a delicious ‘East meets West’ catering theme. We’re getting hungry just thinking about it.

Beautiful bride, Sharon, looked absolutely sublime in her traditional Indian dress, adjusted to incorporated western colors, adorned with antique-inspired accessories, against the picturesque backdrop of her blush pink, navy blue and ivory color scheme. 

The inclusion of family was very important to the happy couple, with thoughtful groom Simon and his family performing a surprise Bollywood dance for his bride.

All of the action was captured by photographer, Ed Godden, and was written up below by Sharon herself. We’ll pass you over to her now for the full story! 

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An ‘East meets West’ theme

Sharon, the bride: We got married at Sopwell House in Hertfordshire. We wanted a venue that could accommodate 200 guests, and Sopwell House was perfect for us, as they are very experienced with dealing with big weddings and have different options of venue rooms, as well as beautiful gardens.

We also had in mind that we wanted the day to bring elements of both of cultures together. We had an idea that we would like to have an ‘east meets west’ theme for the food, and Sopwell House were amazing in creating a bespoke menu that added Indian elements to the dishes.

As we wanted the ceremony and reception to be held in one place, we were conscious that we didn’t want our guests to be confined indoors for the entire day. Sopwell House, as a venue, brings the perfect balance of luxury hotel with a country feel. The gardens were perfect for the drinks reception, and there were lots of great choice for the backdrop of our photos.
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A Jewish Destination Wedding with a Surprise Flashmob at Beit Andromeda, Jaffa, Israel

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There is no better introduction to Israel than a good Israeli wedding – and that’s exactly how Molly and David lured their friends and family out to the Holy Land! 

Their Mediterranean-themed big day combined the laid-back Israeli attitude with some of the more formal elements of an American wedding, and perfectly married the two cultures. So much so, that they managed to source peonies for Molly’s bouquet – in December – in Israel! 

As you all know, at STG, we LOVE a twist on tradition, and we adore gorgeous bride Molly’s choice to have her own Tisch, a great way to get pumped up and energetic before the ceremony. 

And STG Recommended Vendor Caliente rocked the party to perfection with their live music entertainment with everything from Jewish music to Latin Jazz to Israeli pop – we love these guys — they are SO good!

Of course, it wouldn’t be a Jewish wedding without a few surprises, and thoughtful groom, David, surprised his lovely bride with a flashmob, getting friends and family involved to honor her favorite musical! Superb! 

The sensational spread of pictures was taken by none other than our wonderful STG Recommended Vendor and top Israeli photographer, Idan Milman, for whom the couple had nothing but gushing praise. 

Bride Molly loves the lost art of letter writing, and that shines through in every word of her articulate and moving writeup below. We’re you’ll enjoy reading it as much as we did! 

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How we met

Molly, the bride: I had been working as a fundraiser and program planner at Boston’s Jewish Federation for years before David got a job there, also as a fundraiser.

When he came in for an interview, a friend said, “Oh Molly, your type just walked in the door!” We became fast friends especially when the office cubicle rearrangement put our desks right across from one another — our coworkers assumed we were dating long before we were.

In the years since, we’ve taken family to Israel, started new jobs, built a life in Tel Aviv and are now moving back to Boston for the next few years to get second degrees.

A few years ago, before I convinced my then 82-year-old grandfather to come to Israel (getting my cousins on a Birthright trip at the same time was key), he had said to me, “Molly I’ll only come to Israel if you get married there!” A few years later, challenge accepted!

David and I had both spent time living in Israel before we met and when David found a job here that he loved, he convinced me to move here too. We got engaged in Israel and, even though we’re both from the same suburb outside of Boston, we knew we wanted to get married in Tel Aviv.

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