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Facebook Live Catch Up: Jewish Wedding Ceremony Q&A – with Rabbi Paul Glantz

16/11/2017 by Karen


On Monday evening I went live on our Facebook page with the legend that is Rabbi Paul Glantz – a truly modern inclusive Rabbi, and much-loved STG Vendor who has graced the real Jewish wedding pages of Smashing The Glass many times.

It featured possibly my favorite Facebook Live moment ever (at 4 mins 25 secs) with Rabbi Paul on the phone to his brother on the Live  – go check it out!

We covered so much during the 4o minutes from ways to personalize your ketubah, badeken, chuppah, and sheva brachot, to the best kind of glass to smash to Jewish wedding dress codes – full breakdown below!  If you missed it, you can still catch up by watching the replay above.

4:25 – Rabbi Paul Glantz on the phone to his mother asking her to tune in (classic Live moment!)
8:10 – Do you need to have a registry office wedding as well as a Jewish wedding?
10:06 – Breakdown of the Jewish wedding ceremony
11:20 – How to personalize your ketubah
13:45 – Ways of personalising the Badeken
16:55 – Ways of personalising the Sheva Brachot (Seven Blessings)
18:00 – Egalitarian Jewish wedding ceremony ideas
19:53 – What is the meaning of the circling in the Jewish wedding ceremony
21:25 – Can anyone get married under a chuppah? 
23:20 – What’s the wedding dress code for a Masorti wedding?
24:41 – Music for the Jewish wedding ceremony
28:07 – Are there any parts of an Orthodox Jewish wedding ceremony that cannot be photographed?
28:44 – How many, and what kind of, people can sign the ketubah?
29:58 – As an interfaith Jewish couple can we get married under a chuppah?
32:21 – Can you get married on a Friday?
33:47 – Can you have engraving on your wedding ring?
29:43 – What is the best kind of glass for smashing the glass?
35:10 – Does the wedding band need to be made of silver?
36:08 – How do you know what time to start a Saturday night wedding?
36:59 – How can you make a wedding in a venue with non-kosher catering, with a United Rabbi 

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Image: Rabbi Paul Glantz officiating Laura & Gio’s wedding – coming to STG very soon
photographed by much-loved STG Vendor Paul Rogers Photography

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Destination Jewish Wedding with an Italian Feast at Grand Hotel Royal, Sorrento, Italy

15/11/2017 by Karen

Destination Jewish wedding Grand Hotel Royal, Sorrento, Italy_0039
Picture the scene: it’s Italy’s breathtaking Amalfi coast. The sun is beaming down over a stunning, long aisle towards a beautifully decorated chuppah, with a sea view, no less. Sounds like a dream, right? Well it was Aimee and Richard’s reality! Their Jewish destination wedding was truly a sight to behold. 

Complete with a vegetarian Italian feast and Limoncello favors (as well as kippot, provided by one of our amazing Recommended Vendors – Hebrewear), the wedding paid constant homage to the location, and brought some of the sea into the color scheme, with its baby blue and sparkling hues. 

The wedding was ALL about family, with family forming the main wedding party (and two ADORABLE flower girls stealing the show), as well as the couple honoring lost loved ones, with special memorial candles by the chuppah. 

It’s not easy to plan a wedding from overseas, but the happy couple pulled it off with aplomb, with the help of wedding planners, Sorrento Sunland. 

Aimee looked gorgeous in her Morilee dress, which was totally meant to be! We won’t ruin the story for you, but do read on. We’ll pass you over to Aimee for that, and other wonderful wedding anecdotes now, accompanied by perfect pictures by photographers The Bros Photography.

Put on the kettle, or pour yourself a glass of wine, sit back and let us transport you to sun-soaked Italy… ahhh… 

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How we met

Aimee, the bride: Rich and I went to the same Jewish primary and secondary schools in Barkingside. We actually properly met for the first time at Rich’s house, around 10 years ago. My best friend was going round to sing for him and she insisted I come with. We did date a little, but remained good friends. We officially got together seven and a half years ago, when I got back from travelling for a year.

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Real Jewish Brides – Charlotte: Saying Yes To The Dress

14/11/2017 by Smashing The Glass

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 !


We are so inundated with programmes about brides saying yes to the dress nowadays. Admittedly you can find myself, my mum and grandma watching this together. Since both my sister and I became engaged my grandma, who is 93, is totally and completely hooked on watching these programmes. With a huge health scare this year we could not be more fortunate that she is still here and was able to see my sister walk down the aisle. She is completely defying all doctors, and we are all hoping that she is still here to me and James get married next year.

As someone who is hugely decisive about clothes in general, I live and breathe for fashion. I know what will suit me, and really I have been looking at my wedding dress for about six months or more before I actually tried it on. I am not sure I am the most typical bride when I say that I only tried on four dresses.

I had left the one I had been staring and dreaming about until last, and I knew instantly it was the one.


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A Chinese / Jewish “Chewie” Star Wars-Inspired Wedding With a ‘Shabbatical’ at Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Colorado, USA

10/11/2017 by Karen

Jewish-Chewish-Wedding-Red-Rocks-Amphitheatre-Colorado-USA
Ever wondered what we mean when we say “your Jewish wedding your way?” Well, luckily, Quan and Jesse have created the perfect example of what that looks like – a totally unique celebration that perfectly represents them as a couple (and Star Wars!!).

To celebrate bride Quan’s Chinese heritage, and groom Jesse’s Jewish background (and, of course, love of Star Wars), the couple affectionately dubbed their big day their “Chewie wedding”. How cute is that?? 

Splashed with bright color, just how Quan likes it, the Jew-ish wedding was held at a total dream location, Red Rocks Amphitheatre. Not only did that mean a backdrop of a breathtaking Colorado landscape, but it was also full of personal meaning to the couple, who spent much of their early relationship there. 

In fact, every choice the pair made, and every last detail, had sentimental value and personal significance, creating a wedding that was just for them and their loved ones. We’re not crying, we just have something in our eye!!

Oh, and if they weren’t already inspirational enough, both Quan and Jesse have taken a break from their respective high-flying jobs to, in the spirit of their seven blessings, travel the world, in what they have creatively, and brilliantly, named their “shabbatical“.

We all make commitments that we wholly intend to keep, but then find life gets in the way. Jesse and Quan have proved that nothing can keep you from your dreams, and they have absolutely taken their commitment to treating each day like shabbat for a year seriously. In fact, you can even follow their adventures on Instagram! 

There’s so much to gush over, but it’s already time to hand over to proud groom, Jesse, for the full account of the day, illustrated with a sensational spread of images by Once Like a Spark.

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A venue with personal history

Jesse, the groom: We were married at Red Rocks Amphitheatre. We actually had the venue booked before we were engaged. Jesse was working with a jeweler to design the engagement ring and we both knew we wanted a short engagement and a wedding before the Colorado winter.

We started looking for venues and made a call to Red Rocks. The venue usually books more than a year in advance, so we were really surprised and lucky to find out that someone was late turning in their deposit and a September date was potentially available. Fortune was in our favor and the events manager called us two weeks later to give us the date: Sept 10th.

Red Rocks has a lot of significance for our relationship. Immediately after our first date in February, I went home and bought tickets to summer concerts at Red Rocks. I knew that I would be taking Quan to those concerts. Some of our favorite dates were during the summer concerts we attended at Red Rocks.

We fell in love in the Colorado outdoors – not only at Red Rocks, but also hiking and ski trips in the Rocky Mountains. For us, Red Rocks was the iconic Colorado venue where we wanted to host our family and friends so that they could also take in the beauty of the great outdoors of Colorado. Continue ReadingContinue Reading

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Facebook Live Catch Up: How To Plan Your Wedding on Instagram – live from Claridge’s, with Jemma-Jade Events

09/11/2017 by Karen

Last night I was one VERY happy blogger – champagne cocktail in hand, and live-streaming from London’s legendary Claridge’s, alongside a superstar guest, talking about one of the HOTTEST topics around — it really doesn’t get any better!

Coming to you live from the brand new Mezzanine events space on the first floor of the iconic Mayfair hotel where anyone who’s anyone stays (I’m talking Royals to Hollywood stars to A-list bloggers!!) ) was an absolute thrill and I was unashamedly excited to be live streaming from such an incredibly designed space.

The topic was something I am so passionate about – and something that has never really been fully dissected before — how to best plan your wedding using Instagram.

Jemma-Jade-William

My guest for the evening was the international luxury wedding planner for the millenials (and she’s a bride-to-be too – Mazal Tov!) the effervescent Jemma-Jade William, founder of Jemma-Jade Events.Continue ReadingContinue Reading

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