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Inspired Jewish Weddings

Real Jewish Brides – Hayley: Finally Jewish… and the Final Countdown!

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Hayley will be marrying Ashley on 17th September 2017 at El Cortijo De Los Caballos in Spain.

THREE FACTS: (1) Hayley & Ashley met on Tinder (2) Ashley proposed with a Haribo ring (after which he pulled out the actual engagement gem!) (3) Hayley is converting to Judaism to marry Ashley.

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Officially Jewish!

Yay! I’m officially Jewish!!  I had my Mikveh on the Monday which I can honestly say I left feeling refreshed and just different, I can’t explain but a good feeling of different! 
 
The Thursday came around very quickly and off I went to the Liberal Beit Din. I loved everything about it! I felt Ashley was more nervous then I was but  I had three fantastic Rabbi’s talk to me and ask me all different questions about Judaism and my essays. What was meant to be fifteen minutes long, ran fifteen minutes late! I literally did not stop talking!
 
I then left the room for the rabbis to make a decision, I came back into the room with Ashley. I was then explained that I was officially accepted into Judaism. Happy was an understatement! I have worked so hard to become Jewish and I can say that I genuinely feel Jewish. I have a lot of Ashley’s (now mine) friends to thank for my constant texting and having to answer all my Jewish questions especially Amy!
 
Rustic chuppah
Chuppah from Jade & Adam’s Jewish Wedding on Smashing The Glass

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A Vera Wang Bride for a Super Luxe Floral Jewish Wedding at New York Botanical Garden, The Bronx, New York, USA

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Jewish-Wedding-Botanical-Garden-The-Bronx-New-York-USA
Hands up who loves flowers! For the record, we had both our hands in the air, but we had to put them down to type. The sentiment, however, remains. Danielle and Joshua’s gorgeous Jewish wedding was packed full of fabulous florals, and was submitted by genius florist, Fleurs NYC. Appropriate, given that it took place at The New York Botanical Gardens.

From the table arrangements (gasp) to the chuppah, which looked like something out of an enchanted woodland, flowers played an integral role in the day. In fact, the considerate couple took care to provide a flower-wrapping station for their guests, so none of the beautiful blooms went to waste. 

Gorgeous bride, Danielle, wore a stunning Vera Wang gown and embellished veil, and, as she is Director of Public Relations for the Kenneth Cole, she was lucky enough to work directly with the designer to create a bespoke pair of luxurious heels. We’re not jealous, you’re jealous! 

Of course a wedding this luxe and gorgeous could only be photographed by the best of the best. Andrew Kelly of the world-renowned Christian Oth Photography, provided the divine spread of images below. 

The stunning wedding film by Hart Pictures is also a must-view – click below to take it all in! We’ll now hand you over to bride, Danielle, for even more details – take it away, Danielle!

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Jewish-Wedding-Botanical-Garden-The-Bronx-New-York-USA

Jewish-Wedding-Botanical-Garden-The-Bronx-New-York-USA

Jewish-Wedding-Botanical-Garden-The-Bronx-New-York-USA
How we met

Danielle, the bride: It all began one night out in NYC in March, 2011. There was lots of dancing and some face paint involved, the rest was history. We share a mutual friend – my friend since kindergarten, and Josh’s friend from the University of Wisconsin – which made it easy for Josh to get my number. We began talking, became good friends, and fell in love.

We got engaged on November 20, 2015. I thought that I was going to a Soulcycle class at the TriBeCa studio. I was invited by the PR agency that I work with, and thought that it was a work-related event.

There were industry names on the sign-in sheet and all. I walked into Studio B for class, and Josh was there surrounded by lots of candles and playing My Girl through the sound system. He danced around and unzipped his sweatshirt to reveal a t-shirt that said “Will you be my soulmate?” Then, he got down on one knee and popped the question!

Our families were waiting for us down the street at our favorite restaurant, Tutto il Giorno. The celebrations continued with friends at their neighborhood spot, Casa Nonna.
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An Elegant Jew-ish Winter Wedding at Bendooley Estate, New South Wales, Australia

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At Smashing The Glass, we love nothing more than taking you around the world, to celebrate the very best of Jewish and Jew-ish weddings, and today’s winter-elegance-themed beauty comes to you all the way from apparently not-so-sunny Australia.

Stacey and Michael met at another wedding, and the rest is history – the power of love, guys! They planned their entire Jew-ish winter wedding themselves, with countless DIY projects, and the constant involvement and presence of friends and family. 

As a result, everything about the day perfectly represented the couple, from the eclectic bottles they had collected, to their personalized origami fortune tellers; from bridesmaids in Stacey’s favorite shade of blue to the couple running through an AFL banner to start the hora.

If it looks like beautiful bride Stacey’s dress was made just for her, it’s because it was. Her glamorous Erin Clare gown came with personal attention from the designer herself, and a bespoke matching veil – and I think we can all agree that Stacey looked an absolute vision in both. 

All of the heartfelt moments and details were captured by photographer, Milton Gan, and Stacey’s writeup below gives a fabulous insight into the divine day in all its glory. Over to Stacey!

Jewish Wedding Bendooley Estate New South Wales Australia Jewish Wedding Bendooley Estate New South Wales Australia 

Jewish Wedding Bendooley Estate New South Wales Australia

Jewish Wedding Bendooley Estate New South Wales Australia

How we met

Stacey, the bride: We met at a wedding in Melbourne. An old school friend of mine was marrying Michael’s cousin. Michael’s sister had planned to set him up with another old school friend at the wedding, but when she introduced them the match was not meant to be, and Michael and I ended up chatting for the most of the night.

At the very end of the wedding, I saw Michael striding over to me out of the corner of my eye, and I was overcome with butterflies. He asked for my number and a date once we were both back in Sydney and the rest, as they say, is history.

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What To Ask Your Officiant and Wedding Planner to Ensure They Facilitate the Jewish (or Jew-ish) Wedding You Want

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This is a guest post by Danya Shults whose wedding we featured on Smashing The Glass last year

When to say ‘I Do’ to your wedding team

Your partnerships with your wedding officiant and planner aren’t as serious as the one you’ve got with your husband or wife, but they are facilitating one of the most significant days of your life!

Your wedding team’s job is to bring your dreamy vision of a meaningful, personal wedding to life. That’s why it’s so important that you’re all on the same page as you plan your big day together.

If you want kosher wine under the chuppah and shrimp hors d’oeuvres at the reception, they should respect that. If you want to include a Yoruba poem in your ceremony to complement the traditional seven Jewish wedding blessings, they should be able to make that work.


Picking the perfect wedding providers

What you really want to know is that your officiant and planner share your values and that you feel heard and understood by them, especially when it comes to incorporating religious and cultural traditions into your wedding in a way that feels authentic to you.

First things first – before you begin the search for your wedding pros, you and your partner should have your own chat about what you do and don’t want for your Jewish (or Jew-ish) wedding. Otherwise, it’ll be tricky to figure out whether or not any particular wedding service provider is right for you.

Once you’re clear on your own expectations and preferences, you can start interviewing wedding officiants and planners. Remember: the key is to pick providers who really get you, whom you love working with, and who will bring your wedding vision to life.

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An Afternoon Tea Jewish Wedding With a Bespoke Beaded Gown at The Pillar, London, UK

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It’s always very plain to see when a couple is creative by nature, and never fails to make for an aesthetically gorgeous wedding. 

Makeup artist, Amy, and presenter, Adam’s wedding was, in addition to making a lifelong commitment to one another, about two things: making friends and family feel loved and looked after, and making everything around them beautiful.

Both objectives were achieved and then some! This was particularly evident in the advice to couples at the end of this post – words of wisdom that showed a deep consideration for others.

The ceremony was totally tailored to Adam and Amy, with music being the most important and prominent element – we got the chills reading about it!

Armed with the perfect color palette of pastel-pretty flowers, two-tone fabrics and metallic gold accents, the couple created a clean, chic wedding wonderland, complete with an absolute stunner of a five-tier cake.

Beautiful bride Amy went bespoke with her beaded, two-tone gown, and played an instrumental role in the design, along with Elizabeth Todd, literally bringing her dream dress to life. 

Photographer, Paul Toeman, captured the details and emotion of the day with the glorious spread of pictures below, and Amy wrote the incredibly eloquent account of all the action. Take it away, Amy!

 

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Jewish Wedding Pillar Hotel London UK_0016

A venue with history

Amy, the bride: We booked The Pillar Hotel, a kosher venue in Hendon, north-west London for 30th June 2016. We needed a venue that was close to my parents’ home in North London, as my father has final stages Parkinson’s disease.

We could have booked any top London hotel, but we couldn’t see the point in making an experience about love without the people we love being there, so a small hotel in Hendon it was!

Ironically, this particular venue used to be a convent, and so it was no ordinary hotel. The room we chose to have our ceremony in, was in fact the room where the nuns used to pray, and so the walls of exposed brickwork, arches and ornate windows were all steeped in history, spirituality, prayer and love.
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