Smashing the Glass | Jewish Wedding Blog

Inspired Jewish Weddings

A Golden City-Themed Jewish Wedding at The Julia Morgan Ballroom at the Merchants Exchange Building, San Francisco, USA

by

Jewish-Wedding-The-Julia-Morgan-Ballroom-at-the-Merchants-Exchange-Building-San-Francisco-USA
Anyone who’s had the good fortune to have visited San Francisco will know that it’s one mighty city, and certainly worthy of having a whole wedding theme dedicated to it. 

That’s exactly what brilliant couple Rachael, a pediatrician, and David, a scientist, did – their beautiful Jewish wedding was a total love letter to the Golden City, which is their hometown, and the beautiful backdrop to their romance.

We are all hearts for eyes over the amazing floristry, particularly the gorgeous and colorful bridal bouquet, and matching centerpieces and chuppah arrangements – simply stunning. 

Family participation was integral to the celebration, with the wedding party comprised of family members, and special family heirloom jewelry worn by the bride. In fact, family played such a crucial role that all the guests were gifted one of the bride’s mom’s famous cookies, which sound absolutely delicious. We’ll wait for ours in the post! 

We hope you’re as head over heels for the beautiful images by Nightingale Photography as we are, and that you enjoy Rachael’s wonderful, sparkling write up of her and David’s wedding day, particularly her anecdote about kiddush wine, which had us chuckling at our keyboards. 

Take it away, Rachael!

Jewish-Wedding-The-Julia-Morgan-Ballroom-at-the-Merchants-Exchange-Building-San-Francisco-USA_0085

Jewish-Wedding-The-Julia-Morgan-Ballroom-at-the-Merchants-Exchange-Building-San-Francisco-USA
A venue with character

Rachael, the bride: We chose to get married at the Julia Morgan Ballroom because we wanted to get married in downtown San Francisco, but we were looking for something with more character than a basic hotel ballroom.

We quickly fell in love with the beautiful design and architecture of the Julia Morgan Ballroom, and they had the date we wanted to get married available, so we snatched it up. It also didn’t hurt that the entire ceremony and reception was inside, so we didn’t have to worry about rain ruining the big day.

Continue ReadingContinue Reading

Real Jewish Brides – Gillian: My Wedding Registry Experience

by

Gillian will be marrying Pete on 8th September 2017 in a Jew-ish wedding at the Ballroom at Ellis Preserve in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania.

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.

REAL-JEWISH-BRIDES_Gillian_new
To Do List: Wedding Registry

During the wedding planning process there are one million things on your to-do list (literally). This is especially true if you are a DIY bride or someone who wants to throw a big party. One item on the list I thought would be so much fun to tackle was registering for our wedding. How fun would it be to pick out items that we would have, hopefully for a long time and possibly even the rest of our lives?

Well, I was mistaken. Somehow something that I love so much (SHOPPING!) became stressful and something of a chore. I couldn’t figure it out, and it threw Pete for a loop when we went into Crate and Barrel and I pretty much had a mini meltdown. Picture brisk walking through the store, minimal eye contact, saying “I don’t care, you pick something you like, I don’t care about any of this, let’s leave.” Like woah, I was becoming a weird version of Bridezilla right before his eyes.

Luckily Pete handled it calmly, but it wasn’t the experience I had heard all about. I always pictured using the cool scanner gun and picking out items that we both loved. And, honestly, I thought it was going to be super easy.

Prezola
Image from Prezola (a gift list registry that we absolutely ADORE here at Smashing The Glass!)

Reflecting on it all, it seems so silly that anyone would get overwhelmed by picking out gifts for other people to buy them (seriously??) But that was a huge part of it. I didn’t mind that people were buying me presents, but I wanted them to get the best deal. I didn’t want them to buy overpriced items I knew I could find cheaper or on sale at our favorite stores like Marshalls and HomeGoods (I checked, you can’t register there.)

The other part I struggled with was “picking the right items” with endless options. So we needed cookware, but what set was best? Silverware; which ones will we actually like eating with? What dishes will go with a kitchen we don’t even have yet for years to come? It all seemed like so much to think about and so many opportunities to make the wrong decision. (Crazy talk I know, but this is what was going through my head, and I’m sure I’m not the only one to think about these things.)

Continue ReadingContinue Reading

A Rustic-Chic Jewish Wedding at Soho Farmhouse with an Elizabeth Fillmore Bride

by

Jewish Wedding Soho Farmhouse UK_0027
A rustic chic aesthetic, live music aplenty, adorable extras and an incredible amount of family involvement defined Charlotte and David’s divine Soho Farmhouse wedding day. 

When we say family involvement, we mean that the happy couple had an entire team of amazing helpers. The wedding was planned by the bride’s mum, the invitations designed by the groom’s sister, the jewellery provided by the groom’s mum, a dear friend of the bride sang the couple through their first dance – a perfect example of how the Jewish community comes together in times of celebration.

As Charlotte is a music manager, it went without saying that the wedding was packed with live music, including a gospel choir for the ceremony – now that’s something you don’t see at every Jewish wedding! The wedding featured two of our wonderful musical Recommended Vendors: Boutique Chupah Music (hear their amazing rendition of ‘Boi Kallah’ to the tune of ‘Hallelujah’ in the Insta-clip below), and the amazing  Wedding Smashers, who were on hand to kick the party up a notch and truly honor the venue’s ‘last man standing’ curfew policy. 

Adorable extras included a midnight munchies van outside (heaven), and the guests arriving by milk float, which the STG team has now decided to use as its exclusive mode of transport from now on. 

We’re also LIVING for Charlotte’s incredible, full-skirt Elizabeth Fillmore dress. What an absolute vision of bridal beauty! 

Right, it’s now Charlotte’s turn to take over the STG pages with her fabulous write up – enjoy! 

 

Jewish Wedding Soho Farmhouse UK Jewish Wedding Soho Farmhouse UK

Jewish Wedding Soho Farmhouse UKFood Story Catering London

Jewish Wedding Soho Farmhouse UK_0027 Jewish Wedding Soho Farmhouse UK_0027

A venue with a last-man-standing curfew

Charlotte, the bride: We got married at Soho Farmhouse. We loved going to friends’ weddings abroad. You can’t beat the laidback atmosphere of an abroad wedding. We wanted to create that in the UK without any hassle of organising a function abroad, and Farmhouse allowed us to do just that. 

We loved Soho Farmhouse from the moment we stepped foot onto the grounds, which was when it first opened, perhaps a year or so before we got married. Plus, their curfew rule is ‘last man standing’.

Continue ReadingContinue Reading

80% off Wedding Dresses by Berta, Zuhair Murad, Naeem Khan, Carolina Herrera, plus many more in the Sample Sale from The Wedding Club

by

The-Wedding-Club
One of my very favourite bridal stores, London’s à¼ber glamorous The Wedding Club is holding a very rare sample sale at their South Kensington Store on Thursday 20 July, Friday 21st July and Saturday 22 July 2017.

We adore The Wedding Club for both their incredible designs and outstanding service, and you all went crazy for the Facebook Live show we did together with them in April. It was soooo good – watch the replay below if you haven’t seen it before – it features gowns from many of the designers in the sale.

This really is an event not to be missed with dresses by designers including STG faves Berta, Zuhair Murad, Naeem Khan, Carolina Herrera, plus many, many more.  

CLICK HERE FOR MORE DETAILS AND TO RESERVE A TICKET

Sample Sale Details

Dates: Thursday 20 July, Friday 21st July and Saturday 22 July 2017

Address: The Wedding Club South Kensington, 37 Thurloe Street, London SW7 2LQ

First appointment: 10:00am

First appointment: 5:00pm

Four brides per hour will be admitted and each ticket purchaser will be permitted to bring along one guest (free of charge). 

Ticket Prices on each day:

Premium tickets: £50 (10am-12pm: 1hour time slots – first look at dresses)

Standard Tickets: £30 (12pm-5pm: 1hour time slots available)Continue ReadingContinue Reading

A Colorful Jewish Destination Wedding with an Ellis Bridal Gown at ‘the Q’, Kibbutz Galil Yam, Herzliya, Israel

by

067-Destination Jewish Wedding The Q Kibbutz Galil Yam Herzliya Israel

Roxy and Adam faced a wonderful dilemma about where to tie the knot. Both with such international backgrounds, they ultimately decided it made sense to bring their loved ones to beautiful Israel for a divine destination wedding, filled with color, love and happiness.

First of all, before we get to anything else, we have to stop and take in that magnificent creation of a chuppah – what an abundantly floral beauty it was! WOW! 

We were also blown away by the sheer amount of heart – how well Roxy and Adam got to know their Rabbi before the big day, and Roxy’s beautiful way of remembering her father, who had sadly passed away.

The wedding was shot by internationally renowned photographer, and one of our beloved STG Recommended Vendors, Herschel Gutman, who did a sublime job of bringing the wedding to life. Roxy and Adam also took some time with him the following day to fit in an additional couples’ shoot.

We’ll hand you over to Roxy now for her wonderful write up – we hope you love her and Adam’s gorgeous wedding as much as we do! 

049-Destination Jewish Wedding The Q Kibbutz Galil Yam Herzliya Israel041-Destination Jewish Wedding The Q Kibbutz Galil Yam Herzliya Israel 057-Destination Jewish Wedding The Q Kibbutz Galil Yam Herzliya Israel042-Destination Jewish Wedding The Q Kibbutz Galil Yam Herzliya Israel
A magical outdoor venue

Roxy, the bride: We got married at The Q, Kibbutz Glil Yam in Herzliya Israel. We knew we wanted to have a destination wedding, with both families coming from different places (mine originally South African and then Australia and my husband’s mostly from England and many overseas guests). Israel was the most logical choice for us.

Being originally from South Africa, I really wanted to get married in a natural setting rather than in a hotel or indoor space. When we saw the Q, we just loved the look and feel of it. Particularly being outside and in the open air, it just ticked all the boxes. It was truly a magical venue.

Continue ReadingContinue Reading