Smashing the Glass | Jewish Wedding Blog

Inspired Jewish Weddings

Our favorite Jewish / Israeli / Yiddishe foods

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Hungry? No? Don’t worry, you will be in just a minute – we certainly are after collating the brilliant answers our STG Recommended Vendors sent in to the question “what’s your favorite Jewish / Israeli / Yiddishe food?”

It’s an impossible question, with far too many answers, and the mouth-watering selection below is certainly food for thought (see what we did there? Sorry!) 

One thing that is absolutely striking is that almost everybody mentioned the heart and significance that goes into Jewish cooking, the echoes of times gone by in each meal, and each family’s very slight variant on that recipe, the food of our culture keeping us together when we are a diaspora, the eclectic melting pot of flavours and backgrounds, of places we’ve visited and called home – and the love passed down in families, l’dor va’dor– from generation to generation. 

Jewish food is more than just food – it’s an expression of the unique, Jewish soul. It’s bickering around the table, it’s breaking wonderful news over a matzo ball soup, it’s second helpings of savta / grandma’s signature dessert, it’s that special flavour that only our family gets just right. Jewish food represents love and home – and this comes through in every word below.

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Lazy Cat Kitchen

Tania from Dany’s Traiteur Kosher Catering:

“As a Kosher caterer in the South of France, I have an incredible amount of contenders of typical Jewish food to be my favorite: falafel, shawarma, fantastic cous cous, amazing tajine or any” Bkaila” for my Tunisian clients.

But what I love more than anything is when we organise catering for weddings and the bride’s grandmother asks me timidly if she could bring a few oriental pastries that she will make by herself because her granddaughter loves them so much, and because over years and years, from generation to generation in Morocco or anywhere else, they always have these pastries for the dessert in weddings.

And despite all the wonderful desserts our chef pastry makes, all the guests are fighting to have one of these cigars filled with almonds made by Aunt Rachel…”

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Get all your burning wedding questions answered in May’s STG Facebook Live Show

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Hands up who’s booked a wedding videographer? And who’s still undecided? Whatever your position you’re going to LOVE tomorrow’s Facebook Live over on the Smashing The Glass Facebook page as I’m going to be joined by my great friend and STG Vendor — Adrian Stone from The Dreamcatchers!

Adrian has shot over 800 weddings (that’s over 10,000 hours of wedding footage) and has graced the pages of STG over and over again with his amazing films (including my EPIC 24 hours at The Savoy earlier this year!). He has literally seen anything and everything so feel free to ask him (or me!) any wedding questions you may have,

The show will air live from my home to the Smashing The Glass Facebook page tomorrow, Wednesday 31st May at 8pm GMT (that’s 3pm EST, 12pm PST, and 9pm in Europe).

Adrian and I want to answer ALL your burning wedding questions, big or small. In relation to videography you may be wondering:

  • Is it worth hiring a professional videographer for your big day and how do you go about finding the best one for you?
  • What’s the difference between a documentary and a cinematic style?
  • Is it important to choose a videographer that has shot a wedding at your chosen venue before?
  • Why do videographers range so much in price? 

Adrian and I are ready to help! Just pop over to the STG Facebook page and submit your question(s) as a comment on this thread and we’ll answer as many of them as we can on the show. If you prefer to submit a question by email in advance you can do that too — just shoot me a message to karen@smashingtheglass.com.

In addition, as I do with all the monthly shows, I’ll be giving you the lowdown on what’s been going on behind the scenes at Smashing The Glass this month and let you in on the latest news and gossip from the world of Jewish weddings!

This is the fifth episode of our exciting monthly Facebook Live show especially for the STG worldwide community. The show airs on the last Wednesday of each month on the Smashing The Glass Facebook page at 8pm GMT to coincide with #WeddingWednesday.

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Real Jewish Brides: Introducing Mel + Mitch… how they met to the present day

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Today on the blog we’re introducing our 3rd gorgeous bride from our crop of 2017 and 2018 Real Jewish Brides! Please give a warm welcome to Mel who will be marrying Mitch on 18th March 2018 at Warren Weir at Luton Hoo, UK.

THREE FACTS: (1) Mel and Mitch met online on JDate (2) Their Jewish wedding will be classy and traditional with plenty of modern touches  (3) Mel is a member of Smashing The Glass’s private Jewish & Jew-ish Brides Facebook Group. Not yet a member? Come join us here!

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How We Met

Mitch and I met on JDate (yes, we are one of those couples!) in 2013. I had not long come out of a long-term relationship so I joined with the main intention of just knowing that there were people out there and that I wouldn’t be single forever! I didn’t for one minute think that I would end meeting the man I was going to marry — funny how things come along when you least expect it. After a month or so I was actually going to delete my account — until I received what can only be described as an essay from ‘mitch2302’. I thought, if this person has taken the time to look through my profile and made the effort to write a long message, the least I could do is respond.

Going on a first date — particularly never having met the person before — is quite unnerving. I suggested a nice gastro pub for a drink near where I lived. I always think that a drink on a first date is the best option as you’re less committed to spending long there if you weren’t feeling it, compared to if you go for dinner (call me crazy!).

Three hours later, we were still talking but it was time to go, with so much still to say. Our second date was four days later. This time we went for lunch. Eight hours later we were still in the same spot, chatting away like we had known each other for years. I left still wanting to know more about him #GoodSign.

People in common…

Being Jewish, it doesn’t take long to come across mutual friends. We did the usual “do you know such-and-such?” Little did we know just how ‘close’ we were — it turned out his parents are best friends with my aunt and uncle and have known each other since they were 16! *Cue MIL-to-be insane excitement*

We chose to keep my last name a secret at first (that would have given the game away) so that Mitch’s mum didn’t get too ahead of herself and call my aunt and cry with excitement that she will be related to her best friend of 40 years — bearing in mind I met his parents after the fourth date so marriage was definitely not on the cards yet. Sadly, my identity was revealed – I was practically quizzed when I first met Mitch’s parents. His mum then decided to have a Facebook stalk (as you do when you meet someone for the first time) and found me. Luckily, she honoured our wishes not to tell my entire family we were dating until we were ready.

After a few more dates, we became ‘official’. And then gave Mitch’s mum ‘permission’ to call my aunt — she was probably more excited about this than knowing Mitch had a girlfriend.

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A glamorous Big Apple Jewish wedding with a chuppah overlooking the NYC skyline at Tribeca Rooftop, New York, USA

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Hold on to your kippot, everybody (and if you’re not wearing a kippah, just brace yourself) because we are telling you now, it does not get much more awesome than a chuppah overlooking the iconic New York skyline! No, seriously, look at it. What would you give to teleport into that sensational and stunning scene at the legendary Tribeca Rooftop? Actually, you almost can, by watching Tweed Video‘s cinematic story of the day below. 

Alyssa and Jesse’s Big Apple big day was the dictionary definition of sophisticated. We can throw so many other adjectives its way: glamorous, contemporary, heartfelt, chic… it was genuinely packed with more good things than the thesaurus can handle.

Alyssa, a management consultant, and Jesse, a lawyer, opted for a black-tie theme, accented with gorgeous metallics (those bridesmaid dresses!!), and leafy, luscious floral arrangements. The theme was brought together with spectacular results by our dear STG Vendor, wedding planner Josà© Rolà³n Events. In a wedding packed with STG Vendors, Paper Source also made a notable appearance.  

Every detail was caught on camera by phenomenal photographer, Christian Gideon Photography.

There are so many amazing ideas packed into this very special wedding, from the heartstring-tugging wording of the gorgeous ketubah (so much inspiration there), designed by our incredible STG Recommended Vendor, Ink with Intent, to the meditation during the ceremony. From Alyssa’s amazing Austin Scarlett dress to doughnuts for favors (yes. please.).

That’s quite enough gushing from us – over to the wonderfully articulate Alyssa for all the big-day gossip!

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Start spreading the news…

Alyssa, the bride: We were married at Tribeca Rooftop in NYC. We choose the venue because it had the capacity for the number of guests we planned to invite, flexibility to accommodate guests on the roof and indoors, capability to provide great food to a large group of people with on-site kitchen and chef, and an amazing view of the NYC skyline from the roof and inside with big windows all around.

The venue also had an amazing experienced staff, in particular Tracey and Ryan, who were always available to answer any questions.

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A magical Israeli-Australian forest Jewish wedding at Tsel Hadumim, Ben Shemen forest, Israel

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People – prepare yourselves: there is an abundance of pretty in this real wedding, and even we’re struggling to handle it – and we do this all the time!

We’re always in awe of Israeli weddings – the natural beauty of the place never fails to make for a stunning backdrop, and Israeli venues just know how to do magic like nobody else. Abigail and Roei’s last-minute celebration looked anything but hasty, in fact, it was absolutely packed with Israeli charm.

The day was captured by our oft-featured and much-loved STG Recommended Vendor, Herschel Gutman, who did an incredible job of translating the heart and thought that went into each choice into stunning, timeless images.

Gorgeous Abigail’s Australian-cool vibe brought an added factor of effortless chic, and her choice of dress, a unique, lacy number by Israeli designer, Adi Groman, was just perfect – a bohemian fairytale. 

We adore the significance of the path to the chuppah, which was lined with the Shiv’at HaMinim (the Seven Species from the Bible), making the journey to the ceremony even more poignant. 

On the wedding morning, Roei had a minor medical emergency – and not everything ran smoothly. But, once these two lovebirds locked eyes at the chuppah, none of that mattered. We can all learn from that. 

Over to Abigail for the full story on her and Roei’s stunning wedding day:

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How we met

Abigail, the bride: in March 2014 I arrived in Santa Teresa, Costa Rica – my last stop after a year of travelling, which included four months in Israel. Roei, who’s Israeli, was there on a surfing trip. We met on the beach and spent a week travelling together (I now know that he had already decided I’d one day be his wife!). I then returned to Australia with the intention of moving to Tel Aviv later in the year to study.

We messaged each other sporadically for six weeks, until Roei finally asked if he could Skype me. From that first conversation, we both pretty much knew. We spent four months Skyping every single day, often for five to six hours at a time (yes, we were both extremely sleep deprived, but we didn’t care!).

At the two-month mark, we decided to meet halfway in Thailand to make sure that we weren’t completely crazy prior to my arrival in Israel. The meeting at the airport was one of the best moments of my life, which I think is now only on par with Roei’s proposal on ‘Roy’s Peak’ in New Zealand and our wedding day.

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