Smashing the Glass | Jewish Wedding Blog

Inspired Jewish Weddings

An industrial-romantic Jewish wedding at London’s last lighthouse, Trinity Buoy Wharf, London, UK

by

industrial-romantic-Jewish-wedding
Nicole and Daniel’s lighthouse / warehouse industrial-meets-romantic wedding is cooler than a polar bear’s toenails. FACT.

From the alternative, urban venue, to the dress designed by gorgeous bride, Nicole, the atmospheric lighting to the floating-effect Chuppah design, the bridesmaids in black to the groomsmens’ bow ties – everything about this big day looked picture perfect.

We love how the pair, who had been together for 15 years before saying ‘I do’, took everything in their stride. When their photographer disappeared on them, they found two more, with just days to go (kudos to James Frost, and a second shooter, Benjamin Wheeler, for stepping in and saving the day). When the lights went out during their meal, they ran with it, calling it atmospheric, and continued by candlelight. If they can cope so calmly with wedding day mishaps, then they’re truly prepared for the rollercoaster ride that is marriage.

This is genuinely a wedding to feast your eyes on, but also read Nicole’s brilliant writeup (and check out her Instagram, @nicolelevypr) and take a few minutes to watch the gorgeously cinematic wedding video below, by Our Further Project. 

Over to beautiful bride, Nicole, for the full report. 

Jewish-BrideJewish-Wedding-Trinity-Buoy-Wharf-London-UK004Jewish-Wedding-Trinity-Buoy-Wharf-London-UK013

Jewish-Wedding-Trinity-Buoy-Wharf-London-UK030Jewish-Wedding-Trinity-Buoy-Wharf-London-UK066
How we met

Nicole, the bride: Daniel and I met at a mutual friend’s engagement party nearly 15 years ago, and we’ve been together ever since. We got engaged in 2014, so I guess you could say we’ve taken our time with the whole marriage thing.

I have my own fashion PR company Nicole Levy PR, which Daniel helps me run, and he is also an IT Director for another company.

Continue ReadingContinue Reading

Nature-themed Jewish wedding at Riverdale Community Hall, Edmonton, Canada

by

Nature-themed-Jewish-Wedding-Canada
It seems strange to talk about a personalized wedding, given that committing the rest of your life to another human being is about as personal as it gets, so, fundamentally, all weddings are personalized. But some couples take it to a whole other level, injecting the essence of who they are as individuals, and a team, into every moment and every detail of their big day.

Leila and James did exactly this. The family-oriented pair celebrated their heritage, personalities and interests in each choice that they made. This strong unit, and the love that would surround them as they journeyed on into married life, was evident in every word and every beautiful image by FO Photography.

There is no better interior (exterior) decorator than Mother Nature, and the nature-themed wedding brought the best of the outside indoors, with forest-inspired centerpieces (created with a little help from a bonafide zoologist friend).

In addition to a personal zoologist, James and Leila’s creative cast of friends helped provide custom cocktails, created by a culinary artist pal, jars of vanilla extract as favours, with the vanilla beans brought back from a trip to Madagascar by a friend, and an international Chuppah, celebrating the couple’s respective heritages, sourced by the bride’s mother.

Added touches included HUE lighting to create an atmosphere (used with enthusiasm by the couple at home) and personalized vows, with the subject matter and key themes in common, but the final content as a surprise for one another.. 

We’ll hand over to beautiful bride, Leila, for her report on the big event. Take it away, Leila! 

Jewish Nature themed wedding Riverdale Community Hall Edmonton Canada_0027Jewish Nature themed wedding Riverdale Community Hall Edmonton Canada_0041Jewish Nature themed wedding Riverdale Community Hall Edmonton Canada_0064Jewish Nature themed wedding Riverdale Community Hall Edmonton Canada_0010
A nature-themed wedding

First and foremost, our wedding decorator was amazing. She is a good friend of ours, and worked with our limited budget to make our wedding incredibly beautiful.

She is the artist behind ID Bohemia and she did an amazing job. She helped us navigate all sorts of unknown channels, and we are so grateful for her friendship and her artistic eye for design. We had a nature theme, and our colours were green, gold and fuscia.

Continue ReadingContinue Reading

8 Ways to Entertain Your Wedding Guests With Personalized Touches

by

Your wedding, on account of being an exciting celebration of love, will definitely be entertaining, no matter what you do. But sometimes, a few little extra touches can really elevate the atmosphere, and help to create unforgettable moments and even take-home treats for you and your guests. 

If you’re stuck for special, above-and-beyond wedding ideas, look no further. Here are some of our favourite ways to absolutely spoil your loved ones. 


Image by Herschel Gutman, from Dorit and Eli’s Israeli wedding

1. Flower station

One trend that seems to be particularly prevalent in Israeli weddings (see Dorit and Eli’s florally fabulous big day) is the somewhat whimsical and magical idea of a flower station. Your florist could set up a stall with buckets of fresh flowers, where your guests can adorn themselves with custom-crafted flower crowns and bracelets. 

Not only is this a great way to keep your guests entertained, but also perfect for photographs, as everyone will be decked out with floral accessories. 


2. Photo booth

Whether you go all out on a professional booth, or decide to DIY it (here is one of our favourite Etsy customizable photo booth backdrops), you can’t go wrong with a photo booth. Guests absolutely love grabbing a silly prop and taking some fun, lighthearted snaps.

The best bit? They’re so beautifully shareable online after the big day – and show a whole other side to the atmosphere to the official pics, as everyone has their guard down.

Oh, and if you have a printable booth, or a polaroid camera, you can create a guest book for your nearest and dearest to stick in their best booth snaps and write you a message underneath. 

Continue ReadingContinue Reading

A black-tie-meets-rustic Masorti Jewish Wedding at Manor by the Lake, Cheltenham, UK

by

Jewish-Wedding-at-Manor-by-the-Lake,-Cheltenham,-UK
Tissues at the ready, folks, because if you don’t well up within the first 30 seconds of Sam and Jonny’s stunning wedding video (just below) then you’re made of stone!

Sam and Jonny met on the job as lawyers, and their meeting of minds blossomed into true love.  Together, they planned every detail of their black-tie-meets-rustic wedding, and ensured every element, from the Masorti ceremony, where the couple circled each other and smashed the glass together, to the bride’s speech, and even this write up, was completely equality driven.

The moving celebration was captured on film by Velvet Wedding Studio, and in beautiful stills by our much-loved STG Recommended Vendor, Blake Ezra – and what a stunning job they both did. 

Sensational bride, Sam, looked every bit the A lister in her show-stopping Louise Marie gown – and she did an astounding job with her own makeup. What a beauty! 

Sam and Jonny did a beautiful job describing their big day in detail, so we’ll pass you over to them now (note how well they talk about each other’s big day experience – a masterclass in marital listening).

Jewish Wedding Manor by the Lake Hatherley Lane Cheltenham UK_02565Jewish Wedding Manor by the Lake Hatherley Lane Cheltenham UK_067943Jewish Wedding Manor by the Lake Hatherley Lane Cheltenham UK_042514
How we met

Sam, the bride, and Jonny, the groom: Jonny and Sam first met briefly at a law firm, on a law summer placement scheme in 2009 (whilst actually competing for a job!). Jonny and Sam then became close friends whilst attending law school in London, but it wasn’t until they worked at the same firm, when they became more than just friends.

Jonny and Sam got engaged in April 2014. Jonny proposed in a photo booth, and the couple plans to return to the same photo booth annually to capture each year of marriage.

Continue ReadingContinue Reading

Real Jewish Brides: Putting the “Jewish” into our Jewish Wedding

by


As I write this, it is the fifth night of my last Passover as a Friedman (which is pretty much how I’ve been thinking of every event this year), so what better topic to write about than intertwining Jewish traditions and symbolism with our more modern, American wedding? (Disclaimer: This blog is more general than usual. Now that we’re less than 3 months away from the wedding, I’ve become more interested in the element of surprise!) 

When it comes to having a meaningfully Jewish wedding, it all starts with the Rabbi! With Harley’s childhood Rabbi living in Canada and my family being a part of multiple synagogues growing up, we really didn’t have a “family Rabbi” we wanted to marry us.

Rabbi Kaplan
Rabbi Kaplan

Luckily, my friend Chelsea’s dad is a fabulous Rabbi who performs the most beautiful wedding ceremonies I’ve ever seen. Admittedly, I’ve only seen Rabbi Kaplan perform Chelsea’s wedding, but I’m sure it will come close! He is such a popular Rabbi in South Florida who is known for beautiful life events, so we were absolutely thrilled when we were about to book him over a year out.

We met in his home office and spent hours talking about our vision for the ceremony, Panthers hockey, and playing with his tallit-adorned puppy. Needless to say, Harley was sold after the hockey conversation!

Continue ReadingContinue Reading