Smashing the Glass | Jewish Wedding Blog - Page 3 of 278

An Ida Torez Bride for a Rustic Countryside Jewish Wedding at Quendon Hall, Essex, UK

13/05/2020 by Karen Cinnamon 1 Comment

How excited are we to be featuring the beautiful Jewish wedding of Smashing The Glass Brides Club member Yasmin, a nutritional therapist, and Andy, a tradesman?! These two had the quintessential English countryside wedding, with all the rustic touches you could hope for, and we are here for it.

The couple’s idyllic venue, Quendon Hall, is located in an actual deer park – doesn’t get much more perfect than that! We’re in love with all the glorious green space, and how perfect is that effortlessly rustic floral ketubah?

We’re also super touched to hear Yasmin’s kind words about her experience as a member of our Smashing The Glass Brides Club. In her own words:

Whenever I posted a question, Karen would reply promptly and always supply lots of options and ideas for me. I found our videographer, Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Denee Motion through Brides Club, and also ordered our kippot from Hebrewear – using our Brides Club 10% discount ”

And speaking of Denee Motion – don’t miss their exquisite wedding trailer. It’s truly swoonoworthy! We’re also loving the photos from Picture Your Wedding.

Now over to Yasmin, who looked positively dreamy in her floral Ida Torez gown…

How we Met

Yasmin, the bride: We met through my brother, who was friends with Andy and we have been together for about 8 years.

Real Jewish Brides: Introducing Jenna + Mat: How They Met To The Present Day…

12/05/2020 by Smashing The Glass 1 Comment

Today on the blog we’re introducing our latest gorgeous crop of 2020 / 2021 Real Jewish Brides! Please give a warm welcome to Jenna, who will be marrying Mat on 6th September 2020 at The Lodge at Ventana Canyon in Tucson, Arizona.

THREE FACTS: (1) Jenna + Mat have known each other all their lives (2) Their relationship began at the University of Arizona in March 2012 (3) Mat proposed at Jenna’s parents house in December 2018

How We Met

When people ask me what my first impression of my fiancé was, I like to say, “I think he needs a diaper change.” You see, we have a love story you don’t hear every day. The year was 1994, we were both one-year-olds, and we were at a local park in Tucson, Arizona at a baby tumbling class. Our moms connected, and they brought us to the same playgroup until we started school. While we never went to the same school growing up, we both belonged to the same synagogue, and we were even in the same B’nai Mitzvah class together – my Bat Mitzvah was on Mat’s 13th birthday!

We lost touch for the next few years until we both happened to be at a mutual friend’s high school graduation party. Mat was about to start his freshman year at the University of Arizona and I was about to start my sophomore year. They got to talking, and it turned out that Mat was joining the same business mentorship program Jenna had done her freshman year. Mat and his best friend happened to attend the orientation session that following week, and he serendipitously received a book for the business mentorship program that I had read and signed! I was one of 60 students in the program the year before, and of all the incoming freshmen that could have received my book…Mat was the lucky recipient.

Come the beginning of the school year, I was helping our Chabad at the U of A table on the mall (center grass strip of campus), and I may have enticed Mat to come for free food…and my company (which Mat couldn’t turn down). Over the course of the next few months, our friendship began to blossom. FINALLY, Mat asked me to be his girlfriend in March of 2012, and we have been dating ever since. Our relationship has withstood two and a half years of long distance while I attended graduate school at Brandeis and my subsequent move to New York City. Six months after I moved to NYC, Mat followed.Continue Reading

A Chanukah Jewish Wedding at Hackney Town Hall, London, UK

11/05/2020 by Karen Cinnamon Leave a Comment

There’s nothing like a Chanukah Jewish wedding. The Festival of Lights is such a magical time to get married – which makes it a no brainer that Dvorit, who recently completed a master’s in genetics and now works in the charity sector, and Ollie, an urban planner, chose to wed on the holiday’s last night.

In honor of the holiday, Dvorit and Ollie lit candles, sang Chanukah songs, and even had a donut wall instead of a cake! We’re in love with the way Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Claudine Hartzel captured this joyous celebration in her luminous, natural photos – and videographer CCS Video brings the fab energy of the day to life!

And HOW stunning is the couple’s incredible London venue, Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Hackney Town Hall? These two wanted an ultra-memorable spot to tie the knot, and did they ever find one – the breathtaking atrium, where the chuppah took place, is nothing short of majestic, and Dvorit and Ollie took full advantage of the lift handily located in the atrium to make a dramatic entrance. The bride and her parents entered the chuppah space via the lift before disembarking and walking down the aisle, and at the end of the ceremony the couple exited via the lift as well – talk about a memorable exit!

We’ll let Dvorit fill you in on the rest…

HOW WE MET

Dvorit, the bride: Ollie and I met over 3 years ago when I was visiting my brother and his family here in London (I am from Montreal, Canada, and was studying in New York at the time). Ollie worked with my brother in Bnei Akiva and my sister-in- law suggested Ollie as a potential love interest. We started talking (with Ollie none the wiser what was going on), and started dating 3 months later.

We then did long distance for 2 years (thank god for Facetime!) until I moved to London in September 2018 to do my Masters at UCL. We got engaged in the summer of 2019 when my family was all together in Montreal for my grandfather’s 100^th birthday. We then got married on December 29^th 2019, on the last night of Chanukah.

A Tony Ward Bride for a Desert Glam Jewish Wedding at the Westin La Paloma, Tucson, Arizona, USA

08/05/2020 by Karen Cinnamon 1 Comment

Today’s gorgeous Jewish wedding has made us realize we don’t see nearly enough desert celebrations. But we’re hoping to see a lot more after today, because who could see the stunning nuptials of Simone, the co-founder of an educational services company that brings wellbeing programs to college students, and Isaac, who works in real estate development, and not want to get married amidst the mountains and saguaros?!

Although mountain lovers Simone and Isaac live in Tucson, home to plentiful dramatic scenery, it wasn’t so easy for them to find a chuppah spot that met their specs: it needed breathtaking mountain views that could be enjoyed by both guests AND the couple themselves while standing under the chuppah. We’re glad they didn’t give up, though, because they totally hit the jackpot when they found The Westin La Paloma.

And how amazing is their chuppah, which, in keeping with the theme of celebrating Tucson’s natural beauty, incorporates not only flowers but also cactus pads?!

We’re obsessed with their gorgeous artistic ketubah from STG Recommended Vendor ketubah.com too. Truly a work of art!

OK – time to ogle over the stunning pics from Ben & Kelly Photography and video by Black Sheep Filmworks. And let’s hand over to the bride, who looked radiant in Tony Ward…

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Mountain Views

Simone, the bride: We got married at The Westin La Paloma in Tucson, Arizona. I had two main criteria when it came to selecting a venue. The first, and most important, was to have mountain views from the ceremony site and the second was to select a hotel venue since a lot of our guests would be coming from out of town.

I visited every hotel venue in Tucson and while all were beautiful, none had the dramatic mountain views that I had wanted from the ceremony site and if they did, only the guests would be able to see them, not me or my husband from under the chuppah. I actually started to scope out venues in Scottsdale because this was one area I was not willing to compromise.

As a Jersey girl, my favorite thing about living in Tucson are the mountains and I am just as enamored with their beauty today as I was when I first moved here 6 years ago. My husband, who is a native Tucsonan, shares my love of the mountains and I couldn’t imagine them not being a part of our big day.

Anyways, La Paloma was the last stop on our Tucson hotel tour and I didn’t want to get my hopes up. As we were going around the property everything else checked the boxes in terms of what we were looking for and I was eager to see the ceremony site, which was the last stop on our tour.

The minute we pulled up I knew with 100% certainty that we had found our venue. The ceremony site was beyond perfect. It was quiet, secluded, and had unbelievable views of the mountains for both us and our guests.

Virtual Bridal Fashion Week: Coronavirus Lockdown Edition

07/05/2020 by Emily Sacharin Leave a Comment

Photo courtesy of Pronovias, stocked at Mirror Mirror London

Ordinarily, this time of year I’d be reporting back to you with all my hot takes from New York Bridal Market, bringing you the best of the best of the latest bridal fashions. The wedding industry’s answer to Fashion Week, Bridal Market is one of my favorites times of the year (or actually, two of them – like Fashion Week, it happens every April and October).

Photo courtesy of Katya Katya London

It didn’t happen this year. Obivously. As with so many, many eagerly anticipated events, Bridal Market fell victim to COVID-19. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t some fab new collections to ogle: even though we couldn’t check them out in person, we’re actually totally obsessed with what we’ve seen of the latest collections.

Photo courtesy of Joyce Young

We weren’t able to feature as wide a lineup of designers and boutiques as we would normally, since a lot is still up in the air right now. But we’re grateful that a handful of our favorite boutiques and designers were in a position to share what they’re excited about for going forward. Top London bridal boutiques Mirror Mirror London and Morgan Davies Bridal, along with designers Katya Katya, based in London and Latvia, and Joyce Young, based in London and Glasgow, shared some absolutely swoonworthy styles I’m pretty sure you’ll fall in love with.

Photo courtesy of Jesus Peiro, stocked at Morgan Davies Bridal

Majestic Minimalism

How perfect is this Jesus Peiro number (style number 208, to be precise), soon to be stocked by Morgan Davies Bridal?! It also happens to be made of a new eco fabric made from recycled bottles, but more about that later!Continue Reading