Smashing the Glass | Jewish Wedding Blog

Inspired Jewish Weddings

A Traditional Jewish New York Wedding with Some Sex and a Lot of City

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Happy Valentine’s Day, STG gang! We have a very, very special real wedding to share with you today. It’s such a doozy, that we’ve been sitting on it and waiting for the right moment to publish since 2003. How’s that for restraint?

Charlotte and Harry met under rather unusual circumstances and couldn’t have been more different from one another. But, as the old saying goes, opposites attract, and Charlotte soon found that she had met her one true love in Harry.

Bride Charlotte is a hopeless romantic at heart, and so her wedding was, of course, the definition of tradition. Every detail was planned to perfection by wedding planner and very shouty man, Anthony, who brought Charlotte’s vision to life.

Even though we’re not the New York Times (sorry, Charlotte), we’ve done our very best to do this post justice, so we’ll quit while we’re ahead and hand over to Charlotte to tell us all about her big day.

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How we met

Harry was my divorce lawyer from my first marriage to my ex-husband, Trey who… let’s just say… didn’t last long. Harry and I hit a few stumbles at first: for example, the fact that I wasn’t Jewish and Harry’s profuse sweating. But, in the end, I converted to Judaism and we always keep the the thermostat at 64.4 degrees. Fairytales do exist, people!

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A New York synagogue wedding

We decided on a traditional synagogue wedding in our hometown of New York. As the space was already so spectacular, we just had a simple white, fabric chuppah under the bimah with some elegant arrangements of lilies.

I wanted to do everything according to Jewish tradition. I wanted to smash the glass, sign the Ketubah and dance the Hora, even if it involved getting thrown around on a chair in a most unladylike way.

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A Jew-ish fairy princess garden wedding with an Allure gown at Old Red Museum, Dallas, Texas, USA

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We love a bit of magic and whimsy on STG, and what could be more whimsical and delightful than a fairy princess garden theme?

Evan and Jeremy met at college where they became friends, and were later reunited when a work opportunity brought them back together.

Evan was adorned with precious family heirlooms, including her mother’s veil and jewellery from both grandmothers and her great-great grandmother, and shoe lovers who lack self control should shield their eyes now (don’t say we didn’t warn you) because you’re definitely going to want to splash out on a pair of the bride’s stunning, crystal-embellished Badgley Mischka heels. Can we say ‘bling’?

The couple had a Jew-ish wedding – an interfaith ceremony that integrated both Christian and Jewish traditions, honouring both the bride and groom’s respective backgrounds.

This gorgeous fairy princess garden themed wedding took place at idyllic venue, Old Red Museum in Texas, USA and all the details were expertly captured by AR Photography.

Let’s hand over to Evan to fill you in on every last detail!

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How we met

Evan, the bride: Jeremy and I met at Texas State University in San Marcos, TX when he was a junior and I was a freshman. We became instant friends, and had a great (completely platonic) friendship for the rest of my college career. When spring rolled around my senior year, Jeremy reached out to me in regards to a job opportunity at his company.

He was living in Houston, Texas and I was targeting Austin, Texas. I got the job in his company’s Austin office. Shortly after, we began talking consistently. He then asked me to meet up with his friends and go camping one weekend. After that, the rest is history. Four months later he got a job offer in Seattle, and that is where we decided to start our lives together. A year and a half on from our move, he proposed.

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Real blogging bride quirky and cool Lauren’s Jew-ish wedding at Stoke Place, Buckinghamshire, UK

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Attention everyone: we have an exceptionally exciting real wedding on the blog today and one that I’ve been eager to share for quite some time!

Our real blogging bride, Lauren, who we LOVE, finally married her darling John. She is the first of our 2016 real Jewish brides to be blogged and boy, did she get wed in style. Lauren’s Jew-ish wedding was every bit as chic, contemporary and downright cool as I expected it to be. The day was expertly captured in all its glory by Photography by Krishanthi.

Lauren was a very detail-oriented bride with an exceptional eye for design. This shone through in every quirky and awesome choice the happy couple made for their big day, from their stunning gold-foil calligraphy invitations that they sourced from much-loved Smashing Supplier, The Golden Letter Paper Studio to their absolutely astounding pink ombre meringue shard cake, which almost looked too good to eat (almost).

OK, can we talk about that chuppah, please? What a wonderful sentiment and a beautiful way to involve friends and family in such an important life moment. I won’t ruin it for you, go and have a look — and then come back next week for the DIY tutorial to see how it was made.

Lauren has her own fabulous blog, which I’d encourage everyone to follow, but for now I’ll put you in Lauren’s capable hands, for one more encore on the blog (and then another cheeky one when Lauren posts her chuppah tutorial next Friday, 17th — I just can’t get enough)! Take it away, Lauren.

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How we met

We talked for a few weeks on Match.com before meeting up for our first date on Valentine’s Day. I turned up very late as I was evidently not overly keen at that point. John bought me a present – a rose and a card.

We got on so well and then watched Impractical Jokers until two AM while eating my homemade cookies. Lots more details are in my first blog!

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The Sound of Wedding Music – Top DJs, Live Bands, Instrumentalists – Caliente has it ALL covered…

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CalienteAs I walked down the aisle towards Mr STG, a string quartet struck the first notes of Barry White’s The First, My Last, My Everything. Then Jerusalem of Gold. Come on, there are no rules, right?

Under the chuppah, a chazan sang so soulfully that he captured and melted the hearts of all present. And when Mr STG smashed the glass, the strings started up again for a joyous Mazal Tov/Hava Nagila medley.

After dinner my dad and his cousin followed this with a surprise rendition of ‘Swell Party / Well, Did You Evah‘. And the DJ took the party from there. Our wedding was a very personal musical extravaganza from beginning to end and we just loved it.

When it comes to your Jewish wedding, the music you choose will be as important as the venue. It becomes the heartbeat of your day and carries your guests along.

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Who can create your Wedding Soundtrack?

Meet Caliente — a Tel Aviv based company — who totally get this and will cover the ENTIRE soundtrack of your big day. They’re creative, massively experienced and provide DJs, bands, instrumentalists and singers to pretty much anywhere in the world.

They’ll sort out all your musical needs, including ones you didn’t even know you had — live singer with a DJ set anyone?

In fact, two of our upcoming STG real wedding features used these guys and LOVED them – watch out for those posts in the coming weeks.

Will they have something for you? Absolutely. Caliente has a HUGE collection of stunning acts. You can take your pick. They cover all musical genres from soft jazz ensembles, chuppah music (see the video below – I just love it), chamber string quartets, live artists and bands (with original or cover music) to seriously impressive top DJs that’ll rock your party.

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Join me at the Sassi Holford Open Day on 21st February – an absolute must for all the bridal party

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Sassi-Holford-London-Open-DayAttention lovely brides-to-be! On Tuesday 21st February I shall be donning my hot pink shoes and hitting the ground running as the official blogger for the Open Day of one of my favourite bridal designers — the internationally renowned Sassi Holford, and I would so love to see you there to talk all thing weddings!

Join me, any time between 4 and 8pm, at the sparkling new Sassi Holford flagship boutique in Central London’s super glam Fulham Road where you’ll be welcomed with a glass of champagne. You’ll have the opportunity to chat with me and all the suppliers involved (see the full list below), watch live demonstrations, and get all your burning wedding planning questions answered by experts at the live Q&A session taking place at 6pm (which will also be Facebook live streamed via Smashing The Glass).

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As well as Sassi’s meticulously handcrafted luxury Wedding Dresses, her brand new Mother of the Bride, Evening Wear, Bridesmaids & Accessories Collections will also be on show making it the perfect late afternoon or evening out for the entire bridal party.

Kate Nielen, one of my much-loved and super talented Smashing Suppliers, will be photographing the event alongside me, and there’s so much to look forward to, from Pamela & Andrea‘s live make up demos (an amazing opportunity for you and your best girls to perfect your big day look) to Lavender Green‘s fabulous ‘Bouquet Bar’, and the gorgeous Emmy London (designer of my infamous pink shoes) showcasing not only her selection of bridal shoes but also her occasionwear too.

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St Eramus, Stephanie Browne, and Jane Taylor Millinery will also be there with a range of beautiful accessories to finish your look perfectly! 

This Open Day? It’s a can’t miss, lovelies. Mark those calendars NOW and RSVP to Aimee@sassiholford.com to get your tickets. Just be sure to let her know the number of guests coming and what time approximately you’re thinking of arriving.

I can’t wait to see you there!

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