Smashing the Glass | Jewish Wedding Blog

Inspired Jewish Weddings

A spectacular Jewish destination wedding with a bride in a Howard Green dress at Villefrenche-sur-Mer, Cote d’Azur, France

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There are destination weddings and then there are destination weddings, and Justine & Barry’s dreamy South of France outdoor W Day definitely falls into the latter category.

The couple, whose international background (Justine grew up in South Africa, while Barry is originally from Zimbabwe and has lived all over the world) meant they had their pick of stunning destinations, chose the idyllic Villefrenche-sur-Mer, Cà´te d’Azur — a private chateau on the mountains above Nice overlooking the coastline.

This discerning couple put so much careful thought into each and every detail. There is so much to talk about — from the beautiful way Justine describes her connection to the religious ceremony and its traditions to both family’s own respective sentimental customs, including a ring that has been passed down through generations of the family and used in over 100 weddings.

The couple kept their series of events exciting by including a series of surprises, including an epic first dance that the couple still sneakily re-lives to this day and drip-feeding their guests details about the astounding destination. They also showered their lucky guests with lovely and thoughtful gifts, favours and special treats including luxuriously tempting macarons, a drinks trolley with fine liquors, pashminas, flip flops and kippot. It makes us wish that we’d been invited!

We could go on forever about the amazing attention to detail and the heart and soul that the couple poured into planning their big day, but we think that Justine does such a wonderful job of describing the events that it’s time to hand over to her. Take it away, Justine.

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Stunning views at Villefrenche-sur-Mer, Cà´te d’Azur

We were married at the Domaine du Montleuze in Villefranche-sur-Mer. It’s a private chateau at the top of mountains above Nice, overlooking the entire coastline.

We got engaged in late March 2016 in the Swiss Alps and wanted to contrast our winter engagement with a summer wedding.

It is worth mentioning at this point that I grew up and lived in South Africa before moving to London five years ago. Barry, originally from Zimbabwe, has lived in multiple countries including South Africa, before moving to London eight years ago.

A summer wedding in South Africa was naturally expected. However, we wanted to be different and have something unique, something wildly romantic and intimate, but also a crazy party. Plus, it had to be easily accessible. Europe it was.

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A Texas-meets-Jewish knees up wedding with pie on Pi Day at Hyatt Regency La Jolla, San Diego, California, USA

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Yeeehaw! Get ready for a cool cultural collision you just don’t see every day.

Taylor and David were best friends for several years before a fateful kiss after a West Wing marathon prompted them to realise what had been right in front of them all along.

Their Texas-meets-Jewish wedding, captured by husband-and-wife photography team, Shane and Lauren Photography, was planned specifically to fall on March 14th, a.k.a. Pi Day.

Pi, a number that goes on indefinitely, was the perfect choice to echo Jewish wedding traditions, such as the breaking of the glass under the Chuppah with the sentiment “may your marriage last as long as it would take to repair this glass” (forever). We reckon the idea is a must-steal for math-loving Jewish couples everywhere!

In keeping with the Pi theme, the couple served… you guessed it — pie! Mini pies in mason jars were served for dessert and the couple cut an apple pie instead of a wedding cake. In fact, good luck reading this entire post without getting hungry — if you manage it, you’ve done better than the Smashing the Glass team.

To honour San Diego’s growing craft beer scene, they also had an epic beer bar and gave out koozies (fabric sleeves designed to keep a drink warm, for any non-Texan natives out there) as favours.

Over to Taylor to take us through all the details of her and David’s big day…

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From best friends to husband and wife 

Taylor, the bride: David and I met in law school. We were both student representatives for Kaplan Bar Review and got to know each other better by working there. I graduated school and then came back two years later to work in San Diego for Kaplan Bar Review in a full-time position. He was in his last year of school and was still a student representative and we reconnected.

We were best friends for over a year and a half with no romantic involvement. I dated other guys (that he knew), he dated other girls (that I knew) but no spark was there. 

Then, eventually, something changed.  A few days after Valentine’s Day in 2013, we were both single (him very newly so having just broken up with a long-distance girlfriend) and hanging out at his house watching The West Wing and we kissed. 

We became even more inseparable after that day, got a dog named Bartlett (named after the president on The West Wing), and got married a little over two years later.

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Five ways to wear personalised wedding Converse

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My much-loved ‘Smashing’ personalised Converse  

We all love a bit of wedding glam – but skyscraper heels aren’t always for everyone, or even for every part of a wedding. If the idea of burning up the dancefloor (and your poor feet) in your Jimmy Choo’s seems a little impractical, if you’re a tall bride who doesn’t want the extra inches, or if you simply want something comfortable and alternative to wear on your big day, then Converse are the perfect low-key wedding shoes. 

But just because you’re in flats doesn’t mean you can’t look fabulous – quite the opposite, in fact. Did you know that Converse can be personalised for your big day, and in the cutest ways. In fact, when I first came across the idea, I loved it so much that I just had to get a Smashing the Glass branded pair for myself (see above pic — I don’t only talk the talk, I walk the walk!)

Over the years, we’ve had the pleasure of featuring many real weddings starring these casual-chic beauties, and we’ve put together a little digest of the very best ways past brides and grooms have personalised their wedding Converse. 

1. And the bride changed into Converse

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Real bride Sarah’s white wedding Converse

It’s the bride’s prerogative to wear the comfiest shoes. If you’re set on heels then one option is to have your Converse as a second pair of shoes to change into for the reception. There are so many options – go for white for a twist on the traditional, or a pop of colour to make your Converse a standout feature. You can personalise them however you like: opt for your own name, the word “bride” or even a nickname or an in joke. 

2. Couples’ Converse

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Dana and Jacob went for a marvellous Mr. and Mrs. combo

Matching couples’ Converse will look adorable in your wedding photos. Whether you choose to adorn them with your names, your initials or you go for Mr. & Mrs., Mr. and Mr. or Mrs. and Mrs., it’s just one more adorable way to personalise your wedding and show your unity as a married couple on your happy day.

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Bride and groom, Rachel and Robert, signed off their Converse with their shared initials

3. Embroider them with meaning

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Love won out at Melody and Michael’s arty wedding celebration

Do you have a particular saying, ethos, political statement, lyric, line of poetry, an in joke or anything else that is symbolic to you as a couple? Your personalised Converse can be a lovely, subtle nod to something meaningful that you share together, and something you plan to take into your married life with you. Plus, with a personalised slogan, you can wear your Converse again and again, evoking fond wedding memories every time you put them on. 

4. Kit out your wedding party with Converse

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Smashing couple, Madalyn and Aaron, made the groomsmen’s Converse a part of their creative theme

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A Jew-ish Industrial Vintage same-sex wedding with a Lyn Ashworth gown at St Pancras Renaissance, London

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Tissues at the ready, folks, because I guarantee that you won’t make it through this gorgeous lesbian Jew-ish wedding without welling up — especially if you watch the tear-jerker of a wedding video at the bottom of this post, artfully and sensitively shot by Love Storage.

Charlotte and Ellie wanted a dramatic and industrial meets romantic, dark florals-vibe for their big day, and they found the perfect venue in the iconic St Pancras Renaissance Hotel in London. The story of the day was expertly captured by fantastic photographer, Dale Weeks.

We simply adore the moody aesthetic and jewel-toned theme; Charlotte and Ellie’s vintage-industrial look made their whole day so quirky and unique, but still so chic and stunning.

The attention to detail from artistic bride Ellie was simply phenomenal. Each item was carefully and lovingly picked with the theme in mind: the home-designed invitations, the rust-coloured chairs, the Victoriana table decorations and whole flower stems strewn down the aisle. The style extended to the brides’ outfits, which were simply beautiful and perfectly in keeping with the tone and theme of the wedding.

We love the birch pole Chuppah, complete with Charlotte’s grandfather’s tallit, and that the start of the Jewish ceremony was signaled with one of our all-time favourite wedding songs, Sunrise Sunset. Could there be a more perfect or sincere way to conduct a Jewish ceremony?

Over to Charlotte and Ellie to fill us in on all the details from their divine wedding day.

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When you know, you know

Charlotte: Ellie and I met online. There was no woo-ing and no long conversations. Ellie sent me a message saying “Shall we go for a drink then?” and when I agreed she informed me that I had to choose the location.

I chose The Bridge in Hoxton and we met outside Hoxton station that Saturday afternoon because we both already had evening plans.

We sat side by side in the boudoir-like surroundings, drinking coffee and chatting for hours. It felt very natural from the start, like we’d known each other for years. It didn’t take long before we were spending every spare day together!

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The Pros and Cons of using Pinterest to Plan Your Wedding

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This week marks the two-digit countdown to our wedding and things are starting to get a bit scary real! Suddenly all those little things we thought we would leave for a while actually need doing and the dreaded bills are starting to fly in! My Pinterest dream is about to become a reality. But the question is will my wedding live up to the Pinterest dream I had hoped for, and is it possible for weddings to live up to the dream?

I’m not going to lie, I had a very full ‘wedding dreams’ Pinterest board way before I even had a ring on my finger and now as I sit scrolling through it I am curious to know how my ideas changed, if they changed and why they changed.

The ring

I always knew I wanted a ring that was a bit different. Those that know me know I don’t like to go with the trend and it was definitely the case with the ring. My pinned rings are very close to the truth of what I ended up with but that’s because Gideon and I played a lot of ‘let’s look in jewellery windows and pick rings we like’ so I am pretty sure he had a very good idea of what I wanted. That paired with me repeatedly telling my sister and mum what I wanted meant that my Pinterest ring dreams came true. Sapphire and diamond rings are all over my Pinterest board and it’s a Sapphire and Diamond stunner that lives on my hand.

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The dress

As you know I have blogged about my wedding dress and shared with all of you the highs and lows of getting it. I think that one of the main problems with dress shopping is the Pinterest dream people are looking for.

As brides to be we all spend hours scouring the internet for the perfect dress and when reality sets in; my body (and I’m sure I am not the only one) did not fit the dress my Pinterest board had suggested and nor did my budget. The one down fall with Pinterest is that the wedding dresses don’t come with a price tag (maybe a new idea for the IT savvy out there!) so I might have been dreaming a bit out of my price range.

I think dress shopping on Pinterest does need to come with a warning. You can look and enjoy, peruse at your leisure but be realistic. Be true to yourself and remember the line that every bride says: ‘you never end up with the dress you think you will end up with.’ Bare all that in mind and you can pin those dresses to your heart’s content.

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Decorations

I went a little bit pin heavy here. My dream has always been to have this whimsical, barn wedding where everyone is happy and merry and is transported to a world away from London. I have pretty much stuck to it. We are getting married in a barn with fairy lights (despite Gideon’s loud protests) and we are creating a relaxed wedding with as much dancing and fun as we can feasibly fit into the day.

What I would say is that once again Pinterest’s lack of a price tag meant I had no idea how much my vision was going to cost me. I thought hay bales and signs would be cheap but actually when you start adding up all the little things that you think would make it a perfect day suddenly the cost starts creeping up and Gideon is shouting at me that we are over budget again!

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Niki & Will’s Jewish wedding in a barn (image: onelove)

Pinterest allows you to create a wedding where every single small detail is taken care of but actually in reality nobody would know if the small detail was there or not. Of course it would be lovely to have an entire sofa area made out of hay bales with cushions and rugs but actually people will be fine just sitting on chairs. And yes it would be lovely to have our guests sign 500 different pieces of wood and printing their finger on a poster that we might put up in our house one day. But actually, the reality is that people rarely write on those things because they are too drunk or they didn’t see it (speaking from experience at our engagement party). So it won’t be missed. So slowly I learnt that although the small details and decorations of my dream Pinterest wedding would be lovely they aren’t worth pushing the budget for (did you hear that Gideon? I really am trying!).

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