Smashing the Glass | Jewish Wedding Blog

Inspired Jewish Weddings

Real Jewish Brides: Introducing Karen + Elliot… how they met to the present day

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Elliot and I met on Banana Beach in Tel Aviv in August 2013 when we were celebrating the weddings of  our respective friends. Knowing of each other through mutual friends, he tagged along with my group of friends to enjoy the rest of the evening. We chatted while strolling down the promenade and while I tried very hard to interpret his thick Scottish accent, the cynic in me thought ‘nice guy, nice night, case closed’. Facebook helped us to connect and we got to know each other a bit more. I was living and working in Manchester and Elliot, who lived in London, was about to take a trip to Columbia so there was no way we’d have a chance to meet for a while.

Fast forward 6 weeks to our first date in London. I was working in retail so my weekends off were scarce and precious but I was intrigued to know if there was a face-to-face connection after weeks of texting. Turns out…there was. So, that was the start to our year and a half long-distance relationship, all the while still trying to register Elliot’s charming Scottish accent. We had to factor time into everything: my unsociable retail hours, our late night phone calls, fabulous date destinations and the Virgin Train timetable.

Last August, I took the plunge and moved to London. Faced with a new job, a new city, new apartment and having a full time boyfriend, the only challenge to this was downsizing my closet!! How did we ever go three weeks without seeing each other? Three days apart seemed forever. So…what was he waiting for?!

Real Jewish Bride
Elliot and I travelled to Florence to celebrate my Birthday in January of this year. The morning of my birthday, I opened a few cards that my family had sent me and thought it to be a bit strange that Elliot didn’t write me a card…typical…he forgot!! That afternoon we went to Piazza Michaelangelo, avoided an infuriating busker and took in the stunning view. Elliot pulled an envelope from his coat and asked me to open my Birthday card. I opened it to find a beautiful message (which I could barely read for his illegible handwriting) and an engagement ring taped to the bottom of the card. I was so surprised, in awe of a beautiful family heirloom and elated with happiness, that I burst into tears.

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How To Build A Chuppah {DIY Tutorial}

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My chuppah ideas page is one of the most popular pages on my Jewish wedding blog, and whilst it’s filled to the brim with chuppah inspiration, what’s missing from it is a DIY tutorial on how to build a beautiful chuppah yourself.

And what could be better than making your own chuppah? After all, the chuppah symbolises the home that you and your partner will build together during your marriage, and by making it yourselves, it will feel that much more special standing under it during your ceremony.

You needn’t worry if you’re not particularly green fingered or creative, as the fabulous Fiona from Revival Rooms has come up with a step-by-step guide for a stylish rustic alternative to the traditional Chuppah with a floral canopy which is genuinely breathtaking.

And the best part? It’s relatively simple to recreate… and cost-effective too!

Here’s Fiona’s step by step guide to building a chuppah.

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What you’ll need

  • 4 Posts and bases
  • Sticks and twigs of various sizes
  • Soap and scrubbing brush
  • Cable ties
  • Chicken wire
  • Secateurs
  • 1mm thick wire
  • Step ladder
  • Flowers – we used white, lavender and purple Stocks and pink Lisianthus
  • Foliage – we used Eucalyptus and Willow

Before you start, it is important to have base poles for your Chuppah. We went to our local B&Q (a DIY supplies store), purchased 4 posts of our desired size, drilled holes into each bottom, and had base plates made at our local hardware shop. The floral canopy can become heavy and it’s important that you have sturdy enough posts to take the weight. Sticks and twigs just won’t be up for the job. Once you have your posts in place you are ready to begin!

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A Jewish Scandi-Danish wedding, with Israeli influences, at Calhoun Beach Club, Minnesota , Minneapolis, USA

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This is the love-filled, creative Jewish wedding of Talia and Yoni. Talia’s wedding report is fabulous, as are her artistic talents — she designed all the wedding stationery and each and every painting that graced the reception tables.

There is so much meaning and symbolism to this wedding to reflect the couple and their loves ( and when I say ‘loves’ I mean in the sense of what they adore, and their nearest and dearest).

So for instance, they had originally dreamt of a small, casual, wedding in Israel, but being surrounded by family and community trumped this desire. So whilst they chose to have a wedding on their home turf of Minnesota, they channeled an ‘Israeli style’ by having their guests standing around them informally during their ceremony, open seating during the meal, a buffet lunch filled with fruits, veggies, fresh breads and pastries, and  plenty of Israeli music on their playlist.

Absolutely every detail was thought through and beautifully styled, but I must just take a moment to single out Talia’s bouquet, flower crown, and the chuppah. They really are to die for — just so gorgeous, natural-looking, colourful and creative.

The love and happiness radiates from every single image by Lauren Renee Designs, and it’s a joy to see and hear about so many orthodox Jewish wedding traditions embraced by a very modern couple. An (abridged) example, in Talia’s words, is as follows:

Yoni and I choose to partake in the Jewish wedding tradition of not seeing each other for one week before our wedding. This was absolutely worth navigating some tricky logistics for, as the build up allowed so much raw emotion and excitement to show in ways we could never have anticipated.”

Do take a moment to read through Talia’s beautifully written account of her planning, prep, and what the traditions meant to her and Yoni. There are some really useful tips and a big dose of super advice all the way through.

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How we met

Talia, the Bride: We met a Hebrew speaking, hummus tasting event that I had organised with my roommates called “Hebrew Shmebrew.”  I was initially intimidated by his fluent Hebrew, so we hung out a couple more times with friends before he called to ask me out. We happened to live three blocks away from each other, so the rest is history!

Jewish Wedding at Calhoun Beach Club

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Real Jewish Brides: Introducing Lauren + John… how they met to the present day

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It took me a long time to pluck up the courage to go on a date with someone I met online. Whenever I did I just seemed to meet weird men who gave me flowers in a Sainsbury’s bag or people that thought they were far superior to me and acted as if I was lucky to be in their presence… I was fed up.

It was about this time that John and I started chatting on match.com. After a few weeks of message chat John asked me to go on a date during my school’s half term break (I’m a teacher, not a student!) John couldn’t seem to wait the 5 days and kept pushing for a Valentine’s Day date the next day. I was not impressed by his pushiness and was about to tell him where to go. But my best friend told me I had nothing to lose, so I went. I turned up VERY late to the pub that was just opposite where I lived (a sure sign that I was not keen) and we hit it off instantly, bonding over cookies, practical jokes and our love of Lego.

We spent the next three weeks together with very little time apart and when my 30th birthday arrived, he took me for a romantic  trip to The Shard and then the next day I thought I’d test him and drag him along to my parent’s house for a birthday tea and meet my ENTIRE family in one go. I was so surprised by how well he coped with all my family and knew there was someone very special there.

The more we spent time together, the more I fell for him. We had both been through some tough times individually and we seemed to find each other at the exact moment when we were back on the rise and ready for this new stage in our lives. I used to daydream that I would find someone who would be generous with his time whilst making me feel completely loved and protected. I didn’t ever think I would actually find that person… then along came John! I can remember the moment I knew I was going to marry him. I was dropping him off at work on the morning I was going away with a friend for a week and I couldn’t stop crying. Even though I was so excited to go on holiday, I couldn’t stop myself from feeling devastated about not seeing him for a whole seven days. I had never felt this way before about anyone and I think I shocked myself a little bit with how strongly I felt.

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John and I come from very different backgrounds. I’ve been brought up in North West London and have had a lot of involvement professionally and personally in the Jewish community. My Jewish identity has been very strong from quite a young age and I think many people who know me always assumed that I would end up marrying a ‘Nice Jewish Guy’. I however never put that assumption on myself and have always said I would marry the person I fall in love with no matter where they are from. Little did I know I would fall for a ‘Bermondsey South Londoner’!

We may both be from London, but the North/South divide is very strong when it comes to London, never mind the religion! We both quickly integrated ourselves into each other’s families. My family was particularly surprised when John turned up one Friday night having learnt the Shabbat Blessings… From that point on he was firmly embedded in my family.

From quite early on we had discussed marriage and had a rough idea of when we wanted to get married. Things took a quick turn when I gained a teaching job in West London and decided we would move in together. For a variety of reasons we ended up living in a tiny studio flat near Twickenham. We thought if we could make it living that close to each other every day, then anything else would be a doddle. We made it through and last summer John went to a football match with my Dad (typical!) and asked him if we could get married. Luckily the legend that is my Dad said yes and two weeks later John took me on a surprise trip to The Shard again and proposed (surprise, surprise-ish!)

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A laidback Israeli wedding at Kalamata and Neve Schechter Center, at Neve Tzedek and Jaffa, Tel Aviv, Israel

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Orit and Ido  had a simple, contemporary wedding with a calming subtle blue colour scheme  that was  small, intimate, informal, and unquestionably stylish.

They decided to do away with many wedding traditions in favour of creating a day that reflected them as a couple as well as making it an amazing experience for all their friends and family, and I have to say that looking at their super stylish photos it definitely made for the most wonderful, personal  day.

On the fashion side, I’m totally coveting Orit’s  custom-designed dress  and those beautiful  bronze shoes  — the perfect accompaniment to the  scenic backdrop of sunnies  skies and golden  beaches.

I love how tuned in these two  were to their own desires and so much so, they chose not one but three different venues that they frequent regularly.  One of them,  Dallal, is one of my all-time favourite Tel Aviv brunch spots so I’m super happy to be featuring it today on  the blog!

With thanks to the lovely Danielle from  Danielle Yashar Photography  for submitting the eye candy. Happy Friday  folks!

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A wedding that reflected us and the things we love doing

Orit, the Bride: As we started planning our wedding, it was clear to us that we wanted it to be our day. For us that meant doing things we like the most, surrounded by our family and closest friends.

We wanted our event to be intimate and we wanted to have the opportunity to spend time with each one of our guests. We started our morning in the Dallal Bakery at Neve Tzedek where we regularly meet  friends for coffee at the  weekend. We strolled along the beach to Jaffa, which is so beautiful at this time of the year, and there we met our family for a brunch at Kalamata  restaurant (one of our favourite restaurants) which is located in old Jaffa over looking the Mediterranean sea.

Just before Shabbat we gathered our family and closest friends in a nearby synagogue at Neve Schechter-Legacy Heritage Center for our chuppah. After the exchange of rings we kissed our family goodbye and returned to Kalamata for a festive and upbeat lunch with our friends. To close the day, we invited everybody to a private concert by one of our favourite artists and whilst taking in  the sunset at  the Old Jaffa Port.

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