Smashing the Glass | Jewish Wedding Blog

Inspired Jewish Weddings

A Pronovias bride for a ‘Northerner & The Jew’ interfaith Jewish wedding at Corinthia Hotel London, UK

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Today’s Jew-ish wedding can’t fail to put a smile on your face. It’s literally bursting at the seams with fashion, fun and some very original ideas. The bride and groom are a director and  actor respectively, and they incorporated some brilliantly inventive details  into their  day.

There’s a surprise  Fiddler & The Roof bottle dance  by the groom and his friends, an off-the-scale Pronovias  dress,  Vivienne Westwood shoes that I am MAJORLY  coveting, a dress code of ‘Imagine it’s the Oscar’s and get glamorous’, and one of the best Jew-ish wedding themes ever:  ‘The  Northerner & The Jew’. Genius! The bride  says:

My Judaism  is very important to  me — it is my cultural make-up. It was a big decision to get serious
 with John but luckily I have a great family who adore him. And I adore his. Our upbringing often clashes, mainly 
over little things and we are having to re-write our own rules for our life together. We can’t base it on our parents but there are some great discoveries — like a bacon and challah sandwich. So wrong its right. So ‘Northern and the Jew’.

A  bacon and challah sandwich? Too good to be true! There are so many good interfaith ceremony wedding ideas here, one of my favourite being  the laying out of  flags out on each seat during the chuppah  with different Lancashire and Yiddish sayings.

Jem &  John  had a very personal wedding  and, not surprisingly,  the  report today is written by them both. All the fun comes from the exquisite  Corinthia hotel  in the heart of London with sensational imagery by  Rhapsody Road.

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Choosing to get married at The Corinthia Hotel  London

Jem, the Bride: We were recommended to go and see The Corinthia  by a friend and fell in love with it. We have a love of architecture and restoration work and the way the hotel had been restored and modernised appealed to us. We also wanted somewhere in central London where we could have the ceremony and reception in one place.

John, the Groom: The place is magnificent. As Jem said, the architecture is splendid, the refurbishment is top notch. The welcome from the door staff was fantastic. In fact, everything was exemplary when we looked around. It just made sense. Once we had the food tasting, we knew it was money well spent.

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“My best Jewish wedding photo” by onelove photography

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A weekly series where  I ask some of the world’s best wedding photographers to pick out their favourite shot from their Jewish wedding portfolio. This week it’s the turn of Sara from onelove photography.

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‘That look’ by  onelove photography

James and Cate have the biggest hearts I’ve ever seen. They met volunteering at Camp Harmony (a summer camp for homeless children) and are committed to giving their lives to support others. The way that they look at each other, it stops me dead in my tracks.”

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Best of Bridal Week: Ines Di Santo Wedding Dress 2017 Collection

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In a delightful nod to the wonders of Spring, we continue our journey through New York Bridal Fashion Week with Ines Di Santo‘s Spring 2017 Collection.

With huge, cascading pink and white flowers setting the scene for the show in Chelsea’s light-soaked IAC Building, the season’s romance and playfulness took over all the senses as the designer’s flowing gowns drifted down the runway. From soft volume skirts to playful peplum silhouettes and high-low cuts, Ines Di Santo continues to create styles to inspire every shape and personality. Plunging necklines, illusion sheaths and delicately layered lightweight tulle are intricately treated to floral appliquà©s and light-catching crystals and sequins sure to make the bride feel as breathtaking as she should.

A WORD FROM THE DESIGNER

For this collection, I pulled from spring herself, imagining the flowers that emerge in the season and the path they take from seed to sunlight – I have used lace, embroideries and movement in my gowns to push forward an unexpected place. While still soft and romantic, my bride will stand – dressed only for herself and the one she loves”

Every dress from Ines Di Santo’s Spring 2017 collection is pictured below,  and if you want to take a peek at the fabulous  Ines Di Santo being worn by real brides on Smashing The Glass, simply head right  here.

"NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 15: A model walks the runway wearing the Ines Di Santo Bridal Collection Spring 2017 on April 15, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Randy Brooke/Getty Images for Ines Di Santo)"

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A Carolina Herrera bride for a destination Jewish Wedding in a castle at Castello di Vincigliata, Florence, Italy.

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Today’s gorgeous bride first made contact with me back in 2014, when she was looking for supplier recommendations for her destination wedding in Florence. I immediately noticed that her email signature read ‘Head Scientist at playdohlab.tumblr.com‘ and I thought, WOW, I really do have the coolest readers in the universe!

And her wedding does not disappoint. Whilst it isn’t play doh-themed (which I was secretly hoping for!) it’s a delicious destination set in an astonishing castle in Florence, and the crazy thing is, I attended a wedding in the very same venue last summer!

Anna and Chaim enlisted the help of SposiamoVi (one of my much-loved Smashing Suppliers) to plan their big day, and what a great choice they made. Their fabulous wedding included two bridal gowns (a Carolina Herrera and a MaxMara Bridal), lace-adorned Jimmy Choo’s, exquisite Louis Purple tailoring (with some wonderful embroidered personalisation), Chaim’s father officiating the wedding, a brilliant band that included the bride’s uncle, as well as some glorious Tuscan candle favours (Anna says she wanted to create a memory of the wedding through smell), and an unplugged chuppah ceremony — something that I’m a really big fan of. Anna said:

We requested no cameras, smartphones, or iPad use by any of the guest during the chuppah — we wanted everyone to be in the moment. The only people taking pictures and videos were our photographer and videographer.

And what a fabulous pair they were: Edoardo Agresti captured all the stills, and Marco Caputo‘s film is simply a must-see at the end of the post.

A gorgeous couple in fabulous attire having their day their way. Perfect.

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An orthodox Jewish wedding in Florence

Anna, the Bride: My parents actually met in Florence and live there part of the year. I also have a large extended family that lives in Europe, so Florence was convenient destination for many guests. For those that would have to travel, I knew that a long weekend in Florence would be the most irresistible magical getaway.

Originally, I wanted to get married in the Great Synagogue of Florence, as it just takes your breath away, but then we saw Castello di Vincigliata, a castle in the Tuscan hills- how could we not pick it? We contemplated having the chuppah in the synagogue and then transporting guests to the castle, but ultimately we thought the schlep to and from would disrupt the atmosphere. Chaim had his Shabbat Chatan at the synagogue so guests that attended were able to experience the beautiful Sephardi service and architecture.

Jewish Wedding Florence

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“My best Jewish wedding photo” by Andrew Billington

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A weekly series where  I ask some of the world’s best wedding photographers to pick out their favourite shot from their Jewish wedding portfolio. This week it’s the turn of  Andrew Billington.

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‘A  small moment in a big  day’ by  Andrew Billington

This is a really tough choice because the wedding day is usually so energetic, emotional and full of animation that I could pick any stunning photo from the dancing, or speeches, or prayers, or Badeken and it would really sell me as a photographer. But my approach to photographing weddings is all about storytelling so as well as all those moments mentioned above (which are a delight to photograph and always deliver great results) I’m looking for those subtle, quieter moments that tell you about the couple as well as the ritual.

I’ve chosen this very small moment from Sally & Joe’s wedding ceremony at The Priory Barn, Little Wymondley. I think the expressions are perfect as they listen to an important part of the ceremony. It’s not a big show stopping photograph but it is one that tells me something about the couple. It’s a small moment in a huge day – and those small moments add up.”

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