Smashing the Glass | Jewish Wedding Blog

Inspired Jewish Weddings

“My best Jewish wedding photo” by Herschel Gutman

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A new weekly Sunday 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 Herschel Gutman.

Herschel Gutman

‘In love’ by Herschel Gutman

Given the task by Karen to submit my best wedding photo was a very daunting one. I am very bad at selecting 250 photos from a single wedding – so selecting one from tens of thousands of photos was a massive challenge. Usually, the more I stare at my images, the less I like them. So many things come into my head, from composition, to the lighting, to the contrast, to the clarity – all the technicalities of a good photo. But there is another factor that for me, overrides everything that one was ever taught during photography school and that is something that you can’t be taught, “how does this photo make you feel”. If it resonates with you, if it makes you laugh, if it makes you smile, if it makes you cry – then its a great photo.

Nikki and Gavriel’s wedding was a truly phenomenal wedding. It took place on a Moshav in Israel and I could not have asked for a more in love and happy couple. They were uber cool and just being around them was an absolute buzz. The photo I selected is one of many of them dancing. When I look at this photo – I find myself staring at it, it makes me smile on the inside and out. . I just love it. I love the way they are holding one another, the way Nikki is looking at Gavriel, the way Gavriel has his eyes closed, just taking in this moment with his wife. There is a backlight which adds to the atmosphere of this photo and the hanging lights in the background give this photo some contrast and depth.

Thanks for the task Karen – you really made me question my style and my photographs – THANK YOU!

 

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Juliette & Nick | Interfaith Jewish Christian wedding at The Brewery, East London, UK

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Some of you may be aware that at traditional Jewish weddings, the couple enter the reception under an archway of hoops to the sound of raucous clapping and cheering. Juliette and Nick chose to enter their party with that tradition but they added their own personal twist: Nick was a university fencer so they alternated the hoops with fencing swords. Brilliant! I love it when couples take age-old Jewish wedding traditions and make them their own and these are exactly the kind of personal details that ‘grab’ me when I look through a submission.

Juliette and Nick’s ceremony embraced both their faiths (Christian and Jewish) in a truly beautiful way, and it made me smile from ear to ear when Juliette told me that in the run-up to her big day, she loved seeing the range of mixed faith weddings on the blog. She was inspired by how other couples had worked out ways to incorporate two faiths into their day in their own unique way. Helping interfaith couples plan a meaningful Jew-ish wedding was one of the big aspirations I’d had for STG when I originally set it up so I’m one very happy blogger!

So what else do I love about this wedding? Well for one, there are some AWESOME musical choices – make sure you listen to those YouTube links further down the post. There’s also a groovy gin cocktail bar by those cool dudes, the Travelling Gin Company  and there’s beer imported from Brussels, as that’s where Nick used to live. And there’s an alternative to the traditional wedding cake made out of 20 kilos of cheese. That would have gone down VERY well in my house.

The venue is The Brewery and it gives this wedding an urban East London vibe that’s the perfect backdrop for a city-chic W day.

Photography today is by a much-loved STG-recommended supplier, Blake Ezra Photography. You can view more of Blake’s work and all his other STG weddings in his listing in my hand picked supplier directory, Smashing Suppliers.

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Destination Wedding Etiquette

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Image by Susan Stripling  from Natasha and Jez’s Jewish destination wedding in the  South of France

This is a  guest post by Lisa Shiner

Like most little girls, when I dreamt of my wedding, I imagined myself as a princess. Not one of those modern-day braided-hair and frozen-storm-inducing Scandinavian ones — more the royal variety.

Even after years and countless weddings planned, I still believe in a version of that same dream. Admittedly, I no longer long for the fairytale, but do honestly believe that, for her wedding, every bride should be a princess.

But not in the way that you’re thinking…

Be thoughtful of  your guests

In an ideal world, the term “fairytale” could refer less to emulating royal affectations and more to embracing wedding etiquette fit for a queen. Certainly, it is your wedding and at the same time a perfect opportunity not to demand the royal treatment but rather bestow it. Family and friends who are investing their time and money to attend your destination wedding deserve to be listened to, honoured, respected and personally acknowledged.

Destination weddings are magical. Whether yours is set on a faraway beach paradise, an atmospheric desert location, or a spiritual site half a world away — destination weddings are woven from a complex fabric of families, emotions, circumstances, travel and sometimes even exhaustion. In trying to juggle these elements, it’s essential to keep a clear head and, equally importantly, keep the process enjoyable for both you and your future guests. As basic as this may sound, the best way of achieving this is by simply being thoughtful. Thoughtful of your own desires and requirement of course, this is after all your special day, but thoughtful also of the time, effort and expense which will inevitably be experienced by those who care for you and wish to be part of your special occasion.

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Image by Joy Marie Photography  from Starr and Jacques’ Jewish destination wedding in Palm Beach

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Debbie & Eyal | A Jewish Turkish lovebird-themed wedding, filled with colour, at The HAC (Honourable Artillery Company), London, UK

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Jewish-wedding
It absolutely makes my day when I read that the couple who’s real wedding I’m putting together found their photographer via Smashing The Glass. That’s exactly what Debbie and Eyal did in order to discover the amazing Marianne Chua — and oh my goodness, aren’t Marianne images awesome?

Debbie and Eyal chose a really unusual theme… birds! They both adore our feathered friends so weaved them into their wedding stationery, their guestbooks, on top of their wedding cake, into their ‘nest’-style table centrepieces, and even as dancing props later on in the evening! Such an unexpected theme and so well-executed.

Not surprisingly with Debbie working in events, and Eyal being a theatre lighting designer, there’s a whole heap of personality and creativity flowing throughout the day. From the wedding logo of two birds, sketched by the bride, to their super fun wedding website, to the surprise song and dance performed by friends, to the highly personalised Jewish wedding ceremony punctuated by musical interludes, this W-Day is overflowing with individuality and character.

Debbie’s report is longer than average, there’s no denying it but it’s well worth an in-depth read. Perhaps gawp at the emotive imagery and then come back later for a proper sit down. I’ll admit that parts of Debbie’s report brought me to tears. It’s brilliantly written, straight from the heart, and she gives some of the best advice I’ve ever heard from a bride at the end of the post. An absolute must-read.

By pure coincidence, I also had the pleasure of meeting Debbie in the run-up to her wedding when I was giving a talk at Brides The Show last year. After the talk she came over for a chat to ask my advice on her big day. One of the things she wanted to know was how she could come up with an idea for a meaningful chuppah design. Well, without wanting to pat myself on the back, I must have said something right, as what Debbie and Eyal came up with couldn’t have been more perfect. It’s a great example of how your chuppah canopy can be one of the most meaningful and personal elements of your wedding day. I’ll let Debbie divulge the details — it’s so very special.

Oh, and the wedding film at the end of the post, by The Dreamcatchers is an absolute must-see too. So much love and happiness oozes out of it, I literally found myself gazing at it thinking how lucky I am to be able to watch this breathtaking film as part of my job. Don’t miss it!

Ok lovely Debbie, take it away…

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how we met

Debbie, the Bride: I was moving in with two friends, Alma and Shiri (my BridesMates!) who introduced me to Eyal. He helped us move into the flat actually. We were friends for a few months, and got together the day before he went off to South America for almost four months away. Timing! We thought we’d ‘pick up’ when he got back, but in fact we ended up Skype-ing, writing and essentially starting out as a couple. He returned in February 2013 and the rest was history.

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“My best Jewish wedding photo” by John Nassari

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A weekly Sunday 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  John Nassari.

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‘Energy’ by  John Nassari

It was so hard to choose my favourite Jewish wedding photo. My favourite picture always changes, depending on my mood, and also time. But I have chosen this one because it was from a very recent Jewish wedding and the party and Israeli dancing were  just magical.  I love the energy in this picture and perspective, I took it with a fish eye lens which exaggerated the wide angle distortion which I think really works in these sorts of contexts.

One of my favourites parts of this picture is that the perfect moment that the groom has been caught right in middle of the bright light. He has hit the ceiling and you can see his leg and hand on the ceiling! I love it that I am part of the photo, too. I was standing on the stage and there was a stage light behind me. My exaggerated, enormous shadow on the left makes me part of the scene. I love it that I hand held this without even looking through the viewfinder!”

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