Smashing the Glass | Jewish Wedding Blog

Inspired Jewish Weddings

The legal requirements of a Jewish wedding ceremony in the UK

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Granted  it’s  not the most exciting of topics, but one that definitely needs addressing, so thank you, Emily, for highlighting it! I asked  Emily  to provide me with an exact list of questions that she wanted answering and  then called upon the expertise of STG regular, the wonderful Rabbi Paul Glantz  to  shed light on the the legal requirements of a Jewish wedding ceremony in England, and the UK.

For any American readers, or brides holding  a  destination Jewish wedding in the USA, a post detailing  the legal requirements of a Jewish wedding in the USA will be up on the blog in he coming weeks  too.

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Deborah & Hernan’s  Jewish wedding in a farmhouse.  See the full wedding here :: Image by York Place Studios

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Liora & David | Italian Jewish wedding at the Great Synagogue of Rome and Villa Miani, Rome, Italy

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Liora and David met through their parents, when David’s family invited Liora and her family over for Friday night dinner. That sabbath meal led to romance and an even more romantic wedding in Italy.

The magical city of Rome provided the inspiration for Liora and David’s chic destination wedding and there are some really wonderful touches. Take the Italian vespa for their wedding transport, a smorgasbord of Italian desserts instead of wedding cake (hello, lashings of tiramisu), and the choir of the Great Synagogue of Rome providing the music for their ceremony. Oh my!

Mr STG and I traveled to Italy for our honeymoon and it really is one of the most gorgeous places on earth. The landscape, the buildings — what an amazing place to be married. Liora and David held their ceremony at the breathtaking Great Synagogue of Rome followed by a BIG party at Villa Miani with breathtaking 360 ° views over the Rome skyline(and can we all just take a moment to appreciate their entrance song — the super fun A Far l’Amore featured in Paolo Sorrentino’s movie, The Great Beauty, set in Rome).

The whole affair was beautifully planned by our much loved Smashing Supplier, Stefania Zen from the Italian Wedding Company. Liora says that Stefania was literally her right arm throughout the planning process, and knowing how wonderful the Italian Wedding Company are, I can very much vouch for that. Big thanks also to Vinicio Ferri and Alessandro Zingone for the wonderful photos.

Come on, let’s take a look…

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“My best Jewish wedding photo” by Jonas Seaman

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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 Jonas Seaman.

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‘Portrait Walk’ by  Jonas Seaman

I love this photo from Misti & Asaf’s wedding in Los Angeles, California. There was so much about this wedding that made it special. First off, it was a backyard wedding which right off the bat I love. I love the more intimate ceremonies. The fact that everyone is there for something special, but the atmosphere is more relaxed. People feel more “at home” because they are! Also, Misty and Asaf’s style is right up my alley. From the Eames rocking chair in their living room to the ruby slippers Misti wore with her wedding gown, their wedding was just begging to be photographed. And, their personalities and friendship from our first meeting together pretty much stole my heart.

This photo was taken just after sunset. I took them from their reception for a quick portrait walk around their neighborhood. Just as we had lost all our available light, I though it might be cool to get this silhouette among the power lines. I was shooting with a long lens which meant I was laying down on the pavement about half a block away from them to take this shot. The thing is, the street was moderately busy at that moment. We had to wait for cars to go by, and then when there was a reprieve, we jumped into the middle of the street for the shot. Misti and Asaf were so excited with the music of their reception making a dull bass thump in the distance. They started dancing there in the street. I snapped this one quickly before the next car came to clear us out.

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Chitter Chatter with Rose Murphy, Owner and Creative Director at Rose & Ruby Paper Co.

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Chitter Chatter  is a  series I’m running all about  inspirational women in the wedding industry whom  I greatly admire. These women successfully combine  running their own business with married life and, in a lot of cases, raising a young family.  The ‘Chitter Chatter’  twist is is they have to answer my questions  in just 140 characters or less….

Today I have the absolute pleasure of chitter chattering  to the beautiful Rose Murphy, owner and creative director at Rose & Ruby Paper Co,  the  award winning luxury British design studio. Rose creates  exquisite  stationery  for weddings and beyond, and she  also specialises in working with fellow creative entrepreneurs on branding their businesses and making everything beautiful. I first met Rose, and discovered her beautiful work, at Paperfest,  a London festival that celebrates creative, independent entrepreneurs.

Rose lives in Devon with her husband Brendan and dog Willa, and they’ve  just moved into a beautiful Victorian house which they’re  currently renovating to create their dream home.

What was  your first job?

Head of Design for a start up fashion company when I was 17. I was completely thrown right in at the deep end and the learning curve was invaluable.

Tell me more about your career before launching  Rose and Ruby

I worked as a fashion designer for various different companies, and then I set up my own company freelancing.

What made you start Rose and Ruby?

It was time for a change from fashion and I realised after designing wedding stationery as a little side project that working with brides was a lot lovelier than the relentless and stringent deadlines and often quite “challenging” characters in the fashion industry!

Rose & Ruby
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How to embrace being pregnant on your wedding day

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SmashingTheGlass.com’s founder, Karen Cinnamon, 13 weeks pregnant on her wedding day by  Earthy Photography

Karen Cinnamon, STG’s founder, was pregnant on her wedding day and looked absolutely stunning. If you too will be pregnant on your day, you need not fret. Read on about why you should embrace your little miracle, and some words of advice to ensure that your pregnancy only adds to the magnificence of your day..

The tiny second line on the stick you just peed on is the greatest thing you’ve ever seen. At this point you may or may not know it, but you have been blessed. What is happening inside you is so much bigger than any wedding, so much more beautiful than your dream dress, so much more precious than the ring on your finger. Like Woody Allen said, “if you want to make G-d  laugh, tell him your plans.” I am here to tell you that when G-d  tells you your plans — via a tiny plastic stick — it’s no laughing matter.

My most important piece of advice is not to let old-fashioned, subjective values ruin your excitement. The modern bride lives in a world where premarital sex is commonplace, and having children before marriage no longer carries the same stigma it once did. While religious considerations are valid, what is most important are the values you and your fiancà© share. This day is about the two of you, after all.

When women fall pregnant (before their wedding or after) some wait until the end of the first trimester to spread the news. Others wait till after the nuchal translucency test,  or the 12 week  scan. Regardless, it’s hard not to gush. Especially when you are at your hen  party and the number of toasts  or I-made-this-drink-just-for-you’s is endless.

Tell someone

You need a friend, a wing-woman,  at the hen  party and the wedding, to swoop in and replace your drink with a glass of cranberry juice. My sister-in-law was mine. She’d always make sure I was holding a colourful drink so that I was simply unable to take another. At the wedding, when she saw me holding a shot, she “accidentally” danced her way over, smashing the shot glass across the room. (Good save, but that shot glass was filled with water).

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Images: pregnant celebrity brides (left) Aleisha Keys, and (right) Lily Allen

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