Smashing the Glass | Jewish Wedding Blog

Inspired Jewish Weddings

Ruth & Steven | An ‘English afternoon tea garden party’ daytime Jewish wedding in Israel

by

 english-garden-party-wedding
I absolutely adore the sunshine and fun factor of Israeli weddings but they very rarely incorporate quintessentially British traditions like afternoon tea and scones, finger sandwiches, croquet, and (well it’s not quite an english tradition, but) a barbershop quartet!

Ruth and Steven’s phenomenally different Israeli wedding contained all of these lovely ideas and more. In fact, the barbershop singing comes courtesy of the groom who not only sang his bride down the aisle, he also proposed to her with a song he composed and arranged with his barbershop quartet. You must make time to watch it — Steven’s proposal to Ruth is one of the best I’ve seen in a LONG time!

Ruth and Steven’s entire wedding is full of fun-filled, warm, homely details which you will want to replicate. I particularly love the ’round’ chuppah – something I’ve never seen before – and the ketubah, designed and created by Steven’s mother, who picked and dried all the flowers from close to where the couple live to create the most exquisitely beautiful ketubah.

Ruth is a Smashing The Glass reader and she told me that the STG pages were a massive source of inspiration during her planning process. So now, Ruth is here to ‘pay it forward’.

Let’s join the party and enjoy not only her story, but all of the beautiful images from the very talented Dima Vazinovich, together with the heart-warming wedding film at the end of the post by the wonderful Tzachi Asher.

English afternoon tea garden party
how we met

Ruth, the Bride: Long story short, we met through friends – but when Steven came into my flat (brought by said friend) and saw my 3,000 piece puzzle and sat down and immediately found pieces to fit, I had to know more! To say love at first sight is a bit much but definitely intrigued…

Continue ReadingContinue Reading

The 10 most romantic restaurants in the world that I’ve been lucky enough to dine at

by

Most-romantic-restaurants-in-the-world
I’ll be honest, I’m a soppy romantic, but as much as  I love  Valentine’s Day (even though  of course  it’s a commercial gimmick), the whole manufactured element really isn’t my thing. Although  I do take great pleasure in buying creative  gifts and making  little homemade  surprises for Mr STG on Vally Day (and this year we are celebrating with a cheese fondue at home!) as a concept, it doesn’t sit comfortably with me to promote on the blog.

Personally,  I prefer my love and romance year-round, expressed in small ways daily, and surprising ways unexpectedly. But that’s just me, and I knew I couldn’t get away with ignoring Valentine’s Day, of all things, on a wedding blog. So I’ve decided to tell you about the top 10 most romantic restaurants in the world that I’ve had the pleasure of dining  at together with Mr STG, but do note, that  not one of these dinner dates fell  on Valentine’s Day!

I’m afraid I don’t have pictures of myself and Mr STG eating at all  of these restaurants as we were most probably  too busy enjoying the experience…but I’ve posted the ones that  we did take!

The restaurants are listed in the chronological order that Mr STG and I dined  at them.

I’d love to hear your recommendations too – tell me, what’s the most romantic restaurant in the world that you’ve ever dined at?

1. Meeru Island restaurant, The Maldives

Mr STG and I took our first ever holiday together in The Maldives  in December  2011. Meeru combines everything that the Maldives is famous for; gorgeous sun, expansive sparkling seas, an unbelievably relaxing vibe, and white sandy beaches. Needless to say we had a thoroughly good  time, and felt on top of the world  spending every evening sitting right by the water,  dining on the freshest fish, seafood, and steak. What we loved most about this restaurant was it’s casualness – Mr STG dined barefoot every evening! Whereas I could dress up or down according to how I felt. We had a truly magical time at Meeru, and have the most amazing memories of our time there.

Maldives Meeru
Top: Mr STG and I just before dinner one night :: Bottom: A  typical scene at Meeru

Continue ReadingContinue Reading

Emma & David | Elegant tropical garden Jewish wedding at Boca Raton Resort & Club, Boca Raton, Florida, USA

by

Garden-Jewish-wedding
Emma and David’s big day is absolutely exquisite, and for a summery garden wedding I don’t think you can beat their beautiful colour scheme and all their ‘beachy’ touches. I’m talking Emma’s starfish-topped heels, the elegant palm-patterned wedding stationery, the pretty florals with an almost coral reef-like feel, and  the cutest kissing flamingoes cake topper!

Emma’s wise words at the end are nothing short of perfect, reminding us all of the most important things in wedding planning and your lives together thereafter. But never mind that — check out their multi-coloured sprinkles covered cake. O.M.G!

I must also mention that our beautiful bride tragically lost her grandma very suddenly on the morning of her wedding. It must have been unbelievably difficult to genuinely celebrate the day, but these two managed to come through, and their rabbi sensitively incorporated the heartache into their wedding ceremony (which incidentally took place beneath one of the most beautiful chuppahs I’ve ever seen on Smashing The Glass).

Justin DeMutiis has taken some amazing shots that perfectly illustrate Emma’s tale of her big day with David…

Elegant garden Jewish weddingElegant garden Jewish wedding
Continue ReadingContinue Reading

The ultimate ‘Smashing The Glass’ Save The Date design!

by

One of my readers, Alon, and his fiancà©e, Sharon, sent in their Save The Date design to me and I just had to share it…

breaking-the-glass-save-the-date
Alon told me. “We wanted an original and funny Save The Date, and the idea of me practicing smashing the glass just came up! We took the photo in my parents’ garden, and my younger brother and sister helped with wrapping the glasses and taking the picture.”

“When we posted it on Facebook we got amazing reactions from friends and family! Everybody laughed and said it was the best  Save The Date they’d ever seen! It was a lot of fun taking the pictures and we loved getting those great reactions….”

Thank you for sending this my way Alon. I’m a big fan of it too! What about you lovely readers – did you do something fun for your Save The Date? Tell me all about it…

Epic wedding photography guaranteed

by

John-Nassari
Whenever  John Nassari gets behind the lens, true wedding magic ensues. The phenomenal UK-based photographer uses his  keen artistic eye, and editorial background, to capture the character and personality of his  couples, creating extraordinarily striking, truly timeless photos.

His  work really speaks for itself. I could tell you all about how he is an  internationally recognised, award-winning, insanely talented photographer. Or maybe I could mention his  passion and ability for capturing weddings in a unique and pioneering  way. All of that is 100% true but none of it tells you nearly as much as you’ll learn from looking  at his imagery.

John NassariJohn Nassari
Continue ReadingContinue Reading