Smashing the Glass | Jewish Wedding Blog - Page 390 of 410

I’d love you to nominate Smashing The Glass in the 2014 Wedding Blog Awards!

17/06/2014 by Karen

Yes that’s me up there, holding up a Wedding Blog Award, montaged over Halle Berry winning an Oscar. I was going to montage myself over Gwynnie with her Oscar and make a joke about teary speeches, but her flat chest and pale skin were never going to match my features, so Halle will do nicely. I’ve always wanted a Bond girl’s body so that’s one wish already come true!

But I digress… the wish I’m really after is to win the Best Newcomer category in Wedding magazine’s highly regarded Wedding Blog Awards. I’ve been working hard on Smashing The Glass for exactly a year now and I started it just after my wedding when I realised that there wasn’t any one place that brought together creative ideas for out-of-the-ordinary Jewish (and Jew-ish!) W-days. It became — and still is — the UK’s only Jewish wedding blog, and the only blog worldwide focussing on original and unusual Jewish ‘I-Do’s’.

I’m super proud of the blog, and the reaction and overwhelming support I’ve received in this first year, and I’m so addicted to working on it that I wasn’t even able to keep away in the early days after I’d given birth to my baby daughter, Sacha late last year. Everyone would tell me “rest when the baby rests” but as I snuck into the bedroom, the laptop would come out from under the bed… I just couldn’t keep away from my other baby — my e-baby!

Now my darling daughter is 7 months old and I am able to spend much more time on the blog. So much so, that in a couple of weeks time I am relaunching the site with a rebrand and lots of new features including a greatly enhanced Smashing Suppliers section. I can’t wait!

But the heart and soul of SmashingTheGlass.com are the Real Jewish Weddings. It’s hard to pick a favourite but I have a very soft spot for this outrageously cool London Jewish wedding, this gorgeously-designed music themed wedding, this Wedstock-themed wedding featuring a bride who made her entire dress out of paper; this breathtaking ‘HinJew’ wedding at the Mandarin Oriental where the bride and groom intertwined their Indian and Jewish heritages incredibly beautifully; the New Years Eve fancy dress wedding held in an Arthouse cinema; the ’surprise’ brunch wedding for just 20 guests with the ceremony held on a street corner… I could go on and on! The common thread throughout these, and all STG weddings, is that they are as unique as the couples that planned them.

I also regularly post wedding planning articles and have blogged about everything from what are the best chuppah entrance songs, to tips for getting great wedding photography to how to incorporate ‘Jewish’ into a non-Jewish or interfaith wedding, and of course lots more. I love helping my readers plan their weddings whether it be through the real weddings, inspiration and ideas that I publish or the advice that I write, and if you enjoy reading STG I would be so honoured and thrilled to have your nomination. VOTE HERE or click on the logo button below. (The ‘Best Wedding Blog Newcomer’ category is second from the bottom.)

Thank you. I’d be so very delighted to genuinely hold that award up high after Thursday 26th June when nominations close!

Tali & Dan | ‘Gin in teacups’ 1920’s Jewish Wedding at Heatherden Hall, Pinewood Studios, Buckinghamshire, UK

16/06/2014 by Karen

Blake Ezra, one of our Smashing Suppliers, always captures bucket loads of love and emotion in his wonderful photography, and this is most definitely true of Tali and Dan’s big day which I’m beyond excited to be featuring on the blog today.

This stylish pair were married at Heatherden Hall at the legendary Pinewood Studios, just outside London, and this has got to be one of the most iconic wedding venues to have yet graced the pages of STG. Pinewood has been home to many productions over the years from huge blockbuster films to television shows, commercials and pop promos but is most famous as the home of the Carry On, Superman, James Bond and Harry Potter film series. What a perfect venue for film buffs!

Despite the fantastically cool venue, this wedding is all about the people — you can see joy in every singe image, and Blake Ezra tells me that, “there was a massive emphasis on friends throughout the day with their big crowd of amazing mates getting involved in all aspects of the ceremony, music and general entertainment.”

You can really see the fun factor complete with comedy DJs, barber shop routines, drum circles, dancing, a fire show (and a very moving ceremony) in the wedding film by the uber-talented Charlotte Armitage right at the end of the post.

Tali’s bridal style is to die for… I am expecting plenty of pinterest action for her vintage dress which incidentally was made entirely out of sustainable and ecological fabrics.

And lastly I must mention that Dan, who is a journalist, recorded a message to Tali from Boris Johnson as part of his speech (see 10:38 in the film at the bottom of the post). I’m a big Boris fan — that’s immense!

So come and have a look at this gorgeous ‘I Do’ jointly narrated by the bride and groom.

VENUE
Tali, the Bride, and Dan, the Groom: Tali and I chose to get married at Pinewood Studios in Gerard’s Cross. We wanted a ‘London’ wedding so it was accessible for elderly family and all our friends, and Pinewood had indoor and outdoor space, was very cool, and they allowed us to do whatever we wanted.

Now THIS is how you break the glass at your Jewish wedding!

15/06/2014 by Karen

A guide to the Jewish Wedding Ceremony and Order of Service under the chuppah

09/06/2014 by Karen

Good question! Many wonderful traditions come together in a Jewish wedding ceremony and each one symbolises the beauty of the relationship of a husband and wife, as well as their obligations to each other and the Jewish people. Here’s my guide to everything you need to know – for more guidance and inspiration, be sure to sign up for Brides Club, our ultra-informative, always supportive members-only space for Jewish and Jew-ish brides.

Dvorit and Ollie‘s Jewish wedding | Photo by Claudine Hartzel

1. Signing of the Ketubah
To start with we have two short, but very important, rituals. The first is the signing of the ketubah. The ketubah is an ancient document — a marriage contract of sorts — that specifies the groom’s commitments to the bride. It is signed by two appointed Jewish witnesses, who must not be blood-related family members to the bride and groom.

Ketubot are often beautiful pieces of artwork that can be framed and displayed in the home.

Lucy and Joel‘s Jewish wedding | Photo by Kate Swerdlow Photography

2. Badeken
The second is called the badeken and it happens straight after the ketubah signing. It’s a short but meaningful ritual where the groom covers the bride’s face with her veil. It’s a custom that derives from the biblical account of Jacob’s first marriage, when he was deceived to marry the heavily veiled Leah instead of Rachel, his intended bride. I’ve heard that some egalitarian couples are now balancing this tradition by having the bride place a kippah (yarmulke) on her bridegroom’s head too!

The badeken is often emotionally charged as the bride and groom may not have seen each other for 24 hours or longer (as much as 7 days) until this moment.

Esther and Yoni‘s Jewish wedding | Photo by Ben Kelmer

3. Chuppah
Now it’s time for the wedding party to enter the main ceremony area where all the guests are seated. They make their way towards the focal point of the ceremony – a canopy held up by four poles known as the the chuppah.

The chuppah represents the shelter and privacy of the home that the bride and groom will create following their marriage. The home is central in Jewish life — it is the place where we grow up, learn to share and love, and from which we also secure our independence. You will see that the bride and groom stand at the centre of it, and the walls are formed by those closest to them. Just as the walls of our home protect us from the elements, offering warmth and security, so too the ‘walls’ of the chuppah — that is our families and friends — provide support and strength with their love.

The bride follows the groom towards the chuppah, and both are usually escorted by their respective sets of parents.

The custom of the bride circling the bridegroom seven times has been interpreted as the symbolic building of a wall of love around the relationship of the bride and groom. Seven represents the most sacred of all numbers in Judaism and also symbolises the wholeness and completeness that they cannot attain separately.

Again, some more modern couples choose to update this ritual by circling around each other three times and then a final figure of eight. Chelm and Jake did this in their fabulously personal Jewish wedding. For more ideas on how to personalize Jewish wedding traditions, download our guide to the top 9 Jewish wedding traditions and ways to personalize them.

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My interview with Nicki Macfarlane, the Royal Wedding bridesmaid dress designer

05/06/2014 by Karen

[ Image: Hugo Burnand ]

Nicki Macfarlane is best known for designing the fairytale bridesmaid and flower girl dresses for that wedding. Yes the W-day of the century, that of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. She’s also the woman behind Poppy Delevigne’s flower girl and page boy creations from her wedding last week to James Cook, as well as a whole host of other fabulous society and celebrity weddings.

I met Nicki a couple of months ago when I was also fortunate enough to see her exquisite designs up close and personal. Since then I’ve quizzed her about how she was chosen for Kate and William’s big day, how she developed her business from zero to 60 (pretty much immediately!) and how she lets off steam…