Smashing the Glass | Jewish Wedding Blog

Inspired Jewish Weddings

Kim & Shay | 1920’s Inspired Israeli Wedding at Citrus, Even Yehuda, Israel

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Israeli Wedding at Citrus Even Yehuda Israel 16Today’s uber-stylish bride, Kim, was born in New Zealand to a non- Jewish family but has lived in Israel for the last 20 years. Kim says that she wanted to take the plunge and convert to Judaism for many years but never found the right time.

So a few years ago, having dated her then-boyfriend, Shay, for three years, they decided that they wanted to get married and that it was the right time for Kim to convert. She studied and converted at Beit Daniel in Tel Aviv and officially became Jewish in May 2011.

Being a wedding planner and designer Kim had a blast planning things. “Finally I could do things exactly how I wanted – the only problem was making up m mind – I have too many ideas!” Let’s see what she chose to do…
Israeli Wedding at Citrus Even Yehuda Israel 44
VENUE + THEME
Kim, The Bride: We got married at Citrus in Even Yehuda, Israel. I wanted a classic wedding and loving the 1920’s, I adored the way the venue was decorated in an elegant soft way that complimented the whole vision that I had for the day. We also chose this venue because it was new and I had never done a wedding there. I wanted something fresh – I have been in the wedding industry for over 10 years now and done weddings in so many venues I wanted it to feel special for me and really different.

It was a classic yet modern type of an affair and the decor included a lot of pot plants that created a softer natural look (and became great giveaways at the end of the night).
Israeli Wedding at Citrus Even Yehuda Israel 371920s Jewish Theme Wedding 1
A 1920s STYLED DRESS
My mother made my dress from a soft lycra type material with pearl button holes and a lace belt. I envisioned something simple and classic and I had seen a similar dress similar on a bride that I had worked with years before but I couldn’t find it anywhere. Lucky for me I could call upon my mother make it and I ended up with the perfect 1920’s styled dress! I matched a short net veil to the dress, and wore my grandmothers pearls to complete the look.

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What happens when a Rabbi and a Priest officiate as a duo for a Jew-ish wedding ceremony? Something very special…

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Priest Rabbi Jewish Wedding[Image: Alison Conklin Photography]

Jon from NewYorkFilmWorks recently contacted me to share one of his favourite wedding films from 2013: the Jew-ish wedding of Rachel and Rich.

Jon from NewYorkFilmWorks: This wedding had such a feel-good energy; it’s funny, it’s uplifting and you can feel how much they love each other. It’s really interesting because it was officiated by the best duo I’ve ever seen at a wedding: a Monseigneur (Priest, essentially) and a Rabbi – these guys KILLED it.

Rachel, the bride, lost her father, Jerry, a few years ago – the Monseignor touched upon that and mentioned how beautiful and sunny the day was (I remember that week was rainy and even on their day the forecast was for rain all day).

Rachel and Rich are very caring and loving to each other and close to their family. The final three shots of the film are his mum, her mum and the sky – signifying her father in heaven – all three watching and taking part in their union as they signed the ketubah (that’s the last sequence of the highlights as the music starts to wind down). After all the feel good energy of the rest of the highlights, I aimed to guide the viewer through a reflective and touching moment to end with.

https://vimeo.com/59336244

Thank you for sharing this with us Jon. It’s a total must-watch for a heart-melting Monday feeling.

Film — Jon Armendariz | NewYorkFilmworks
Venue — The Brownstone, New Jersey, USA
Photography — Alison Conklin

My interview with Louise Beukes, wedding blogger and top UK wedding stylist

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Louise bloved - Image Anneli Marinovich Photography
[image:  Anneli Marinovich Photography]

Continuing with ‘The Wedding Smashers‘ series where I interview some of the best in the business, today I’m delighted to be talking to Louise Beukes, one of the UK’s top wedding stylists and bloggers.

I was introduced to Louise when I first started blogging weddings, and Kate from Perfect Details wrote a guest post for Smashing The Glass mentioning Louise and her inspirational blog, b.loved weddings.

I immediately started following Louise on Twitter and we connected over all the social media spheres. She’s one of a handful of wedding experts who keep me up to date on all the latest trends, news, and W-day design themes, and I’m forever inspired by her innovative projects and creative prowess.

So let’s meet the lovely Louise!
Kate Spade Inspired Shoot
[images:  Anneli Marinovich Photography]

So Louise, what’s the ‘Louise Beukes’ story? How did you start your company and what’s happened between then and now?

The b.loved story began in March 2011, a month after my own wedding. After working for 10 years as an interior designer I loved the pretty aspects of planning my wedding, and was still reading 100’s of wedding blogs daily! I was approached by a blogger to feature my wedding, two weeks later my own blog was up and running ready to share our wedding story and to inspire other brides. I quickly discovered my niche in providing contemporary inspiration in a world of vintage weddings! Since then, b.loved has grown massively, with the b.team – a panel of wedding experts – joining the line up to share their experience and talents with our readers, and adding a wedding design & styling business to the brand.

How do you unearth inspiration and a create a theme for a couple who have no idea what their creative vision for their day is?

The first part of my process is getting to know the couple. We’ll meet up over drinks for a chat and I’ll ask lots of questions about them and their relationship. Simple things like where you like, what brand of clothing you wear, and where you go on holiday reveal so much about your personality — and I use this information to determine what I call their wedding ‘ brand’.
Retro Popcorn Shoot
[image:  Fiona Kelly photography]

Can you tell us about the process of starting b.loved?

I didn’t think about it too much! For someone who usually makes very considered choices, it was a bit of a leap-before-you-look decision. After two weeks of late nights, the blog was up and running. I’ve never looked back!

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Crystall & Ryan | Jewish/Greek Wedding at Brooklyn Botanic Garden, New York City, USA

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GREEK JEWISH WEDDING
A Greek and a Jewish wedding? Can it get much better than that?! Well in the case of this beauty, it does. Not only do we get the best of both cultures and traditions, it is literally oozing, hell, I’d even say *overflowing*, in style and creativity.

First off, Crystall and Ryan are one seriously hot couple. I’m talking hot with a capital ‘H’ guys, and I just know you’ll agree once you clap eyes on all the imagery below. Then there’s the fusion of the best Jewish and Greek traditions,  plus the theme of music running through all the festivities, and  on a fashion note, our lovely bride, Crystall wore not one but TWO fabulous dresses: a spectacular customised Oscar de la Renta for the ceremony, and a breathtaking Jenny Packham for the reception. I know — I must admit to being a teeny weeny bit green-eyed over this fact.

The backbone of Crystall and Ryan’s W-day is a certain symbolic willow tree in the Brooklyn Botanical Garden that was central in the early days of their relationship. The same tree went on to survive merciless Hurricane Sandy and the couple decided that this tree would form the framework of their chuppah.

I won’t delay you any further; let’s hear about this beautifully intertwined Jewish / Greek wedding day in the bride’s words. She infuses lots of lovely detail — you’ll feel as if you were right there at her wedding.
Jewish Greek Wedding at Brooklyn Botanical Garden New York 3

VENUE

Crystall, the Bride: The summer that Ryan and I met, we spent a perfect afternoon wandering the grounds of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.  It was the same day that Ryan moved from Manhattan to Brooklyn, closer to where I was.  We celebrated sitting under a large weeping willow tree, holding hands and completely in love. We had no way of knowing then that just 3 years later, we would be saying “I do” in that very spot in front of that same tree.

Very soon after getting engaged, we chose to marry in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, a place that means so much to us.  We wanted our guests to experience the sweeping 52-acre garden in an intimate way and truly be a part of the journey that led us full circle right back to that weeping willow tree.
Jewish Greek Wedding at Brooklyn Botanical Garden New York Getting readyJewish Greek Wedding at Brooklyn Botanical Garden New York Getting ready 2

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Juliana & Elie | Chic Jewish Winter Wedding at The Roosevelt Hotel, Manhattan, New York

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Roosevelt Hotel NYC wedding 4
Decadent, luxurious and hopelessly romantic, Juliana and Elie’s chic winter wedding held at the Roosevelt Hotel in Manhattan last February is utterly sumptuous.

Despite having a very traditional Jewish Orthodox Wedding, they still wanted to play around on the margins, and incorporate as many of their own details into their W-day as they could.

One of the creative elements I  love most is their invitations which Juliana designed herself. She incorporated the most delicious intertwined Hebrew calligraphy and combined it with an english font inspired by Elie’s favourite brand of scotch! Their invitation suite also included a map highlighting milestones in their relationship and had lots of lovely production finishes like a letterpress finish and a wax seal on each envelope.
Roosevelt Hotel NYC wedding exterior

I also love their idea of ‘donation’ favours where in place of traditional favours they made a contribution to a charity close to their hearts, and placed small notes at each plate with a picture of themselves, explaining the donation.

Juliana and Elie were  set up on a blind date by Juliana’s roommate, Rena, who had gone to high school with Elie. Rena thought that Elie might be a good person for Juliana to meet, and she was  evidently right! Let’s hear all about the couple’s special day from the lovely bride herself…
Roosevelt Hotel NYC wedding atmosphere
A GLAMOROUS VENUE
Juliana the Bride: Our wedding was at the The Roosevelt Hotel in New York City. Since our wedding was in February, we wanted the location to still be accessible in the event of inclement weather. We loved the Roosevelt as soon as we walked through it; it was the first of the many venues we’d looked at that we could actually envision ourselves getting married in. They had many distinct rooms available, and a fantastic balcony / hallway between the tish room and where the badeken was. Elie being danced down that hallway was one of my favourite moments of the wedding. As one of my friends remarked on her video of the badeken: “That was epic”.

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