Smashing the Glass | Jewish Wedding Blog

Inspired Jewish Weddings

Two Dancers’ Interfaith Jewish Wedding at Louland Falls, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA

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When two competitive dancers tie the knot, you know it’s going to be something special! Tori, a musical theatre performer, and Shawn, who works in financial planning, met on the ballroom dance team at the University of Utah, and though they now live in NYC, they decided to return to the state where they met for their interfaith Jewish wedding.

Needless to say, their wedding was quite the party – including an epic first dance that the bride and groom spent three months choreographing and perfecting!

As an interfaith couple – Tori is Jewish, while Shawn isn’t – the duo knew they wanted to plan a ceremony with traditional Jewish elements that would be accessible to all of their guests. They found the perfect ketubah from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Rachelle of The Delicate Brush, centered on a Tree of Life design with Hebrew on one side and English on the other. Tori and Shawn adored having their ketubah at the wedding, and they love it even more now that it’s on display in their home! Don’t miss it in the wonderful images by Courtney Blair Photography.

There’s so much else to say about this joyous wedding – how fun is it that the couple organized a photo scavenger hunt around the venue for guests, with pics of the bride and groom growing up?! – but we’ll let Tori take it from here…

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How We Met

Tori, the bride: Shawn and I met in 2013 on the ballroom dance team at the University of Utah during my freshman year of college! We never danced together on team because of our height difference, but we were drawn to each other. We started dating, got engaged in 2019, and now here we are married!Continue ReadingContinue Reading

A Galia Lahav Bride for a Multicultural Korean Jewish Wedding at Villa Nona, Caesarea, Israel

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Today’s wedding is an absolute knockout, in every single way. Diana and Jonathan planned a wedding that perfectly fused Jonathan’s Jewish Israeli identity with Diana’s Korean American background – in addition to being impeccably stylish.

Diana and Jonathan live in Seattle and opted to get married in Israel, where Jonathan’s family is. At first, Diana thought she could handle international wedding planning just fine on her own, but eventually she realized between the language barrier, time difference, and cultural differences she could use some help. Enter the couple’s fabulous wedding planner, Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Yael Kfir Frumkes. After a friend introduced Diana and Jonathan to her, they knew they needed her on their team. In Diana’s words, Once we started working with Yael, she fully understood my inspiration and helped us navigate our way through finding the perfect vendors to execute our vision.”

This vision included not only a sophisticated neutral palette inspired by venue Villa Nona’s romantic Mediterranean vibes, but also a mix of Jewish and Korean traditions. Diana and Jonathan planned a unique chuppah ceremony tailored to fit their style, and followed it up with a traditional Korean Pyebaek ceremony. Pulling it off in Israel wasn’t easy, but thanks to Yael Kfir Frumkes and some of the couple’s other fabulous vendors and helpful friends, it all came together. Don’t miss this very special part of the day in the exquisite photos by Shai Ashkenazi and wonderful video from Nir Tenenbaum.

We are thoroughly obsessed with this wedding, from start to finish – and we haven’t even mentioned Diana’s Galia Lahav gown yet! We’ll let the bride take it from here…

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How We Met

Diana, the bride: Jonathan was born and raised in Tel Aviv, Israel but moved to Vegas over a decade ago. We met while he was living there and I was living in Seattle. We dated long distance for several years then I made the move to Vegas in late 2019, right before COVID hit. We got engaged on my birthday in 2021, and decided to move back to Washington together.Continue ReadingContinue Reading

An Interfaith Jewish Wedding with Tons of Personal Touches at West London Synagogue, London, UK

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Get ready for a fabulous interfaith Jewish wedding! We love everything about the way Nicole, a client manager for a technology company, and Pedro, a data analyst, built their relationship with Judaism as a couple, and how that shaped their plans for the big day.

When Nicole, who’s Jewish, got together with Pedro, who isn’t, she knew she’d need to find an open-minded and inclusive Jewish community that would welcome the two of them as a couple. She found exactly that in West London Synagogue, where the couple attended classes and an interfaith marriage workshop together, in addition to celebrating Shabbats and holidays.

Given the important role West London Synagogue plays in the couple’s lives – not to mention the fact that it’s absolutely stunning – getting married there was a no-brainer. We love the personal significance of the venue – as well as the other wonderful personal touches Nicole and Pedro included, like having Pedro’s sister hand paint their ketubah, and assigning close friends to give them original blessings rather than the traditional sheva brachot.

The day was captured so beautifully by Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Claire Jonas, who not only captured the Jewish traditions fabulously but also took some knockout portraits of Nicole and Pedro on the streets of Marylebone. We’ll let Nicole take it from here…

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How We Met

Nicole, the bride: We are both Brazilians, and we met at a bar while we still lived in Rio, back in 2017. It’s a funny story actually – I was about to leave the bar because his friend was being too loud. On top of that, when he approached me he told me he was an airplane pilot, and I thought he was just showing off. But he was cute, and when he asked for my number I thought “why not? If I don’t want to speak with him, I don’t have to answer!”. Nevertheless, on his first message he actually apologized for his friend, so I ended replying – and here we are 6 years later! We currently live in London.Continue ReadingContinue Reading

Two Wedding Pros’ Jewish Wedding at Congregation B’nai Israel, Boca Raton, Florida, USA

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Beverly & Lane, B'nai Israel, Boca Raton, Florida,USA

We love seeing the choices wedding professionals make when it comes to planning their own Jewish weddings. And today’s is doubly a treat, because it features not one but two fabulous wedding pros: bride Beverly is a wedding planner and groom Lane is a floral designer at Dalsimer Atlas.

Given that they both work in the wedding industry, Beverly and Lane knew they wanted to do something a bit different than what they do for our clients. They decided to think outside the box by turning the traditional reception into a full-blown party with decor reminiscent of an Italian countryside with modern flair.

Needless to say, the floral design by the groom was especially fabulous, featuring abundant greenery, elegant foliage, white peonies, and plenty of candlelight. Lane also designed the couple’s uber-unique chuppah, with natural wood posts and tons of greenery and hanging calla lilies. Don’t miss it in the wonderful images from Munoz Photography and trailer by Senderey Video Productions!

When it came to choosing their ketubah, there was never any question for Beverly and Lane that they’d work with Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Nava Shoham at 1800ketubah.com. Nava customized her “Power of Love” ketubah for the duo, and they couldn’t be more thrilled with the result.

There’s so much more to say about this very special wedding – like, how stylish did Beverly look in her TWO fabulous bridal outfits, ceremony by Katy Corso and reception by Sasha Krasnova Design?! – but we’ll let the bride take it from here…

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Beverly, the bride: I’m a wedding planner and he’s a floral designer, so naturally we met doing what we both love to do. The Dalsimer Atlas Floral & Event Decorators showroom is where our love bloomed (literally). We create “happily ever afters” for everyone else and now we finally had our own. Continue ReadingContinue Reading

A Studio Ran Zuriel Bride for a Handmade and Homey Jewish Wedding Full of Personal Touches at Gayya, Hadera, Israel

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Maya & Lior, Gayya, Hadera, Israel

We love it when a couple plans a Jewish wedding that’s totally, completely them – and that’s exactly what Maya and Lior did when planning their fabulous wedding in Israel.

The couple’s top priority was to make their day feel homey and intimate, and it didn’t hurt that Maya is one of the craftsiest brides around. She took the lead on wonderful DIY touches from DIY glittery wedding sneakers (to match her custom sparkly gold gown designed by Studio Ran Zuriel) to a hand-crocheted bouquet of fabric flowers to custom massage balls the duo have out as wedding favors. Don’t miss all the details in the exquisite photos by Lior Rotstein and video by Oren Jacobson.

Given how artsy Maya is, she naturally wanted something extra special when it came to her ketubah. And she and Lior found exactly that in phenomenal Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Brit Colors. Lior chose the Purple Rings design and Maya came up with the idea of adding the couple’s names in shiny gold-leaf to maintain the wedding’s sparkly theme.

This day is chock full of so many more special details – read on for the full story in the couple’s own words…

Maya & Lior, Gayya, Hadera, Israel Maya & Lior, Gayya, Hadera, Israel  Maya & Lior, Gayya, Hadera, Israel
How We Met

Maya, the bride and Lior, the groom: We met in physical therapy school in 2015; today we are both physical therapists and Maya is getting her Masters in Public Health.Continue ReadingContinue Reading