Smashing the Glass | Jewish Wedding Blog

Inspired Jewish Weddings

What Happened When I Spent a Day at a Top London Bridal Boutique

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Photo by Voyteck Photography

Mirror Mirror has long been one of my very favourite London bridal boutiques – from their fabulous range of handpicked designs to their bespoke service to their familiarity with all the ins and outs of Jewish weddings, there’s really no place like it. And it isn’t just me who thinks so – Mirror Mirror is a fan favourite with Smashing The Glass’s UK brides, and we’ve been privileged to feature many of their weddings right here on the blog. 

Photo by Voyteck Photography

Earlier this year, I was lucky enough to spend a day at Mirror Mirror living out the dream wedding dress shopping experience myself and filming some fun Reels about it – and everything was so fabulous, I truly wish I had occasion to get married all over again (to Mr. STG, of course!) just so I could take home one of their exquisite gowns for my very own. 

Photo by Voyteck Photography

If you have ever wondered what it’s like to wedding dress shop at THE go-to destination for London’s Jewish brides, I’m so thrilled to take you along with me – read on to check out the fab Reels I created with the Mirror Mirror team and to hear why Mirror Mirror’s truly got it all!

A Day in the Life

With an exceptional range of 8 international designers, showcasing styles from classic minimalism to soft boho vibes to super-glam opulent gowns, plus in-house alterations, accessories, stunning chuppah cover-ups and 34 years of excellence dressing brides and celebrities, Mirror Mirror is one of the very best boutiques for Jewish brides. 

Photo by Voyteck Photography

I’ve visited Mirror Mirror many times since founding Smashing The Glass, but this was the first time I’d had a chance to try on one of their lovely gowns.  From the warm welcome I received the moment I walked in, I couldn’t have felt more at home. 

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A Mika Bridal Bride for a Joyful Jewish Wedding in Blue at Citrus, Even Yehuda, Israel

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Keren and Raanan, Citrus Even Yehuda, Israel

Jewish weddings are all about the joy… and in today’s gorgeous feature, each and every image positively exudes emotion. Keren and Raanan, both currently studying Nutritional Science at Ariel University in Israel, kept their focus firmly on love and good vibes – and Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Herschel Gutman Photography captured it all so perfectly!

In Keren’s words, “After seeing Herschel’s work, we absolutely loved how he captures a couple, and how every detail in every picture is noticed. He has a very calming persona and is exactly who we wanted and needed around on this crazy day.” Doesn’t get much better than that!

There’s so much more to say about this wonderful wedding – like how Keren and Raanan kept the rain on their big day from getting to them, all the involvement from talented friends and family, and fun nods to the bride’s South African heritage – but we’ll turn you over to Keren for the rest…

Keren and Raanan, Citrus Even Yehuda, Israel Keren and Raanan, Citrus Even Yehuda, Israel
How We Met

Keren, the bride: We are both currently studying Nutritional Science at Ariel University. We started studying during Corona, so all our classes were on zoom. At the end of the first semester, a mutual friend who is also studying with us organised a small hangout of the English speakers in our degree and this is where we met. This hang out also happened to take place at my house. So whenever anybody asks where we met, the answer is “at my house.” Shortly after that we started hanging out and talking a lot more, until we started dating about 2 months later. 

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A Casablanca Bride for a Hanukkah Wonderland Jewish Wedding at the Hyatt Regency Downtown Boston, Massachusetts, USA

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There’s something so special about a Hanukkah wedding – and we’re obsessed with the way Brides Club member Jennie, a Ph.D. student at Cambridge, and Ben, a software developer for a financial firm, went all out incorporating the holiday vibes into their big day.

With their Jewish wedding falling on the first night of the Festival of Lights, Jennie and Ben opted for a full-on Hanukkah wonderland theme, and we are ALL about it. From the blue-tinged color scheme to the giant (5-foot!) menorah the pair lit at the start of dinner to the dreidels-and-gelt wedding favors, this wedding was chock full of wonderful festive touches. And we haven’t even gotten to the food yet – Jennie and Ben not only served delectable sufganiyot with their dessert; they also had a latke station with several different toppings at the end of the night! How fun is that?

Throughout her wedding planning, Jennie was a member of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club, and we’re so touched by her kind words about how the community “made the wedding planning process a whole lot easier, especially since I was planning everything from overseas. All of the checklists and resources really allowed us to think about what was important for us. It was also great to have a group of brides who were going through the same process as me or had already completed their weddings – they really helped us not sweat the small stuff. Everyone in Brides Club is so kind and supportive of each other!”

Jennie also found some of her wonderful vendors via Brides Club, including Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Talia C, who provided the couple’s smash glass and then made the shards into Shabbat candle sticks, and their fabulous ketubah designer, Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Ink with Intent. Jennie and Ben chose Ink with Intent’s custom night sky design, featuring the star map for their wedding date! Don’t miss it in the wonderful photos by Simi Rabinowitz.

There’s so much more to this wonderful wedding, but we’ll leave it to the bride to fill you in on the rest…

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How We Met

Jennie, the bride:  We live in London but we originally met back in 2016 in Boston, where we were both working at the time. Ben was the flatmate of one of my colleagues, who brought him to an after-work meet up one evening. We kept seeing each other at group hangouts for a few years after that, then slowly became friends and started seeing each other more and more. Our friendship very naturally grew into a romantic relationship over time. The friend who introduced us was our Best Man!Continue ReadingContinue Reading

A Mikaella Bride for a Very Southern Interfaith Jewish Wedding at Southern Oaks, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

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When Louisiana State University grads Rachael, a Social Media Manager for the Office of the Lieutenant Governor, and Cody, a Manager of a Sunbelt Rentals Power and HVAC Store, were ready to make things official, they knew they wanted their wedding to include some nods to the state where they met and fell in love.

From their choice of the oh-so-charming Southern Oaks in New Orleans as their wedding venue, a jazz band, and delectable Southern cuisine, this celebration was full of atmosphere – plus a few ultra-personal touches like a grooms cake made from mini bags of Spicy Doritos, complete with a specially designed bag featuring Cody’s name!

When it came to the Jew-ish ceremony, Rachael, who’s Jewish, and Cody, who’s Catholic, made sure they came up with something that worked for both of them. And it was actually Cody who found the couple’s beautiful ketubah by Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Nava Shoham. The couple picked her Tree of Life Infinity Ketubah, customized with text that fit their feelings for each other and the relationship. Don’t miss it in the wonderful images from Brenner Photography & Films!

Now over to Rachael, who looked ever so elegant in Mikaella…

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How We Met

Rachael and Cody met at LSU in early 2015 through mutual friends. Their friendship grew and eventually, they both invited each other to their sorority and fraternity events. What grew out of this friendship was a connection that laid the groundwork for a beautiful relationship soon to form.

Much of the time that Cody and Rachael dated, was spent long-distance. Cody was based in Houston, Mobile, and Puerto Rico due to his job. But their commitment was strong for four years of dating, until on July 12, 2020, when Cody proposed.

For the proposal, they drove up to Poplarville, Mississippi, where Rachael’s family farm is located. Rachael was told, that they were going to be taking family pictures on the farm. This is where she had her suspicions that it might be the BIG moment. So she secretly went out and bought a new dress for the special day. Cody had requested to make sure Rachael’s nails would be done for the proposal since this is something she told him she wanted so her mom helped get Rachael to a nail salon.

The Maas and Mitchell families arrived to set up a surprise celebration while Cody whisked Rachael away on a side-by-side into the fields overlooking the farm for a little bite to eat. He had a plan to purposely leave a small speaker in the side-by-side to ask Rachael to go back and get it. When she would turn around he would be on one knee. Instead, Rachael being the helpful person that she is, grabbed the speaker out of the side-by-side when they got out of the car and foiled his plan. They then set up a picnic blanket and fruit and talked for a while. At one point Cody turned to Rachael and asked the big question, “Will you marry me?” After Rachael said yes, they popped some champagne and celebrated!

They then headed back to celebrate with both of their families, who had helped set up a beautiful table of decorations and a huge lunch.Continue ReadingContinue Reading

A Stella York Bride for an Ultra-Personal Jewish Wedding at Marriott Regents Park, London, UK

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Georgia-Joel-Marriott-Regents-Park-London-UK

When Georgia, a Speech and Language Therapist for the NHS, and Joel, a Marketing and Communications Manager, set out to plan their ultra-personal London Jewish wedding, they knew they wanted to be able to enjoy the big day with their nearest and dearest stress-free.

And so they made what turned out to be one of their best wedding planning decisions: hiring with Victoria from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Linda Abrahams & Co for on-the-day coordination. Georgia and her mum planned most of the wedding themselves, and then, with 12 weeks to go, Victoria came on board. In Georgia’s words, she was “an absolute dream to work with” and took all the pressure off so the couple could enjoy the lead up to the wedding without worrying about logistics – not to mention the day itself!

And you can tell just what a wonderful time everyone had in the end from Smashing The Glass Recommended vendor Liam Smith’s wonderful documentary wedding photography. Georgia and Joel “have always felt that our favourite photos are the ones where we didn’t know they were being taken,” and Liam’s discreet style was the perfect fit, allowing him to capture ALL the love and emotion.

There’s so much more to say about this wonderful wedding, but we’ll let Georgia – who looked radiant in Stella York – take it from here…

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How We Met

Georgia, the bride: We met on our first day of university when we moved into Hillel House in Birmingham (the Jewish halls of residence). Joel asked me out on a date a few weeks later and we’ve been together ever since! It is actually a family tradition to meet your wife in Birmingham – as all three of Joel’s older brothers started dating their wives while attending university in Birmingham! Continue ReadingContinue Reading