Smashing the Glass | Jewish Wedding Blog

Inspired Jewish Weddings

A Galia Lahav Bride for a Relaxed Jewish Wedding with Party Vibes at the Wallace Collection, London, UK

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Today’s wedding is a special one for me to feature is it’s at the Wallace Collection where I got married!

And I love that when Daniella, a Lagree instructor, and Adam, who works in finance consulting, set out to plan their Jewish wedding, their top priority was for it to feel relaxed, like a big party.

And with the help of their amazing wedding planner, Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Elegante by Michelle J, the couple were able to make their big day at London’s Wallace Collection feel like exactly that! In Daniella’s words, Michelle “not only understood exactly what we wanted from our wedding but also managed to pull everything together in a very short time frame” – plus she helped make the less formal setup of the day (Daniella and Adam opted not to have a formal seated dinner and instead to have food stations and seating areas) flow perfectly.

Also key to those party vibes was the pair’s band, Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Totem. Daniella and Adam opted for their DJ live offering, which kept everyone on the dance floor until the very end! As evidenced by Paulo Santos stunning photography, a fabulous time was indeed had by all.

Oh, and did I mention Daniella’s Galia Lahav gown yet? Read on for full details about it, and so much more…

 

 

 

 


How we Met

Daniella, the bride: We met over six years ago both working on the same consulting project in Manchester and two years later we moved together out to Hong Kong where we live now.Continue ReadingContinue Reading

Sukkot Giveaway: Win Two Stunning Sukkah Prints by Yaeli Vogel

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To celebrate Sukkot we’ve teamed up with our fave Jewish artist Yaeli Vogel and her stunning new homeware brand Yoghm By Yaeli to give away two (yes TWO!) stunning sukkah prints.

Created just for Sukkot, Yaeli’s sukkah print posters come as high-quality prints on vinyl, durable for the outdoors and prepared with grommets for easy hanging. They’re available in stunning designs featuring scenic views of Jerusalem, lulavs and etrogs, luscious pomegranates, and so much more. The lucky winner will be able to choose their favorite two images – and we bet it won’t be an easy choice!

Yael is so talented and has such a delightful style – and we couldn’t be more thrilled about the launch of Yoghm By Yaeli!

How to Enter

To enter all you need to do is to like our Instagram post, leave a comment with your favorite thing about Sukkot, and tag a friend. Please note you must also follow @yourjewishlife, @yoghmbyyaeli, and @yaelivogel on Instagram to be eligible to win. 

The competition is open to anyone 18 and over, wherever you are in the world, so hop on over to Instagram and get your entry in before Wednesday October 12 at 5 PM EST!

A Sophia Tolli Bride for a Jewish Wedding Full of Feeling at the St Pancras Renaissance, London, UK

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We could not be more delighted to be featuring the fabulous London Jewish wedding of our Smashing The Glass Bride’s Club member Jessica! Jessica, who works in advertising, wed Harry, a solicitor, at the majestic St Pancras Renaissance and their big day was simply BEYOND!

Naturally, we were thrilled to hear that Jessica found some of her incredible vendors through Bride’s Club, including their sensational chazzan, Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Jonny Mosesson. In Jessica’s words, “He has the most beautiful voice and moved so many people to tears. He got people clapping along to sheva brachot and hearing his voice really calmed both of our nerves. For me, he took our ceremony to a whole other level.”

For their reception music, Jessica and Harry went with Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Ambassador Band, another rec from Bride’s Club. Jessica writes, “They performed beautiful acoustic sets while guests were eating, and bought the party for the dance sets in between courses and at the end of the night. The Israeli dancing set was also incredible with so much energy. They had everyone on their feet all night long and were better than we could have ever imagined.”

Even before she got engaged, Jessica knew she wanted Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Claudine Hartzel as her photographer – and unsurprisingly, she received another rave review from Jessica: “Claudine was everything we could have wanted in a photographer and more. She rolled with all the punches and kept us both really calm when a few hiccups happened. She really is the dream supplier and we hope to be able to work with her again in the future.”

There’s so much more to say about this wonderful wedding, but we’ll leave it to Jessica, who looked simply divine in  Sophia Tolli, to fill you in on the rest…

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HOW WE MET

Jessica, the bride: We met on JSwipe (as all modern Jewish love stories start) and started dating on 29 May 2016. It was then incredibly special to get married on our 6-year anniversary, on 29 May 2022.Continue ReadingContinue Reading

A Wed2B Bride for an Egalitarian Jewish Wedding at Kew Gardens, London, UK

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Anya and Soren, Kew Gardens, London, UK

We love it when a couple makes their values the center of their Jewish wedding. Which is exactly what Anya, who works at an international development NGO, and Søren, a PhD student and research assistant working on DNA repair, did in their gorgeous Kew Gardens wedding.

The couple’s egalitarian values were front and center in their ‘shutafut’ (partnership) ceremony — an egalitarian alternative to the traditional ‘kiddushin’ marriage service under the auspices of Masorti. Their rabbi rabbi helped them create a ‘shtar shutafut’ (partnership contract), also known as a ‘brit ahuvim’ (lovers’ covenant), for their ketubah text, where they mapped out their commitments to each other and values they wanted to focus on in their marriage – how special is that?!

We also love that Anya and Søren opted to work with a whole bunch of our beloved Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendors to make their dreams a reality. The duo chose #STGvendor Claudine Hartzel as their photographer for the way she beautifully captures candid moments, and they could not have been more thrilled with the results.

#STGvendor Dvash provided outstanding catering, meeting special dietary requirements with aplomb, and Anya and Søren report that guests are still raving about their favorite canapes!

#STGvendor Happy Chuppah People provided the couple’s birch chuppah – a perfect fit for the setting – and, continuing the botanical theme, and Anya and Søren found their exquisite Tree of Life ketubah via #STGvendor Ketubah.com.

There’s so much more to say about this very special Jewish wedding, but we’ll let the newlyweds take it from here…

Anya and Soren, Kew Gardens, London, UKAnya and Soren, Kew Gardens, London, UKAnya and Soren, Kew Gardens, London, UKAnya and Soren, Kew Gardens, London, UK
How we Met

Anya, the bride and Soren, the groom: We met through JSwipe in October 2016.Continue ReadingContinue Reading

A Colorful, Multicultural Colombian-Israeli Jewish Wedding with Garden Vibes at Bustan Abu Ghosh, Israel

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We are absolutely in love with today’s gorgeous multicultural Jewish wedding – not to mention the awesome globetrotting love story of Laura, who’s in business administration, and Daniel, a lawyer, whose relationship took them from Madrid to New York to Israel, where they now live!

Celebrating the merging of their two backgrounds – Laura originally hails from Colombia, while Daniel is Israeli – was the theme for this very special day, and the couple carried it through in everything from their flowers to their music to their ultra-personal ceremony to their venue: they chose to make it official at Bustan Abu Ghosh, which is not only stunning but also happens to be run by a Muslim owner who loves Jewish weddings! In the couple’s words, “We thought it would be fitting to exchange our vows in a place where two different religions and cultures came together to create something magical, as this was precisely what happened with our relationship.” How special is that?!

Laura and Daniel chose Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Ben Kelmer to document their big day – as an amateur photographer herself, Laura knew she wanted someone who could take natural, authentic photos capturing special moments in time. And no one does that better than Ben Kelmer!

There’s so much more to say about this fabulous wedding, but we’ll turn you over to the couple for the rest of the story…

How we Met

Laura, the bride and Daniel, the groom: We met in January 2018, the day we started our MBA at IE Business School in Madrid, Spain. From there, it took a while for us to formally become a couple. Laura was immensely scared of commitment due to previous experiences and did not come to the MBA with any plans to fall in love, let alone to be in a serious relationship. She was also very scared of getting involved with someone from a different religion (Laura is  Catholic and Daniel is Jewish). Laura  thought she would expose herself to being hurt if she fell in love with someone whose family might not accept her.

After we did get together, we applied and got accepted to Yale School of Management, for a dual degree program. We left Madrid together in August 2018 and graduated from Yale in May 2019. We then moved in together in New York City and got engaged in January 2020. We were planning to get married in October 2020, before COVID changed all of our plans… Continue ReadingContinue Reading