Smashing the Glass | Jewish Wedding Blog

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Hanukkah 2021 Party With Smashing The Glass is happening TODAY!

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Hanukkah comes in this evening and it wouldn’t be the festive season without an EPIC Hanukkah party thrown by me for my community!

SAVE YOUR FREE SPACE AND GET YOUR FREE HANUKKAH SWAG BAG!

It’s going to be super FUN with live music from the legendary Jonny Mosesson, prizes, community, inclusivity, friendship, and candle lighting.

Almost 900 (YES NINE HUNDRED!) of you have already RSVP-ed that you’re coming so if you haven’t yet, what are you waiting for?!

Plus when you register you’ll get a free Hanukkah Swag Bag FILLED with *seven* fabulous festive treats:

  1. Hanukkah recipe cards
  2. 2022 Jewish calendar
  3. 3 x Zoom Hanukkah backgrounds
  4. Yiddish crossword (SO FUN!) 
  5. Hanukkah adult coloring in page
  6. Hanukkah Spotify Playlist
  7. Kvetch + Kvell list 

SAVE YOUR FREE SPACE AND GET YOUR HANUKKAH SWAG BAG!

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Jewish Newlywed Spotlight: Alexandra May

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Alexandra was a member of our Brides Club for Jewish and Jew-ish brides.

Inside Brides Club, I personally help you to minimize wedstress and overwhelm, and maximize your wedding budget. Oh – and every Brides Club member gets a free smash glass pouch (designed by me) for under the chuppah posted out to them too. Mazal Tov!

Come and join Brides Club too – for advice, discounts, community, sisterhood… and your sanity!

 

ABOUT ALEXANDRA

Where are you from? Belgium
What do you do for a living? I work in PR
How did you meet your partner? We met on a Jewish trip in Poland called March of the Living
When did you first know you were in love? When it was so painful to say goodbye after just a couple days of knowing each other on the last day of the trip (I had to go back to London, and him to Holland)
 
 

Hanukkah 2021 Party With Smashing The Glass {Sign Up Now – It’s FREE!}

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Deck the halls with matzah balls, I’m hosting a FREE Hanukkah 2021 party on Zoom this Sunday Nov 28 and you’re invited!

600+ of you have already RSVP-ed that you’re coming so if you haven’t yet, what are you waiting for?!

It’s going to be super FUN with live music from the legendary Jonny Mosesson, prizes, community, inclusivity, friendship, and candle lighting.

Plus when you register you’ll get a free Hanukkah Swag Bag FILLED with *seven* fabulous festive treats!

SAVE YOUR FREE SPACE AND GET YOUR HANUKKAH SWAG BAG!

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Facebook Live Recap: Jewish Wedding Checklist Essentials {with JScreen and FAB Styling}

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I’m delighted to share with you my latest Facebook Live, all about two elements that I think are absolute wedding planning essentials: finding a gown you feel great in, and genetic carrier screening.

Last month, I chatted with Hillary Kener Regelman, Director of National Outreach at JScreen, a US-based not-for-profit at-home education and carrier screening program for Jewish genetic diseases, and New York-based bridal stylist Farrah Arrenson of FAB Styling, who specializes in helping busy brides find the dress of their dreams, stress-free. These two topics – dress shopping and genetic screening – are the ones I get the most questions about from brides, so I thought it made sense to bring them together into one fabulous session!

Hillary and Farrah are both incredibly knowledgeable in their respective fields, and they both care so much about keeping couples happy – with Farrah focusing on the big day, and Hillary focusing on the years to come after you make it official. 

I’ll start by summing up some of the bridal fashion wisdom Farrah shared with us!

ABOUT FAB STYLING

FAB Styling‘s Farrah Arrenson is devoted to providing brides with a custom-tailored dress shopping experience so that they can find their dream gown with minimum stress. She brings her own Jewish background plus work experience at some of NYC’s leading bridal salons (including Kleinfeld – yes, she’s been on Say Yes to the Dress!) to the table, and her full-service approach carries through to the wedding day itself, when she’s on hand to tend to your every need, keeping you happy, calm, and photo-ready throughout. No one knows bridal fashion like Farrah does.

Wedding planning is overwhelming, but finding your dress shouldn’t be. 

What should every bride know about before she starts looking for her dress?

First of all, Farrah wants brides to know that there’s a dress for everyone! That said, in order to find it, it’s important to be open-minded: what you think you want isn’t always what you’re going to end up with (in fact, Farrah reports this is the case for a whopping 9 out of 10 of her clients!). So don’t pigeonhole yourself – you might be surprised what dress you’ll fall in love with! 

I also love Farrah’s advice, when considering what styles to try on, to focus on what you love about your body and how you can accentuate that, rather than on the things you don’t like as much.

Ultimately, Farrah says, wedding dress shopping should be fun! Don’t let it stress you out, and trust your instincts.

What bridal fashion trends are coming up for 2022/23?

Reporting live from bridal fashion week, Farrah could not have been better positioned to fill us in on what’s hot and what’s not! She reports that styles are fashion-forward this year, with emphasis on sharp lines; clean, striking silhouettes; and richly detailed fabrics. Farrah’s seeing lots of statement sleeves (and lots of detachable sleeves too – a great option for brides who need to cover up for the chuppah). Modest brides rejoice: high necklines are coming back! And for the edgier brides, crop tops and hi-lo hemlines are in. 

What’s in for chuppah cover-ups?

Farrah’s favorite chuppah cover-up of the moment is something she affectionately refers to as “the doughnut” (love the name!) -basically, tons of tulle wrapped around the bride’s shoulders to provide coverage. She’s also seeing boleros, shawls, fur stoles for winter weddings, and even white leather jackets! She reports that capes – which were having a serious moment a couple years back – are out (but if you love the look, don’t let that stop you! Your Jewish wedding, your way!).

Which designers are great for modest brides?

For brides looking for modest gowns, Farrah especially loves Designers: Sareh Nouri, Rita Vinieris, Ines Di Santo, and Anne Barge – both for their timelessly elegant styling, and the fact that all of them are great when it comes to customizations.

What are some awesome options for affordable bridal attire?

Farrah’s favorites for brides on a budget are BHLDN (Anthropologie’s bridal brand) and Net a Porter’s bridal section (yes, believe it or not, their bridal stuff’s surprisingly reasonably priced – and also a great choice for brides on a tight timeline). 

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Two Bevin Dillon Brides for a Laid-Back Jewish Wedding on the Beach at Las Terrazas Resort, Belize

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There’s so much to love about the chilled-out beachside Jewish wedding of beautiful brides Ashley, a beloved member of our Smashing Life Jewish community, and Amanda! Obviously the setting was second to none, and we love that the couple’s top priority in planning the day was making sure their 90 guests had a blast.

We’re obsessed with their gorgeous ceremony in the round (held right on the beach, naturally), which lent the proceedings an intimate feel and meant as many guests as possible got a front-row view. Ashley and Amanda walked down separate aisles, meeting in the center under the chuppah – love it!

Ashley and Amanda both work in the fashion industry, so naturally choosing their gowns was serious business. Ultimately, the opted to work with New York-based designer Bevin Dillon to have their dresses custom made – both choosing the same beaded champagne fabric to have two totally different, and totally gorgeous, designs made. Don’t miss them in the wonderful photos by Leonardo Melendez!

We also love the pair’s approach to our favorite Jewish wedding tradition, smashing the glass! Both Ashley and Amanda were apprehensive about trying to break a glass with their heels on the sand, so instead they opted to do the smashing with hammers, festively wrapped in blue ribbon! Other things we can’t get enough of: the couple’s modern marble geometric ketubah from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Ink with Intent, and the fact that the duo opted to highlight Ashley’s late mother’s favorite flowers – bougainvillea and orchids. How beautiful?!

Now over to Ashley…


How we Met

Ashley, the bride: Amanda and I are both in the fashion industry in Los Angeles. At the time we were both sales managers for different fashion brands and they were represented by the same showroom in Atlanta. We were at a fashion trade show in Atlanta and Amanda hit on me with an awkward pickup line that I rebuffed because I was in a relationship, but I was secretly intrigued.

We chatted a bit that night before she had to catch a flight back to LA and then we followed each other on social media. We ran into each other a couple years later at another fashion trade show in Dallas and could no longer ignore the obvious spark that was there. We’ve been inseparable since. Continue ReadingContinue Reading