Search Results for: ceremony

A Pronovias Bride for a Backyard Jewish Micro Wedding in Santa Barbara, California, USA

11/12/2020 by Karen Cinnamon

It’s a familiar story: Hailey, an attorney at a technology company, and Jeffrey, a management consultant, had planned a Labor Day weekend Jewish wedding at a historic Santa Barbara club, with a weekend’s worth of plans for their 150 guests flying in from all over the world.

That was pre-COVID. Once the pandemic hit, the couple made the decision to go forward with a 12-guest micro wedding on their original date, which the bride’s aunt and uncle generously hosted in their backyard. We’re obsessed with Hailey and Jeffrey’s cool copper chuppah adorned with greenery and white and pink blossoms – not to mention their beautifulblue and white paper cut ketubah was purchased from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Ketubah.com. Don’t miss Wedding Nature Photography’s gorgeous pics!

We also love the favors the pair put together for their guests, each containing a mask hand-sewn by the mother of the bride, a kippah, and a personalized embroidered handkerchief, plus a “Jeffrey and Hailey” granola blend.

And how sweet is it that the mother of the groom secretly reached out to the original guest list and asked them to submit a video with stories and well wishes?! She kept it all under wraps until the night before the wedding, when she surprised Hailey and Jeffrey with an incredibly touching video. Awwwww!

There’s so much more to say about this beautiful day, but we’ll leave the rest to Hailey, who looked stunning in her Pronovias dress (which she’d bough for the big bash, but happened to work perfectly for this intimate celebration)…

How we met

Hailey, the bride: We were matched on a dating app called Coffee Meets Bagel. After we met in person, we realized that we had one mutual friend in common: a Jewish matchmaker!

An Enzoani Bride for an Elegant Jewish Wedding at Warren Weir at Luton Hoo, UK

07/12/2020 by Karen Cinnamon

There’s not much that makes us happier than seeing a couple pull off the Jewish wedding of their dreams thanks to the work of some of our very favorite Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendors. So as you can imagine, the wedding of Smashing The Glass Brides Club member Natasha, a marketing manager, to Simon, a recruitment consultant, is giving us ALL the feels.

Natasha reports that she loved her time in Brides Club – in her words, “it was so great to know there was a group of other brides going through similar things that you could confide in, get advice from or just get support where needed” – and she also found two of her wonderful vendors through the group! Natasha and Simon’s toastmaster, Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Jango, is a firm favorite among Brides Club members, and true to form he kept everything running smoothly on the big day. And a recommendation via Brides Club led Natasha to Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Ann Louise Bridal, where she found her gorgeous Enzoani dress and veil! Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Alexandra’s Florist was responsible for the incredible floral chuppah, featuring an elegant mix of white hydrangeas, white roses, and greenery.

We’re also obsessed with the fact that Natasha and Simon opted to open their ceremony with a flashmob by the amazingly talented Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor XS Showband! What a fun surprise for the guests – and indeed, Natasha reports that people are still talking about it to this day!

This is truly a special wedding – be sure not to miss the emotion-packed photos by Chiko and trailer from AtMotion!

How we met

Natasha, the bride: We were set up by Simon’s sister. I became friends with her through some mutual friends and she always said that she wanted to set us up. Simon was living in Manchester at the time and one day we arranged to go on a blind date at Dim T in Hampstead. As the say, the rest is history…

A Magical Rustic Jewish Micro Wedding in the Forest at San Moritz Lodge, Crestline, California, USA

04/12/2020 by Karen Cinnamon

We are beyond thrilled to be featuring the incredibly gorgeous wedding of our beloved Brides Club member Ashley to Jeff! These two nature loving attorneys dreamed of making it official in the middle of a forest – and they found the perfect spot in San Moritz Lodge, two hours east of their home in Los Angeles.

Then came the pandemic. Ashley and Jeff knew they wanted to get married on their original date, whatever it took, and while the wedding they had looked very different from the one they’d planned initially – they had to cut their indoor reception and catering, in addition to a vastly reduced guest list – it was totally and completely exquisite nonetheless. Karissa Breann Photography’s dreamy images absolutely blow us away.

We’re so touched to hear that that this wedding’s success was in part due to the incredible support and inspiration Ashley received as a member of Smashing the Glass’s Brides Club, which she joined just a month before her big day hoping for help dealing with the stress of planning a wedding during the pandemic. And, in her words,

Once I experienced the overwhelming support of the community and took advantage of the resources, I wondered why I had not joined sooner. Using the plethora of helpful guides and checklists and seeing how other brides were navigating this time made such a difference for me. The brides in Brides Club found so many creative ways to make their weddings safe, unique, and absolutely gorgeous during the pandemic.

One fab idea Ashley picked up from the group was writing each guest a personalized thank you card for making the effort to attend the wedding in the middle of a pandemic – as suggested by none other than Karen Cinnamon gave during one of Brides Club’s monthly Wedding Planning Solved Zoom chats.

Ashley and Jeff worked with wonderful Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Ink with Intent to create the custom ketubah of their dreams, incorporating an image of a couple painted by Chagall, an artist who holds special meaning for the pair. We’re totally in love with how Adriana of Ink with Intent put it all together!

We also love how these two adapted the pre-ceremony tradition of kabbalat panim (“welcoming of the faces”), where the bride sits, surrounded by her mother and soon-to-be mother-in-law, as guests line up to approach her for an individual chat and a wedding day blessing, for the COVID era. Traditionally, only female guests participate, but Ashley and Jeff opened their kabbalat panim up to everyone – and since every household came up to speak with Ashley individually, it was the perfect pandemic-safe way to socialize.

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

How we met

Ashley, the bride: We met on JSwipe the very same night my stepdad suggested I expand my geographical search radius for matches. My mom and stepdad were interested in learning how JSwipe worked, so I walked them through the process as we all looked at the screen together.

I previously had my search radius at 15 miles, but my stepdad suggested I increase it to 50 miles. (When he and my mom were dating, the two lived 100 miles apart, and he drove to see her every weekend!) Right after I changed my filter from 15 miles to 50 miles, a picture of a curly-haired cutie feeding a chipmunk popped up. He lived 22 miles away. We seemed to have similar interests, so I swiped yes on him. Continue Reading

A Jewish Wedding with a Fabulous Wildflower Chuppah at The Queens Hotel, Leeds, UK

30/11/2020 by Karen Cinnamon

Ok, is this #chuppahgoals or what?! We’re positively obsessed with the floral masterpiece Deanna and Elliott dreamed up for their big day.

Inspired by the glorious wildflowers the pair saw on a hiking trip to the Dolomites, these two worked with their florist to concoct an absolutely stunning structure that really does look as if it was just airdropped in from a magical field in the Italian countryside. Don’t miss the exquisite photos from Nadine van Biljon – who did an absolutely masterful job capturing not only the luxe details, but all the love and emotion of the day too.

We’re not sure what’s got us feeling more FOMO, that chuppah or the mouthwatering menu from the incredible Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Feast by Ed Shaerf. Ed and his team dream up kosher wedding food like you’ve never seen before – we’re salivating over Deanna and Elliott’s dessert, which involved spiced ginger cake, strawberry daiquiri ice cream and candy floss! – and the couple reports that Ed was a delight to work with every step of the day, and made dealing with allergies and special diets a breeze. They’re still dreaming about his fresh, innovative food – and at this point, so are we!

We’ll let Deanna take it from here…

A Hometown Venue

Deanna, the bride: We got married at The Queens Hotel in Leeds. I grew up in Leeds and always knew I wanted to get married there. The space was exactly what we were after and the venue was located right in the centre of town next to the train station. We had been to weddings there before and seen how the space could be magically transformed. We had several guests from out of town so having our venue next door to the train station was super convenient for them.

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An Eddy K. Bride for a Jewish Interfaith Backyard Micro Wedding in Connecticut, USA

27/11/2020 by Karen Cinnamon

We’re so delighted to be sharing the gorgeous interfaith Jewish micro wedding of our Brides Club member Julia, a social worker for the Department of Veteran’s affairs working to hose homeless veterans, and Josh, an EMT and US Army veteran!

Julia and Josh had originally planned for a 200-person wedding at a local park, but when COVID hit they downsized their guest list and shifted the festivities to Julia’s mom’s property – which, luckily for the couple, just happens to be a beautiful farm filled with green fields of wildflowers.

Regardless of the location, Julia’s top priority was always to create a relaxed and inclusive celebration that embraced both her Jewish faith and Josh’s Puerto Rican heritage. In her words,

My husband is Puerto Rican and most of my friends are not Jewish. While I am rooted deeply in my faith, sometimes I feel isolated by my Jew-ishness. Brides Club felt like this beautiful validating hug. I was able to get so much out of the articles and vendor tips. I wish I had found Smashing the Glass earlier!

The pair opted for a mostly Jewish ceremony under a chuppah (covered by a Puerto Rican flag with a Star of David at is center – designed by the groom!), officiated by Julia’s mom’s best friend, who is the rabbi of an interfaith Jewish congregation. And we love that they incorporated their daughter (who also gave a beautiful speech and sang a song for the couple!) into the ceremony, too.

Don’t miss the beautiful images from Abigail Renee Photography – or the rest of the story of this very special day, as narrated by the bride…

How we met

Julia, the bride: Josh and I met working at a group home for teen girls. We both worked third shift at the time. When he started, he requested to have Fridays off and I lost my Shabbats off, so I decided I was not going to like him. (Boy did that backfire!) Turns out the reason he couldn’t work Fridays was because of his daughter. He used his weird sense of humour and a few honeydew melons to get me to talk to him.

When the group home closed, he asked me out (I was his supervisor). I said no. Josh was deployed a few weeks later and when he got to his post, he asked me if he could take me on a date. I agreed when he got home to go on a date with him. When he got home, he drove four hours from the airport home, showered and came right to pick me up.

About four years later he proposed in front of Boston Harbour.

Search Results for: ceremony

How we met

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A Hometown Venue

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