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Real Jewish Brides: Alexandra’s Wedding Planning’s Ups And Downs

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Alexandra will be marrying Jordan on 26th May 2019 at The Grove in Cedar Grove, New Jersey. Click here to read all Alexandra’s planning posts to date.

THREE FACTS: (1) Alexandra and Jordan met in college and have been together ever since. (2) They are planning a romantic fairy tale garden wedding inspired by A Midsummer Night’s Dream – LOVE! (3) Alexandra’s wearing Galia Lahav for the big day – one of our absolute fave Israeli designers!


Overcoming family drama: take a deep breath, have a positive mindset, and move forward!

Let’s be real – wedding planning is SO exciting and fun, but it can also be stressful! A LOT goes into a wedding and it may be overwhelming to get it all done (unless you have a wedding planner ????). Everyone has their own story, with ups, downs, and a whole lot in between. Today I’d like to share my three biggest wedding planning struggles with the STG community.

The first hurdle we faced on our wedding journey involved conflict with family. Very shortly after Jordan and I got engaged in May of 2017, we decided that we would get married mid-June 2019! We consistently shared this with family, friends, and strangers alike. About six months after our engagement, my older brother proposed to his girlfriend.

We were overjoyed, until they very quickly decided that they too wanted to be married mid-June 2019, which naturally created tension. Their defense was that they didn’t understand why our wedding was “more important” than theirs. Jordan and I have never felt that our wedding should take priority, however, we were engaged and openly settled on the timeframe for six months, so we did feel that they should concede.

They didn’t, as they had already found a venue and secured the date, whereas we had been taking our time venue-hunting with our long (2-year) engagement.


Image by Catullo Photography

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A Pronovias Bride for a Destination Jewish Wedding with 2400 Roses at La Quinta de Jarama, in Madrid, Spain

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Nothing gives us the warm and fuzzies like hearing that we’ve helped a couple plan their Jewish (or Jew-ish!) wedding. Especially when said wedding is as gorgeous as today’s knockout destination celebration with an absolute stunner of a rose chuppah – yup, that chuppah alone contained a whopping 1500(!) roses.

Deborah, a solicitor in a City firm, and Michael, who works in finance, live in North London, but they opted to marry in sunny Madrid, where the groom grew up (#margolovichwedding).

This is obviously a totally stunning wedding from a visual standpoint – Victor Lax’s emotion-filled photography and Al Agua’s moving trailer attest to that – but we’re seriously touched to hear that we inspired some of the emotional details of the day.

For instance, Deborah reports she got the idea to incorporate her late father’s tallit into the chuppah design right here on STG – such a beautiful way to incorporate a loved one into the ceremony.

The couple also sourced their exquisite papercut ketubah from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Danny Azoulay – featuring a gold ldea design of Jerusalem vineyards, in honor of their having met on Birthright in Jerusalem – aww!

There are so many more great details, but Deborah, who looked so elegant in her princess-style Pronovias gown (with pockets!) will fill you in on the rest of the story…

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How we met

Deborah, the bride: We met ten years ago on Birthright in Jerusalem when we were both students and got engaged in November 2016 in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, so this wedding has been a long time in the making!

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A Lyn Ashworth Bride for a Country-Meets-City Jewish Wedding at the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue and the Savile Club in London, UK

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A country house-style Jewish wedding with all the convenience (and fun contemporary touches) of central London? Um, yes please!

Busy Abbie and Alastair are both doctors: she’s an obstetrician/gynecologist, he’s doing a PhD in trauma and orthopedics – so it’s a good thing they found dreamy venue the Savile Club close to home: see Miki Studios’ breathtaking photography and videography for evidence.

We’re crazy about the juxtaposition of classic and quirky they worked into their big day – from the custom-designed invitations honoring the groom’s love of succulents, by wonderful Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Bigday Designs (who, the bride says, were “totally charming in indulging my bizarre ideas”!) to the beautiful cake Alistair’s grandmother made the couple, covered in hundreds of handmade sugar rose petals she spent the couple’s whole engagement year making!

The pair’s music choice also mixed the traditional with the contemporary: it was key for them to find a live band who could nail both the Israeli music and party music for afterwards, and they found their perfect match in the Matzoh Boys – their singer is fantastic Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Jonny Mosesson!

And we love that, after having heard friends’ regrets about not having spent enough time with their other half on the big day, Abbie and Alastair decided to make the not-so-traditional choice of a sweetheart table, which gave them some precious quality time to enjoy each other’s company during the meal.

Oh, and we can’t hand you over to Abbie without mentioning her romantic Lyn Ashworth gown with 3/4 French lace sleeves and a full silk chiffon skirt…

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How we met

Abbie, the bride: We actually met at medical school, when Abbie’s mum forced her to go to the Jewish Society Rosh Hashanah dinner in Nottingham! It was all going really well until Abbie realised that Alastair was a fresher and two years younger than her! Luckily Alastair won her back with his charms and the rest is history!

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A Meaningful Family-Forward Jewish Wedding at Hummingbird Nest Ranch, Santa Susana, California, USA

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What a treat to be blogging a beautiful Jewish wedding at one of our very favorite venues: SoCal’s stunning, Spanish-style Hummingbird Nest Ranch.

We’re obviously smitten with the lovely visuals Jessica, who works in entertainment marketing, and Michael, a high school statistics teacher, pulled together to make their big day pop – see the exquisite photos from One Love Photography and video from Fancy Fox for evidence -but we’re even more in love with all the wonderful meaning they brought to their wedding.

First off, the ketubah: sure, these two chose a gorgeous, fresh floral design from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Ink With Intent. But that’s just the beginning – to make the ketubah ultra-meaningful, the couple decided to write their own personal vows into their custom text (which they translated into Hebrew with some help from their families). Then, under the chuppah, Jessica and Michael read their own ketubah aloud together – isn’t that beautiful?!

We also love that – inspired by the memories of their late grandparents – the bride and groom worked with charity Petals for Patients to donate their wedding flowers to a local hospice at the end of the day. Such a wonderful way to make your wedding give back!

Jessica will fill you in on the rest of the details of this fab day…

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How we met

Jessica, the bride: We probably met way back in 2009 at a youth group convention that we both attended. Of course, there are pictures of Jessica with Michael’s friends and Michael with Jessica’s friends, but unfortunately none of us together. High school Jessica and Michael must not have made a good enough impression on each other but luckily, the universe had other plans and decided to give us one more shot at getting to know each other.

We reconnected online in 2013, after Jessica graduated from UCLA and Michael from the University of Michigan. Michael took Jessica out on their first date on December 5th, 2013 where we really hit it off. A few amazing dates, and less than a month later, we decided to kick off 2014 as an official couple.

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Real Jewish Brides: Gaby And Her 7-Week Countdown

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Gaby will be marrying David on 26th May 2019 at Trinity Buoy Wharf, London, UK. Click here to read all Gaby’s planning posts to date.

THREE FACTS: (1) Gaby and David met at work at an advertising agency in London (2) Gaby is Jewish and David is Christian, and they are planning an inclusive ceremony and party that will embrace both of their cultures (3) They are planning an urban luxe wedding in a converted London lighthouse – we LOVE the sound of this!


The 7-week countdown

We’ve reached April (and spring, Hurrah!), which means it is the penultimate month before my wedding, MADNESS! Since January came, it really has been full steam ahead. Time really has flown by.

Juggling a busy work schedule and planning a wedding has presented challenges, which I am sure all brides can relate to this. It is the mental exhaustion of never switching off. After a long day of work, the last thing you want to do is re-open your laptop and mull through multiple spreadsheets. Nevertheless, with a positive mental attitude and the end goal in sight, I have made my way through so many tasks that it has put my fiancé and in a fairly good place.


Image by Mireia Cordomi from Ruthie and Dan’s wedding

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