Search Results for: ceremony

A Super Luxe Floral Jewish Wedding in the Bride’s Parents’ Garden at Toorak, Melbourne, Australia

02/10/2017 by Karen

Before we get into the details of Samantha and Troy’s sensational super luxe Jewish wedding, there’s also something to be learned from the way that the happy couple met: always keep your eyes open – you could meet your soulmate anywhere. In this case, walking to your car!

Today’s wedding is a total feast for the eyes as bride Samantha owns a fashion business, and brought her own sense of style to the aesthetic of the day.

Samantha and Troy opted for a traditional white wedding at Samantha’s parents’ private residence in Melbourne, Australia. Adorned with an abundance of outstanding floral arrangements (THAT CHUPPAH!!) and styled to perfection, with not a detail missed, the day was so deliciously decadent, it really was the dictionary definition of a dream wedding – an absolute triumph for wedding planner, Styled by Coco.

The day, of course, ended with a bang – a lot of bangs, actually, in an out-of-this-world fireworks display.

The impact of the dà©cor, and parts of the firework display, can be lived vicariously through the stunning and cinematic video by Untitled Images, which also brings to life the heartfelt and loving speeches delivered by the couple’s devoted friends and family.

Bride Samantha looked straight from the pages of a glossy magazine in her breathtaking J’Aton Couture dress, flawless makeup and chic up ‘do.

Photographer Yervant Photography captured every moment with expert ease, and Samantha has provided us with the wonderful writeup below. Enjoy – and please DO Pin everything you love (that’s a lot of Pinning!)

How we met

Samantha, the bride: We bumped into each other on a Friday night in September 2013, Keilor Road, Niddrie. Literally – bumped into each other. I was walking to my car, and Troy was out getting a bite to eat, when I bumped into his chest and then remarked how tall he was. After a brief conversation, we decided to grab a bite to eat together, nachos. We ate, chatted and exchanged phone numbers and that was it that night.

We met up a couple of days later, struck up a conversation and decided to catch up again soon. A friendship was about to turn into a relationship.

A few weeks later, I went a holiday that had already been planned, and I was thinking about Troy the whole time I was away. Troy was missing me too. On my return, the friendship did become a relationship as we proclaimed our love for each other. Six months later we were living together… and here we are today!
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A Nature-Themed Outdoor Jewish Wedding at Mpekweni Beach Resort, Eastern Cape, South Africa

29/09/2017 by Karen

Jewish wedding Mpekweni Beach Resort, Eastern Cape, South Africa_0023
Get your Pinning fingers ready, because today’s South African Jewish real wedding is an absolute beauty, and we guarantee you’ll want to steal pretty much all of it.

Inga and Jonathan chose a simple, clean outdoor theme, with a colour scheme of green, white and gold accents. With the emphasis on greenery, rather than big florals, the couple created a stunning, into-the-wild aesthetic which still managed to be totally chic and fresh.

Beautiful bride Inga looked like a Grecian goddess in her boho-style gown and flower crown, and I think we can all agree that she steals every photograph!

Speaking of which, we absolutely adore the whimsical and romantic-look images taken by fabulous photographer, Astrid Bradley Photography. Not only is every detail shot perfectly framed, but the emotion comes through so beautifully that you’ll feel like you were there.

There are some smashing ideas in here, including a wishes jar on each table for guests to write in. As there were 18 tables, the couple plans to open one jar a year for the next 18 anniversaries. Now that is self control!

We’re also totally up for a big day dance off! So much fun!

We’ll leave you with Inga now for the full writeup of her and Jonathan’s spectacular wedding day, but before we do, with Yom Kippur almost upon us, we just want to wish the Day of Atonement to be a meaningful day for you, no matter how or if you are observing it. Shabbat Shalom!

A relaxed, refined atmosphere

Inga, the bride: We got married at Mpekweni Beach Resort. We chose this beautiful venue for a number of reasons. Firstly, it holds significance to us as we spent some of our first holidays, beach walks and sunsets as a couple here. We also got engaged in a similar spot not too far down the coastline. We were attracted to the relaxed and refined atmosphere Mpekweni effortlessly provides (which is significantly due to the incredible management of Colin and Nicollette Whitehead).

We are both family orientated, and this venue allowed us to keep the feeling of a close family gathering without having to forgo anyone on the guest list. Moreover, our wedding was a weekend affair, as we wanted to take full advantage of having all our loved ones close by and there are few competitors to Mpekweni.

A Suzanne Neville Bride for a Stunning Midsummer Night’s Dream Jewish Wedding at St Pancras Renaissance Hotel, London, UK

27/09/2017 by Karen

Hands up who wants to see the ULTIMATE London Jewish wedding? Set at an iconic London venue, with some of the city’s finest Jewish wedding vendors, and styled like an absolute dream, Lauren and Mark’s magnificent big day deserves to have praise HEAPED upon it.

Before we get to the gorgeous aesthetic of the wedding, we must acknowledge just how much this brave couple went through before the big day. Losing Mark’s mother shortly after their engagement was a terrible blow, and Lauren and Mark honored her memory in beautiful and moving ways.

Bride Lauren broke her foot, and so her dream of showing off glitzy heels in her stunning Suzanne Neville dipped-hem gown was replaced with a new dream of walking down the aisle in glitzy Converse, with groom Mark surprising her with his own matching pair.

The big day came together like a dream – a Midsummer Night’s Dream, to be exact, with an abundance of flowers, expertly arranged by Tony Marklew, culminating in the ultimate floral arch chuppah. Your eyes will pop out of your head when you see it. This was matched only by the stunning production by Outrage Events.

Of course, a Jewish London wedding was buzzing with incredible Smashing the Glass Recommended Vendors, including much-raved-about kosher catering by Food Story, sensational cinematography by the inimitable Imaginarium Cinematography, who will, incidentally, be joining me for a Facebook live chat tonight at 8pm GMT with… (drum roll) one of my all-time favorite photographers, Blake Ezra Photography, another much-loved insanely talented STG Vendor. Blake is widely known for being one of the UK’s top photographers, and the pictures below really do speak for themselves.

We’ll leave you in Lauren’s capable hands for the full report of the day – we’re sure you’ll be swooning (and Pinning) the whole way through!

How we met

Lauren, the bride: Mark and I actually met in 1991! We attended the same school when I was six and Mark was almost eight. Although he doesn’t remember me, I do remember him. It wasn’t until we were at his dad’s house when his mum had died, and got out all the memorabilia to look at, that we found an old Westwood 1991 school play programme and we were both in it! It brought the happiest of smiles to all of our faces during a very hard time. We have since watched the footage and we were standing yards apart on stage.

We finally came together almost three years ago when I was in Brasserie Zedel with my brother and his future wife. Mark and my brother go back a very long way. As fate would have it, my brother and Mark’s brother have also been best friends from the age of about 12, and even shared a ‘romantic’ trip to Marrakech together a few years ago.

Mark added me on Facebook the next morning, and the rest, as they say, is history. I knew from our first date that he was going to be the one. It was clear from the start that we shared a very special bond, and that even though our paths had tried to cross over 26 years ago that the timing was now right and that we were always destined to meet.
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Real Blogging Brides: Clare – Difficult News, Learning Calligraphy, and Some DIY Wedding Projects…

26/09/2017 by Smashing The Glass

Clare will be marrying Chris on 5th May 2018 at Laura Ashley The Manor in Elstree, UK.

THREE FACTS: (1) Clare is not Jewish but discovered Smashing The Glass via her Jewish sister-in-law and during her wedding planning journey it has (in her own words!) became her favorite and most useful wedding blog (2) She finds STG refreshing in a sea of wedding blogs as she loves reading stories of couples for whom the ceremony itself is as pivotal as all the other details. (3) Due to falling in love with so many amazing Jewish weddings through the blog, and then booking a wedding consultancy session with STG founder, Karen, it confirmed to her that there were a number of Jewish elements she was going to bring into her wedding that symbolise a lot of things that are very important to her and her fiancà© in their future marriage – she will be having a ‘Jewish-inspired’ wedding!

Losing my father and my aunt

Planning a wedding when your father is terminally ill is never going to be easy and when in July the news hit that my aunt had stage three cancer, the future looked even more bleak. Sadly they have both passed away since my last post, going just six days apart from one another. I have felt broken.

For my main wedding planning partner in crime (my mum) and I, there have been funeral plans to make rather than wedding. But thinking of this upcoming celebration has been the chance to share times of joy rather than sadness and has definitely kept us going!

Celebration of friendship

Weddings are a time for family, and the thought of neither of them being there was never much fun. Fortunately I’ve had some time to prepare for the lack of a ‘father of the bride’ and some wonderful friends will be fulfilling the roles of walking me down the aisle and giving a speech… Let’s just hope they don’t go too cringey in a bid to be an embarrassing ‘dad’!

Friendship is something that I have come to truly value since planning my wedding amidst this trauma. Our wedding will be a true celebration of friendship, and for me, my friends have and continue to fulfil a vital role in my life that can’t always be met by family relations.

So what better thing to write about than all the wonderful things we have been doing as part of the planning process, and the different ways in which they will be involved in the build up to the big day, never mind on the day itself!

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A Yoav Rich Bride for a Liberal Jewish Wedding at Hamam, Old Jaffa, Israel

25/09/2017 by Karen

Anyone who’s had the good fortune to visit Old Jaffa knows what a spine-tinglingly special place it is. Steeped in history, spirituality and an inexplicable atmosphere, fostered by its ancient stone streets and walls and its stunning views over the sea and Tel Aviv, Old Jaffa is a place like no other. If you haven’t been – go! And if that’s not realistic at this moment in time, never fear. Cà©line and Oliver’s liberal Jewish wedding day will transport you there.

The happy couple chose to honor their surroundings with their wedding aesthetic and color scheme, in blues and whites with accents of yellow. The cohesive theme was created by wonderful wedding planner Miss Dandelion Events & Design, who not only designed every detail, but brought together a team of formidable vendors to bring everything to life!

Beautiful bride, Cà©line, absolutely stunned in her perfectly pitched boho-style, custom-made Yoav Rish gown, with her chic yellow bouquet.

All of the joy, laughter and dà©cor details were captured with expert ease by our incredible Recommended vendor, photographer Luz Weddings who we ADORE, and have featured many times on STG before (for reasons that will become very obvious as you scroll through these images.