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Love Knows No Boundaries: Navigating Interfaith Jewish Wedding Celebrations

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Styled by La Fête ｜Photo by Divine Day Photography

This is a guest post by Charlotte Ricard-Quesada, Founder & Creative Director of La Fête. She is passionate about helping her couples craft meaningful Jewish and interfaith Jewish weddings in the UK, Italy, France, Spain, and beyond. Today she’s channeling her wisdom into some great tips about how to plan a beautiful celebration that honors both of your backgrounds. Even if you and your partner are both Jewish, if you come from different cultural or international backgrounds lots of these tips will be relevant – so read on!

Love is a universal language, transcending borders, cultures, and religions. In an increasingly interconnected world, interfaith marriages are becoming more common, celebrating the beauty of diversity and the unity of love. While navigating these celebrations can be intricate, the result is a unique and deeply meaningful ceremony that honours both partners’ backgrounds. Here, we explore how to plan and execute an interfaith Jewish wedding that respects and celebrates the traditions of both partners.

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Susie and Axel’s Jewish wedding, planned by La Fête ｜Photo by Dream Prod

Embracing Dual Heritage

The key to a successful celebration lies in understanding and respecting both traditions. This journey begins with open and honest conversations between the couple and their families. Discussing each person’s expectations, non-negotiables, and the elements they hold dear ensures that both faiths are represented and honoured. In many scenarios that I have dealt with, couples and families need to be as clear as possible from the start about their way of living their religion, and the rituals or traditions that are important for each one. Some families have a more paired-back vision of religious practice and this needs to be considered, without affecting the other party.

Rebecca & Emmanuel, Villa Luisa, Seville, Spain

Rebecca and Emmanuel’s Jewish wedding, planned by La Fête ｜Photo by Juan Luis Morilla

Finding Common Ground

The beauty of any wedding lies in finding common ground and creating a ceremony that reflects the couple’s unique love story. Start by identifying shared values and themes that resonate with both traditions. For example, the importance of family, love, and community are universal concepts that can be beautifully woven into the wedding ceremony.

Rebecca & Emmanuel, Villa Luisa, Seville, Spain

Rebecca and Emmanuel’s Jewish wedding, planned by La Fête ｜Photo by Juan Luis Morilla

Seeking Guidance

Consulting with clergy from both faiths can provide invaluable insights and help in blending the ceremonies seamlessly. Many rabbis and religious leaders have experience with interfaith weddings and can offer guidance on how to incorporate elements from both traditions respectfully. This collaborative approach not only enriches the ceremony but also provides a deeper understanding of each other’s faiths. Many times, when it has been interfaith weddings, I have had a rabbi and priest, or a rabbi and a vicar for example creating this beautifully unique ceremony.

Rebecca & Emmanuel, Villa Luisa, Seville, Spain

Rebecca and Emmanuel’s Jewish wedding, planned by La Fête ｜Photo by Juan Luis Morilla

The Chuppah

A central element in a Jewish wedding, the chuppah represents the couple’s future home, open to guests and family. Including a chuppah in an interfaith ceremony is a beautiful way to honour Jewish tradition. Personalise the chuppah with meaningful decorations, such as family heirlooms or symbols from both faiths, to represent the union of two cultures.

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A Maggie Sottero Bride for an Autumnal Rustic Jewish Wedding with a Joint Speech at The Brewery, London, UK

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We love an autumnal Jewish wedding – and Londoners Rebz and Ben had one of the very best! Rebz, a senior product designer, and Ben, a freelance video editor, love their home city and didn’t want to wed anywhere else. And they found the absolute perfect venue in Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor The Brewery, right in the heart of the City.

The Brewery ticked all the couple’s boxes – it accommodated their 200-person guest list, was easy for everyone to get to, and fit Rebz and Ben’s brief for a cool industrial aesthetic. And the property’s history was perfectly suited to Ben’s love of beer, as a bonus!

The pair let their wedding date dictate the décor, with autumnal burnt oranges, leafy greens, dark reds, and natural hessians for an urban rustic vibe. David Pullum Photography captured all the detail and emotion of the day exquisitely, and Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Michael Pearl Films crafted the duo’s ultra-moving wedding video.

One thing we love is that Rebz and Ben opted to do a joint speech! In Rebz’s words,  “Ben was not keen on doing a speech on his own, he hates public speaking and I’ve never understood why it’s always just the men that get to share stories. I absolutely loved doing a speech together and without blowing my own trumpet, I’ve had lots of people mention to me how much they loved it too.” What a fab idea!

We’ll let the bride take it from here…

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How We Met

Rebecca, the bride: We met on JSwipeContinue ReadingContinue Reading

A Pronovias Bride for an Interfaith Jewish-Catholic Wedding at Offley Place, Hitchin, UK

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When London couple Rachel, who works as a programme manager in the social impact sector, and Jason, a product manager in the technology sector, got engaged, they knew their top wedding planning priority would be to blend their two backgrounds into an authentic and meaningful interfaith wedding.

Rachel is Jewish, while Jason is Catholic, with Portuguese roots – and it was important to both that their religion and traditions were represented in the day. The pair worked with their officiant to craft a bespoke ceremony combining aspects of traditional Jewish and Catholic ceremonies, and they wrote their own ketubah text (which they then translated into both Hebrew and Portuguese!). Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor The Delicate Brush turned it into a gorgeous piece of art, adorned with the most stunning florals and metallics.

Music was another way Rachel and Jason showcased their backgrounds, and their choice of Matzoh Boys as their band could not have been more perfect. In addition to their Jewish music prowess and  fab Israeli singers (one of whom is Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Jonny Mosesson), the Matzoh Boys also have Latin and Gospel singers – so in addition to a stellar Israeli dancing set, Rachel and Jason also got Portuguese tunes and a hymn for their ceremony.

The pair chose Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Liam Smith as their photographer, and we could not be any more in love with his ultra-moving documentary images. They loved Liam’s natural style – and can’t rave enough about what a wonderful and calming presence he was on the big day!

We can’t turn you over to Rachel without mentioning how timelessly elegant she looked in her classic Pronovias dress, which she found at Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Mirror Mirror in Islington, and where she adored working with the wonderfully attentive team.

Now over to Rachel!

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How We Met

Rachel, the bride: We were set up on a blind date by Rachel’s cousin, who worked in the same company as Jason. Given that Rachel is Jewish and Jason is Catholic (both brought up in practicing households), we didn’t envisage that a blind date would turn into a serious relationship, let alone a marriage. However, we quickly realised that we wanted to be with one another, which meant a lot of pretty serious conversations about how we could blend our different backgrounds together early on. Now, seven years later, we’re married!Continue ReadingContinue Reading

A Liancarlo Bride for a Jewish Wedding Full of Wildflowers, Tacos, and DIY at The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, Austin, Texas, USA

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Emily and Brant, Wildflower Center, Austin, Texas, USA

It’s always a special day when we get to feature the gorgeous Jewish wedding of one of our Brides Club members – and that goes doubly for today’s bride, who’s been a beloved member of our Smashing Life community for Jewish women for years prior to her engagement to groom Brant.

When the pair got engaged, it was only natural for Emily to join Brides Club, where she couldn’t get enough of the supportive community, inspiration, and helpful resources. In her words,  

The encouragement and support was also invaluable as my mom passed 9yrs ago, and I just didn’t know who to ask about some of the important things. Coping with decisions I would normally ask my mom is also where Karen and her monthly sessions made me feel less alone – I could again, brag or problem solve or just talk weddings. Karen and the other Brides Club members stepped in, in a way, where I was missing my mom. 

Honoring her mom was a big part of Emily’s wedding planning vision – and the couple’s stunning venue, Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin, Texas, was chosen in part because Emily had fond memories of visiting with her mom during her student days at The University of Texas at Austin.

We’ve also got to tell you Emily’s hilarious ketubah story. She won her gorgeous tree ketubah from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Ink with Intent via a Smashing The Glass giveaway – before she was even engaged!

There’s so much more to say about this very special wedding, from Emily’s DIY prowess to the chuppah built by the groom to the taco menu – read on for the full story in her own words, plus the most joyous photos by Caitlin McWeeney Photography…

Emily and Brant, Wildflower Center, Austin, Texas, USA Emily and Brant, Wildflower Center, Austin, Texas, USAEmily and Brant, Wildflower Center, Austin, Texas, USA Emily and Brant, Wildflower Center, Austin, Texas, USA
How We Met

Emily, the bride: I am a professor of health communication and I was working in Tyler, Texas. Brant had moved back to his hometown outside of Tyler (Brownsboro) to take care of his grandparents’ and their home and land. He was working with a company recalibrating gas station pumps at the time. And let me tell you, making friends in East Texas as a single, childless, Jewish 30-something was hard enough. But dating? So, the apps made it a bit easier, especially with a diameter of 100 miles.

But the problem is, I hate notifications: red bubbles, numbers telling me how many unread messages, and so forth. So after work one day, right before heading to Rose City Drafthouse (probably), I attempted to clear all of the notifications on my apps: Mail, Texts, and dating apps. As such, I answered all the “new” messages that had come in and were causing that red bubble to appear. One such message asked me what three movies I would take on a deserted island.

Easy: Remember the Titans, How to Lose a Guy In Ten Days, and apparently I didn’t have a third, so not as easy as I thought. His: Temple of Doom, From Russia with Love, and “maybe Cast Away.” We messaged back and forth about traveling, college, and jobs, this guy, Bobby, asked If I wanted to get dinner that Saturday once he was back in town. The conversation was easy and fun, and his Bumble profile says he’s over 6ft and he sometimes worked out. Sure! But I couldn’t Saturday, because of my friend’s surprise party, but how about Sunday?

As I pulled up to the restaurant (BJ’s Brewhouse, because they have gluten free options he said), I got frantic text messages from a new colleague. I texted Bobby (Brant? Who knows!) to tell him I was in the parking lot but had to take a work call. Only 10min late walking in (he says 30min… in fact every time he tells the story, the time increases), we then spent the next two or more hours talking and having a great time.

Unfortunately, he paid with cash so I couldn’t sneak his last name to stalk him on socials, but I did snag his digits to tell him I got back to Joey, my weenie dog, safely. Although I pretended I wasn’t into dating exclusively, I swept him to Dallas to see Billy Joel, we dressed up for Halloween pretty grandly, picked out pumpkins all basic-like at a pumpkin patch, and he helped me hobble around in my knee high walking boot. I knew by the time I took him to that Texas football game things were different this time.

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A Vera Wang Bride for an Israeli-American Jewish Wedding at Hagiva, Givat Brenner, Israel

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If you can’t get enough of Israeli weddings, we’ve got a treat for you! The fabulous Jewish wedding of Alexa and Nitay, at gorgeous Hagiva, has all the things we love about weddings in Israel: a gorgeous outdoor setting filled with greenery and Jerusalem stone, gorgeous chuppah, Israeli food and music, and, of course, epic party vibes.

Nitay is Israeli, while Alexa is American – and the pair perfectly combined the best of both wedding traditions to make sure everyone felt comfortable and included on the day. They turned to Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Vanessa Ohayon to help bring their vision to life – and did she ever! In Alexa’s words,

Vanessa is a true professional at what she does. When we first met Vanessa, we connected instantly and she understood our vision from the start. Vanessa brings her amazing energy into every detail of any wedding. She had a solution for everything and when there were any hiccups (there are always hiccups), she knew how to bring us down to earth and find the best way to handle them. We couldn’t have done it without her!

We’re also obsessed with the couple’s exquisite photos by Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Tzahi Shemesh. Have a scroll through and we’re pretty sure you’ll agree with Alexa’s assessment:

He made us laugh, feel comfortable, and most importantly, captured our “in the moment” memories. Him and his team were at every angle and made sure to not miss a thing! He is an artist and makes us relive our special day every time we look back at the photos. They’re magnificent!

There are so many more fabulous details to share about this very special wedding – we’ll turn you over to the bride, who looked timelessly elegant in Vera Wang, to fill you in…

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How We Met

Alexa, the bride: Nitay and I both lived in Chicago after college. We had many mutual friends who all met up one night to go out in January 2017. Nitay approached me the second he saw me and made sure he didn’t leave without getting my number! Later that week we went on our first date to a sushi restaurant. The rest is history 🙂Continue ReadingContinue Reading