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Real Jewish Brides: Introducing Samantha + Brian: How They Met To The Present Day…

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Today on the blog we’re introducing our latest 2021 Real Jewish Bride! Please give a warm welcome to Samantha, who will be marrying Brian on 9th October 2021 in Nags Head, NC. 

THREE FACTS: (1) Brian proposed to Samantha on July 3rd on the beach (2) Samantha + Brian met on JSwipe (3) Michelle Obama was part of the proposal!


The Beginning

Brian and I met as many couples do these days – online, via the JSwipe app, in the summer of 2017. He was new to the DC area and I was finally finished with my graduate program that I completed while working full time and actually had time to date! I was 35 at the time and I’m not gonna lie, when I saw that Brian was almost 8 years older than I am, I almost didn’t swipe right.  But, there was something about his beautiful blue eyes and his short, witty profile that changed my mind – and I’m so glad!

After a few weeks of chatting on the app, our first date was meeting up for a drink at Woodmont Grill in Bethesda, MD. (I’m only mentioning the name of the place because it eventually served as inspiration for the name of our furbaby, a 15 lb. shih tzu, named Monty who we picked up during the height of the pandemic in June of 2020.)

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A Liron Partouche Bride for a Jewish Pandemic Wedding Inspired by China at Yama, Herzliya, Israel

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Michal and Sam, Yama, Hertezlya, Israel

Israeli couple Michal and Sam, both of whom work for hi-tech start-up companies, first met in Chinese class at university. They got engaged at the end of a year spent living and studying the language together in Shanghai. So it was only natural that when it came to planning their Jewish wedding, they turned to their shared love of the language as inspiration for their Jewish wedding – along with the best of their home country, of course!

The pair made table numbers out of Chinese characters they wrote themselves and used the character 囍 (which symbolizes wedding in Chinese, meaning double happiness) on each napkin and on the wedding invitations. They even had the Chinese character for love embroidered on their chuppah canopy!

Michal and Sam dreamed of getting married by the sea at sunset – what better way to showcase Israel’s natural splendor? – and though COVID forced them to postpone twice (and change venues), in the end they were still able to have the wedding of their dreams at a gorgeous seaside venue in Herzliya (albeit with fewer guests than originally planned, and further-flung loved ones tuning in via livestream).

As always, we’re absolutely in love with the luminous photography by Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Jossef Si – an incredible talent Michal had had her eye on since before getting engaged.

Now over to the bride for all the details…

Michal and Sam, Yama, Hertezlya, IsraelMichal and Sam, Yama, Hertezlya, IsraelMichal and Sam, Yama, Hertezlya, IsraelMichal and Sam, Yama, Hertezlya, Israel
How we Met

Michal, the bride: We met in my first Chinese class of my first year at university. It was so coincidental because it’s not Sam’s major (he was taking the class as an enrichment class) and I switched my major to Chinese at the last minute. We became friends and after a year of friendship we began to date.Continue ReadingContinue Reading

A Romona Keveza Bride for an Elegant Jewish Pandemic Wedding at the South Congress Hotel, Austin, Texas, USA

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Maiya and Jerry, South Congress Hotel, Texas, USA

We could not be any more delighted to be sharing the gorgeous Jewish wedding of Smashing The Glass Brides Club member Maiya, the executive director of Texas Hillel, and Jerry, a physician in the US Army and a fellow in gastroenterology in San Antonio.

These two firmed up their plans for a wedding showcasing Austin at its finest in early 2020, just before the pandemic hit the US. Even as the situation worsened, they were always clear that they wanted to wed on their original December 2020 date, at their original venue, the South Congress Hotel in Austin, TX.

In the end, while Maiya and Jerry did have to drastically scale down their in-person guest list, they were still able to throw a celebration that was nothing less than fabulous. We’re obsessed with their exquisite Ruth Becker ketubah, purchased from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Ketubah.com, and TwoFish Weddings’s luminous photos are positively magical.

Maiya and Jerry also set up a livestream for their family and friends who couldn’t be there in person, and over 150 ended up tuning in. We love that the week prior to the wedding, the couple mailed boxes filled with wedding goodies, including baked goods from the venue, favors, and personal notes, to their long-distance VIPs – what a fun way to make virtual guests feel a part of the action!

Now over to the bride, who looked super chic in Romona New York…

Maiya and Jerry, South Congress Hotel, Texas, USAMaiya and Jerry, South Congress Hotel, Texas, USAMaiya and Jerry, South Congress Hotel, Texas, USAMaiya and Jerry, South Congress Hotel, Texas, USA
How we Met

Maiya, the bride: We met in 2018 in San Antonio at the Historic Pearl. Continue ReadingContinue Reading

Real Jewish Bride: Sarah on Finding the Perfect Dress

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Sarah will be marrying Rich on 19th June 2022 at Tikitano Beach, Marbella, Spain. Click here to read all Sarah’s planning posts to date.

THREE FACTS: (1) Sarah knew Rich was the one when he brought a gift of dog treats for her toy poodle Nuala along to their fourth date! (2) They are crafting an amazing destination wedding weekend in Marbella with beloved Smashing The Glass Recommended vendor optimum weddings as their planner. (3) Sarah is a member of  Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club!


I was looking through my previous blog posts for Smashing the Glass and realised, much to my amazement, that I had never written about my experience dress shopping! Considering that I am a pretty typical girly girl, I don’t know how I let this quintessential wedding prep experience escape my blog posts! Anyway, nearly two years later (thanks Covid-19) I have had the pleasure of reminiscing over my dress shopping experience for this blog post, so read on and enjoy!

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An Avital Saporta Bride for a Front Yard Jewish Pandemic Wedding in Tel Mond, Israel

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Noam-and-Michael-Israel

Since the pandemic began, we’ve seen lots of backyard weddings. But we’re pretty sure Noam and Michael’s is our first front yard wedding. Why is that relevant, you ask?

Well, Michael just happens to live across the street from a playground, and on the big day, in addition to the couple’s invited guests, they ended up with a couple dozen little observers taking in the action – how cute is that?!

The couple, both students at Bar Ilan University, had originally planned a big wedding, but COVID forced them to rethink their plans (and date, thanks to Israel’s second lockdown). Michael’s garden may have been chosen because due to the circumstances, in the bride’s words, “it was the only place were able to legally get married!” – but luckily it happens to be totally gorgeous, and was really just about an ideal place to carry out the original theme, which was a magical forest combined with rustic elements.

In addition to their 50 in-person guests, Noam and Michael livestreamed their day to friends and family across the globe – at one point, 750 people were tuning in! And throughout the day, the pair took time to chat with their virtual guests through the livestream.

It goes without saying that we’re obsessed with the stunning photos by Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Herschel Gutman. Due to a last minute change of date, the couple ended up having to find a photographer in just a few days, and were they ever lucky that Herschel was available! As always, his photos are so full of love and emotion while also managing to capture all the details of the day absolutely exquisitely.

Noam-and-Michael-IsraelNoam-and-Michael-IsraelNoam-and-Michael-IsraelNoam-and-Michael-Israel
How We Met

Noam, the bride and Michael, the groom: Our story begins in 2015 when we both started new chapters in our lives. Michael had just immigrated to Israel and went to study Hebrew in the North of Israel where Noam had just started her national service in guess where? The exact same place! We became best friends, but duty called and Michael started the army while Noam went away to Australia for her second year of national service.

The friendship didn’t end and when both those experiences were over, our friendship turned into something a little more special and love blossomed. Since then, we’ve been together for the last 3 years.Continue ReadingContinue Reading