USA Archives - Smashing the Glass

10 Beautiful Jewish New York Wedding Venues

02/06/2022 by Karen Cinnamon

There’s no place like New York City for a Jewish wedding. The Big Apple is chock full of options to suit couples of all tastes and styles – and nowhere is that more evident than when it comes to venues!

While you might associate NYC with glitzy ballroom Jewish weddings – and it’s certainly got plenty of amazing options for those – the city that never sleeps is also full of hidden gems, from outdoor garden venues that’ll have you feeling like you’ve been whisked away to the country to the edgiest converted warehouses and factories.

In fact, there are SO many gorgeous Jewish wedding venue choices that we really struggled narrowing ourselves down to just 10 – but we hope you’ll take this list of just a few of our favorites as a starting point.

Image by Ira Lippke

A Grace Loves Lace Bride for a Desert Jewish Wedding at The Lodge at Ventana Canyon, Arizona, USA

16/05/2022 by Karen Cinnamon

Today we’re featuring the wedding of a very special Smashing The Glass Brides Club member Jenna! You see, way back in the Before Times, Jenna hosted the very first NYC Brides Club meetup – a challah bake at her place in Brooklyn, which, as a mega-talented baker, she also led!

During the pandemic, she and now-husband Mat (who’ve got a super cute how-they-met story, by the way) relocated from NYC back to their shared hometown of Tucson, Arizona, where they also held their wedding – and while I know the New York Brides Club crew misses Jenna’s generosity and baking prowess, after taking a look at the gorgeous landscape featured in She.We Studio’s photos, can you really blame her?!

Even before Jenna and Mat’s move back to the Southwest, they always knew they wanted their wedding to reflect the beauty of the region where they met and grew up. Their main requirement in a venue was epic mountain views, their ketubah featured watercolor mountains reminiscent of Tucson’s, their invites featured prickly pear cacti – Jenna’s bridal bouquet even featured succulents! And she found the perfect lightweight gown for Arizona climate at Grace Loves Lace, too.

There’s so much more to say about this wonderful wedding, and we’ll let Jenna tell you all about it in her own words – but before we do, we’ve got to share her kind words about her time in Brides Club:

“I joined the Brides Club because Smashing the Glass really is the only resource out there for modern Jewish weddings. The Brides Club was a way to have that same community I was seeing from other wedding resources, but with the added bonus of people actually understanding questions related to a Jewish wedding. What I didn’t know was that I would meet so many wonderful women and make so many amazing friendships, which was especially helpful when Covid hit and caused so many of us to change or cancel our plans. I honestly couldn’t have weathered two postponements without being surrounded by my friends and having Karen there for mental and emotional support.”

Awww! Doesn’t get much better than that, does it? Take it away, Jenna!

How we Met

Jenna, the bride: I am a data analyst, currently working in retail, & Mat is a customer success manager in tech. We actually met back in 1994 (we weren’t even two years old yet) at a tumbling class at a local park’s rec center. We reconnected throughout life, as we both grew up in Tucson, AZ and belonged to the same synagogue (I even stole Mat’s birthday for my Bat Mitzvah date), but we happened to both be at a mutual friend’s high school graduation party (who ended up being our wedding videographer) one summer.

It turned out that Mat was going to be in the same freshman business mentorship program at our local university I had been in the year prior (I was a grade ahead of Mat in school) and was planning to attend the orientation that following week (University of Arizona is a large school with multiple orientation dates). A few days later, I got a Facebook message from Mat saying “I got your book.” Somehow, Mat got the book we read in the business mentorship program that I had signed – out of 60 from my year and 60 in his incoming year and of all orientation dates, he got my book! When school started, I invited Mat to our school’s Chabad welcome back barbeque for free kosher food, and the rest is history (although, it would take us until March of the following year to start dating).Continue Reading

A Classic Springtime Jewish Wedding at the Omni Grove Park Inn in Asheville, North Carolina, USA

13/05/2022 by Karen Cinnamon

We are so thrilled to be sharing the gorgeous Jewish wedding of our Brides Club member Emily today! Emily made it official with now-husband Harrison in beautiful Asheville, North Carolina, at The Omni Grove Park Inn, and we’re so in love with this special day – all the more so after following the leadup as Emily shared her planning journey in Brides Club!

We adored having Emily in the group, and we’re so touched by her kind words: “The Brides Club allowed me to meet new people and posit questions I would not have known by myself. Brides Club was an amazing way to have the support of a Jewish community and the resources to create the traditional ceremony of my dreams.”

The couple even found their incredible ketubah artist, Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Noa Attias, through Brides Club! It was important for Emily and Harrison to pick a ketubah they’d love hanging in their home as a piece of art, and when they stumbled onto Noa’s work they knew they’d found just the thing – and how gorgeous is their Glory ketubah with a blue watercolor background?!

How we Met

Emily, the bride: Harrison and I are currently federal government contractors. I make a career shift this fall through Clemson University’s accelerated nursing program. Harrison and I met in September 2017 in Charleston, SC at a bar (formerly) called Voodoo. I had just moved to Charleston two weeks before and it was an instant connection. We got engaged on New Year’s Day 2021.Continue Reading

A Leanne Marshall Bride for an Oceanfront Jewish Wedding at Casa Marina Resort, Key West, Florida, USA

25/04/2022 by Karen Cinnamon

We always say there’s nothing like a Jewish wedding on the beach – well, today’s couple, Kimberly and Darren, went one better and planned a full-fledged wedding weekend away from it all in beautiful Key West!

Chill island vibes, a chuppah on the beach, ‘20s Spanish-style architecture galore, all so beautifully photographed by Karrie Porter Photography – what could be better?!

And we’re obsessed with the couple’s gorgeous ketubah from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Ketubah.com. Kimberly and Darren picked a design by artist Shell Rummel, featuring an infinity symbol with the phrase “I Carry Your Heart” from the poem by EE Cummings – and as it turns out, the couple have a line from that same poem engraved inside of their wedding bands! So special.

Before we hand you over to the bride – who looked so elegant in Leanne Marshall – we’ve got to say we love that one of her main bits of advice to future brides and grooms is to book a day of coordinator! We are BIG fans of handing off logistics on the day to a pro so that the two of you can relax and enjoy the day, and we’re always so glad to see couples going this route.

Over to you, Kimberly!

How we Met

Kimberly, the bride: Darren and I met at a restaurant we were both working at. I had just graduated college and was serving, Darren had just come back to Florida after serving in the IDF and was a line cook. We had seen each other but didn’t go on out first date until after working together for a few months. Darren messaged me on Facebook and we discussed a mutual interest in poetry and writing. On our first date, I actually brought a collection of some of my favorite poetry books for Darren to read!

After dating for a year in Florida we decided on adventure and moved across the country to Denver, CO with our two cats. There Darren finished law school and I began a career in nonprofit work. Fast forward to now and Darren is a civil litigation attorney and I am in marketing for a nationwide nonprofit.Continue Reading

An Intimate Romantic Jewish Wedding at Home on Long Island, New York, USA

11/04/2022 by Karen Cinnamon

Do you love soft romantic vibes? Mismatched florals? The brand Love Shack Fancy? If so, have we got the wedding for you! NYC couple Dariana, who owns a children’s modelling agency, and Dylan, a mural artist, had the loveliest, most intimate garden Jewish wedding at the bride’s dad’s house on the East End of Long Island.

The pair worked with Susie Blumenfeld at Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Pink House Productions to make their dream day a reality – and she completely nailed it, in just 8 weeks (and during peak COVID, no less)! Susie made the process totally stress-free for the couple – so much so that their top piece of advice for engaged couples is to hire an event planner! Pink House Productions also designed the couple’s gorgeous paper goods – don’t miss them in the beautiful photos by Andreas and Nico.

We love the duo’s colorful ketubah from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor ketubah.com – and Darianaand Dylan can’t say enough about how helpful and fast the service was!

Dariana was five months pregnant with the couple’s first child on the big day, and she found the most perfect maternity gown from Seraphine – absolutely a perfect fit for a romantic garden wedding, especially when topped with the most exquisite veil from Monvieve-Milano.

We also love that Dariana and Dylan ended off their wedding with a Mr Softee truck! The iconic NYC ice cream truck was the perfect nod to the couple’s home city – plus, who doesn’t love a surprise soft serve?!

A Wedding on the Water

Dariana, the bride: The wedding took place at my Dad’s house which in on the East End of Long island NY. It is on the water and has so much sentimental meaning. This was a small family wedding so it was quite intimate there.Continue Reading