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Two Wedding Pros’ Jewish Wedding at Congregation B’nai Israel, Boca Raton, Florida, USA

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Beverly & Lane, B'nai Israel, Boca Raton, Florida,USA

We love seeing the choices wedding professionals make when it comes to planning their own Jewish weddings. And today’s is doubly a treat, because it features not one but two fabulous wedding pros: bride Beverly is a wedding planner and groom Lane is a floral designer at Dalsimer Atlas.

Given that they both work in the wedding industry, Beverly and Lane knew they wanted to do something a bit different than what they do for our clients. They decided to think outside the box by turning the traditional reception into a full-blown party with decor reminiscent of an Italian countryside with modern flair.

Needless to say, the floral design by the groom was especially fabulous, featuring abundant greenery, elegant foliage, white peonies, and plenty of candlelight. Lane also designed the couple’s uber-unique chuppah, with natural wood posts and tons of greenery and hanging calla lilies. Don’t miss it in the wonderful images from Munoz Photography and trailer by Senderey Video Productions!

When it came to choosing their ketubah, there was never any question for Beverly and Lane that they’d work with Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Nava Shoham at 1800ketubah.com. Nava customized her “Power of Love” ketubah for the duo, and they couldn’t be more thrilled with the result.

There’s so much more to say about this very special wedding – like, how stylish did Beverly look in her TWO fabulous bridal outfits, ceremony by Katy Corso and reception by Sasha Krasnova Design?! – but we’ll let the bride take it from here…

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Beverly, the bride: I’m a wedding planner and he’s a floral designer, so naturally we met doing what we both love to do. The Dalsimer Atlas Floral & Event Decorators showroom is where our love bloomed (literally). We create “happily ever afters” for everyone else and now we finally had our own. Continue ReadingContinue Reading

A Casablanca Bride for a Hanukkah Wonderland Jewish Wedding at the Hyatt Regency Downtown Boston, Massachusetts, USA

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Jennie-Ben-Hyatt-Regency-Downtown-Boston-USA

There’s something so special about a Hanukkah wedding – and we’re obsessed with the way Brides Club member Jennie, a Ph.D. student at Cambridge, and Ben, a software developer for a financial firm, went all out incorporating the holiday vibes into their big day.

With their Jewish wedding falling on the first night of the Festival of Lights, Jennie and Ben opted for a full-on Hanukkah wonderland theme, and we are ALL about it. From the blue-tinged color scheme to the giant (5-foot!) menorah the pair lit at the start of dinner to the dreidels-and-gelt wedding favors, this wedding was chock full of wonderful festive touches. And we haven’t even gotten to the food yet – Jennie and Ben not only served delectable sufganiyot with their dessert; they also had a latke station with several different toppings at the end of the night! How fun is that?

Throughout her wedding planning, Jennie was a member of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club, and we’re so touched by her kind words about how the community “made the wedding planning process a whole lot easier, especially since I was planning everything from overseas. All of the checklists and resources really allowed us to think about what was important for us. It was also great to have a group of brides who were going through the same process as me or had already completed their weddings – they really helped us not sweat the small stuff. Everyone in Brides Club is so kind and supportive of each other!”

Jennie also found some of her wonderful vendors via Brides Club, including Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Talia C, who provided the couple’s smash glass and then made the shards into Shabbat candle sticks, and their fabulous ketubah designer, Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Ink with Intent. Jennie and Ben chose Ink with Intent’s custom night sky design, featuring the star map for their wedding date! Don’t miss it in the wonderful photos by Simi Rabinowitz.

There’s so much more to this wonderful wedding, but we’ll leave it to the bride to fill you in on the rest…

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How We Met

Jennie, the bride:  We live in London but we originally met back in 2016 in Boston, where we were both working at the time. Ben was the flatmate of one of my colleagues, who brought him to an after-work meet up one evening. We kept seeing each other at group hangouts for a few years after that, then slowly became friends and started seeing each other more and more. Our friendship very naturally grew into a romantic relationship over time. The friend who introduced us was our Best Man!Continue ReadingContinue Reading

A Mikaella Bride for a Very Southern Interfaith Jewish Wedding at Southern Oaks, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

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When Louisiana State University grads Rachael, a Social Media Manager for the Office of the Lieutenant Governor, and Cody, a Manager of a Sunbelt Rentals Power and HVAC Store, were ready to make things official, they knew they wanted their wedding to include some nods to the state where they met and fell in love.

From their choice of the oh-so-charming Southern Oaks in New Orleans as their wedding venue, a jazz band, and delectable Southern cuisine, this celebration was full of atmosphere – plus a few ultra-personal touches like a grooms cake made from mini bags of Spicy Doritos, complete with a specially designed bag featuring Cody’s name!

When it came to the Jew-ish ceremony, Rachael, who’s Jewish, and Cody, who’s Catholic, made sure they came up with something that worked for both of them. And it was actually Cody who found the couple’s beautiful ketubah by Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Nava Shoham. The couple picked her Tree of Life Infinity Ketubah, customized with text that fit their feelings for each other and the relationship. Don’t miss it in the wonderful images from Brenner Photography & Films!

Now over to Rachael, who looked ever so elegant in Mikaella…

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How We Met

Rachael and Cody met at LSU in early 2015 through mutual friends. Their friendship grew and eventually, they both invited each other to their sorority and fraternity events. What grew out of this friendship was a connection that laid the groundwork for a beautiful relationship soon to form.

Much of the time that Cody and Rachael dated, was spent long-distance. Cody was based in Houston, Mobile, and Puerto Rico due to his job. But their commitment was strong for four years of dating, until on July 12, 2020, when Cody proposed.

For the proposal, they drove up to Poplarville, Mississippi, where Rachael’s family farm is located. Rachael was told, that they were going to be taking family pictures on the farm. This is where she had her suspicions that it might be the BIG moment. So she secretly went out and bought a new dress for the special day. Cody had requested to make sure Rachael’s nails would be done for the proposal since this is something she told him she wanted so her mom helped get Rachael to a nail salon.

The Maas and Mitchell families arrived to set up a surprise celebration while Cody whisked Rachael away on a side-by-side into the fields overlooking the farm for a little bite to eat. He had a plan to purposely leave a small speaker in the side-by-side to ask Rachael to go back and get it. When she would turn around he would be on one knee. Instead, Rachael being the helpful person that she is, grabbed the speaker out of the side-by-side when they got out of the car and foiled his plan. They then set up a picnic blanket and fruit and talked for a while. At one point Cody turned to Rachael and asked the big question, “Will you marry me?” After Rachael said yes, they popped some champagne and celebrated!

They then headed back to celebrate with both of their families, who had helped set up a beautiful table of decorations and a huge lunch.Continue ReadingContinue Reading

An Essense of Australia Bride for a Minimal Chic Jewish Wedding at The Park Savoy, Florham Park, New Jersey, USA

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We love it when a couple hones in on togetherness and love as their top Jewish wedding planning priorities – which is exactly what Hannah and Greg did. Shying away from extras when crafting their special day at The Park Savoy in New Jersey, the couple created an effortlessly elegant celebration ALL about the emotion.

That’s not to say the wedding wasn’t absolutely gorgeous – just take a peek at the stunning photos by Jen Brister from Story and Gold Weddings and video by Jonathan from 4k Weddings to see just how beautiful the big day truly was.

And then there’s the couple’s exquisite ketubah designed by the incredibly talented Britt Yudell from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor BritColors. We’re not only obsessed with the minimal chic design of the ketubah itself, but also with the way Hannah and Greg structured their ketubah signing: their rabbi had all those present for the signing form a Blessing Circle, where the couple’s closest family and friends came together to share their best wishes and memories – how special is that?

There’s so much more to say about this very special Jewish wedding – but we’ll turn you over to Hannah, who looked radiant in Essense of Australia, for the rest…


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How We Met

Hannah, the bride: An unlikely pairing….I work in Digital Marketing and Greg is a Software Developer. A likely meeting….we met on Hinge back in 2017!Continue ReadingContinue Reading

A Galia Lahav Bride for a Luxe Disney-Inspired Jewish Wedding at Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel, California, USA

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Aliza & Nathan, Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel, California, USA

This isn’t the first Disney-themed Jewish wedding we’ve seen, but we’re pretty sure it’s the one with the most wow factor! Aliza, a freelance Casting Associate Producer who’s worked on shows such as Love is Blind and Married at First Sight, and Nathan, a stay-at-home-husband with a background in the non-profit world, are big Disney fans, and they knew from the start they wanted their big day at Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel to feel like a magical fairy tale come true.

And did it ever! The pair dreamt up an elegant-yet-whimsical enchanted forest wedding featuring a Mickey head made of rose petals, a real-life Cinderella carriage, and mango sorbet served in “Glass Slippers” carved out of ice!

To make their magic mirror meets “through the looking glass” motif a reality, Aliza and Nathan hunted for rare collectable Disney figurines and memorabilia to incorporate into their centerpieces and spent countless sleepless nights DIYing favors and decorations. All their hard work paid off big time – you don’t want to miss a single stunning detail in the luscious images by Michael Anthony Photography and cinematic video by Custom Made Productions.

Naturally, when it came to Aliza and Nathan’s ketubah only the best would do. And so they turned to Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Rachelle Tchiprout of The Delicate Brush, who crafted a custom watercolor creation featuring flowers and ivy to match the couple’s wedding décor. Rachelle worked closely with Aliza and Nathan to bring their vision to life, and they were totally bowled over by the results!

This mega-luxe wedding is chock full of details, but we’ll turn you over to Aliza – who looked simply ravishing in of Galia Lahav – to fill you in on the rest…

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How We Met

Aliza, the bride: In 2014, we matched on JSWipe, bonding over having several unlikely and random mutual friends. After exchanging long messages about everything from music and tech to travel and languages, we had our first date at the Santa Monica promenade, which lasted 12 hours! I left that date knowing that I had just met “The One.” We went on to have our second date at Disneyland, which, as a hopeless romantic, was a dream come true. Admittedly, our relationship wasn’t always smooth sailing.

As we each navigated our early twenties and found ourselves living in different places, we dated on and off for a few years. It wasn’t until 2017 that we reconnected once and for all at a Shabbat dinner & the rest was history! In 2019, Nathan proposed to me in front of Sleeping Beauty’s Castle, making our engagement extra magical. My engagement ring features a hand cut diamond from the early 1910’s. Nathan worked with Steve from Korshak Diamond Corporation to custom design both my engagement ring and my diamond wedding band!

Full of excitement and imagination, we began planning for a July 5, 2020 wedding, We chose July 5th as our wedding date because it was the day after Nathan’s grandparents’ wedding anniversary – July 4th. At the time of our choice, they had been married for 65 years and we felt it would be good luck! (They made it to 68 years, before Nathan’s grandma sadly passed away in January 2023.) When the pandemic hit in early 2020, we were left with no choice but to postpone our celebration.

While a party can wait, we felt that we didn’t want to put our love story on hold, so we decided to still get married as planned on our original date in a beautiful intimate ceremony in my parents backyard in Boca Raton, FL. What we lost by having to postpone also afforded us an extra year to fully bring our dream wedding celebration to life. We spent the months leading up to, what would now be our July 4th, 2021 “vow-renewal” and belated reception, planning out every unique detail!Continue ReadingContinue Reading