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A Love-Filled Micro Jewish Zoom Corona Wedding at the Brides’ Parents Home in Westport, Connecticut, USA

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So your long-planned wedding plans have been disrupted by COVID-19. That’s exactly what happened to New York couple Julie, a Smashing The Glass Brides Club member who works in sales for a tech startup, and Benjamin, who’s in private equity. They had a 250-person Jewish wedding planned for April 18, but when it became clear that couldn’t happen due to the pandemic, these two pivoted to something that’s become an increasingly popular choice for #coronabrides and grooms: a Zoom wedding.

These two decided they still wanted to get married on their original date, which fell when the pandemic was at its peak in the New York area. Nonetheless, Julie and Benjamin managed to pull together a truly unforgettable wedding – at the bride’s family home, with her parents attending physically, their rabbi officiating via Zoom, and the rest of the couple’s close family and friends tuning in virtually – in just three days!

Although this was a very different wedding from the big bash the pair had planned – and they do still plan to celebrate in person with their loved ones later on – in Julie’s words, “It was so special and so real. It reminded me that all of the other stuff is just stuff. We will tell this story to our children and our grandchildren.” This day was SO full of love, and we can’t get enough of the photos from Megan Mills.

Julie also kindly provided some invaluable tips for other couples considering Zoom weddings, for everything from dealing with tech to making sure your wedding day feels special – do read on for her wise words! She’s also posted a full Newlywed Debrief video inside Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club where she talks through the day in depth and provides some truly unmissable insights – if you’re planning a Zoom wedding, please do join us in the club so you can fully benefit from Julie’s wisdom and generosity (and so much more)!

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HOW WE MET

Julie, the bride: We met on Jswipe on May 18, 2017!

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A Martina Liana Bride for a Sunset Jewish Wedding at the Marriott Marina del Rey, California, USA

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We’re so excited to be featuring the beautiful SoCal Jewish wedding of our beloved Smashing The Glass Brides Club member Ashleigh, an ice skating coach and photographer, to Jason, a former PRO MMA fighter and current Muay Thai master instructor and personal trainer.

All of us at Team STG so enjoyed following Ashleigh’s planning journey in Brides Club, and we’re so touched by her kind words about her experience in the group:

Karen was so involved and totally dedicated in guiding me along my bridal journey. STG Brides Club is a virtual community where friendships are built and everyone truly supports each other. I love the fact that Karen encourages Bride’s Club Meet Ups. It is easy to form friendships online but in this day and age to meet and bond offline is a rare occasion! Now that I am married, I find myself still enjoying being a part of the STG community and I encourage every bride-to-be to join.

Aw, thanks Ashleigh – who clearly put all that Brides Club guidance to good use, because this wedding is incredible! From the floral chuppah with a panoramic view of the marina, the city, AND the ocean, to sweet personal touches like the couple’s dog, Baby, walking down the aisle in a princess crown, this was one beautiful day, and we’re obsessed with the breathtaking photos by Dmitry Shumanev and video from White Rose Production produced.

Also, how stunning does Ashleigh look in her gown from Martina Liana Bridal?! We’ll let her fill you in on the rest…

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How We Met

Ashleigh, the bride: We met at the gym. Jason was teaching his kickboxing class and I thought him incredibly handsome but did not think that an MMA fighter that looked like a ninja could be Jewish. To my surprise, he was and that is when my stalking began, which lasted for 4 months until he finally asked me out.

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A Romona Keveza Bride for an Indian-Jewish Wedding at Bel Air Bay Club, Los Angeles, CA

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We love it when a couple works to combine their backgrounds into a totally unique wedding that’s 100% them, so naturally we are so excited to feature today’s beautiful Indian-Jewish wedding of Smashing The Glass Brides Club member Wendy, who works on HR software, to Nagesh, who works in healthcare data analytics.

Wendy is Jewish, Nagesh is Indian, and the pair made it top priority to ensure both cultures were represented in their celebration. They incorporated Hebrew and Hindi text wherever they could, and used symbols that reflected both cultures throughout their stationery and design. For their rehearsal dinner, they held an Indian sangeet, a musical pre-wedding party, at an Indian restaurant. The couple wore traditional Indian dress and encouraged their guests to follow suit, and they even brought in Indian dancers to help get everyone on the dance floor.

Then, the next day, the pair had the most stunning outdoor chuppah overlooking the Pacific Ocean – seriously, don’t miss the epic imagery from photographer Laurie Bailey and videographer Yours Truly Media – with so many beautiful personal touches, from their cantor, who officiated, including the couple’s own words about their hopes for married life that she’d requested they write in advance, inviting friends and family to read the seven blessings in English after their cantor read them in the original Hebrew, and using Wendy’s great-grandparents’ gold wedding bands.

And did we mention that Wendy looked absolutely stunning in her Romona Keveza gown? Because she most definitely did.

Take it away, STG Brides Club member Wendy! (and if you want to join Brides Club (STG’s members-only community that removes wedstress and indecision, and gives you what you need to plan with confidence, join here. We’re closing the doors to free entry on Thursday so now is the time!).


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How We Met

Wendy, the bride: Nagesh and I met in our MBA program at the University of Maryland in 2015. We hit it off as soon as classes started and the rest is history!

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An Enzoani Bride for an Elegant Jewish Wedding in White at Farmington Hills Manor, Farmington Hills, Michigan, USA

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It’s always a special day when we get to feature the Jewish wedding of one of our beloved STG Brides Club members, and we’re especially psyched to see the beautiful day Nargiz, an attorney, practicing criminal defense and real estate/business litigation, and Ryan, a mechanical engineer pulled off.

Nargiz did such a beautiful job chronicling her efforts to include her late mother in the celebration so movingly (which she wrote about in this moving blog post for STG) – not to mention the couple’s work to craft a day that reflected both the bride’s Azerbaijani Jewish background and the groom’s Ashkenazi American one.

She and Ryan also happen to have put together an absolutely gorgeous wedding. With an all-white theme – how elegant is that chuppah?! – and a glam mermaid gown by Enzoani, this pair’s aesthetic was on point, as captured exquisitely by photographer Visi Productions and videographer was Blue Racer Productions.

Getting married without a beloved parent is always a bittersweet experience, and we’re so moved by some of the special touches Nargiz worked in as remembrances of her mother, from attaching a picture of her mom to her bouquet to making a contribution in lieu of favors to the American Cancer Society and Mazon.

And we love how Nargiz brought her heritage into the day with Azerbaijani food (plus bottles of vodka on all the tables!) and Russian singers performing traditional Kavkazi songs.

As a member of STG’s Brides Club, Nargiz loved trading stories and advice with Jewish and Jew-ish brides from all over the world. If you want to join the Club too (we’re currently particularly supporting brides-to-be whose wedding plans are affected by the pandemic) click here.

We’ll let Nargiz – who blogged her wedding planning journey on STG – tell her story from here…

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How me Met

Nargiz, the bride: We met through mutual friends 6.5 years ago.

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An Allison Webb Bride for an Industrial Rustic Jewish Wedding at The Venue, Asheville, North Carolina

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We are obsessed with the industrial-meets-rustic vibe of today’s beautiful Jewish wedding! Taryn, a software consultant, and Josh, a software engineer, combined their love of the city life – they reside in the DC metro area – with a passion for the mountains of western North Carolina, and their big day was a pitch perfect reflection of that.

The Venue in Asheville, North Carolina, was the perfect spot, with its mix of chandeliers and exposed brick walls, and we love the way Taryn and Josh added soft romantic touches with candlelight and the loveliest floral chuppah. Don’t miss the wonderful photography and videography from Beautiful Life Films! 

And how beautiful is the couple’s beautiful ketubah, by the amazing Rachelle of Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor The Delicate Brush? The design – featuring a gold star of David intertwined with the seven species of Israel – is just so lovely, and we’re not at all surprised to hear that Taryn and Josh adored working with Rachelle!

We’ll let Taryn, who looked totally fab in Allison Webb, fill you in on the rest…

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How We Met

Taryn, the bride: We met online through Jswipe. After many unsuccessful online dating attempts, I was fed up with the online platform and was not too excited for another date. Josh and I had our first meeting at a coffee shop in downtown DC called SlipStream. I called my Mom on my walk from work to the coffee shop and she gave me some encouraging motherly advice, which I am forever grateful for.

I fell in love on that date and the rest is history. Since it was only a coffee date, both of us had made plans for later in the evening. Both of us were over an hour late for our other plans because we could not stop talking and laughing. Josh is truly the most incredible human I have met, and I am so lucky to be married to him. We love each other more every day and look forward to spending the rest of our lives together side by side. I wish we could live to be 500 years old, just so that I would have more time with him.  

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