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An Essense of Australia Bride for an Enchanted Autumn Jewish Wedding at Garnethill Synagogue and Oran Mor in Glasgow, Scotland, UK

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It’s always a good day when we hear from couples who loved used Smashing the Glass to plan their Jewish  weddings — like today’s fab couple, Stephanie, an architect, and Darren, a retail director for Aspinal.

We’re so pleased that the bride was a loyal reader of STG in the lead up to her big day, even finding fantastic videographer Velvet Wedding Studio on the blog! He and photographer David Grant Simpson did the absolute best job of capturing the magic of the couple’s enchanted autumnal wedding (over Halloween weekend, no less!).

As an architect, Stephanie was focused on getting married in a beautiful space — and she ended up with not one, but two of them! With the chuppah at the majestic 19th-century Garnethill Synagogue and the evening party at super cool converted church venue Oran Mor, this wedding was basically non-stop architectural splendor.

We love how Stephanie and Darren decided to include a ceilidh in their big day as a way of honoring the bride’s Scottish background and providing some familiarity to balance out the novelty of the Israeli dancing for their non-Jewish guests. Good sport Darren even let Stephanie cajole him into putting on a kilt for the Scottish dancing!

Stephanie, who looked stunning in her Essense of Australia dress, will fill you in on the rest of the fantastic details…

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How We Met

Stephanie, the bride: I never ever thought I would try online dating, but as time went on I just realized that it was now the ordinary way to meet someone and gave it a go. We both have stressful jobs, which can make it difficult to find time to date. I still can’t believe that I met my now-husband on Jswipe but I guess that’s modern day romancing for you!

So many people ask me when we knew we wanted to get married. About a month into the relationship after coming in from a night out with, Darren we were laughing about something and then told me he would marry me tomorrow. I know it was a passing comment after I made him laugh, but I guess in the back of our minds we both knew that we wanted to settle down. It sounds odd to many but I think when you meet someone in your thirties you have both already seen the world, been around the block and essentially are in a totally different mindset when you are getting into a relationship. Online dating is literally like modern‐day matchmaking! I guess in a way you could say it was love at first sight, or love at first selfie.

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A Laid-back, Colorful Jewish Wedding (with two glass smashes!) at High& in Tel Aviv, Israel

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What’s better than smashing the glass at a Jewish wedding? How about smashing TWO glasses? Today’s fab couple, Yael, a travel coordinator, and Kfir, an enterprise manager, had a smash glass each at their free-spirited Tel Aviv wedding. What an awesome way to add some gender equality into the traditional Jewish wedding ceremony — and to double the drama of the big moment!

From start to finish, this Jewish wedding is full of one-of-a-kind touches like that, and we love that Yael and Kfir did so much to combine their tastes and personalities with tradition.

For example, Yael followed tradition and chose to wear white — but she went for a super simple, yet very sexy, dress, rather than an OTT ballgown. And to keep the all-white look from getting too cookie-cutter, she made sure to add in fuchsia shoes and an ultra-colorful flower headpiece in fuschia and violet — as brilliantly captured by photographer Lior Rotstein.

And the double smash glasses weren’t the only unusual thing about the ceremony, either. Yael and Kfir opted not to get married through the Israeli Rabbanut, opting instead for a customized ceremony that embodied their own values while remaining true to Jewish tradition. Our favorite (well, second favorite) bit? Their officiant opened the ceremony with a special speech he wrote based on things the pair had told him about themselves and their relationship. Aww!

Yael will fill you in on the rest…

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How we met

Yael, the bride: We met on OK Cupid 🙂

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A Limor Rosen Bride for a Playful DIY Jewish Wedding at Ikea and Alma, Even Yehuda, Israel

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We’ve got two words for you: Ikea. Wedding.

Okay, maybe we’re exaggerating just a tad. Today’s couple didn’t literally hold their Jewish wedding inside the Swedish furniture giant. They did that at Alma, a beautiful venue set amidst a lush garden (where they held their fab outdoor chuppah, natch).

But bride Carmel, a computer science student, and groom Etai, an education and political science student, did do their photos amidst the Billy bookshelves and Malm beds. They went for Ikea Israel due to its abundant A/C on an unexpectedly hot day, but the photos Flea Studio shot there turned out just wonderfully — such an unexpected and cool (in all senses!) location, and we love that this pair wasn’t afraid to have fun with their wedding pics.

The Ikea photoshoot wasn’t Carmel and Etai’s only cool idea. This wedding is chock full of heartfelt DIY touches, our favorite being their DIY patchwork chuppah canopy, assembled from squares inscribed with messages, quotations, and drawings by their family and friends.  

Oh, and did we mention that this duo has a super touching how we met story? We’ll leave it to Carmel, who looked so stunning in her off-shoulder Limor Rosen gown, to fill you in on the rest…

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How we met

Carmel, the bride: We first met in the army, and we were good friends but not a couple. We served together on the same base, when we came home only once every two weeks. After a year in the Israeli army I transferred to another base and a month after that Etai discovered that he was sick with leukemia.

Since I was in a closer base I had a chance to visit him a lot, and during this time I saw him every night, took care of him, and tried to make him happy. We fell in love at the hospital, and after a few month Etai got a bone marrow transplant, which luckily was successful. After he beat the cancer it was clear to us that we were in love and we decided to be a couple. 7 years later we got married <3

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A Jumpsuit-Wearing Bride for a Chic, Alternative Jewish Wedding at Avigdor 22, Tel Aviv, Israel

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Super cool couple, Tamar and Asaf, designed the perfect Jewish wedding day for them – with spectacular results.

With a typically Israeli cool vibe, this Tel Aviv wedding featured a secular, alternative and egalitarian ceremony, with both bride and groom speaking under the chuppah and the happy couple smashing a glass each. We love it! 

Fashion-forward bride, Tamar, ditched the traditional wedding dress for an oh-so-chic wedding jumpsuit by Kaviar-Gauch. Not only was it a bargain, but she looked absolutely breathtaking, and stole the show with her unique wedding getup. 

The wedding was designed to feel like a luscious life vacation. The couple worked with florist Yahav Green to fill their venue with foliage and white flowers, in honor of Shavuot, on which their big day took place. With cocktails in hand, and their own self-created wonderland, the wedding provided a wonderful break for the couple and their guests. 

All of the action and details were captured with aplomb by marvellous Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor, Luz Weddings, who truly told the story of the day in the images below.

Tamar is the latest Smashing The Glass bride to take over these pages, so please give her a very warm welcome, and take it away, Tamar!

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A relaxed, urban venue

Tamar, the bride: We got married at Avigdor in Tel Aviv. When we looked for a venue, the most important thing for us was that it would be conveniently close to Tel Aviv, where we, and most of our guests, live. The second thing we took into consideration was the food quality, and the third was the atmosphere.

The Avigdor uses the catering service of Erez and Hanan who are amazing. The design and atmosphere at the Avigdor is known as urban, groovy and relaxed and besides that, the place is known for it’s professionalism at the highest level of service.
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A Meital Zano Bride for a Jewish Gender-Equal Wedding at Kibbutz Ruhama, Israel

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We are totally and utterly obsessed with today’s double smashing of the glass – seriously how cool are Limor and Tom above?  They both participated in all the rituals, and both smashed the glass. We highly approve! 

Israelis are notoriously chilled out about their weddings, and everything still comes together absolutely beautifully. We’re sure there’s a lesson in there somewhere! Limor and Tom’s personalized Jewish wedding was no exception, conducted on the lawns of the kibbutz they call home.

Chic, understated and oh so cool, the wedding was a real stunner, with the gorgeous natural surroundings setting the stage for the carefully selected dà©cor details, including a ‘something borrowed’ chuppah and a flower station, so that guests became walking decorations.

Lovely bride, Limor, looked a vision in her Meital Zano fashion-forward dress and shawl, with groom Tom kitted out with a chic smart-casual combo from Zara. 

Photographer Sahar Hai Ahava, captured all of the adorable details and the emotion of the day, with some classic, Israeli cool shots thrown in for good measure. It’s time to hand you over to Limor for the full writeup. Be warned – there’s a LOT of pretty to look at – we urge you all to get Pinning.

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Jewish wedding Kibbutz Ruhama, Israel
Home is where the heart is

Limor, the bride: We got married in the gardens of kibbutz Ruhama, our home. We live in southern Israel and the kibbutz is located in a beautiful nature reserve. We chose to invite our family and best friends to the place we love the most.Continue ReadingContinue Reading