ASOS Archives - Smashing the Glass

A Sassi Holford Bride for an Elegant Jewish Wedding at St Pancras Renaissance Hotel, London, UK

10/07/2020 by Karen Cinnamon

We’re so excited to be sharing the gorgeous Jewish wedding of another of our Smashing The Glass Brides Club members today! Not only did Laura, a nutritionist, and Josh, a project management consultant, have the quintessential London wedding at the stunning St Pancras Renaissance, but they also worked with some of our very favorite Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendors to make sure their big day was nothing less than a smashing success, as evidenced in the joyous photos from Chiko Photography.

First off, we’re all about Laura’s elegant bridal look, featuring a classic gown by Sassi Holford and the chicest updo by Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Hair by Slo. Stylist Sarah-Louise is so loved by #STGbrides, and reading Laura’s kind words it’s no wonder why: “She was always at the end of the phone when I needed both hair and non-hair related advice, and on the day she blew me away with how she did everyone’s hair and made everyone feel.”

And then there’s the cinematic masterpiece that is the couple’s wedding video from beloved Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Denee Motion. We’re not at all surprised to hear that the team made Laura and Josh feel super comfortable on the day – or that they’re obsessed with their video and the amazing memories it brings back. This is one trailer not to be missed!

We’re also crazy about the couple’s modern ketubah by Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Elena Berlo, in the most wonderful palette of blues, greens, and golds. It’s a true piece of art, which Laura and Josh now proudly display in their living room as a memento of their special day.

Now over to the bride…

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Venue

Laura, the bride: We got married at the St Pancras Renaissance hotel in London. I have worked around the corner from the venue for 5 years and every time I walked past it, I fell in love with it a little bit more. Soon after we were engaged, I made Josh come with me to have a look at the hotel. After we had been shown around, I couldn’t imagine getting married anywhere else.

We loved all the rooms and the iconic stair case, which all could be used as part of the wedding and how the spaces were naturally beautiful and didn’t need too much dressing. Continue Reading

An Enzoani Bride for a Fun-Filled Interfaith Jewish Wedding with DIY Touches at Wharfedale Grange, Yorkshire, UK

18/11/2019 by Karen Cinnamon

We love it when a couple puts fun at the top of their wedding planning agenda. And that’s exactly what STG Brides Club member Sophie and groom David did when planning their interfaith Jewish wedding.

Well, fun AND making sure all of their guests felt included in the big day, regardless of background. Between the non-religious civil ceremony (which included a gospel choir and a poem from ‘Sex and the City’!) and a standard Jewish wedding format including touches like Israeli dancing, we think they hit the balance just right.

Photographers All You Need Is Love were chosen for their relaxed, fun style, and Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor York Place Studios handled videography in their trademark documentary style, which meant they captured all the couple’s meaningful moments in a totally natural way.

The other thing we love about this wedding is the beautiful DIY touches. First off, how cool is it that Sophie made her own rose petal confetti?! Such a fun project – and it makes those smashing confetti shots that much more special.

Sophie also happens to have a mega-talented dad who crafted the retro illuminated sign over the dance floor (it read ‘Brand New Isaacs’ to match the couple’s #abrandnewisaacs hashtag – the bride’s name was Brand and the groom’s is Isaacs).

Now over to the bride, who looked beautiful in Enzoani…

How we met

Sophie, the bride: We met at work in Leeds, when I joined the big accountancy firm that David had already been at a couple of years. We didn’t get together straight away, with David moving to London soon after we met, but a year or so later I moved to London too and we got together at that point.

After several years having the best time living in London we decided to move back to Yorkshire, where we now both work as private equity investors – in very similar roles but at different companies!

An International Egalitarian Waterfront Jewish Wedding at Two Rivers Country Club, Williamsburg, VA, USA

30/09/2019 by Karen Cinnamon

Chag sameach, smashing readers! We hope you’re having a wonderful Rosh Hashanah, however you choose to celebrate – to paraphrase our tag line, your Rosh Hashanah, your way!

Speaking of which – we just love it when a couple merges their backgrounds into a Jewish wedding that’s so perfectly them it couldn’t possibly be anyone else’s. Like Lauren and Josh. American bride Lauren, who works in communications, and English groom Josh, can accountant, wed in the most beautiful waterfront spot in Lauren’s home state of Virginia.

Combining the bride’s Reform Ashkenazi background with the groom’s Sephardi Orthodox upbringing was paramount for these two – as was crafting a fully egalitarian ceremony – and we think they did a fantastic job working both of their traditions plus their shared modern values into their beautiful ceremony. For instance, their gorgeous ketubah from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Ketubah.com displays the traditional text with the Liebermann clause included, alongside an English translation of the couple’s choosing. And while mostly keeping the ceremony traditional, the pair opted to exchange rings and to skip out on circling. We’re obsessed with Maria Grace Photography’s joyous, emotional shots of the chuppah – and the whole fantastic day.

And how sweet is it that Lauren’s father built the couple’s simple birch chuppah, which Lauren and Josh covered with both of their tallitot from growing up!

We can’t let you go without mentioning how much we love that Lauren found her fab dusty rose bridesmaids’ dresses right here on STG – we’ll let her take it from here…

How we met

Lauren, the bride: We met one summer during university; Josh decided to do a summer work program in America and somehow ended up working as a lifeguard at a water park in Virginia. We became friends later in the summer and decided to go traveling together the following year once we finished uni. We ended up dating shortly after the start of our travels and spent our first year of dating traveling around Europe, Australia and the US.

An Enzoani Bride for an Italian Vineyard-Style Interfaith Jewish Wedding at Studio Spaces, London, UK

16/09/2019 by Karen Cinnamon

We never fail to be blown away at how a truly talented florist can transform a space. Take the interfaith Jewish wedding of Natalie, a senior digital project manager, Sam, a solutions consultant for Adobe, who married at the spare, modern Studio Spaces, a photography studio/event space in East London. The couple loved their venue’s urban vibe, but while emphasizing the space’s coolness they also wanted to bring in a hint of Italian vineyard style.

Enter the amazing Smashing The Glass Recommended VendorLiz of Blue Sky Flowers. Being that she did the wonderful flowers for the bride’s older sister’s wedding, the couple trusted her implicitly to make their dreams a reality. And did she ever come through, using lots of fairy lights, greenery, fresh pots of herbs, and candles to create a magical Midsummer Night’s Dream vibe, and a truly epic hanging flower display that served as the most incredible photo backdrop. We’re in love with the look Liz created – do check out the pics from Rebecca Louise Photography and trailer by Hanh Made Films to see just how special it really was.

We’re also crazy about the way Natalie, who’s Jewish, and Sam, who isn’t, crafted a personal ceremony reflecting their values and backgrounds. With Natalie’s brother officiating, seven honored guests reading English interpretations of the seven Hebrew blessings, and the bride smashing the glass, this couple’s big day was truly them.

Now over to the bride, who looked ever so elegant in Enzoani…

How we met

Natalie, the bride: We met on a night out at Leeds University 9 years ago have been together ever since.

A Zeta Bridal Bride for an Italy-meets-Israel Jewish Wedding at Ahuvat ha Sapan, Ashdod, Israel

24/07/2019 by Karen Cinnamon

You’re dreaming of a destination Jewish wedding, but circumstances mean it makes sense to stay close to home. Sound familiar? That’s what Israeli couple Anastasia and Evgeny found themselves up against when they fell hard for southern Italy – the colors, the blue tiles, the lemons, all of it! – but needed to keep their big day in their home country.

The resourceful duo saw this challenge merely as an opportunity to bring the spirit of Capri to the beaches of Ashdod (their venue happens to be located on the same beach where they met – awwww!), going all out with the lemons and bougainvillea and even hiring in Italian opera singer to set the tone!

And we could easily believe some of Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Jossef Si’s wonderful photos were taken in the hills of Tuscany. As Anastasia says, he somehow managed to find just the right angles to turn every photo into a true work of art – while also managing to stay ever-so-perfectly on theme with the Italian vibes of the day. Videographer Happy Days captured all the gorgeous vibrancy of the day beautifully, too.

We’ll let the beautiful bride – who looked totally stunning in her floral gown by Zeta Bridal – fill you in on the rest…

How we met

Anastasia, the bride: Sounds like a cliché, but it was love at first sight.We met in a pub not far from where the wedding took place on Ashdod beach. The pub was called “It” and indeed surprisingly it was it. I remember it like yesterday, we were both dancing and then suddenly my gaze fell on a guy at the other side of the dance floor who was looking at me, our eyes crossed, and it was a really long and exciting moment. I really liked his looks, my heart started beating fast, and the rest is history.

The ring came after three years together and in the most surprising and spontaneous way.

We did not talk about it and he surprised me on our Christmas trip to Moscow. The atmosphere was magical, he brought me to a frozen lake in some Queen’s palace outside the city, and while he was skating, he kneeled for the proposal! In retrospect it turned out that Evgeny had purchased the ring a few minutes before our flight in Hstern at Duty Free and that was why he was almost late for the flight!