Badgley Mischka Archives - Smashing the Glass

An Alexandra Grecco Bride for a City Chic Jewish Wedding with Bright Florals at Tribeca 360, New York City

04/01/2019 by Karen Cinnamon Leave a Comment

There’s nothing like an NYC wedding. The views. The awesome streetscape photo ops. The cobblestones. And did we mention the views?!

Alie and Mike’s downtown Manhattan wedding at Tribeca 360 does not disappoint – they really did get views of the city from every angle, and we can’t stop swooning over the NYC-perfect portraits Kathleen Fox Photography shot of the couple in the beyond picturesque neighborhood surrounding the venue.

The views inside were pretty fantastic too, especially with that lovely floral chuppah – we love the bright playful colors, and it just goes to show that you don’t need an unlimited floral budget to craft a memorable floral design for your canopy.

They also had a gorgeous papercut ketubah from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Ruth Mergi, and rather than the traditional text Alie and Mike went for a modern version that focused on marriage as entering into a partnership – we love that they were able to incorporate their own values this way!

We also love that Alie emphasizes a topic we feel pretty strongly about: day-of coordinators. Even if you’re a Type A DIY-er like Alie, a day-of coordinator can give you that extra reassurance to enjoy the big day worry-free. From dealing with the venue to making sure the day ran to schedule to saving some of the (delicious) wedding food for the coupe in their bridal suite afterward, these two can’t stop singing the praises of their coordinator, and they say hiring her was some of the best money they spent in planning the wedding.

Now over to Alie, who looked beautiful in her dress by Alexandra Grecco…

A Manhattan Venue

Alie, the bride: We got married at Tribeca 360 in downtown Manhattan. We live in NYC and are both from the area, so we knew we wanted to get married in Manhattan or Brooklyn.

We loved the views of the city from every angle, and liked how the space was set up to flow easily from ceremony to cocktail hour to reception. We also liked that food and tables, settings, etc. came with the venue, so that we didn’t also have to find a caterer. (And people are still telling us how good the food was!)

A Crystal Design Bride for a Romantic Destination Jewish Wedding with Moody Florals and Fireworks at Villa Montefiano, Fiesole, Florence, Tuscany, Italy

12/12/2018 by Karen Cinnamon

Today’s Jewish wedding is 100% pure dreamy-misty-eyed romance. The fact that it took place at a totally stunning venue in Florence doesn’t hurt, obviously. But the couple’s excellent (and elegant!) taste, along with the amazing team assembled by their stellar wedding planner, Rossana from The Knot in Italy, is what really made the day.

We’re totally in love with the moody glam look Andrea, an executive assistant/office manager, and Seymone, an attorney, cultivated. Between the lush florals (peonies and eucalyptus!), twinkly lights, and liberal use of candles – not to mention that subtly dramatic chuppah – every single detail is totally on point. Silvia Galora Photography and videographer Waterfall Visuals both captured the romance and visual splendor of the day absolutely exquisitely.

Oh, and did we mention that there were fireworks? And not just the metaphorical kind.

We’ll let Andrea, who looked stunning in her dreamy princess gown from Crystal Design, fill you in on the details…

How we met

Andrea, the bride: I met Seymone 5 years ago in the basement cafe of our then-office building. This is our story as told on our wedding website:

Andrea captured Seymone’s attention in the basement cafe at their old (now demolished) office building in Century City, CA. Seymone’s first words, “How’s the soup?” led him to finding out Andrea worked at the real estate firm on the 2nd floor.

The next day, Andrea would receive an edible arrangement and a card that read, “It was lovely meeting you in the cafe yesterday, hope the next time I see you is over dinner and drinks – SJ.”

After many adventures and years of getting to know each other Seymone popped the question on February 16, 2017.

A Monique Lhuillier Bride for a Jewish Wedding at the Natural History Museum, South Kensington, London, UK

07/11/2018 by Karen Cinnamon

For years, we’ve been dreaming of blogging a Jewish wedding at one of the most spectacular venues in all of London: the majestic Natural History Museum in lovely South Kensington. An absolute masterpiece of Victorian architecture, it doesn’t get much more iconic than this.

And today, our wedding blogger dreams are coming true with the epic wedding of Orly and Zak! Following a ceremony at the New West End Synagogue in Bayswater – no slouch in the architecture department itself – the pair and their guests decamped to the museum’s stunning Hintze Hall – if you’ve been, or seen it in pictures, it’s the main space with the whale skeleton overhanging! HOW awesome is that?! And how cool are the epic action shots from Pascale at Reportage Gallery?

Orly, an OB/GYN, and Zak, who works in property development, rounded out their marvellous day with kosher catering from fabulous STG Recommended Vendor Food Story (the pair are STILL getting compliments on their unique canapés, cocktails, and everything else by the amazing Food Story team), and they also benefitted from the ultimate day-of coordination (plus a little assistance wrapping up the last few weeks of planning) from the amazing Georgia of Moriarty Events.

Orly’s princess-perfect Monique Lhuillier gown purchased from much-loved STG Recommended Vendor The Wedding Club (who added the PERFECT lace straps to keep Orly’s shoulders covered for the ceremony).

If that’s not enough to catch your attention, there’s also a super sweet story about the couple’s history with the venue, plus a dramatic Hora incident (don’t worry, though, it all ended well!).

We’ll hand you over to the bride in a moment, but first a quick reminder that our FREE online event, ‘The secrets to an unforgettable Jewish wedding’ with our founder and editor, Karen, is happening next Monday November 12 and spots are filling up FAST! Grab your place now to ensure that your Jewish or Jew-ish wedding is as unforgettable as Orly and Zak’s…

An Iconic Venue

Orly, the bride: We got married at the New West End Synagogue in Bayswater and had our reception in Hintze Hall at the Natural History Museum, South Kensington. The synagogue is really one of the most beautiful in London with such magnificent architecture and such a warm, welcoming community.

The Natural History Museum has always been a really special place for us as a couple – on our very first date I told Zak about a little mistake I had noticed on a poster in the dinosaur exhibition. A few weeks later, unbeknownst to me, Zak had already decided we were going to get engaged and started trying to convince them to give him the poster for when he proposed.

It took him a few years, but eventually the NHM gave him the poster and he surprised me with it during his speech on our wedding day! Now it’s up in our hallway! Hintze Hall is such a stunning space and it was such a privilege to party under Hope the whale in such an iconic London venue!

A Vera Wang Bride for a Magical Outdoor Jewish Wedding at The Vineyards in Simi Valley, California, USA

31/10/2018 by Karen Cinnamon

We are absolutely and unequivocally in love with today’s gorgeous outdoor Jewish wedding. The garden chuppah, the California vibes, the perfect summer light… just WOW. Miki and Sonja Photography captured it all SO perfectly, and videographer Stavro Productions made such a moving recording.

But this awesome celebration was about so much more than the magnificent surroundings. Lisa, a therapist who works with Holocaust survivors in addition to running her own concierge practice, FeelingConfidential, and Alexander, a personal injury attorney, also made sure their big day was full of unique personal touches.

For instance, we love how the duo designed their ceremony programs to be folded into fans, so that guests could use them to keep cool during the outdoor ceremony.

And how sweet is it that Lisa recorded herself reciting a blessing, and then arranged to have it played while guests (and the groom, of course) were waiting for her to walk down the aisle?!

Now over to beautiful Lisa, who looked like an absolute modern day princess in her gorgeous Vera Wang…

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How We Met

Lisa, the bride: Although we both lived in NYC at the same time, lived in Israel at the same time, and attended various parties and events over the last 10 years, we had never met.

3 years ago Lisa was living in Los Angeles, and Alex in his hometown of Las Vegas. My best friend and Alex’s best friend set us up the old fashioned way. We went on our first date in Las Vegas on the strip… the date lasted 7 hours 🙂

Flash forward a few months later, Alex knew he couldn’t take the LA girl out of LA, so he quit his job, passed the CA state bar, and started anew in LA to be with me. The ultimate sacrifice for love 🙂

A Suspended Floral Chuppah for a Festive, Glitzy Jewish Wedding at Dock 5 in Washington, D.C., USA

20/08/2018 by Karen Cinnamon

You know there’s little we love more than a distinctive chuppah design at a Jewish wedding.

At first glance, today’s version may look like a fairly standard-issue floral design… but look again. Specifically, look at the poles – or, more precisely the lack thereof.

That’s right, Jillian, a reporter at the financial news site MarketWatch, and Steven, a dental student, went for a suspended chuppah for their big day, with asymmetrical greenery and white flowers descending from each of the four corners but stopping a good few feet from the floor. How cool does it look in Sam Hurd’s glam photos?!

The non-traditional (yet still permissible according to Jewish law – the couple checked with their rabbi) chuppah is just one of the wonderful ways Jillian and Steven merged Jewish traditions with their own 21st-century sensibilities.

For example, the pair liked the tradition of a pre-wedding tisch (a ceremony for the groom and male guests) and kabbalat panim (for the bride and female guests), but weren’t crazy about the gender segregation thing. Their solution? During the cocktail hour, they held both ceremonies, but made each gender-neutral so that all of the guests could experience both – and get in some valuable time with the bride and the groom. We LOVE that.

There’s so much more to say about this fun, festive wedding, but we’ll let Jillian – who looked so glam in her custom gold lace gown designed by family friend Sharon Wilkes – take it from here…

How we met

Jillian, the bride: We first met through mutual friends – a close friend of Steven’s from growing up was one of my roommates in college – but then began dating while working together at HuffPost in New York, shortly after graduating from college. And of course our relationship continued through job changes and Steven’s career left turn into dentistry!