Blue Archives - Smashing the Glass

A Patricia Avendano Bride for a Modern Country Interfaith Jewish Wedding in Criadero del Leon, El Valle de Anton, Cocle, Panama

16/08/2019 by Karen Cinnamon Leave a Comment

We’re pretty sure this is a first for STG: an interfaith Jewish wedding that took place in the crater of an extinct volcano! Yes, really.

Though you’d never know it from the photos of Panama’s lush paradise of El Valle de Anton, where lucky bride Ida, a college counselor at a Jewish high school in Panama, has a country home in her family. She and Joey, a photographer and videographer, couldn’t have found a better spot for their dreamy modern country wedding. We’re positively drooling over the gorgeous photos by Mauricio Arias from Chrisman Studios and Alvaro Chingand the wonderful trailer by Visu Films.

Despite having 600 (!) guests at their wedding, they managed to keep the feel intimate by keeping things personal with touches like personalized vows the bride and groom read to each other (both of which happened to begin by talking about food – our kind of couple!) and having their miniature dachshund walk down the aisle.

We’ll let the bride, who looked lovely in Patricia Avendano, fill you in on the rest.

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How we met

Ida, the bride: We met in a geology class at Florida State University (they have a branch here in Panama). And our love story began like any other… with chocolate chip cookies! As usual, like with any other man (including the skinny ones like him) the way to his heart was through his belly. I brought cookies to class one day and offered them to everyone in the class and the rest is history!

Before we started dating we became friends, good friends, at least that’s what I thought. But friendship quickly turned into something more and in February 2011 we started dating, even though we knew I was leaving for college in the USA in August of that same year. We did long distance for 3 years, have been dating for 7, and now we’ll be together forever because we are getting married!

A Berta Bride for a Personal Jewish Wedding at Borgo Corsignano, Poppi, Arezzo, Tuscany, Italy

26/07/2019 by Karen Cinnamon Leave a Comment

We love it when a couple plans a Jewish wedding that’s a true reflection of who they are as a couple. So naturally we’re head over heels for the fab festive weekend of Simone, a nurse, and Etai, who works in finance.

They got married in glorious Tuscany – since their friends and family were spread out all over the world, they figured they might as well have everyone meet up somewhere fantastic, and spread the celebration out over three days to make sure they got in some quality time with all of their guests – no rushing around during the wedding dinner for these two!

We love that they opted to skip the bridal party because it’s just not a tradition that spoke to them, and we’re obsessed with the beautiful, personal ceremony they crafted, writing their own vows, having seven family members each recite one of the original 7 blessings in Hebrew plus a modern English blessing, and choosing the most beautiful geometric floral ketubah from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Ketubata.

Being that this wedding took place in one of the most beautiful places in the world, it’s no wonder that the couple’s trailer from wonderful Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor HD Moments is nothing less than jawdroppingly gorgeous – but it’s all the love and emotion on display that truly makes it unforgettable.

Photographer Roberta Facchini too captured the couple’s happiness – and the evident joy their guests took in celebrating them – wonderfully.

Despite a few mishaps – rain not one, not two, but ALL THREE days of the wedding weekend, friends who couldn’t make it, a guest who partied so hard he broke BOTH of his feet dancing – this was truly a perfect day.

We’ll leave it to Simone, who looked stunning in Berta, to tell you the rest of the story…

How we met

Simone, the bride: We met on Bumble – the online dating app. I really wasn’t interested in going on another bad date, but when he told me he was Jewish and Israeli (hello – accent!!) I couldn’t resist. We’ve been together every day since unless one of us is travelling.

A Calla Blanche Bride for a Jewish Wedding at Al Hayam Caesarea, Israel

19/07/2019 by Karen Cinnamon

Is there anything better than an outdoor Jewish wedding by the ocean in Israel? We’re betting on no… and so did Sophie, a primary school teacher, and Elliott, a financial advisor, who opted for an epic destination wedding at Caesarea’s always stunning Al Hayam. This is one seriously stunning day – you don’t want to miss the splendid photography and videography by Camellia Art (who used a drone to capture some seriously awesome landscape shots).

This is a venue that really speaks for itself, and these two let the natural beauty of the location speak for itself, timing their chuppah for sunset, and going for a beautiful green and white chuppah that made a statement yet didn’t distract from the natural splendor of the surroundings.

We love that the couple opted to follow the tradition of doing the badeken on the aisle, honoring Elliott’s Sephardi heritage, so that the groom AND all the guests all got their first look at the beautiful bride as she walked down the aisle.

Speaking of that beautiful bride – who totally smashed it bridal style-wise in Calla Blanche – we’re going to turn you over to her now for the rest of the story…

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A Wedding in Israel

Sophie, the bride: Back in October 2016, Elliott proposed to me by the Bahai Gardens in Haifa which is his favourite place in the world. He is half Israeli and with his family living there, he would go there throughout his childhood to visit them, and so Israel is a very special place to Elliott. Getting engaged there, we knew straight away that was where we wanted get married. We got married at Al Hayam, Caesarea, Israel – the minute we heard about the venue we instantly feel in love with it.

A Nicole Spose Bride for a Family-Centered Jewish Wedding at Ryland Inn, Whitehouse Station, New Jersey, USA

03/05/2019 by Karen Cinnamon

Not gonna lie, it never fails to give us the warm and fuzzies when a couple puts family at the center of their Jewish wedding. Cory, a second grade teacher, and Ben, Assistant Director of Academic Services for NYUSPS SCHACK Institute of Real Estate, did just that, filling their day with all kinds of beautiful touches large and small that focused their day on those nearest and dearest to them.

For starters, the Cory’s father designed and built the couple’s beautiful chuppah – and her sister was married under it 9 months before Cory and Ben smashed the glass! Even the canopy has a personal connection, being sewn by a beloved family friend.

We also love the special touches the bride brought to her bouquet: not only was it wrapped with the sleeve from her mother’s wedding dress (awwww!), Cory’s mom also attached an Elmo patch to it – a subtle nod to the bride’s love of the little red guy from Sesame Street.

Photographer Millie Batista and videographer Peter Stepien captured this beautiful day so perfectly, and Cory looked smashing in her Nicole Spose sweetheart drop waist A-line gown. She’ll fill you in on the

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How We Met

Cory, the bride: Ben and I were set up between a mutual friend named Jenna. I had met Jenna through working with her as the motivational dancers at various bar and bat Mitzvah parties. One day Jenna told me she had a really great guy friend who had just gotten out of a relationship, and when he was ready to start dating again, she wanted to set us up.

Ben knew Jenna from a summer camp that we all attended as children and happened to work at during different summers. So when he was ready, Ben texted me to set up our first “date”. We met for coffee one day after I got out of work, then shortly after that initial coffee date, we made plans to go out for a proper date of dinner and bowling… and as they say, the rest is history.

A Craig Braybrook Bride for an Australian-Spanish-Indian Jewish Wedding at the Swiss Italian Lavandula Farm in Daylesford, Australia

22/04/2019 by Karen Cinnamon

Imagine you’re standing in the middle of a beautiful field of lavender. Breathe in that wonderful aroma. Relax. That’s it…

Sounds like a nice meditation, right? Well, for Georgia and Richie, it was the setting for their Jewish wedding. Seriously. Check out the stunning photos by Stewart Leishman for proof.

The crazy thing is, the epic setting isn’t even the coolest thing about this wedding (though it’s definitely pretty awesome). We’re mostly obsessed with how interior architect Georgia (she runs Studio Ezra and Tiles of Ezra) incorporated her design sensibilities into the big day.

For starters, there’s the chuppah. The bride came up with the design for the simple wooden structure draped in garlands of blue hydrangea and the most exquisite ropes of bright orange marigold. It’s truly a stunner, from the unlikely juxtaposition of colors to the distinctive lines, and one unlike any chuppah we’ve seen before. The story of how – and why- the marigolds reached the venue is pretty amazing, too.

Even the floor of the chuppah reflected Georgia’s style – she had custom handmade tiles by her company Tiles of Ezra to line the bottom of the structure. The tiles even included the couple’s Hebrew names!

And did we mention that Georgia designed her own dress in collaboration with Craig Braybrook? We can’t get enough of the elegant lines and fun burst of tulle at the bottom of the mermaid-style skirt.

European Vibes

Georgia, the bride: The ceremony was held in Daylesford at the magnificent Swiss Italian Lavandula Farm. My rich love of Europe, having lived in Valencia, Spain, drew me to the farm, as it was reminiscent of this authentic European landscape and lifestyle. It was the perfect scene for one of the most important days in our lives.