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A Pnina Tornai Bride for an Elegant Jewish Wedding Full of Personal Touches at OceanCliff, Newport, Rhode Island, USA

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There’s not much we love more than blogging the Jewish wedding of one of our beloved Brides Club members, so naturally we’re thrilled to be featuring the fabulous Newport, Rhode Island nuptials of Brides Club grad Sarah, an advisor at a research and advisory firm, and Gal, a software engineer.

Sarah always dreamed of getting married on the beautiful Rhode Island coast, where she grew up spending summers, and the couple took their cues from their elegant New England surroundings, choosing a soft color scheme of ivory, blush, and lavender.

They also had a watercolor wedding crest designed, featuring their venue, dogs, and favorite flowers – and we love the way the crest became a focal point tying together all of the many wedding details! Sarah and Gal even had custom cookies decorated with their crest on the tables for their guests – check them out in the gorgeous photos by Adeline and Grace!

Animals are a big part of Sarah and Gal’s life, and they had a gorgeous custom cocktail sign painted in watercolor featuring their dog Teddy and horse Jasper – and Teddy even came to the venue for some special pre-chuppah pics with his humans!

There’s so much more to say about this exquisite wedding – like, how cool is it that Sarah and Gal had a live wedding painter on hand to capture their first dance? – but we’ll let the bride take it from here…

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How We Met

Sarah, the bride: Gal and I met in 2012 in Tel Aviv at a popular bar called Drink Point on Dizengoff Street. I was in Israel doing a Masa Internship Program and Gal had just finished with the army and was working at Live Person. I had been on Birthright the year before and became friends with an Israeli soldier in our group. When I decided to do an internship program in Israel the following year my friend had wanted to introduce me to all of his friends.

Gal is one of his best friends. In 2013, I made Aliyah and we lived in Tel Aviv. In 2016, we decided to move to the United States with our dog Lilush. Gal was an exchange student at Carnegie Mellon University and I was working on Hillary Clinton’s 2016 Presidential Campaign in Pittsburgh. In 2017, we moved to Washington, DC where we have been living ever since with our Golden Retriever Teddy. Gal proposed in the Icelandic countryside on horseback in 2018.

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A Casablanca Bride for a Hanukkah Wonderland Jewish Wedding at the Hyatt Regency Downtown Boston, Massachusetts, USA

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There’s something so special about a Hanukkah wedding – and we’re obsessed with the way Brides Club member Jennie, a Ph.D. student at Cambridge, and Ben, a software developer for a financial firm, went all out incorporating the holiday vibes into their big day.

With their Jewish wedding falling on the first night of the Festival of Lights, Jennie and Ben opted for a full-on Hanukkah wonderland theme, and we are ALL about it. From the blue-tinged color scheme to the giant (5-foot!) menorah the pair lit at the start of dinner to the dreidels-and-gelt wedding favors, this wedding was chock full of wonderful festive touches. And we haven’t even gotten to the food yet – Jennie and Ben not only served delectable sufganiyot with their dessert; they also had a latke station with several different toppings at the end of the night! How fun is that?

Throughout her wedding planning, Jennie was a member of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club, and we’re so touched by her kind words about how the community “made the wedding planning process a whole lot easier, especially since I was planning everything from overseas. All of the checklists and resources really allowed us to think about what was important for us. It was also great to have a group of brides who were going through the same process as me or had already completed their weddings – they really helped us not sweat the small stuff. Everyone in Brides Club is so kind and supportive of each other!”

Jennie also found some of her wonderful vendors via Brides Club, including Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Talia C, who provided the couple’s smash glass and then made the shards into Shabbat candle sticks, and their fabulous ketubah designer, Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Ink with Intent. Jennie and Ben chose Ink with Intent’s custom night sky design, featuring the star map for their wedding date! Don’t miss it in the wonderful photos by Simi Rabinowitz.

There’s so much more to this wonderful wedding, but we’ll leave it to the bride to fill you in on the rest…

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How We Met

Jennie, the bride:  We live in London but we originally met back in 2016 in Boston, where we were both working at the time. Ben was the flatmate of one of my colleagues, who brought him to an after-work meet up one evening. We kept seeing each other at group hangouts for a few years after that, then slowly became friends and started seeing each other more and more. Our friendship very naturally grew into a romantic relationship over time. The friend who introduced us was our Best Man!Continue ReadingContinue Reading

A Family-Focused Jewish Wedding in Teal and Silver at The Prado at Balboa Park, San Diego, California, USA

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Krystal & Richard, The Prado at Balboa Park, California, USA

We love it when a couple focuses their wedding on the things that really matter – which is exactly what today’s couple, Krystal, a chief in the Navy, and Richard, a construction manager, did. Early on, they decided they wanted to craft an intimate, budget-conscious day centered around family and faith, and their joyous San Diego Jewish wedding at The Prado at Balboa Park was exactly that.

Including family was key to the couple every step of the way. Krystal planned the wedding alongside her mother, mother-in-law, sisters, and sister-in-law, and on the day family members did everything from reading the seven blessings to leading the toasts. Including the memories of relatives who had passed away was also top of mind for Krystal and Richard, and, in addition to a memorial table with 4×6 picture frames with photos and names, during the ceremony the couple’s rabbi read out the names of late loved ones.

Family members also signed the couple’s stunning ketubah, which they found via Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Ketubah.com. They chose the Infinite Love Papercut design for its bright colors, and they loved working with Ketubah.com for their quick response times, variety, and ease of changes for text or delivery dates.

Krystal was a member of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club throughout her wedding planning, and we’re so touched to hear that she found the group a big source of support in everything from figuring out how to honor loved ones who have passed on, trimming down a guest list, and whether – and how – to manage a successful hora with a smaller crowd.

This was truly an incredible wedding – don’t miss the joy-filled photos by Bruna of Elegance in Frame Photography to see all the love and happiness of the day!

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How we Met

Krystal, the bride: Picture it, San Diego, 2020. It was Richard’s first time out in years and my first time out since returning from a six-month deployment. It was going to be a much needed ladies night since restaurants and bars were finally open again.

As the ladies were looking for an empty table, Richard was holding one down for the fellas who just stepped away. I asked if we could share his table to finish our drinks, he kindly obliged, and the rest is history. I remember he wore a black t-shirt with a hamster in the pocket (proof he didn’t go out that night looking for a girlfriend) and conversation sparked because we’re both Denver Broncos football fans.

He had such a bright and handsome smile that the first time he laughed, I swooned. Classic story of guy meets girl during a pandemic, right? It’s funny because earlier that week I deleted all the dating apps on my phone and told myself I was going to be single for a while. Well, clearly Hashem had other plans for me. We met on a Saturday night, first date was Tuesday, and by Thursday he asked me to be his girlfriend. 10 months later, he proposed!Continue ReadingContinue Reading

A Joyous Jewish Wedding Featuring a Personalized Outdoor Chuppah at Sopwell House, St Albans, UK

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We are so thrilled to be featuring the Jewish wedding of our Bride’s Club member Ines today! Ines, a professional chef, wed Andy, a property investor, at Sopwell House in an outdoor ceremony under the most gorgeous personalized chuppah – just one of the many special touches the pair included in their day – and we are all about it.

So about that chuppah… Ines and Andy worked with Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor The Happy Chuppah People on the chuppah of their dreams – which they topped with the most exquisite personalized canopy handmade by Israeli artist Bella Alon – and they can’t stop raving about how much they loved working with the incredibly helpful team.

We also love that Ines opted to wear her mother’s wedding dress on the big day – how special is that?! Ines’s father had tragically passed away from Covid, and wearing her mother’s gown was such a meaningful way to honor his memory and make him part of the day. Don’t miss the incredibly special pics by Leivi Saltman.

Ines and Andy worked with a whole bunch of wonderful Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendors, including Noa Attias, who designed their beautiful ketubah; talented wedding filmmaker Robert of CCS Video, who made the couple’s wonderful wedding video; planner Events by Natasha; and Shir, who Ines describes as “the most amazing band ever!” Shir kept the dance floor packed all night long, and they even taught in Israeli dance lesson to get all the non-Jewish guests in the loop!

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How we Met

Ines, the bride: We met years ago at a friend’s house…  It was instant attraction, but took us around 2 years to start dating… But at the end of our 1st date, we were already deciding what to do on our 2nd date! And our 3rd date we had the most magical weekend in Monaco, staying at the Hermitage Hotel….Continue ReadingContinue Reading

A Sophia Tolli Bride for a Jewish Wedding Full of Feeling at the St Pancras Renaissance, London, UK

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We could not be more delighted to be featuring the fabulous London Jewish wedding of our Smashing The Glass Bride’s Club member Jessica! Jessica, who works in advertising, wed Harry, a solicitor, at the majestic St Pancras Renaissance and their big day was simply BEYOND!

Naturally, we were thrilled to hear that Jessica found some of her incredible vendors through Bride’s Club, including their sensational chazzan, Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Jonny Mosesson. In Jessica’s words, “He has the most beautiful voice and moved so many people to tears. He got people clapping along to sheva brachot and hearing his voice really calmed both of our nerves. For me, he took our ceremony to a whole other level.”

For their reception music, Jessica and Harry went with Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Ambassador Band, another rec from Bride’s Club. Jessica writes, “They performed beautiful acoustic sets while guests were eating, and bought the party for the dance sets in between courses and at the end of the night. The Israeli dancing set was also incredible with so much energy. They had everyone on their feet all night long and were better than we could have ever imagined.”

Even before she got engaged, Jessica knew she wanted Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Claudine Hartzel as her photographer – and unsurprisingly, she received another rave review from Jessica: “Claudine was everything we could have wanted in a photographer and more. She rolled with all the punches and kept us both really calm when a few hiccups happened. She really is the dream supplier and we hope to be able to work with her again in the future.”

There’s so much more to say about this wonderful wedding, but we’ll leave it to Jessica, who looked simply divine in  Sophia Tolli, to fill you in on the rest…

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HOW WE MET

Jessica, the bride: We met on JSwipe (as all modern Jewish love stories start) and started dating on 29 May 2016. It was then incredibly special to get married on our 6-year anniversary, on 29 May 2022.Continue ReadingContinue Reading