California Jewish Wedding Archives - Smashing the Glass

A Vine-themed Gay Jewish Wedding with a Grapevine Chuppah at Chalk Hill Estate, Healdsburg, California, USA

18/05/2018 by Karen Cinnamon

Today’s wedding makes us want to book a one-way ticket to California, stat. Would you just look at that light? Those rolling hills? And the grapevine chuppah?!

Yes, Adam, a real estate developer, and Lowell, who owns and operates a group dental practice, had a grapevine chuppah. The dapper duo married at Chalk Hill Estate, a winery in Sonoma County – just north of their San Francisco home – and their forest floor-themed wedding was basically an ode to the stunning venue.

The couple mixed traditional wedding flowers in favor of vines, branches, and forest foliage, and nowhere did they put this policy into better use than in choosing to have their chuppah constructed from vines and grapes from Chalk Hill’s vineyards. I just can’t get over how cool it looks – you’ve got to check out the close-ups. And if you were too nervous to eat pre-ceremony and found yourself feeling a little peckish, chuppah grapes to the rescue! Bonus?!

Photographer Belathée and videographer Dareen Baca of Reel Eyes Media captured everything about this day so beautifully, from that wonderful golden autumnal sunlight to the love between the couple.

On a poignant note, the devastating 2017 Northern California wildfires started on the night of Adam and Lowell’s wedding, and several towns surrounding their beautiful venue were destroyed in the course of the disaster. As the couple put it, “Like smashing the glass, this was a reminder that even at our happiest moments, there is struggle and hardship all around us.”

With that, we’ll turn you over to Adam and Lowell…

A Winery Venue

Adam and Lowell, the grooms: We were married at Chalk Hill Estate, a winery in Sonoma County. We’d always envisioned a fall wedding in Napa or Sonoma for a number of reasons – the food, the colors, the serenity, and because, for us, it’s a local “destination.” We toured many venues in Napa and Sonoma and were drawn to Chalk Hill because its vast landscapes had a rugged elegance that felt right for us.

An Adrianna Papell Bride for a Colorful, Intimate Jewish Wedding with a View at Greens Restaurant and Fairmont Heritage Place, San Francisco, USA

04/05/2018 by Emily Sacharin

Happy Fri-yay! Emily here, and as a former Bay Area kid, today’s glorious Jewish wedding tugged at every last one of my heartstrings. From the ceremony at Fairmont Heritage Place at Ghirardelli Square, held on a balcony gazebo overlooking the bay, to the reception at iconic Greens Restaurant, which features yet more beautiful views of the bay – and also happens to be my absolute favorite special occasion restaurant from my California days – Judy and David’s wedding is so quintessentially San Francisco it hurts.

So I might be just a little biased. But even if you’re not a nostalgic ex-San Franciscan, there’s so much to love about this wedding, from the orange and yellow floral color scheme to the whimsical tree-themed ketubah from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Ink With Intent to the ultra-intimate ceremony, where the couple had their guests stand around them rather than facing them.

Keeping things intimate was key for Judy, an elementary school principal, and David, a software engineer. The pair always knew they wanted a small wedding, with lots of participation from their closest family and friends: Judy’s friends assembled and decorated the chuppah (which the couple found on Craigslist!), family members recited the seven blessings during the ceremony, and they were married by David’s sister, who is rabbi.

Now over to Judy, who looked absolutely radiant in her Adrianna Pappell dress…

How we met

Judy, the bride: We met on Coffee Meets Bagel.

A Monique Lhuillier Bride for an Ultra-Luxe Jewish Wedding with an Ombre Floral Chuppah at the Beverly Wilshire, Beverly Hills, California, USA

16/04/2018 by Karen Cinnamon

Today’s wedding is 100% pure #chuppahgoals. In fact, everything about this wedding is #GOALS! Davina and Faraz chose to marry at the ultra-elegant Beverly Wilshire in Beverly Hills, and Butterfly Floral transformed the hotel’s ballroom into an absolute floral wonderland.

And then there’s the ombre chuppah. Starting with hot pink roses at the bottoms of the super cool curved columns (a totally awesome, unique design feature), the flowers fade gradually to light pink and then to white. An enormous ring of white roses frames the talit in the center – and, as a sweet detail, there are even little roses hanging from the top of the chuppah, under the talit. Totally jaw-dropping.

Between that chuppah, the bridal party entrances (SO good – watch the film below!), the stunning pink rose table runners (they really are beyond), Davina’s Swarovski-encrusted Louboutins and dress of dreams, and the floral fabulousness, this wedding is pure STG Luxe and we LOVE it!

Videographer David Medill produced a wedding video not to be missed – as much for the raw emotion of the ceremony and ketubah signing as for the wild dancing!

Speaking of wild dancing, music was ably handled by Liv Entertainment, one of our VIB [Very Important Bride] Vendors, offering a 10% discount to members of the VIB Club. They’re just one of many handpicked vendors offering discounts or free gifts to members of our club (who also receive around-the-clock support and advice from my team and me, plus all kinds of cool bridal extras and goodies). If you haven’t joined yet, don’t delay as we’ll be closing membership for this quarter next Thursday April 26th!

Photographer Jessica Claire did simply the most outstanding job of capturing the couple’s dreamy day, and they can’t stop raving about her fantastic energy and sweet personality. This fab photographer, who works in California and New York, also is another of our VIB Vendors, offering a $250 discount on any wedding package only to members of the VIB Club.

I’m sure you’re impatient to see some more of the couple’s fantasy florals by now, so I’ll turn you over to bride Davina, who looked like a princess in her stunning strapless lace Monique Lhuillier gown (which she bought in Paris!).

A Hollywood Wedding

Davina, the bride: Faraz and I got married at the Beverly Wilshire on Wilshire Boulevard. It has always been one of my favorite hotels because of its elegance both from outside of the hotel and inside the ballroom. Not to mention, Pretty Woman (one of my favorite movies of all time) was filmed there!

A Pronovias Bride for an Elegant Jewish Wedding at the Corinthian Yacht Club, Tiburon, California, USA

02/04/2018 by Karen Cinnamon

Talk about a venue with a view! Today’s couple, Maggie and Keith, got married at the Corinthian Yacht Club, in beautiful Tiburon, California, just north of San Francisco.

As if the location right on the water weren’t enough, their venue has THE most stunning view of San Francisco. Especially at night, with all of the city lights, it’s really something to behold. For maximum impact, they opted to hold their Jewish wedding during the full moon!

One very cool way Maggie and Keith made the most of being surrounded by the people they love is by opting to set their chuppah up in the middle of the ceremony room, rather than at the front as is common. They felt this was a more intimate setup, and we totally agree! Always love to see couples making traditions their own like this.

And Maggie and Keith give their amazing planner, Cassy Anderson of Cassy Rose Events, full credit for helping them make their vision for the day a reality. They wanted their wedding to be fresh, classic, and elegant, but not totally traditional – and, most of all, they wanted it to reflect who they are as a couple. Cassy totally nailed it.

The pair were thrilled with their photographer, Robin Jolin too, not only for her incredible eye but also for how comfortable she made them feel on the day. And Maggie looked so elegant in her chic Pronovias gown – can you believe she found it at a sample sale, her very first (and, as it turned out, last) dress shopping stop?! Now over to the bride herself…

A Venue with a View

Maggie, the bride: we got married at the Corinthian Yacht Club in Tiburon. The water and spending time together on the Bay is a huge part of our lives, and we loved that we could share that with our guests. The view of San Francisco was a big part of why we picked the location. My dad helped us set the date by selecting a full moon evening. We are so glad we did.

Both of us grew up in the Bay Area and the majority of our friends and family live in San Francisco or elsewhere nearby. We wanted to have an inclusive event that our guests could could make a weekend out of, or alternatively just take a cab over and enjoy the evening.

Not the most romantic theme of all time, but we wanted to day to feel easy, fun, and special for our guests! We selected a location that would be beautiful and interesting for those coming into town and also allow them to easily walk from their hotel to the rehearsal dinner to the hotel to the venue the next day. Our goal was to allow people to fully enjoy the weekend, without having to get in a car.

A Pnina Tornai Bride for a Super Luxe Colorful Jewish Wedding With a Show-Stopping Chuppah at The Beverly Hilton, Beverly Hills, California USA

19/02/2018 by Karen

Here at Smashing The Glass, we don’t use the word “luxe” lightly, but that is the only way to describe Della and Benjamin’s divine and decadent colorful Jewish wedding.

Not many brides can say they met the dress before they met the man, but that’s exactly what happened to bride Della, who fell in love with her Pnina Tornai gown five years before the pair actually met! It was totally worth the wait – Della looked simply incredible.

And her wedding was as extraordinary as her dress! The celebration was held at the glamorous Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California, and was brought together by incredible planner, L’Amour Event,

We’ve seen many a stunning chuppah in our time, but Della and Benjamin went all out, with a show-stopping garden-themed and foliage-rich chuppah, bursting with pops of color in the couple’s ‘shades of pink’ color palette. Butterfly Floral displayed ridiculous levels of talent in creating the absolute vision, and the complementary arrangements around the venue.

The fabulous floristry was echoed in the couple’s sensational seven-tier cake by Joanie and Leigh’s Cakes, also an absolute work of art.

All of the magic and décor details were captured with aplomb by photographer John Solano, and in the beautiful, cinematic wedding video below, provided by David Medill.

It’s time to pass you over to Della for the full story on her and Ben’s magical day – we just know you’ll love it as much as we do!

A venue with a beautiful ballroom

Della, the bride: We got married at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, CA. We choose this place because of the ballroom layout. I liked that it was three levels and everyone was on a higher level than the dance floor, so they would all have a good seat at our wedding.