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A Super Luxe Laduree-Fuelled Interfaith Jew-ish Wedding at the Shangri-La, Paris, France

20/04/2018 by Karen Cinnamon

Jewish wedding Shangri-La Paris France_0028
There’s SO MUCH to love about today’s stunner of a Jew-ish wedding, but I’m particularly obsessed with how they incorporated one of my all-time favorite patisseries into their day…

New York-based Melissa, who works in luxury marketing, and William, in finance, opted to wed in Paris, where William lived for many years. The city played an important part in the development of their relationship — as did one of its most delicious exports, Laduree.

Known for the tastiest macarons around (seriously, once you try one of theirs you won’t want to bother with any others), as well as exemplary presentations of classic French pastry, Laduree has long been a favorite Parisian haunt of the couple’s. So much so that when William proposed — in the City of Love, naturally — he did so over a bag of Laduree goodies (seriously, we love this guy!). 

In a nod to their engagement, the pair opted to forgo cake in favor of something quintessentially French: a croquembouche. But not just any croquembouche. A rose lychee flavored croquembouche from Laduree. I’m positively drooling over here just thinking about it!

Instead of a traditional guest book, Melissa and William asked their guests to sign a Laduree macaron book. Each page featured a different flavor, and guests could choose one to sign. Oh, and the favors? Laduree macarons, in a selection of the bride and groom’s favorite flavors.

Even their venue, the mega-opulent Grand Salon at the Shangri-La Hotel, kind of resembles one of Laduree’s beautiful salons (although unlike my local Laduree, the Shangri-La comes complete with a straight-on view of the Eiffel Tower). The place is just dripping with old-school Parisian glamour.

Claire Morris Photography and videographer Zen Film Works captured the day beautifully — you’ve got to see the portraits of the couple at iconic spots all around Paris.

It was important to Melissa, who is Jewish, and William, raised Catholic, to find a ketubah vendor who offered texts suitable for interfaith couples, and they ended up with a beautiful papercut from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Ketubah.com.

Now I’ll turn you over to Melissa could not have looked more elegant in her showstopper of a gown, custom designed for her by Sharon Wilkes (who we adore, and just happens to her best friend’s mother).

Jewish wedding Shangri-La Paris France Jewish wedding Shangri-La Paris France Destination Jewish Wedding Shangri La Paris France_0102 Jewish wedding Shangri-La Paris France_0012

Jewish wedding Shangri-La Paris France Jewish wedding Shangri-La Paris France
How we met

Melissa, the bride: We originally met in the summer of 2006, while we were both participating in a summer pre-college program at Georgetown University following our junior year of high school. As I was from New York and William was from Paris, seeing each other after the program was quite unlikely, but we were smitten with each other.

We kept in touch on and off for the next 5 years, and resumed speaking after a long hiatus around February 2011 when William, who was working in finance but had retained his teenage passion for writing, had written a short story and asked me for my thoughts.

In May of 2011, I had just graduated early from university and was traveling through Europe, while William was on a summer break from his master’s program in Paris. William asked me to meet him for a spontaneous trip in southern Spain, and I said no at first, nervous about seeing him after all those years.

But in my heart I felt that I should go, and a few weeks later I flew to meet him in Andalusia, where we spent five days traveling together and began to fall in love. After the trip, we decided to give things a real shot and began dating long distance. This lasted for four years, with me in New York and William in Paris and London, before William could finally move to New York in June 2015.

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A Galia Lahav Bride for a Luxe Jew-ish Wedding at Lost Orangery, Euridge Manor, UK

31/07/2017 by Karen Cinnamon


Rachel and Alex’s Jew-ish wedding took place on a very, very rainy September day – but this fun-loving couple embraced the weather wholeheartedly, and unreservedly had the best day of their lives.

This gorgeous wedding was all about making much-loved guests, who had come for a full weekend in the countryside, feel special and appreciated. Considerate couple, Rachel and Alex, went above and beyond with caring, personalized touches, providing a plethora of fabulous favors, handwritten notes and even hangover kits. 

We LOVE the oh-so-Israeli story of how beautiful bride Rachel found her dream Galia Lahav dress (we won’t ruin it for you, it’s too funny), and the celebration of divine Israeli designers – we’re with you, Rachel! 

Not one, but two of our fabulous Recommended Vendors were involved with this gorgeous big day, including incredible florist, Mary Jane Vaughan and videographer, HD Moments, who shot the stunning, cinematic wedding video below and submitted this amazing W-Day to us.

The details and emotion of the day were captured by the talented photographer, Aga Tomaszek, and the witty writeup below was by Rachel, the bride. We hope you enjoy reading it as much as we did. 

Jewish Wedding The Lost Orangery Euridge Manor Cotswolds UK_0071

Jewish Wedding The Lost Orangery Euridge Manor Cotswolds UK

Jewish Wedding The Lost Orangery Euridge Manor Cotswolds UK
How we met

Rachel, the bride: We met at Movida nightclub. A not-so-classy establishment, but we instantly clicked. While I don’t believe you can ‘love’ someone at first sight, we both just knew that we would have a future together of some kind, but never in my wildest dreams did I imagine it to be as fairytale-like as it is!

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Emma & David | Elegant tropical garden Jewish wedding at Boca Raton Resort & Club, Boca Raton, Florida, USA

10/02/2015 by Karen

Garden-Jewish-wedding
Emma and David’s big day is absolutely exquisite, and for a summery garden wedding I don’t think you can beat their beautiful colour scheme and all their ‘beachy’ touches. I’m talking Emma’s starfish-topped heels, the elegant palm-patterned wedding stationery, the pretty florals with an almost coral reef-like feel, and  the cutest kissing flamingoes cake topper!

Emma’s wise words at the end are nothing short of perfect, reminding us all of the most important things in wedding planning and your lives together thereafter. But never mind that — check out their multi-coloured sprinkles covered cake. O.M.G!

I must also mention that our beautiful bride tragically lost her grandma very suddenly on the morning of her wedding. It must have been unbelievably difficult to genuinely celebrate the day, but these two managed to come through, and their rabbi sensitively incorporated the heartache into their wedding ceremony (which incidentally took place beneath one of the most beautiful chuppahs I’ve ever seen on Smashing The Glass).

Justin DeMutiis has taken some amazing shots that perfectly illustrate Emma’s tale of her big day with David…

Elegant garden Jewish wedding Elegant garden Jewish wedding
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Suzanne & Doron | Beach Party Jewish Wedding Weekend at Bayit Al Hayam, Jaffa, Tel Aviv, Israel

16/01/2015 by Karen

Beach-Party-Wedding
Hello weekend party people — this is Captain Karen speaking. Welcome aboard Smashing The Glass Airways. Hope you’ve packed your flip flops and party pieces as we’re going to Tel Aviv for a weekend long wedding!

This is the perfect post for a Friday, Not only because it’s beachy and full of sunshine and smiles — perfect for lifting our spirits on this dull January day — but also because it will breeze you into the weekend party spirit. I’m telling you, this folks, this is how you do a beach party wedding!

Suzanne and Doron (or Dozanne as they branded themselves for their wedding) are the smiliest and most fun-loving couple, and both hailing from London, they decided to have themselves a total party-fest of an Israeli destination wedding. The main affair took place in Bait Al Hayam, in Old Jaffa, and furnished Suzanne and Doron with the stunning vistas they were after with breathtaking views of the Tel Aviv coastline and Mediterranean sea. But they also incorporated all sorts of activities outside of the wedding itself, like Beach Olympics a couple of days before the wedding to give all the guests a chance to meet and get to know each other, and a Bedouin Beach BBQ to soak up the hangovers, the day after!

Suzanne is one sexy bride – that hair, those shoes, the dress! Her frock fits her like a glove and she shines in every single photo. And that Doron is pretty cute too…

Liron Erel captured the party vibes and good energies brilliantly with both the incredible wedding film at the end of the post (you have to watch it), and all of the wonderful photos.

Happy Weekend Smash-ers!

Wedding in Tel Aviv Beach-Party-Jewish-Wedding-Weekend-at-Bait-Al-Hayam,-Jaffa,-Tel-Aviv,-Israel_0036
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Sarah & Nick | Uber cool and intimate ‘Red’ Jewish wedding at Forman’s Smoked Salmon Fish Factory, Olympic Park, London, UK

04/11/2014 by Karen

super-cool-London-wedding
One, two, three and breathe Karen…

That’s what I said to myself when Smashing The Glass reader, Sarah’s à¼ber cool London wedding to Nick dropped into my inbox, so impressed was I by their unusual venue (a smoked salmon factory in London’s Olympic Park !), their teenage sweetheart love story, and their choice of wedding transport through the streets of London. Oh yes, these two traveled from synagogue to reception in a red convertible Mustang!

And you’ve got to hand it to a bride that rocks a leather biker jacket and Ray-Bans over her Pronovias dress…

I also love the fact that Sarah and Nick invited just their very closest friends and family, and that they found their chazan (cantor), Jonny Mosesson, via the blog’s Smashing Suppliers recommended vendor list. Jonny is one of the most talented people I know and to think that this blog is able to connect brides with the industry’s very best makes me a very happy bunny indeed.

But back to Sarah and Nick — thank you for submitting your beautiful wedding and thank you to Reportage By for capturing it so wonderfully. Here’s the whole story in Sarah’s words.

Intimate Jewish wedding at Forman’s Smoked Salmon Fish Factory, Olympic Park, London
Intimate Jewish wedding at Forman’s Smoked Salmon Fish Factory, Olympic Park, London
HOW WE MET
Sarah, the Bride: Nick and I met at school aged 11. We were always friends but nothing ever happened whilst we were studying together. We stayed in touch when we left at 16 but he and his family were in Miami and I was in LA. We went on a ‘catch up’ date when we were both back in London when we were 19, and my mum even said, you will marry Nick. She has always had a sixth sense…

Intimate Jewish wedding at Forman’s Smoked Salmon Fish Factory, Olympic Park, London, UK
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