Christian Louboutin Archives - Smashing the Glass

A Gucci Bride for an Intimate and Elegant Destination Jewish Wedding at the Great Synagogue and the Four Seasons, Florence, Italy

29/04/2019 by Karen Cinnamon Leave a Comment

We love it when a couple does their Jewish wedding their way (it’s our mantra after all), and that’s just one of the many reasons we’re so smitten with family nurse practitioner Lauren and director of sales Abraham’s gorgeous destination wedding in one of the most beautiful places on earth.

First off, we love that Lauren stayed true to herself ad opted to marry in a totally chic – and not traditionally bridal – Gucci dress she bought off the rack from Neiman Marcus! It just goes to show, you absolutely don’t have to do the big white gown thing for your big day if it doesn’t speak to you.

We also think it’s fantastic that Lauren and Abe opted to keep their wedding super intimate – they had just 24 guests! There’s something to be said for surrounding yourself with your nearest and dearest – and only your nearest and dearest – on such a special day.

It doesn’t get much better than the majestic Great Synagogue of Florence, where the chuppah took place, and the reception venue – the Four Seasons of Florence – was pretty epic in its own right. It was all captured wonderfully by award-winning photographers D2, Donatella and Damiano, whose natural, atmospheric photos captured all the love and emotion of the day so perfectly.

Also, these two have an unusual – and beautiful – how-we-met story. Seriously, you don’t want to miss this one!

Now over to the bride…

How we met

Lauren, the bride: Our story is quite special. Abe’s ex-wife, named Lauren, and her now husband Ron made the introduction.

I was a close friend of Ron’s for many years, who then started dating Lauren. Ron had met Abe on numerous occasions, as Abe and Lauren have two sons together, Leon, 10 and Felix, 8. Abe and Lauren have a great/friendly/healthy relationship and still admire one another.

Upon meeting Abe, Ron had said to Lauren, I think I have the perfect girl for Abe. I was having dinner with Ron and Lauren and actually met Leon and Felix that evening, when they made a text introduction with Abe and I – an hour later I met Abe and never laughed so hard in my life, and from then on we have been together.

An Ines Di Santo Bride for a New York-Meets-London Jewish Wedding at the Gramercy Park Hotel, NYC, USA

15/02/2019 by Karen Cinnamon

Where do we even start with this epic Jewish wedding? Catherine’s sensational bridal style? The way she and now-husband Perry, combined their NYC (hers) and London (his) backgrounds? The ceremony they crafted to reflect their “Judaism Lite” approach to religion? The editorial-style photography from Christopher Lane Wedding?

Or maybe the fact that the bride is a beloved member of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club?

Okay, we’ll go with that last one… Catherine has the absolute sweetest things to say about the advice, tips, and resources she found through being a member of our Brides Club (and also her SMASHED IT bag for her smash glass)!

In Catherine’s own words:

“Karen (founder of Brides Club) was absolutely SMASHING in everything from her one-on-one advice inside Brides Club, to daily tips, and as neither my husband and I are very religious, the vast breadth of Jewish related questions and answers I was able to get answered was priceless.”

Curious? In honor of Valentine’s Day, we’re having a special promo where you can get a FREE month-long trial of Brides Club, now through Sunday only. If you’re planning a wedding right now — whether you’re newly engaged or just weeks out from the big day — do give it a try (and you can see Catherine’s ‘newlywed debrief’ interview in there too!)

So back to Catherine’s bridal fashion sense… this super stylish bride, and she had not one but TWO gorgeous dresses: for the ceremony, an uber-glam long-sleeved Ines di Santo, and for the reception an edgier custom gown by the bride’s friend designer Paul Raymond — and we’re TOALLY obsessed with both looks.

There’s so much more to say, but we’ll let the bride take it from here…

New York Meets London

Catherine, the bride: We got married a the Gramercy Park Hotel in NYC. I had wanted to get married in the UK as my husband is from London… plus who doesn’t want to be an English countryside bride?!

However, my mother put the kibosh on that (after we had already traveled to and picked the venue in England), claiming the wedding should be in the bride’s hometown. As I am born and bred NY’er, there was no shortage of venue options. We decided on the GPH as it embodied the perfect symbiosis of New York City glamour and London chic. Additionally, my parents’ first apartment was also on Gramercy park and the rooftop terrace has a Robert Mapplethorpe by Andy Warhol portrait… given my mother was Robert’s publisher while he was alive, it further supplanted the idea that the GPH was the venue for us.

An Inbal Dror Bride for a Mega Glam Jewish Wedding at the Ritz Naples, Florida, USA

14/01/2019 by Karen Cinnamon

Two words: Orchid. Chuppah.

You know we love a good floral chuppah, and Michele and Scott went all out, packing every possible inch of theirs with glorious florals, from the poles to the edges to the gorgeous curtain of orchids hanging down the back.

This modern chic beachside wedding was packed full of luxe details, from the tiny bottles of Champagne they handed out as favors to their colorful ketubah from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Ketubah.com to the incredible paper and leather flower wall behind their sweetheart table — truly, it’s unmissable (oh.. and if you want to get lots of creative ideas for your wedding do sign up for this with our founder, Karen! It’s totally free and totally unmissable!)

Michele, who is chief administrative officer for a private equity firm, and Scott, a wealth manager at Merrill Lynch, chose photographer Emily Harris and videographer Senderey Video to capture their big day, and we think you’ll agree they did a totally awesome job of it.

We’ll let Michele, who looked incredible in her stunner of a dress from Inbal Dror, which she found at Mark Ingram Atelier in NYC, fill you in on the rest…

How We Met

Michele, the bride: We met through mutual friends in NYC.

A Pnina Tornai Bride for an Uber Glam Jewish Wedding at the Four Seasons in Palm Beach, Florida, USA

13/08/2018 by Karen Cinnamon

This mega-chic Jewish wedding is so picture perfect, between the dreamy Palm Beach setting and the jaw-dropping florals (have you seen that chuppah?!) you’d never guess that it almost didn’t happen. Brett, a social worker, and Dakota, who works in real estate, had to cancel their original wedding date at the last minute when their venue closed due to a Category 5 hurricane. Luckily, they were able to reschedule — with ALL of their original vendors, no less. How fabulous is that?!

But this wedding is so much more than its dramatic origin story. We ADORE Brett’s guipure lace gown by Pnina Tornai, which she custom designed alongside Pnina herself at Kleinfeld. It’s sexy without going over the top, and could it fit Brett any more perfectly?!

We’re also pretty smitten with the florals, courtesy of Lane of Dalsimer Atlas. The couple gave him more or less free reign over the flowers, and it turns out that was an excellent call.

Their floral chuppah is just the dreamiest, lush and romantic as can be. And we love the ultra-creative multilevel tabletop dà©cor setup Lane came up with! Check it out for yourself in Emily Harris Photography and Senderey Video Productions’s fantastic captures of the day.

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How we met

Brett, the bride: We met in college at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor (Go Blue!!) and have been together very, very happily ever since!

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!