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A Backyard Jewish Micro Wedding-Turned Pool Party, With Some Very Special Virtual Guests

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Victoria and Matthew

The beautiful Jewish wedding of our Smashing The Glass Brides Club member Victoria, a medical student, to Matt a real estate investor and artist, is an absolute masterclass in how to rock your micro wedding. Like so many couples, these two had a big bash planned for this summer. While they postponed their large celebration to 2021 due to the pandemic, Victoria and Matt still wanted to tie the knot on their original date – and did they ever do it in style! We’re in love with the joyous photos from Megan Mills (who was also the photographer for the groom’s sister Julie’s COVID wedding, also featured on STG!).

The small religious ceremony these two put together in Matt’s parents’ backyard – with assistance from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Pink House Productions – included just close family in attendance in person, with more relatives and friends watching on Youtube Live (which the couple picked as a simpler alternative to Zoom, to make things as easy as possible for some older and less tech savvy virtual attendees).

Victoria’s father, who lives in Israel, was unable to safely travel to New York to attend the wedding, but with a little help from STG Brides Club, she was able to fully incorporate him into the day as he attended virtually, on his own special Skype feed so he could not just watch but participate too. In fact, the bride’s favorite part of the day was when her father sang a blessing during the ceremony – how special is that?!

We’re also in love with the couple’s stunning paper cut ketubah by Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Noa Attias (who Victoria found right here on STG!). Noa is so incredibly talented, not to mention a joy to work with! And how fun is it that post-ceremony, the couple and all their guests changed into bathing suits and jumped in the pool? Perks of a backyard wedding…

Before we turn you over to Victoria, we want to leave you with a quote from her, one that sums it all up so nicely:

At the end of the day, while we all want to celebrate with family and friends, when you are up there looking into each other’s eyes it does not matter whether it is the wedding you planned to have or not. You are just head over heels to be there holding your loved one’s hand, to look into his/her eyes and feel this overwhelming joy and love.

Victoria and MatthewVictoria and MatthewVictoria and MatthewVictoria and Matthew
How we Met

Victoria, the bride: We met 7 years ago on Jdate (back when Jswipe wasn’t around yet! Hahah)

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Real Jewish Brides: Alexandra on New Hobbies

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Alexandra will be marrying Ian in May 2021 at La Corte Dei Messapi in Ostuni, Puglia, Italy. Click here to read all Alexandra’s planning posts to date.

THREE FACTS: THREE FACTS: (1) Alexandra and Ian are planning an intimate black-tie destination wedding for 60 of their nearest and dearest in Puglia, Italy. (2) Alexandra is Jewish, and Ian is in the process of converting to Judaism. (3) Alexandra is a member of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club!

I am a person who was constantly on the move when things were open. There is nothing I love more than running from a movie to a museum to dinner. Just spending the day sitting in my apartment made me nervous to think about, let alone do. I did not like ever being tied down to a space, and when the quarantine began, I was honestly terrified. How was I going to spend all of my time indoors!?
 
So I did what I usually do — I began to research. But instead of looking for something to do out in the city, I was looking for what to do in my home. During this period, I also had to come to grips with the lack of control I now felt with the pandemic and moving the wedding. I needed to take control of the things I could. 

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Real Jewish Brides: Orli on the Upside of Postponement

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Orli will be marrying Ben on 30th May 2021 at St Pancras Renaissance Hotel, London, UK. Click here to read all Orli’s planning posts to date.

THREE FACTS: (1) Orli and Ben met on Jswipe. (2) Although their venue, the St Pancras Renaissance Hotel, couldn’t be more quintessentially London, Orli and Ben are going for a countryside feel. (3) Orli is a member of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club!

2020 the year of our wedding. At least that was what we had thought…

Looking back to the beginning of the year, I had imagined exactly how the year was going to pan out. I knew when I had to do each task with wedding planning and how every aspect of our wedding would look. Never could I have imagined that it would not be going ahead due to a pandemic. 

Everyone kept saying to us was that it would be fine, it was totally unprecedented, there was nothing we could do but wait, and have we’d have nothing to worry about because September would be absolutely fine. So, that’s exactly what we did. We patiently waited and then we waited a little longer. The more we waited the more we realised the importance of what we wanted out of our wedding and how we wanted to be surrounded by the people closest to us and not having any restrictions on who we could hug. 

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A Backyard Jewish Micro Corona Wedding in Katamon, Jerusalem, Israel

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Beth and Mattan, Corona wedding, friends garden in Katamon, Israel
We were totally blown away when we first saw the photos by Mama from this gorgeous Jewish corona wedding. When Beth, a special education teacher at an American school in Israel, and Mattan, a lawyer at a high-tech company, realized they were going to have to overhaul their wedding plans due to COVID-19, they turned to Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Michal K. Events Israel to plan the micro wedding of their dreams.

With only fifty guests legally allowed to attend – and some VIPs, including the groom’s parents, were sadly unable to fly in from the US – Beth and Mattan’s wedding looked pretty different than the one they’d originally planned. But after swapping out their original venue for a friend’s backyard and implementing some creative measures to make sure everyone could celebrate safely, it was just as beautiful and memorable a day as any big pre-COVID bash.

With some clever touches – like serving each guest a boxed kids meal from a local burger place (planner Michal’s idea!) – and plenty of socially distanced dancing, this wedding was one for the books. And those who couldn’t be there in person were able to watch the ceremony on  Zoom (you can catch the recording here). 

If you’re planning a micro wedding of your own, you won’t want to miss the masterclass that their planner, Michal, is leading inside Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club tomorrow, Thursday July 9! She’ll be covering everything from platform options and tech to how to make a socially distanced Hora fun and beyond – and based on this incredible wedding, there’s no one we’d trust more on the subject!

There’s lots more we could say about this joyous wedding, but we’ll leave it to the bride – who looked lovely in Michal Taylor – to tell you the rest of the story…

Beth and Mattan, Corona wedding, friends garden in Katamon, IsraelBeth and Mattan, Corona wedding, friends garden in Katamon, IsraelBeth and Mattan, Corona wedding, friends garden in Katamon, Israel
How we met

Beth, the bride: We met through a friend. Mattan had just gone out with her, and I was friends with her. However, we had both lived in Washington Heights, NY, at the same time and had similar social circles. We even had Shabbat meals in each other’s apartments when the other wasn’t there.

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Real Jewish Bride: Sarah on The Wedding Day that wasn’t, and Looking Forward

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Sarah will be marrying Rich on 20th June 2021 at Tikitano Beach, Marbella, Spain. Click here to read all Sarah’s planning posts to date.

THREE FACTS: (1) Sarah knew Rich was the one when he brought a gift of dog treats for her toy poodle Nuala along to their fourth date! (2) They are crafting an amazing destination wedding weekend in Marbella with beloved Smashing The Glass Recommended vendor optimum weddings as their planner. (3) Sarah is a member of  Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club!


The Wedding Day That Wasn’t and the Wedding Day That Will Be

I always thought that when I wrote this blog post I would be bathing in the bliss of being a newlywed (perhaps with a hangover and sore feet!). However, I am writing it as an excited bride to be, filled with hope and positivity about my wedding day on June 20th 2021.

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