coronavirus Archives - Page 3 of 17 - Smashing the Glass

A Sottero and Midgley Bride for a Jewish Wedding at Pleasant Creek, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

05/04/2021 by Karen Cinnamon

Just about every 2020 couple has a story. But not every couple’s story takes them from synagogue to horse ranch. That’s exactly the trajectory Toronto couple Jordana, who works in digital marketing, and Josh, a construction project manager, took in their wedding planning journey.

Their original plans for a 400-person black tie synagogue wedding in May 2020 were thwarted when COVID hit. Initially, the pair postponed to September, and then November. In July, Josh’s mom told them about a gorgeous horse ranch not too far from Toronto. While they had no intention of changing their plans, they decided a trip out to the ranch would be fun, and went to take a look.

But the second they saw the place – rustic barn, tall trees, horses grazing and all – Jordana and Josh knew Pleasant Creek was where they wanted to get married. And, as a bonus, at Pleasant Creek their wedding could be held outdoors – which meant, at the time, that they were allowed 100 people (with social distancing measures in place and COVID testing for the wedding party). Jordana and Josh set a date for September 2020, giving them just two months to plan a totally different wedding, this one rustic chic and outdoor rather than black tie.

It can’t have been easy making such a dramatic shift in such little time – but Jordana and Josh totally rocked it. We adore the boho rustic style they pivoted to – don’t miss their incredible chuppah! – and their ketubah by Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Noa Attias was the absolute perfect fit. Don’t miss all the gorgeous details in Purple Tree’s photos and ZiMakesFilms’ trailer.

Read on for all the details of this wonderful day from the bride, who looked positively ravishing in Sottero and Midgley…

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How we met

Jordana, the bride: Josh and I first met at Western University while we were both in our second year. Although he grew up in Toronto, Josh moved to New York before high school and was studying in Manhattan for his first year in college when he decided to move back to Canada. Luckily for me, one of my best friends went to summer camp with Josh when she was younger, and she thought we would be a great match. Turns out she was right!

We dated all throughout University and decided to move in together in downtown Toronto a couple of years after we graduated. Josh pursued a career in construction management and is now a construction project manager for a development company in Toronto, and I pursued a career in digital marketing. On our trip to Jamaica, Josh sneakily brought an engagement ring with him and set up a beautiful gazebo leading into the ocean to pop the question. He had the aisle filled with lantern candles and flowers, with a beautiful candle-lit dinner at the end and our own personal chef and photographer. It was perfect!Continue Reading

A Kelly Faetanini Bride for a Rustic Romantic Oceanview Jewish Wedding at Seacoast Science Center, New Hampshire, USA

29/03/2021 by Karen Cinnamon

Like most 2020 couples, Tara, a registered nurse, and Avi, a government contractor in counterterrorism, went through several changes of plan before they finally got to throw the Jewish wedding of their dreams. The DC-based couple, who both grew up in the Boston area, had initially planned a Memorial Day wedding on the North Shore of Massachusetts – until COVID hit. Next, they postponed to Thanksgiving – but just seven weeks before the date that became their wedding day, they decided to bump things up to Labor Day.

And we’re so glad they did, because the end-of-summer date was the perfect time of year to get married outdoors at Seacoast Science Center on the gorgeous New Hampshire coast. When you’ve got the ocean as a backdrop, you don’t need much in the way of décor – but nonetheless, we’re obsessed with Tara and Avi’s gorgeous birch chuppah, which fit into the natural landscape so seamlessly. Don’t miss the breathtaking images by Alex Gordias Photography and Bob Accettulo’s moving trailer.

The couple had a traditional Modern Orthodox ceremony – with a few added touches to reflect their contemporary values. We love that, in addition to calling seven men up to the chuppah to recite the sheva brachot per Jewish tradition, they opted to also invite seven women up to read Torah verses selected by the couple. We’re also in love with Tara and Avi’s exquisite ketubah by mega-talented Israeli artist Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Noa Attias.

We’ll let Tara fill you in on the rest…

How we Met

Tara, the bride: We met when we were 12 years old and went to the same sleep-away camp and middle and high school. We dated when we were in 9th grade for a short period of time and then rekindled our relationship when we were both camp counselors at Camp Yavneh in 2015 and have been together ever since!Continue Reading

A Pronovias Bride for a Picture Perfect Jewish COVID Wedding at Larz Anderson House, Washington DC, USA

26/03/2021 by Karen Cinnamon

Merav and Dmitri’s Jewish wedding was SO incredibly dreamy, if not for the personalized masks and “vaccine” shooters we’d never have guessed it took place during the pandemic.

We’re obsessed with their gorgeous venue, Larz Anderson House in downtown Washington, DC – a spot the couple had looked at and loved when they first started planning, but eventually rejected because it couldn’t accommodate their pre-COVID guest list.

Once the pandemic hit and they had to scale things down, though, the Anderson House became a viable option. We’re not sure which we love more, the lush garden where Merav and Dmitri held their outdoor chuppah or the beautiful ballroom they used for their reception. Don’t miss a single detail in Adam Mason’s luminous photos or Wise Films’ wonderful trailer.

We’re also in love with Merav and Dimitri’s fabulous ketubah by Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Ink with Intent. The couple searched long and hard for a ketubah that felt truly them, and when they stumbled onto one of Ink with Intent’s past ketubot featuring text printed over a picture of the couple, they knew that was the direction for them. Needless to say, the pair adore their ketubah, and it now graces a wall in their home as a special piece of art.

We’ll let the bride, who looked so elegant in Pronovias, take it from here…

How we met

Merav, the bride: Dmitri and I originally met in 2008 through a mutual friend, but we didn’t know each other well and only saw each other sparingly over the years. When he moved down to Washington, DC to start a data analytics company, we reconnected over coffee and we started working together to make the dream a reality.

Together, we worked at WeWork Chinatown (where we did our pre-wedding photo shoot!), 7 days a week, through holidays and snowstorms to build our company. Today, we have 40 employees and a growing business.

As our respect and trust for each other grew, so did our relationship. A year and a half after working together, we started dating. After 4 years of growing our company together, moving in, and adopting two cats, Dmitri proposed at a private dinner on a beautiful beach in Mexico.Continue Reading

A Liz Martinez Bride for a Last-Minute Pandemic Jewish Wedding at Villa Nova, Beit Nehemiah, Israel

22/03/2021 by Karen Cinnamon

It’s safe to say that pretty much no 2020 couple had smooth sailing when it came to their wedding. But the Jewish wedding planning journey of May and Shachar, Israelis living in NYC, was even bumpier than most.

These two started off planning a destination wedding in Tuscany. Then COVID hit Italy – hard. So they decided to shift everything back home to Israel. No small feat, but the couple managed to book their venue and vendors (all while living on the other side of the world in New York, of course).

In the midst of all this chaos, May and Shachar decided to pack up their life in NYC and head back to Israel to ride out the pandemic. Finally, living in the same country as their wedding – that should make things easier, right? Well, not quite – just a couple weeks before their wedding date of September 22, May and Shachar were faced with the prospect of a three-week lockdown.

Unwilling to postpone yet again, the duo opted to do the opposite, and move their wedding up to September 15 so they could make things official before the start of the new lockdown. By the time they closed on a new venue, they were left with just two days to pull everything together.

Luckily, May and Shachar had a stellar team on their side. To look at Shai Ashkenazi’s incredible photos, you’d never guess it all came together on such short notice – every single detail is picture perfect, and, like May says, the images look like they came straight out of a glossy fashion magazine.

There’s so much more to say about this incredible day – but we’ll leave the rest to the bride, who looked stunning in her Liz Martinez dress (followed by a custom glittery jumpsuit by Mor Morstein she changed into for the reception)!

How we Met

May, the bride: Our story begins a little bit before New York. Before I moved to New York, I posted on a Facebook group called “Israelis in New York” that I’m moving to the city and looking for help with some information about the work I’m starting and some information about the city. I got a message from a guy who was familiar to me from his picture, and it turns out he is the brother of a friend who worked with me, and I met him in the past (about 5 years ago) at her house when he was visiting his family in Israel.

Since I recognized him, I decided to answer his message and we started talking, he really helped me with some questions and asked if I could bring something for his business with me to New York, of course I agreed (by the way – he didn’t link me to his sister and had no idea about our little meeting a few years ago). When I arrived to NY after the long flight I realized, that from all of Manhattan neighborhoods, the hotel I got from work was right next to his apartment! So he arrived really quickly to get his delivery – just a few minutes after I arrived at the hotel with my luggage. And from that day we never parted. We have been together for more than 3 years, living together in New York.

Shachar planned the marriage proposal in the summer, in New York. He toured locations in central park and ordered me an engagement ring from Israel based on a photo I once showed him. It turns out that when the ring arrived on delivery to New York, I showed him a picture of another ring that I liked more, which is not similar to what he ordered for me. He decided to change the ring and make another one exactly according to what I liked, and the whole procedure of preparing and sending the new ring took time. Until the winter.

Of course I didn’t knew there was a ring before. We arrived to Central Park on a really cold day, claiming that his brother had to choose a location for a photoshoot there. We walked around Central Park to get to the “photoshoots” place, which turned out to be the place for the proposal – the Central Park lake. The place was just beautiful and pastoral, and the proposal was exciting and intimate. Of course I immediately said yes! And I cried. His brother documented everything and it was just perfect!Continue Reading

A Madi Lane Bride for an Intimate Jewish Wedding at Norrice Lea Synagogue, London, UK

19/03/2021 by Karen Cinnamon

Like so many 2020 couples, London couple Anna, a paralegal, and Simon, an English teacher, had to rethink their Jewish wedding plans when the pandemic hit. The pair had originally planned a 300-guest destination wedding in Israel for May 2020, but given the uncertainty of the situation they opted to shift things closer to home with an intimate synagogue wedding in London in September 2020, with a bigger celebration in Israel to follow when possible.

Anna and Simon chose Norrice Lea Synagogue as their new venue, and they were able to hold the wedding in two separate shifts – one for the chuppah and lunch afterward, attended by 30 members of the couple’s immediate families – and a second dinner shift just for 30 close friends who hadn’t attended the first half of the day.

As always, we’re absolutely in love with Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Claudine Hartzel’s dreamy photos of the day – and we’re totally unsurprised to hear that the couple found Claudine an absolute joy to work with on the big day.

We’ll let Anna take it from here…

How we Met

Anna, the bride and Simon, the groom: We were introduced by a mutual friend of our parents; she told us very little about each other. We added each other on Facebook and messaged briefly before going on a ‘blind date’. Things flourished from there – it was an old fashioned introduction.Continue Reading