cowboy boots Archives - Smashing the Glass

A Boho bride in cowboy boots for a DIY rustic Jewish wedding at Moshav Mevo Modi’im, Israel

22/10/2015 by Karen

Nikki and Gavriel met via the power of Google search (no kidding… read their ‘how we met’ story below!) but their Jewish wedding was far from hi-tech. It was a super cool, relaxed rustic affair set in Gavriel’s home town in Israel with an abundance of lovingly crafted DIY details.

So much of the wedding was DIY’ed straight from the heart, from the stunning florals organised by the couple and their families (no pro florists involved at all!) to the home-made wooden signs, hay bale seating, BBQ menu and the beautiful bride’s jewellery all made by Gavriel’s mother. She also created Nikki’s stunning baby’s breath flower crown. Is she one talented mama or what?

I absolutely love Nikki’s bridal style and how she accessorised her dress with that deep green sash. And she totally rocks those cowboy boots of hers. I’ve always loved a bride in cowboy boots — such a cool look for a country style affair.

The whole W Day is full of natural and rustic details — unfussy and relaxed, but ever so pretty. Perfect for a venue surrounded by wonderful nature.

Enjoy this treat of a Friday wedding with images by one of our ever-talented Smashing Suppliers, Herschel Gutman Photography, who captures the essence of the day perfectly.

How we met

Nikki, the Bride: A friend and I were looking for a new experience and for whatever reason googled “religious farms in Israel”. We found a little family farm on a moshav and helped out a here and there with the farm duties on our stay. The daughter of the family asked if we wanted to hang out with her and her friends. We said yes and through her we met a group of guys. The mother of the family told us, “be careful — moshav boys are dangerous!” But over the course of the weekend I hung out with Gavriel on the moshav.. we talked and I listened to him playing the guitar and singing (as well as admiring his devastatingly good looks!) I couldn’t not give him my number…. Well the rest is history and here we are about two years later…. as husband and wife!

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Natalie & Nicole | uber-creative rustic ‘Barn Eccentric’ Lesbian Jewish Wedding at Sydney Polo Club, Australia

29/07/2014 by Karen

You know when a couple have really put their blood, sweat and tears (of joy obviously!) into their big day because it shows. It shows in the small details, it shows in the smiles of rapture on their faces and it shows in their guests faces. It also shines through in the photography.

Nicole and Natalie run a creative agency and are two craft-istas so they unashamedly went to town on getting everything just right with their own creative, personalised twist. and I’m not even sure I know where to begin with their big day. Do I start with the flash mob, old lady tea ceremony, and the double-smashing of the glass with a cowboy boot on one foot, and stiletto on another?

Or perhaps I’ll begin with the table centrepieces with clusters of ‘Beautiful Random’,or the brides’ sassy, ethereal style (I need their dresses in my life!). Actually I might just kick off with the tea ceremony with the rickshaws, lawn games, and breast cupcakes… and the oh-so-simple but effective paper doll-chain aisle runners… and the fans for guests with ‘We’re Your Biggest Fans’ tags, and tambourines with ‘Shake What Your Mumma Gave You’ tags!

Actually I’m just going to let you experience this heart-warming, life-affirming, radiant big day for yourselves. Enjoy their beautifully written report (watch out for their top advice at the end), and delve into Lara Hotz‘s images, and a wedding film by Light Noise Films
creative rustic barn Wedding at Sydney Polo Club Australia_0019 breast cupcakes

Natalie & Eli | Informal DIY Boho Jewish Wedding at House Plantation, Texas

17/07/2014 by Karen

I think it took me exactly 3.6 seconds from the moment I first read Shaun Taylor‘s email, detailing Natalie and Eli’s wedding, to thinking oh yes, this has crashed through my submission barriers — I’ve got a killer Smashing The Glass wedding on my hands here!

I love that Natalie made her own dress and wore cowboy boots. I love that Natalie’s mum made her jewellery. I love that the couple flew out their photographer, Shaun Taylor all the way from Derby to Texas because they loved his work so much. I love what Natalie says about working together with your fiancà© as a team in the planning stages. And I love that it rained and then rained some more, but far from letting the weather dampen their spirits, they embraced it and the results are even better than they imagined, as Natalie describes below.

You’ll also see the most exquisite henna tattoos covering Natalie’s arms. A traditional Yemenite henna party is a popular pre-wedding ritual for Sephardi Jews and you can see theirs in full swing over on Shaun’s blog. It just goes to show you can stamp your personality onto your wedding weekend and dig deep into your culture’s traditions too. The two are not mutually exclusive and that’s exactly what this blog is all about.

Freya & Tim | Outdoor Fun ‘n’ Games Jewish Wedding at Ketchum Rotary Park, Idaho, USA

18/10/2013 by Karen

This is a great example of a wedding that shows what you can achieve if you put a bit of time and effort in to doing something, and that a wedding doesn’t have to cost an absolute fortune! With the sun shining and your best friends and family around you, it’s easy to remember that the best things in life are free…cheesy but true.

Freya and Tim are both farmers – Tim is a 6th generation farmer in rural southern Minnesota and Freya is an organic farmer by profession and runs her own small produce business. Agriculture, food, and the outdoors is the core of who they are and being a totally ‘smashing’ couple and essentially being truly authentic to themselves, these elements came through beautifully and personally in their relaxed outdoor wedding.

A HOMEMADE, HANDMADE OUTDOOR WEDDING
Freya, The Bride: Our wedding was in Ketchum, Idaho and we held the ceremony and reception in Ketchum Rotary Park along the Bigwood river, the river upon which I grew up and love dearly. Tim and I didn’t really go for a theme or colour scheme. Everything was very simple and natural and the whole event was homemade and handmade – DIY style – very relaxed, like an afternoon picnic. We had lots of games like bean bag toss, ladder golf, hula hoops, bubbles, etc and these were played by both adult (and little) kids!

We had directional signs, chalkboards and such, all made by my husband. There was not much need for more decoration than that as it was such a beautiful venue.

MY OWN BRIDAL STYLE
I knew I wanted to be comfortable and feel like myself, not all made-up and princess-like. After trying on too many “cupcake” dresses, I found the “mini-cupcake” and loved it. I paired the dress with Canadian-made handcrafted Boulet western boots, that were a gift from my husband a few months before we got engaged. He knows I love my boots, and the collection keeps growing.

In terms of jewellery, I wore my mothers, sisters, late-grandmothers and my pearl bracelets. It meant a lot to me to have all those women with me under the chuppah….