Dune Archives - Smashing the Glass

A Lee Petra Grebenau Bride for a Winter Jewish Micro Wedding at Home House, London, UK

26/04/2021 by Karen Cinnamon

Get ready to be blown away by the positively breathtaking Jewish micro wedding of Amelia, a senior women’s fashion buyer, and Shaun, head of mining sales for a procurement company!

Like most 2020 couples, Amelia and Shaun went through a couple changes of plan (and date) – but the wedding they eventually pulled off, an intimate 15-person gathering in December, could not have been any more gorgeous. Home House, a venue built from three Georgian townhouses, was the absolute perfect spot for the couple’s moody winter wedding, adorned with dark florals, amber lighting, and over 1,000 candles.

And thanks to the dream team of Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Claudine Hartzel, who perfectly captured all the emotion (not to mention the wonderful details) of the day in her photos, and Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Denee Motion, who worked his magic on the couple’s wedding video, we feel as if we were right there with them.

And can we talk about how stunning Amelia looks in her gown by Israeli designer Lee Petra Grebenau?!

Now over to the bride…

How we Met

Amelia, the bride: My best friend Jade was dating Shaun’s brother Andy and introduced us to each other about 11 years ago now.

He actually cancelled our first date! But pulled it out the bag when we actually went out properly. The rest was history and Jade is now my sister in law – she also planned the wedding!Continue Reading

A Stella York Bride for a Family-Centered Jewish Wedding at The Waldorf Hilton Aldwych, London, UK

15/05/2019 by Karen Cinnamon

We are totally and completely in awe of Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Claudine Hartzel’s exquisite photos from today’s gorgeous Jewish wedding. The way she captures the emotion, the details, and of course the Israeli dancing (there are some seriously unmissable action shots below!) – Claudine’s work never fails to bowl us over.

Another thing that consistently gives us the warm and fuzzies? When a couple prioritizes incorporating family into their big day. Danni, who works as a fundraiser for a Jewish charity, and Sam, an accountant, did just that, from having their parents help out with the planning to including as many family members as possible in their procession to the chuppah.

Both the bride and groom’s fathers drive black cabs in London, and in honour of their dads the pair opted to incorporate black cabs as a motif – love how they included a little black cab on their invitations!

And we love that Danni opted to pair her Stella York dress with her mum’s veil – which, with a few alterations, fit seamlessly into her bridal style. We’ll let her take things from here…

How we met

Danni, the bride: Before getting married we had been together for six and a half years. We met while at university, Sam came up to Leeds to surprise my housemate (and bridesmaid) and we got chatting… a few months later we met again and started going out. We’ve been together ever since.

A Stella York Bride for a Winter Wonderland Jewish Wedding at Warren Weir, Luton Hoo, UK

18/07/2018 by Karen Cinnamon

Don’t mind us, we’re busy picking our jaws up off the floor after seeing today’s stunning Jewish wedding portraits in the snow. Almost enough to make you rethink that summer wedding, are we right?!

When Mel, a project manager, and Mitch, who works in IT, first chose Chiko Photography, they were drawn to a photo of his with a couple under an umbrella in the snow. Who would’ve thought they’d get to recreate it themselves?!

This is also a special wedding for us because bride Mel was one of our blogging brides but not only that, Mel was also a founding member of our Club for Jewish Brides, and as such, she and Mitch were the very first couple to ever use our own-brand (and super gorgeous!) smash glass pouch for breaking the glass under their chuppah!

We loved following Mel’s wedding planning journey, and we’re so glad to hear that the feeling was mutual. Mel found several of her amazing wedding vendors through Smashing the Glass, from their incredible videographer, STG Recommended Vendor Denee Motion,to another much loved STG Recommended Vendor XS Showband, best known as pioneers of the wedding flash mob!

XS Showband provided entertainment throughout the day, but we can’t take our eyes off Denee Motion’s fantastic video of Mel and Mitch’s very own musical wedding flash mob, just before their ceremony started. They wanted a special surprise for their guests, something to make sure their day really stood out, and we think this more than did the trick. You’ve got to check it out for yourself!

Do also take a moment to read through Mel’s fabulous account of her planning and prep, there are some really useful tips and a generous helping of super advice at the end. Over to Mel now (and by the way we think she looks SO elegant in her lace fishtail gown by Stella York. . .

How we met

Mel, the bride: We met on JDate in 2013. After chatting for a while we met for a drink. Our second date was an eight-hour lunch! I thought if someone can keep me engrossed in constant conversation for that long without getting bored then I am on to a winner.

An Inbal Dror Bride for a Vintage Glamor Jewish Wedding at Essendon Country Club, UK

10/01/2018 by Karen

Lovers of vintage glamor, take note – today’s stunning, old Hollywood-style Jewish Essendon Country Club wedding is definitely one for you!

Set in a barn and accented with gold tones, Laura and Gio’s wedding stayed true to the couple’s motto: ‘keep it simple’, while still looking insanely chic and luxe! Oh, and there were personalized cocktails, just in case you weren’t already at peak FOMO!

We love Israeli designers for their sense of subtle but smoking hot sex appeal, and Inbal Dror gowns truly tick these boxes. Bride Laura looked like an A-lister in her gorgeous and ridiculously flattering embellished, gold-tone dress, with some seriously on fleek hair and makeup game going on, too!

The loved-up couple, who actually met over the phone during a work call, and hit it off so well that they stayed in touch, made sure the day was about them and their adoration of one another, sneaking off regularly to really take in their surroundings.

A true Smashing The Glass wedding, there were three Recommended Vendors involved in making the day so incredible. Wedding band, Totem, totally rocked the reception, and earned a glowing writeup from bride, Laura.

Rabbi Paul Glantz, another much-loved Recommended Vendor led the moving ceremony, and the story of the day was told in the beautiful, documentary-style spread of images by phenomenal RV, Paul Rogers. What a dream team!

It’s definitely time to let Laura loose on the blog to fill us in on all the big-day details, so take it away, Laura!

How we met

Laura, the bride: We meet the phone years ago when Gio was in recruitment. I called up (the company I was working for was looking to employ) and ended up speaking to Gio. We began a phone and email friendship and one day decided to meet up in person, and that was it, the voice over the phone ended up being the love of my life. Continue Reading

A Maggie Sottero Bride for a Jewish Wedding with a Living Tree Chuppah at Micklefield Hall, UK

27/11/2017 by Karen

Hold up – press pause on your day, put down that deadline for a minute (I know, we’re terrible influences) and take some proper time to appreciate the utter gorgeousness that is Becky and Adam’s Jewish wedding!

We thought we’d seen every chuppah design out there, but a living-tree chuppah, adorned with friends’ and family’s blessings and wishes for the couple’s future is such an awesome, unique idea. There are so many incredible hidden gems at their venue, Micklefield Hall, but Becky and Adam were the first couple to get married underneath that tree, making their own mark on the venue’s story.

To say Becky and Adam did things their way would be an understatement – they did things their way, and then some.

We LOVE that bride Becky stayed true to herself, even when under pressure, and went with her own beeeeautiful minimalist makeup look. Becky did so with the confidence that, in the words of the couple’s wonderful photographers, Adam and Hannah, “the best photos are of a happy bride”. And right they were – Becky’s happiness and ease with herself glows through in the stunning spread of wedding pictures Adam and Hannah provided.

Becky’s detailed Maggie Sottero gown also looked like a dream on her, and was a perfect fit for the rustic, boho-style aesthetic of the day as a whole.

The couple opted for a really personalized Jewish ceremony, with both bride and groom smashing a glass. We are SO here for that, and it’s a prime example of how Jewish customs don’t have to be antiquated. You can absolutely make them your own and construct a ceremony that works with your own values.

THREE of our incredible Recommended Vendors were involved with this love-filled big day. The ketubah was lovingly made by Ink With Intent, wedding band The White Keys rocked the reception and videographer Moon & Back made the cinematic, heartfelt wedding video below, which you simply MUST watch!

There’s so much more to say about this breathtaking day, we haven’t even had time to touch on the divine dà©cor, but we’d be going on forever, so we’ll pass you over to Becky, and Adam, for the full report.

How we met

Becky, the bride: We met when we both lived in Moishe House London, a home-based community for Jewish young adults. I interviewed Adam to live in the house and it went from there…
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How we Met

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How we met

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How we met

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How we met

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How we met

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