Etsy Archives - Smashing the Glass

A Grace Loves Lace Bride for a Laid-Back Garden Jewish Wedding at Holly Farm, Carmel, California, USA

17/06/2019 by Karen Cinnamon

Sometimes it’s the things that don’t go to plan at a wedding that make the best memories. That’s what happened at the beautiful Jewish wedding of Martina and Rob (how cute is their hashtag, #cromerhitahomer?).

Obviously, there’s a ton here that DID go to plan. I mean, can we talk about this venue?! Straight up tropical garden paradise. Flowers and greenery for daaays. It’s truly a one of a kind space – Martina says she felt like she was in an alternate universe, and we totally get it.

And the couple’s chuppah? Pure magic. Trust us, you don’t want to miss the breathtaking photos from One Love Photography.

We’re totally obsessed with the bride’s ethereal, boho dress from Grace Loves Lace – such a perfect fit for the venue, and it looks ridiculously light and comfortable, too.

There were a few mishaps along the way – the ceremony starting without the bride, Martina’s father stepping on the back of her dress as he walked her down the unexpectedly narrow aisle – but we love that Martina’s response was to laugh it off. In her words, “The ceremony faux pas became some of the best and most talked-about moments over the course of the weekend and I could not be happier about it. Sometimes you just have to roll with the punches.”

Take it away, Martina!

Theme

Martina, the bride: The spirit of our wedding was all about togetherness. We have an incredible love story that spans over a decade – we wanted our guests to get caught up in it and become a part of our story. We kept it light and fun and full of good humor and romance. Of course it didn’t hurt that we were surrounded by gorgeous flowers and scenery. It was impossible not to feel like something really special was happening. Perfect!

A Monique Lhuillier Bride for a Modern Rustic Jewish Wedding at The Grove Hotel, Chandler’s Cross, Hertfordshire, UK

07/06/2019 by Karen Cinnamon

It’s always a special day when we get to blog the real Jewish wedding of one of our wonderful Brides Club members, and today it’s Sami’s turn!.

Sami and Toby (#happilywebberafter) had the most wonderful big day, and we’re so thrilled to be able to share it with you. We’re also totally blushing at Sami’s kind words about the club:

“It was so heart-warming to have lots of lovely ladies around you sharing the build up and excitement. I feel like it is one big family and everyone wants the best for everyone else and their wedding!”

We think Brides Club is pretty special too – and the doors are open for new members to join (we now have almost 200 members!). Do come on in and join us too! If you’re planning a Jewish or Jew-ish wedding, it’s truly an incredible resource and community and we are offering 30 free days to every bride-to-be if you join before this Monday 11 June!

But back to Sami’s wonderful wedding – we’re pretty jazzed that she and Toby worked with so many of our very favourite UK-based Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendors, from the amazing Jonny Mosesson, who sang during the chuppah (and we totally agree with Sami’s description of him as having the voice of an angel!) to The Function Band, who created an electric atmosphere that kept everyone dancing from start to finish, and videographer Denee Motion, who not only captured the emotion and energy of the wedding so perfectly (don’t miss their trailer!) but also developed a wonderful friendship with the couple over the buildup to their wedding.

We’re thrilled that Sami had a fantastic experience shopping for her Monique Lhuillier gown at Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor The Wedding Club – she’d had a preventative double mastectomy prior to the wedding, so it wasn’t a given that wedding dress shopping would be smooth sailing. In fact, Sami’s experience was so wonderful that since the big day she’s left her old job in fashion buying to work for The Wedding Club, where she’s now store manager and runs operations for both of their London boutiques!

As joyful as this wedding was, the fact that Sami’s mum tragically passed away from cancer 5 and a half years prior cast a bittersweet shadow. We love that Toby bought Sami a locket with a photo of her mum to attach to her bouquet so they could still walk down the aisle together – what a meaningful touch.

There’s so much more to this fab celebration, but you’ll have to read Sami’s beautiful writeup (and immerse yourself in Paul Toeman’s wonderful photos) for the rest…

How we met

Sami, the bride: Toby and I met in a club in Birmingham, he was in his first year of university and I was on my gap year. We got on straight away, although at the time I was with somebody else. It started as an incredibly strong friendship, and after a year and a half (by which time my other relationship had ended), it turned into love, and we haven’t looked back since.

A Romona Keveza Bride for a Family-Focused Jewish Wedding at the Belvedere Hotel, Baltimore, Maryland, USA

29/05/2019 by Karen Cinnamon

Cool ketubah alert! We’re totally obsessed with Kara and Dan’s gorgeous nature-inspired design, handcrafted by the wonderful Rachelle Tchiprout of Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor The Delicate Brush. Kara says Rachelle was one of her very favorite wedding vendors, and we’re not surprised – she is totally lovely to work with, not to mention being a mega-talented artist.

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to awesome things about this wedding. We love how the bride, a clinical social worker, and the groom, a legal assistant, crafted a day focused on their families – they even chose Kara’s parents’ 34^thwedding anniversary as their wedding date! All the love in the room comes through so clearly in the beautiful photos from Anna Schmidt Photography and video from Just Hitched Films.

They had lots of unique creative touches, too, like their guest book – they had mini polaroid cameras for their guests to use to take pics and then past them into the book alongside their messages! They also had Jenga tiles for guests to write messages on – both awesome ideas that are just a little bit different than your standard guest book (and if you’re looking for ways to add creative personal touches that are totally you to your big day, don’t forget to sign up for our FREE Jewish Wedding Planning Bootcamp, starting June 3!)

The couple also had an artist, Maggie Smith Kuhn, on hand to paint their first dance live in real time – what a beautiful memento to have from the big day!

Now over to the bride, who looked so lovely in Legends Romona Keveza…

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How we met

Kara, the bride: We met as roommates 7 years before tying the knot. We have lived together since the first day we met!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.

Real Jewish Brides: 82 days to go, and Rebekkah is plotzing

23/04/2019 by Smashing The Glass

Rebekkah will be marrying Jakob on 11th July 2019 at The Pomeroy Kananaskis Mountain Lodge in Kananaskis, Alberta, Canada. Click here to read all Rebekkah’s planning posts to date.

THREE FACTS: (1) Rebekkah and Jakob were introduced by mutual friends while Jakob, who is from Germany, was in Rebekkah’s hometown of Calgary on a specialized work visa. (2) They are getting married at a beautiful mountain resort in a national park in Alberta, Canada! (3) Rebekkah is a “very satisfied member” (her words) of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club!

82 days and counting to my big day, I’m just plotzing!

Wedding planning up to this point… beseder, so my last blog post left me sorting out my wedding program. Thank goodness my future mother-in-law owns a graphics and printing company so she volunteered to translate our wedding program and print it for us. So now I am trying to decide if I should put a little time frame of the day on the program. Just so it will be like painfully obvious the time flow of the evening, so people aren’t wandering around confused.