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A Beachy Same-Sex Jewish Wedding at Harbour House Oceanfront Venue, Indian Harbour Shores, Florida, USA

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What’s better than one beautiful bride? TWO beautiful brides, of course! Tessa and Ashley had the most incredibly heartfelt beach front Jewish wedding, and we are here for it!

This wedding was so full of wonderful personal touches – we love the fact that Ashley’s brother served as the officiant (and, naturally, delivered an incredibly moving speech), and we’re also obsessed with the couple’s gorgeous colorful ketubah from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Nava Shoham, which Tessa and Ashley now proudly display in their home!

And how special is it that, unbeknownst to each other, Tessa and Ashley both ended up selecting stunning fitted lace gowns from local boutique  Calla Blanche! Now that’s a first look to remember!

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

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How we Met

Ashley: They say when you meet the right person, you know. Ironically, we actually grew up about 45 minutes from each other. Our high schools played soccer against each other and our lives overlapped in a few moves across the county in our college years. We found out we had the same groups of friends circles but we didn’t meet in person until three years ago living in Florida through a mutual friend who planned for us to go as a friend group to the Katy Perry concert. 

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An Allure Bridals Bride for a Jewish Wedding with Light Up Sneakers at Beth Torah Benny Rok Campus, Aventura, Florida

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We’re obsessed with this Jewish wedding. Why? Because Aliza, who runs online bar and bat mitzvah tutoring business Hebrew Hangout, and Michael, who works in digital marketing, had the brilliant idea to wear light up sneakers when they were introduced as husband and wife!

We knew this idea was a winner as soon as Aliza shared it in Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club shortly before her big day – and so did the couple’s parents, who got in on the action themselves. They all had their shoes blinking during the hora, and it was INCREDIBLE – don’t miss the photos and video from Miami Wedding Center.

And how gorgeous is Aliza and Michael’s copper chuppah? We’re loving the understated modern look, with just some light floral accents. And then there’s the couple’s gorgeous paper cut ketubah by Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Noa Attias! It’s a true piece of art – and it also happens to coordinate perfectly with the breathtaking blue sky and ocean in some of the pair’s dreamy outdoor portraits.

We’ll leave it to Aliza, who looked so elegant in Allure Bridals, to tell you the rest…

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A Blank Canvas 

Aliza, the bride: Our venue was Beth Torah Benny Rok Campus in Aventura, FL. Originally we didn’t want this venue. My sister got married there and it was important to me to do things very differently than she did but in the end, after looking at some other venues, we decided that financially it just made the most sense. We’d get what we knew would be really delicious catering. Eric, the event planner and caterer there, has been doing this for years and KNOWS WHAT HE IS DOING!

He is so busy and for good reason. We love that the event space there is already set up with all the lighting you would ever need and it’s got a white floor and the entire room is draped in white so it’s really a blank canvas. You can do so much with the space. 

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A Spiritual, Magical Florida Backyard Jewish Wedding Reimagined Due to COVID-19

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Today’s Jewish wedding is so unbelievably, jaw-droppingly, breathtakingly gorgeous, it’s hard to believe it wasn’t the couple’s Plan A all along. But believe it or not, bride Ganga, whose work combines counseling, astrology, ritual, and ecological design to support clients through change and loss, and Seth, a strength and conditioning coach who draws on a similarly interdisciplinary background, pulled together this intimate, impromptu wedding in the bride’s mother’s back garden after their original plans were waylaid by coronavirus.

These two had a bigger wedding at an eco-retreat all lined up – and they still plan to hold that bash, with their original lineup of vendors, next year – but when the pandemic hit, they changed their plans to this pared-down backyard celebration with a focus on spirituality.

The couple, who are both training to be inter-spiritual ministers, poured themselves into developing a ceremony that felt deeply authentic to them both, from their circling around each other to the Adon Olam, to adapting the seven blessings to reflect poems and blessings from many traditions to reciting their own vows.

We also love the thought they put into selecting their gorgeous Gingko Spiral ketubah by Temma Gentles from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor ketubah.com: the ginkgo has been around for over 300 million years, meaning it’s a true adaptor and survivor – just what we all need to be in these uncertain times.

And would you believe these exquisite photos were shot by a first-time wedding photographer? Ganga’s bridesmaid – the only one who was able to make it in the end – just happens to be mega-talented photographer Thais Aquino, who’s clearly a natural at weddings!

Now over to Ganga, the bride…

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How we met

Ganga, the bride: We met through my best friend who had been one of Seth’s students, on New Year’s Eve 2016. The first thing I remember asking Seth was what his intention for 2017 was, to which he replied, “just to be love.” That immediately told me we were on the same page in our approach to life, and within a few weeks we were learning how to be love, together.

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A Hayley Paige Bride for an Interfaith Jewish Wedding with a Starbucks Kiddush Cup at The Addison, Boca Raton, Florida

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Just when we think we’ve seen it all, along comes a Starbucks kiddush cup to prove us wrong! Yes, you read that right – Samantha, a baker, and Scott, who’s in commercial real estate, really did use a Starbucks coffee cup in place of a standard kiddush cup during their interfaith Jewish ceremony, in a nod to their adorable how-they-met story! Just one of the many little touches that went into making this wedding so personal and special.

For instance, we love how these two brought an English garden vibe to their South Florida venue, as a nod to Scott’s origins in the UK. With plenty of blush pink blooms, leafy greens, and twigs – don’t miss the beautiful chuppah! – we love the ambience Samantha and Scott created, and photographer Starfish Studios captured it all so perfectly.

We’ll turn you over to the bride in a minute, but first we have to rave about her impeccable bridal style – from her lovely Hayley Paige gown to her custom handpainted leather jacket, Samantha totally rocked it!

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How we met

Samantha, the bride: We met at a Starbucks. We kind of just struck up a conversation and continued talking. Most of the time, I’m not one to talk to other people, I like to get in and get out and go on with my day, but there was something about Scott that kept me there, probably his accent if I’m not lying.

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A Carolina Herrera Bride for an Elegant Modern Jewish Wedding at Beth Torah, Aventura, FL, USA

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What a chuppah! We’re obsessed with the cool modern acrylic chuppah – complete with luxe hanging white blossoms – Samantha, a kindergarten teacher, and Justin, co-head of corporate outreach for global real estate company Tishman Speyer, chose to marry under. That elegant all-white look, complemented by the bright pops of color from the bride and bridesmaids’ bright pink bouquets – wow! We’re still picking our jaws up off the floor after scrolling through all of Emily Harris Photography’s vibrant, joyous photos.

For that matter, ALL the flowers in this gorgeous wedding were totally wow – don’t miss the incredible ombre flower wall, or the upside down hanging tulips and calla lilies that hovered over the reception ballroom! And in keeping with the bright colorful look, Samantha and Justin chose a wonderful, colorful ketubah from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Anna Abramzon, which they now display proudly in their home as a reminder of their big day and their commitment to one another.

But this wedding was about so much more than aesthetics. We love how these two incorporated their beloved late grandparents into their ceremony, with Samantha’s grandfather’s tallit used in the chuppah canopy, a kiddush cup belonging one of her grandmothers used during the ceremony, and the bride’s bouquet wrapped in lace from her other grandmother’s veil.

Now over to the bride, who looks so elegant in her Carolina Herrera gown…

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How we met

Samantha, the bride: My dad and Justin’s grandpa set us up. We were both students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Justin was a senior and I was a freshman. We went out one night and had mutual friends and started talking. We dated for the second semester of his senior year and my freshman year. He was moving to New York after college, and I got back together with my ex-boyfriend. We didn’t communicate for three years.

Towards the end of my senior year at Madison, I started to think of Justin again. He posted a picture on Instagram one night and I messaged him on Facebook because I lost his number. We started talking a little and the next month after I graduated college I was in New York for a weekend visiting my sister. Justin took me out on a date that Friday night May 23rd, 2014 and we’ve been together ever since. For us, timing was truly everything.

I was in the middle of my masters program when we got married and I was working at a school. To say I was busy going to school, working and planning a wedding was an understatement.

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