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An Amsale Bride for a Backyard Jewish Micro Wedding in Boynton Beach, Florida, USA

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Like so many 2020 couples, Marissa, a physical therapist and reiki master, and Rory, an accountant, ended up with a Jewish wedding very different from the one they’d originally planned. The NYC couple had originally opted for a jam-packed wedding weekend on the beach at a private club in Florida’s Palm Beaches. Everything was just about ready to go for their May 2020 date when the pandemic hit.

Despite all the work and dreams that went into planning their dream wedding, two changes of date later Marissa and Rory ultimately had to make the hard decision to cancel their original celebration and plan a micro wedding for ten in Marissa’s parents’ backyard from scratch. For the most part, the pair had to find new vendors, but two of the ones they’d originally booked were able to make the shift: first, there was Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Nava Shoham, Marissa and Rory’s rock star ketubah designer, who came through with not one, not two, but THREE versions of the couple’s gorgeous ketubah, to account for all of their changes of date. Second was Emily Harris Photography, who’s responsible for the couple’s exquisitely joyous pics.

In Marissa’s words, “The day and night was the most perfect imperfect celebration and ended up being so much more than we imagined. We do hope to get the big party eventually but the night will always be so incredibly memorable.” We’ll let her take it from here…

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How we Met

Marissa, the bride: We met online 6 years agoContinue ReadingContinue Reading

A Martina Liana Bride for a Chic Jewish Wedding at Hyde House, Tampa, Florida, USA

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We’re absolutely in love with the Florida chic Jewish wedding of Mickey, a doctor specializing in otolaryngology, and Scott, a director of business development. The couple, who live in Tampa, wanted to show their friends and family – the majority of whom were coming in from out of town – the best of their adopted home city.

Fortunately for them, they were able to find a gorgeous venue just blocks from their home. And even more fortunately, despite getting married during the pandemic, they were able to keep most of their pre-COVID plans in place (though with a smaller guest list, naturally).

We love that Mickey and Scott worked with Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor The Delicate Brush to custom design the most exquisite ketubah, featuring gold leaf and a Star of David. And how beautiful are the photos from Justin Demutiis Photography and trailer by Connor Halden?!

We’ll leave it to the bride, who looked stunning in  Martina Liana, to fill you in on the rest…

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How we Met

Mickey, the bride: We met in 2018 through a mutual friend. I was living in Tampa, Florida, where Scott had lived previously and moved away in 2012.  Even though Scott was living in Nashville, Tennessee, at the time, a mutual friend in Florida was trying to set us up for months, I wasn’t even sure if this Scott guy was a real person!  Finally, my friend called me up and said “Clear your schedule, Scott is coming down to meet you.” Turns out he was very real, came to visit, and even stayed and extra day we were having so much fun. We have spoken everyday since then and in May 2019 he moved down to Tampa. We got engaged that October and married one year later.Continue ReadingContinue Reading

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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