France Archives - Smashing the Glass

A Secret Garden Jewish Wedding with an Epic Tree Chuppah at a Private Chateau in Loumarin, Provence, France

25/03/2019 by Karen Cinnamon

Today’s gorgeous Jewish wedding is giving us some SERIOUS chuppah envy. Amanda and Danny went all in on their luxe garden theme – not to mention their commitment to making the most of their epic Provence setting – by incorporating a beautiful tree on the property into their chuppah design.

Together with their florist, the couple came up with a truly spectacular structure, with the tree’s leaves and branches served as our canopy (so all that wonderful sunlight could shine straight down on them!), with four floral garlands hanging down from the tree to serve as the columns. The stunning photos and video from Studio Ohlala are seriously giving us the urge to book the next flight to the South of France.

We also love that they treated their destination wedding as an opportunity for their friends and family to get to know each other, all while experiencing the best Provence has to offer over a super memorable wedding weekend, from a wine tour to a pool party – speaking of which, you’ve got to see the crystal chandelier they had hanging over the pool!

And did we mention there’s a totally breathtaking ketubah made in Israel by Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Danny Azoulay in the mix?

We’ll leave it to the bride to fill you in on the rest…

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A Wedding in Provence

Amanda, the bride: We got married in the Provence region of France, in a charming village, Lourmarin. The venue was a private chateau. We both wanted to treat our family and friends to an experience for our wedding, where everyone would have the time to really get to know each other. I (Amanda) always loved France, great food and wine, beautiful lavender fields, sense of romance and wonder. Danny was happy to make my dream come true.

We contacted wedding planners, found Stephanie our wedding planner from Wedding Of Excellence in Provence, and she recommended our village and venue. There was a secret garden charm to our chateau that no other venue we toured had or that we thought we could find anywhere else.Continue Reading

A Lihi Hod Bride for a Bohemian Chic Outdoor Jewish Wedding with a Driftwood Chuppah at Le Rocher on Corsica, France

10/10/2018 by Karen Cinnamon

Just when we think we’ve seen every amazing chuppah idea out there, a new Jewish wedding comes along and knocks us off our feet. Today, we’ve got a DRIFTWOOD CHUPPAH! And it could not possibly be a better match for the rugged beauty of the awesome (literally, as in truly awe-inspiring) outdoor venue in France.

The fantastic panoramic views of the mountains and the sea are just BEYOND — guess they didn’t name this fab venue “The Rock” (giving rise to Elsa and Stephane’s adorable hashtag, #weddingontherock), for nothing. We are so, so in love with Moonriverprod’s photos — they really didn’t miss an angle.

We’re also totally obsessed with the fact that these guys choreographed and performed a surprise dance inspired by Friends, as well as by their totally mouthwatering naked cake with red fruits, prepared by Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Dany’s Traiteur, tops for luxury kosher catering in the South of France (who also handled the rest of the menu, which looks UTTERLY delish too).

And for good measure, we’ve got some perfectly Parisian, mega-chic photos from the couple’s civil ceremony in their home city. We are totally swooning over them kissing in front of the Eiffel Tower.

Now we’ll hand you over to Elsa, who looked positively ravishing in her pearl-embellished top from Israeli designer, Lihi Hod, which she paired with a simple custom skirt…

Corsica

Elsa, the bride: The name of the venue is “Le Rocher” (“the rock” in French). It is on the island of Corsica (France), close to Calvi City. There is a wonderful 360 ° view overlooking the sea and the mountain.

The venue is very wild and authentic, with lot of vegetation: tamarisk trees, rocks, etc. It’s like the world’s end, with only nature and no construction.

You can have both the ceremony and the party outside (and keep going until 5am!). The weather tends to be very good in june (around 24-27 °C/75-80 °F).

Liberty Print and Lavender for an Outdoor Destination Jewish Wedding at Bregancon Castle in Bormes les Mimosas, Provence, France

22/08/2018 by Karen Cinnamon

Today’s wedding is just so utterly chic. Having lived in France, I can confirm that most people there are this stylish and this good looking. (I know – it’s ridiculous). And then there’s the Provence sunlight. Seriously, THAT SUNLIGHT! I dare you not to start drooling over Ivan Franchet’s swoonworthy photos of the day.

Anne and Anthony, a Parisian couple who both work in finance in London, wisely decided to adopt an effortlessly chic, laid-back Provencal vibe for their wedding style. Between the local flowers (why yes, that DOES include plenty of lavender), lovely vintage furniture, and, our favorite, Liberty print galore.

Oh, and that wood chuppah with the sweetest florals? Anne built the structure the morning of the wedding, along with her father and brother. GAH!

And of course we can’t leave out that timeless French style — we’re sure you won’t be shocked to learn that Anne’s effortlessly elegant, summery dress was custom designed by the very Parisian Celestina Agostino. Now over to the beautiful bride…

How We Met

Anne, the bride: I met Anthony through one of my colleagues, who was his flatmate at the time.

A Jane Yeh Bride for a Multicultural Outdoor Destination Jew-ish Wedding at La Verriere, La Chene Bleu Winery in Provence, France

13/06/2018 by Karen Cinnamon

Okay, who else took one look at that glorious photo of today’s couple seated under their fab floral canopy, in the middle of the breathtaking countryside of Provence, and has resolved to relocate their wedding to France, immediately? Just us?!.

Seriously, we are so in love with today’s Jew-ish wedding. Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Jeremy Blode’s photos are nothing short of magical — he took full advantage of the beautiful surroundings of La Verriere, an estate attached to La Chene Bleu winery, and don’t even get us started about that fantastic natural light!

Another thing we adore about this wedding? The way Jess and Octave combined their cultural backgrounds into the big day. The pair embraced Jess’s Jewish background with a Shabbat rehearsal dinner (complete with a surprise announcement!), a hora, and, of course, smashing the glass.

And the setting was a nod to Octave’s French heritage, as was their choice of a reading from Le Petit Prince in both French and English.

Jess, who looked stunning in her Jane Yeh wedding dress (chosen by Jess’s mother, without the bride herself even having tried it on!) and sweet flower crown, will take it from here…

How we met

Jess, the bride: We met in 2012 while completing our MBAs at Harvard Business School. It took over a year for Octave to convince me to go on our first date, but he eventually succeeded by proposing a weekend to visit a friend of his who was living in Barbados.

After business school, I wanted to return to Australia and Octave to Europe, so we compromised and moved to Singapore. Octave planned an elaborate proposal at the Rock Bar in Bali, flying my parents in from Melbourne to surprise me after the proposal.

We now have a 9-month-old baby daughter, Laila, and live in London.

A Super Luxe Laduree-Fuelled Interfaith Jew-ish Wedding at the Shangri-La, Paris, France

20/04/2018 by Karen Cinnamon

There’s SO MUCH to love about today’s stunner of a Jew-ish wedding, but I’m particularly obsessed with how they incorporated one of my all-time favorite patisseries into their day…

New York-based Melissa, who works in luxury marketing, and William, in finance, opted to wed in Paris, where William lived for many years. The city played an important part in the development of their relationship — as did one of its most delicious exports, Laduree.

Known for the tastiest macarons around (seriously, once you try one of theirs you won’t want to bother with any others), as well as exemplary presentations of classic French pastry, Laduree has long been a favorite Parisian haunt of the couple’s. So much so that when William proposed — in the City of Love, naturally — he did so over a bag of Laduree goodies (seriously, we love this guy!).

In a nod to their engagement, the pair opted to forgo cake in favor of something quintessentially French: a croquembouche. But not just any croquembouche. A rose lychee flavored croquembouche from Laduree. I’m positively drooling over here just thinking about it!

Instead of a traditional guest book, Melissa and William asked their guests to sign a Laduree macaron book. Each page featured a different flavor, and guests could choose one to sign. Oh, and the favors? Laduree macarons, in a selection of the bride and groom’s favorite flavors.

Even their venue, the mega-opulent Grand Salon at the Shangri-La Hotel, kind of resembles one of Laduree’s beautiful salons (although unlike my local Laduree, the Shangri-La comes complete with a straight-on view of the Eiffel Tower). The place is just dripping with old-school Parisian glamour.

Claire Morris Photography and videographer Zen Film Works captured the day beautifully — you’ve got to see the portraits of the couple at iconic spots all around Paris.

It was important to Melissa, who is Jewish, and William, raised Catholic, to find a ketubah vendor who offered texts suitable for interfaith couples, and they ended up with a beautiful papercut from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Ketubah.com.

Now I’ll turn you over to Melissa could not have looked more elegant in her showstopper of a gown, custom designed for her by Sharon Wilkes (who we adore, and just happens to her best friend’s mother).

How we met

Melissa, the bride: We originally met in the summer of 2006, while we were both participating in a summer pre-college program at Georgetown University following our junior year of high school. As I was from New York and William was from Paris, seeing each other after the program was quite unlikely, but we were smitten with each other.

We kept in touch on and off for the next 5 years, and resumed speaking after a long hiatus around February 2011 when William, who was working in finance but had retained his teenage passion for writing, had written a short story and asked me for my thoughts.

In May of 2011, I had just graduated early from university and was traveling through Europe, while William was on a summer break from his master’s program in Paris. William asked me to meet him for a spontaneous trip in southern Spain, and I said no at first, nervous about seeing him after all those years.

But in my heart I felt that I should go, and a few weeks later I flew to meet him in Andalusia, where we spent five days traveling together and began to fall in love. After the trip, we decided to give things a real shot and began dating long distance. This lasted for four years, with me in New York and William in Paris and London, before William could finally move to New York in June 2015.