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A Tuscany-meets-Israel floral Jewish wedding with a Vera Wang bride at Baya’ar, Israel

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Friday is finally here – and we’re celebrating the imminent arrival of the weekend in style, with a proper feast for the eyes: Italian couple, Tania and Micael’s, enchantingly floral Tuscany-meets-Israel real wedding. 

There’s so much to love about this impeccably designed, dreamy celebration that we’re not sure where to start. First of all, a big round of applause is owed to groom, Micael, for his romantic surprise Paris proposal. We’re even clapping loudly enough to drown out the collective huffy sighs of all the partners for whom the bar has just been spectacularly raised. Well done, Micael! 

We’ve featured the absolutely enchanting Israeli venue, Baya’ar, many times on the blog now and with good reason. Every single one has been simply magical, and Tania and Micael’s day was no exception. Every detail, from the breathtaking floral arrangements (including the Chuppah to end all Chuppahs) was simply perfect and captured beautifully by photographer Ilan Mor.

Gorgeous Tania was a picture of fashion-forward bridal style in her show-stopping Vera Wang gown and to-die-for Yves Saint Laurent heels. 

The couple did so much to ensure their guests had the time of their lives, including booking our amazing Smashing Supplier, Legend Band, from Caliente, and setting up a flower station, where guests were treated to custom-made flower bracelets and flower crowns! What a brilliant idea!

Don’t forget to watch the incredible work of art created by videographer, Camellia at the foot of the post. We particularly enjoyed the unforgettable shot of Micael smashing the glass – well worth sitting down for a proper watch! 

Over to Tania now for the full story on her and Micael’s beautiful nighttime wedding. 

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How we met

Tania, the bride: I am a fashion buyer and my husband, Micael, is an accountant. We met five years ago and we immediately connected. But after two years, we decided to go our separate ways, until May 2015 when we decided we couldn’t be apart. We started dating again and this time was different. On December 24th at five in the morning, I received a call from Micael telling me that I had to wake up and be ready in 10 minutes.

He covered my eyes and took me to the airport! I didn’t know where we were going until we landed in Paris, where he took to the front of the Eiffel Tower and proposed in the classic way… the rest is history.

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A music and art-filled Jewish wedding with Monique Lhullier and Jenny Packham gowns at the Great Synagogue and Four Seasons Hotel in Florence, Italy

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Spring has sprung and we’re delighted to share our first real Jewish wedding of April – and what a way to kick off the month! Today’s cultured couple, Tara and Ben, decided to get married in one of the great art history capitals of the world, Florence, Italy.

Not only that, but their ceremony was held at the stunning and world-renowned Great Synagogue in the heart of the city and their reception at the prestigious Four Seasons Hotel. For Tara, who has a degree in History of Art, this was the definition of a dream destination wedding.

The couple’s music-filled Jewish ceremony included sensational Smashing Supplier, chazan Simon Cohen, who the couple flew in especially so that they could enjoy his beautiful voice.  

Bride Tara looked every bit the classically beautiful bride in not one but TWO incredible dresses. First in her elegant Monique Lhullier gown, which she wore for the ceremony and then in her Jenny Packham party dress.

The laid-back, loving atmosphere of the day, including the epic fireworks display the couple arranged to surprise their guests, was captured by the brilliant David Bastianoni, whose wonderful work has been featured many times before on the pages of STG.

We’ll pass you on to beautiful bride Tara for the lowdown on her and Ben’s beautiful day!

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An art history lover’s dream venue

Tara, the bride: It’s hard to describe the magic of walking down a little side street, turning a corner, to be suddenly faced with the Duomo faà§ade and one the grandest synagogues in the world. So much beauty in one city and, for us, it was the perfect place to get married.

The Four Seasons had it all — The hotel is made up of a 15th-century Palazzo della Gherardesca and an ex 16th-century convent called Il Conventino, set within acres of beautiful gardens in the heart of the city.

I have a degree in History of Art and we are both lovers of classical music. Having visited Florence a number of times, it was always on our wish list. So where else to marry but at a music-filled ceremony at the Great Synagogue in the heart of the City of Florence?

Afterwards, just five minutes away, we were strolling among our 170 guests in 12 acres of stunning gardens at the Four Seasons Hotel, the former Palazzo Scala Della Gherardesca dating from the time of Lorenzo il Magnifico.

The green avenues, lined with Renaissance sculptures with fabulous views of the Duomo and the Chianti hills, were the perfect backdrop for what we wanted – an elegant outdoor reception followed by a casual dinner under the stars and fun night of partying.

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A relaxed, fun atmosphere

We wanted a traditional wedding done in a more casual and carefree way. Elegant but fun was the message of the weekend. All our guests were in holiday mode, so were relaxed. We didn’t use a wedding planner, but the staff at the Four Seasons were fantastic with helping us plan the day.

Music was a constant theme throughout the wedding, and we felt strongly about creating an informal and casual atmosphere during the dinner in the gardens. To do this, we created a Spotify playlist of our favourite songs to be played during the dinner.

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Jewish rustic barn wedding with a Fairy Gothmother Dress and fresh wildflowers at Colville Hall, Essex, UK

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Happy Friday everyone! To celebrate the imminent arrival of the weekend, sit back and enjoy this real wedding, which had such a fantastic party atmosphere that it spilled over into a second party the day after the big day.

Cool and quirky bride, Hannah, looked like a stunning artistic vision with wildflowers in her hair, in her tea-length Fairy Gothmother dress and wow-factor sparkly green Irregular Choice heels. 

We love all of the unique ideas that express the couple’s life together, with their many in jokes, including stick-figure illustrated invitations and some special, limited edition, Hannah and Peter Sauce. 

A personalised chuppah is always a winner and, in this case, the couple asked their loved ones to contribute a square each to a homemade patchwork chuppah, with their friends and family’s heartfelt wishes watching over them during the ceremony.

The whole story of the day and all of its detail and emotion was expertly captured by photographer Marianne Chau. We’ll hand over to Hannah now for the full report on her and Peter’s rustic barn wedding. Take it away, Hannah! 

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How we met

Hannah, the bride: We met on Jdate, much to our surprise and shock!

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A venue with character at an old converted Tudor barn in Essex

We got married at Colville Hall which is an old converted Tudor barn near Hatfield Heath in Essex, UK. There were two barns on the site and we used one for the ceremony and dancing and the other one for dinner. We chose the venue partly because we needed somewhere big enough to fit all of our guests (!) but mainly because we wanted somewhere with character and outdoor space as we were having a summer wedding.

We added a lot of personal touches throughout right from our hand drawn invites to the ceremony to the drinks at the bar which we think gave our wedding a unique ‘Hannah and Peter’ laid-back feel.

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An uber creative Jewish wedding, with a Needle & Thread bride, at Pearson Air Museum, Vancouver, Washington, USA

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We absolutely love creative Jewish weddings on Smashing The Glass, and creativity OOZES from these two incredible souls.

This astounding power couple met while working at an ad agency. Between them, they have a desktop calendar sold around the world, a New York Times bestselling book and a portable talk show to their names, so it goes without saying that Brooke and Boaz’s big day was always going to be breathtaking. They absolutely did not disappoint. The pair brought all of their skills and inventiveness to their big day, peppering it with adorable, handmade details. 

The dà©cor scheme was abundant with illustrated animals, drawn by talented Brooke, including little raccoon pins as favours — we want one! And we’re obsessed with their choice of quirky venue, Pearson Air Museum, just across the border from the couple’s native Portland, Oregon.

“You’re never alone in a dress full of flies,” said beautiful bride, Brooke, of her stunning Needle & Thread dress, purchased at BHLDN. It turned out that even the flies can’t resist swarming to a dress that beautiful — and Brooke’s fantastic sense of humour turned a potential problem into a standout wedding moment.

Groom Boaz also looked every bit the part of the leading man in his fantastic green suit. We adore his wedding style.

Everything was captured with aplomb by phenomenal photographers Stark Photography, and before we hand over to Brooke and Boaz to tell us all about their big day, can we just take a moment to appreciate Brooke’s adorable kitty shoes? We can’t take our eyes off of them!

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How we met

Brooke, the bride: We’re both advertising copywriters and we met at an ad agency in Portland. When we’re not at work we make the “It’s Different Every Day” calendar, a daily desk calendar with a new theme every day. We’ve been making a new edition together every year since 2015 and this is the first year it’s published by Workman Press and in stores around the world.

I also illustrate and run an Instagram account called @sadanimalfacts, where I illustrate sad facts about adorable animals, it’s pretty much just what it sounds like. Sad Animal Facts is now a New York Times bestselling book that is available in three languages.

Boaz is also the host of the Pedal Powered Talk Show, a portable talk show built into a cargo bike, that travels and interviews around Portland, the Pacific Northwest, and the rest of the world.

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A big fat Jewish-Greek wedding with a Catherine Deane gown and a superb bridal entrance on the beach in Crete

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The only type of wedding that compares culturally to a Jewish wedding is, of course, a big fat Greek wedding. So, as you can imagine, a combination of the two makes for a pretty epic Mediterranean family-centric celebration!

Christina and Oryan tied the knot on the beach in beautiful Crete, owing to both the bride and groom’s Greek and Greek-Cypriot backgrounds, and the convenient short hop from Israel, where Oryan has family ties.

We adore the laid-back feel of this gorgeous destination wedding, with the bride making her grand entrance on donkey-back, the couple exchanging vows barefoot on the beach (with one notable moment as an exception) and Greek / Israeli food and dancing.

The pair kept things simple, with no bridal party and ensuring that everything had a natural, organic feel to it. We LOVE the simplicity of the wooden Chuppah with its delicate floral arrangements perfectly framing the view of the sea. Stunning.

Family played a huge role in the ceremony, with both of the bride and groom’s sisters being given a significant part to play.

Oh, and Christina’s Catherine Deane dress was simply perfect — elegant, bridal, flattering and beach-wedding beautiful.  

Christina and Oryan wrote up the story of their real wedding together as a couple, and we’re delighted to hear the story from both of their perspectives, so we’ll hand over to them now to tell us more…

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How we met

Christina and Oryan, the bride and groom: We met through mutual friends in NYC. We had both moved to New York in 2010 and had mutual friends in common through which we were introduced. We remained friends for several years before starting to date in 2014.

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