Grey Archives - Page 3 of 8 - Smashing the Glass

A Kenneth Winston Bride for a Musical Jewish Wedding with DIY Touches at Belsize Square Synagogue and the Liberal Club, London, UK

02/07/2018 by Karen Cinnamon

We all know how overwhelming wedding planning can be. There are so many choices to be made, from color schemes to venues to symbolism and more — and so many vendors to choose from. Of course a wedding planner can be a huge help in sorting through everything that’s out there and focusing your vision, but what if you want to do a lot of the planning yourself?

Today’s couple, Bekka, a lecturer in international relations, and Benjamin, a musician and lecturer in music went for a wedding consultancy session with Smashing the Glass’s own Karen to help and advise with their Jewish wedding.

She directed them toward many of their fantastic vendors, from Smashing the Glass Recommended Vendor Once Upon A Paper, who provided the couple’s beautiful watercolor guest book, to Adams Photography, who captured all the emotion and excitement so exquisitely, to Smashing the Glass Recommended Vendor Prezola registry, which Bekka and Benjamin loved for its wonderful selection of gifts from different stores in the UK, as well as cash funds, Judaica, and charities, to The Wedding Gallery , the world’s first wedding department store, for the groom’s outfit.

All this freed up their time and energy to focus on the many DIY elements the pair incorporated into their wedding.

Bekka and Benjamin designed their invitations themselves and built their own chuppah, but music is where the pair really put their own stamp on the day. For one thing, their ceremony venue, Belsize Square Synagogue, was chosen because Benjamin is the congregation’s music director. So it was only natural that he arranged and composed pieces to be performed during the ceremony, performed by Benjamin’s quartet, bOYbershop, and three (!) choirs that he conducts.

We’ll leave it to Bekka, who looked beautiful in her ivory lace Kenneth Winston dress, to fill you in on the rest…

A Venue with History

Bekka, the bride, and Benjamin, the groom: We got married at Belsize Square Synagogue. We chose it as Benjamin has worked there as musical director for 12 years.

The evening was at the Liberal Club (1 Whitehall Place). Bekka found the venue online. The venue had a small personal connection as Benjamin’s grandfather was a member of the Liberal Party, and Bekka’s father is fascinated with William Gladstone.

Mainly, however, we just loved the venue when we saw it. We also loved the idea of a dusky double decker bus ride through London from the synagogue (particularly for our international guests).

An Outdoor Garden Jewish Wedding at Kamesburgh Gardens, Brighton, and Peninsula Docklands, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

02/05/2018 by Karen Cinnamon

Today’s real Jewish wedding is pure Aussie garden fantasy. The sunlight, the palm trees, the Jurassic Park-style giant ferns–we’re definitely down under! Bride Issie and groom Adam held their outdoor ceremony amidst the ultra-lush greenery of Kamesburgh Gardens and their reception at Peninsula, chosen as much for its ability to accommodate all 400 (yes, you read that right!) of their guests as for its gorgeous views of Victoria Harbour.

Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Jeremy Blode Photography captured the energy and emotion of the day so well, zeroing in on everything from the breathtaking setting to the spirited Jewish dancing.

Speaking of that Jewish dancing — Issie’s dress, a bespoke gown by Vincenzo Pintaudi Couture, was designed with a super-smart feature: a detachable train. Issie wanted the ultra-dramatic look for her walk down the aisle that only a lovely long train delivers, but she was concerned about managing with it during the reception — especially the dancing. Vincenzo came to the rescue with a train attached to a belt, so that Issie could take it off post-ceremony and transform her glam gown into the perfect party dress.

There are just so many cool things about this wedding, but I think my favorite is the way these two did their badeken. They had a deeply intimate setup, involving their families in a really beautiful way and making for a dramatic reunion between the pair, who followed the traditional Jewish custom of staying apart for a full week (!) leading up to the wedding. Read on for all the juicy details….

How we met

Issie, the bride: Adam is a doctor and I am a nurse, very clichà© we know! Much to everyone’s surprise, we didn’t meet in the hospital setting. We had a mutual friend who introduced us while we were still studying our respective degrees and the rest is history!

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.

A Pronovias Bride for an Elegant Outdoor Destination Jewish Wedding at Villa Grabau, Lucca, Tuscany, Italy

18/04/2018 by Karen Cinnamon

Destination Jewish wedding Villa Grabau in Lucca, Tuscany, Italy_0004

Gorgeous couple, gorgeous venue, gorgeous lemon grove… today’s Jewish wedding brings ALL the pretty. London-based Federica and Justin wanted a Tuscan destination wedding (and after looking at their stunning photos, you just might, too!). With the help of their wedding planner, Silvia from Smashing the Glass Recommended Vendor Infinity Weddings, they opted for an outdoor ceremony in the lush gardens of Villa Grabau.

The thing that sold them on their venue? The chance to have their ceremony amidst a grove of lemon trees. Lemon trees! It doesn’t get much more idyllically Tuscan than that, does it?!

And the favors? Lemon soaps from none other than Lush, thanks to a connection at Lush HQ. Even better, the couple opted to tag them with guests’ names and table numbers, making them do double duty as a table plan. This is one favor I personally would’ve been very happy to receive – if you guys have any leftovers, you know where to send them!

Photographers Rhapsody Road delivered the natural, relaxed photos the couple hoped for — and then some. From the emotion to the details to the rolling Tuscan hills in the background, it’s all there.

Beautiful Federica claims to have hated dress shopping, but you’d never know it from how effortlessly elegant she looks in her modern, chic Pronovias gown. She’ll fill you in on the rest of her fab day…

A Destination Wedding in Tuscany

Federica, the bride: Our wedding planner, Silvia from Infinity Weddings, provided us with a list of venues in Tuscany. We shortlisted the venues, jumped on a plane, and went to meet Silvia. We then visited all the venues we liked the look of and narrowed it down to two that we loved. From there we did a lot of research into local hotels, distance from airports, coach hire, etc.

Finally, we made the decision to go with Villa Grabau. We loved the lemon house and surrounding grounds; it just had a relaxed aura about it that we picked up on immediately. When Silvia showed us the lemon house we instantly realized that that was where we wanted to have the wedding.

A Pronovias Bride for an Elegant Jewish Wedding at the Corinthian Yacht Club, Tiburon, California, USA

02/04/2018 by Karen Cinnamon

Talk about a venue with a view! Today’s couple, Maggie and Keith, got married at the Corinthian Yacht Club, in beautiful Tiburon, California, just north of San Francisco.

As if the location right on the water weren’t enough, their venue has THE most stunning view of San Francisco. Especially at night, with all of the city lights, it’s really something to behold. For maximum impact, they opted to hold their Jewish wedding during the full moon!

One very cool way Maggie and Keith made the most of being surrounded by the people they love is by opting to set their chuppah up in the middle of the ceremony room, rather than at the front as is common. They felt this was a more intimate setup, and we totally agree! Always love to see couples making traditions their own like this.

And Maggie and Keith give their amazing planner, Cassy Anderson of Cassy Rose Events, full credit for helping them make their vision for the day a reality. They wanted their wedding to be fresh, classic, and elegant, but not totally traditional — and, most of all, they wanted it to reflect who they are as a couple. Cassy totally nailed it.

The pair were thrilled with their photographer, Robin Jolin too, not only for her incredible eye but also for how comfortable she made them feel on the day. And Maggie looked so elegant in her chic Pronovias gown — can you believe she found it at a sample sale, her very first (and, as it turned out, last) dress shopping stop?! Now over to the bride herself…

A Venue with a View

Maggie, the bride: we got married at the Corinthian Yacht Club in Tiburon. The water and spending time together on the Bay is a huge part of our lives, and we loved that we could share that with our guests. The view of San Francisco was a big part of why we picked the location. My dad helped us set the date by selecting a full moon evening. We are so glad we did.

Both of us grew up in the Bay Area and the majority of our friends and family live in San Francisco or elsewhere nearby. We wanted to have an inclusive event that our guests could could make a weekend out of, or alternatively just take a cab over and enjoy the evening.

Not the most romantic theme of all time, but we wanted to day to feel easy, fun, and special for our guests! We selected a location that would be beautiful and interesting for those coming into town and also allow them to easily walk from their hotel to the rehearsal dinner to the hotel to the venue the next day. Our goal was to allow people to fully enjoy the weekend, without having to get in a car.