Hebrewear Archives - Page 3 of 5 - Smashing the Glass

A Suzanne Neville Bride for a Super Luxe Destination Jewish Wedding at the Great Synagogue of Florence and Villa de Maiano, Florence, Italy

03/10/2018 by Karen Cinnamon

BRB — booking a ticket to Florence. Okay, maybe not, but we are a million percent tempted by today’s dreamiest of Italian destination Jewish weddings. Between the ceremony at the majestic Great Synagogue of Florence to the swoon-worthy reception at Villa di Maiano, Paige and Richard‘s day was as dreamy as it gets (and they also had an adorable wedding hashtag — #paigegetsrich).

Much-loved STG Recommended Vendor Michelle Jacobs of Eleganté by Michelle J helped the couple pull all the fab design elements together from London, where they live. From the magical floral chuppah (who would’ve thought such a fresh, natural design would be the PERFECT fit for such a grand, historic space?) to THE most stunning top table we have ever, ever seen complete with a pergola, crystal chandeliers, hanging glass globes filled with tea lights (seriously, check out David Bastianoni’s photos — it is not to be missed!), we can safely say she hit a home run with this epic day. Oh… and Waterfall Visuals‘s film below is the dreamiest thing ever.

We’re thrilled to have a chance to chat with their awesome planner, Michelle Jacobs, live on the Smashing The Glass Facebook page tomorrow at 7: 30 p.m. GMT/2:30 p.m. EST tomorrow, Thursday, October 4. And if you love today’s wedding as much as we do, do not miss this one as we’ll be covering all the ins and outs of planning a Jewish (or Jew-ish) wedding in Italy. Please do tune in, and bring your questions!

Another wonderful STG Recommended Vendor, Totem (who Paige and Richard loved enough to fly out from London!) provided ultra-emotional chuppah music before transitioning to party mode at the villa, where they kept the dancefloor packed all night. Talk about a smashing party! Oh, and speaking of things that are smashing, did we mention Paige and Richard used one of our very own Smash Glass pouches?!

We are also LOVING their exquisite stationery by Ruth Kaye Design another STG fave and Recommended Vendor… we’re literally dying over how fabulous everything about this wedding is. —don’t you agree?

We’ll let Paige, who looked goooooorgeous in her glam Suzanne Neville gown, take it from here…

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A Room with a View

Paige, the bride: Our chuppah took place at the Great Synagogue of Florence and then afterwards we moved over to Villa di Maiano, a beautiful villa in Fiesole, a small town in the hills above Florence. Villa di Maiano is where the movie A Room with a View, was filmed (just celebrating the 30th anniversary of the film).

We went to see several venues, this was the first. We had a special feeling as soon as we walked into the gardens — we both cried — so we just knew this was the place for us. We did consider having our ceremony at Villa di Maiano, but Michelle suggested we visit the synagogue… and again, the minute we walked in we just knew we had to have our chuppah there.Continue Reading

An Industrial Warehouse Winter Jewish Wedding at Victoria Warehouse in Manchester, UK

23/07/2018 by Karen Cinnamon

After the popularity of last week’s winter wedding, we’re thrilled to be sharing another incredible (and very different!) winter Jewish wedding that’s cooler than a polar bear’s toe nails (sorry couldn’t resist that!).

Despite getting married in February in Manchester — when daylight is at a minimum, and you can pretty much forget about sun — Danielle and Jason (who run the travel blog 52WeekendsNY) had the most stunningly gorgeous day.

Knowing what they were up against, the couple decided to play up the dark, wintry vibe. Their venue, Victoria Warehouse — a former Kellogg’s factory — is just the kind of cavernous warehouse space that lends itself to some serious cozying up. Danielle and Jason did such a fantastic job warming up the concrete floors and unfinished brick walls with florals in claret and dark green, a candle aisle (!), and the dreamiest chuppah (built by Danielle’s dad!): pared-down in keeping with the industrial vibe of the day, but with the poles still wrapped in greenery and purple flowers — plus some fairy lights for a super magical wintry look.

We just love how the couple created such a unique and beautiful aesthetic for their day — and photographer Liam Crawley of The Crawleys did the best job of capturing not only the lovely details of the day but also all the emotion, of which there was plenty to go around.

One other thing we loved about this wedding is that not only did the bride give a speech, so did both of the mothers! On our Facebook group lately, there’s been some discussion about the English tradition of only the groom, best man, and father of the bride speaking.

Understandably, a lot of today’s brides aren’t so comfortable with this all-male lineup, but it’s not always easy going against such a longstanding tradition. So we’re always excited when we see brides — and their female relatives and friends — standing up and speaking out on their big days. Now over to Danielle…

How we met

Danielle, the bride: We met at university and now live together in NYC.

A Stella York Bride for a Winter Wonderland Jewish Wedding at Warren Weir, Luton Hoo, UK

18/07/2018 by Karen Cinnamon

Don’t mind us, we’re busy picking our jaws up off the floor after seeing today’s stunning Jewish wedding portraits in the snow. Almost enough to make you rethink that summer wedding, are we right?!

When Mel, a project manager, and Mitch, who works in IT, first chose Chiko Photography, they were drawn to a photo of his with a couple under an umbrella in the snow. Who would’ve thought they’d get to recreate it themselves?!

This is also a special wedding for us because bride Mel was one of our blogging brides but not only that, Mel was also a founding member of our Club for Jewish Brides, and as such, she and Mitch were the very first couple to ever use our own-brand (and super gorgeous!) smash glass pouch for breaking the glass under their chuppah!

We loved following Mel’s wedding planning journey, and we’re so glad to hear that the feeling was mutual. Mel found several of her amazing wedding vendors through Smashing the Glass, from their incredible videographer, STG Recommended Vendor Denee Motion,to another much loved STG Recommended Vendor XS Showband, best known as pioneers of the wedding flash mob!

XS Showband provided entertainment throughout the day, but we can’t take our eyes off Denee Motion’s fantastic video of Mel and Mitch’s very own musical wedding flash mob, just before their ceremony started. They wanted a special surprise for their guests, something to make sure their day really stood out, and we think this more than did the trick. You’ve got to check it out for yourself!

Do also take a moment to read through Mel’s fabulous account of her planning and prep, there are some really useful tips and a generous helping of super advice at the end. Over to Mel now (and by the way we think she looks SO elegant in her lace fishtail gown by Stella York. . .

How we met

Mel, the bride: We met on JDate in 2013. After chatting for a while we met for a drink. Our second date was an eight-hour lunch! I thought if someone can keep me engrossed in constant conversation for that long without getting bored then I am on to a winner.

A Mediterranean Garden Destination Jewish Wedding at El Cortijo de los Caballos in Marbella, Spain

15/06/2018 by Karen Cinnamon

We’re always thrilled to blog the weddings of our real blogging brides, and we could not be more excited to feature beautiful Hayley’s sun-drenched Spanish wedding to Ashley at El Cortijo de los Caballos.

We loved reading along with Hayley as she went through the process of converting to Judaism during her engagement, and couldn’t be more proud to see her and Ashley standing under their lovely DIY chuppah, which put folded umbrellas to use as poles, draped in tulle and lace — including a square from Hayley’s dress! Check it out in Anna Gazda’s luminous photos.

This wedding was chock full of personal touches… between custom kippot inscribed with “Man Utd Rule” with footballs printed on them, as a nod to Ashley’s chosen team, to a very memorable rap by the bridesmaids (they turned Ice Ice Baby into “Ash Ash Hayley”!) Hayley and Ashley injected so much personality into their fun-filled day.

And to make sure their wedding was a party to remember, the couple flew out Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Totem as their band! Performing at both the ceremony and reception, Hayley and Ashley credit their fab band with making the party happen — and report that guests are still telling them how great the music was!

Now over to Hayley, who was lucky enough to have her gorgeous princess gown was custom designed for her by her new sister-in-law, who used to be a pro bridal wear designer…
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How we met

Hayley, the bride: We met online through Tinder, although I’m sure Ash told a few people we met at a bar in Shoreditch!

A Martina Liana Bride for a Romantic Jewish Destination Wedding at La Catilina, Lake Iseo, Lombardia, Italy

05/03/2018 by Karen

Destination Jewish Wedding La Catilina, Lombardia, Italy_0050

There’s something about Italian weddings that just makes us want to hop on the next flight to Milan. That sunlight! Those lakes! And the olive groves! Manchester-based couple Lauren and Avi took full advantage of all of the above (and more!) after opting to marry abroad.

In search of a location with guaranteed good weather and no more than a few hours’ flight from the UK, they found their dream spot overlooking Lake Iseo in Lombardia, in northern Italy.

Their venue, La Catilina, has the most breathtaking views, and, ever the considerate hosts, the couple were also drawn to its shaded areas and air-conditioned reception rooms to keep their guests cool in that bright Italian sunlight.

Lauren and Avi’s wedding aesthetic was minimal and romantic; the pair wanted to complement the fantastic views rather than distract from them. They went for a soft color scheme focused on whites and pinks, reflected in the white and pink O’Hara roses adorning the tabletops and their lovely, simple chuppah (made from locally sourced timber!).

Bride Lauren looked positively radiant in her lace Martina Liana gown with a statement train, and Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Hebrewear supplied kippot and benchers for the guests.

Since Lauren and Avi both work for photography and videography studio Flix’n’Pix–in fact, Avi co-founded it with his brother!–so there was never any question as to who was going to capture their day. Take a look at the photos, and I think you’ll agree they did a fantastic job. Now over to Lauren, who’s shared a delightful writeup of her day.

A Stunning Lakeside Venue

Lauren, the bride: We knew we wanted to get married abroad with guaranteed weather and no more than a few hours on a plane for our guests to travel. We chose to look at venues in Italy and found our perfect venue overlooking Lake Iseo. Apart from the breathtaking views at La Catilina, it also had multiple shaded areas and air-conditioned reception rooms for our guests to gather to enjoy drinks and nibbles while we had our wedding photographs.