• About
  • Find a Vendor
  • Submit
  • Advertise
  • Brides Club
  • Your Jewish Life
  • Contact

Smashing the Glass | Jewish Wedding Blog

Inspired Jewish Weddings

  • Real Jewish Weddings
    • City Chic
    • Fashion Forward
    • Outdoor
    • Destination
      • Israel
      • Italy
      • Spain
      • France
      • Beach Weddings
    • Super Luxe
    • Budget
    • DIY
    • Same Sex
    • Covid Weddings
  • Jew-ish Weddings
    • Real Jew-ish Weddings
    • Jewish-Catholic Weddings
    • Jewish-Chinese Weddings
    • Jewish-Christian Weddings
    • Jewish-Greek Weddings
    • Jewish-Hindu Weddings
    • Jewish-Humanist Weddings
    • Jewish-Irish Weddings
    • Jewish Japanese Weddings
    • Jewish-Muslim Weddings
    • Same Sex Jew-ish Weddings
  • Inspiration + Guidance
    • Engaged? Start Here
    • Ceremony
      • Chuppah ideas
      • Jewish ceremony music
      • Jewish wedding ceremony 101
      • Jewish ceremony traditions
      • Ketubah Ideas
      • Jewish wedding legalities
      • Jew-ish ceremony ideas
    • Reception
      • Music
      • Speeches
      • Entertainment
      • Venues
    • Food & Drink
      • Kosher catering
      • Wedding cakes
      • Drinks
    • Decor
      • Decorations
      • Favours
      • Floristry
      • Guestbooks
      • Stationery
    • Style
      • Brides dresses
      • Shoes & accessories
      • Grooms
      • Bridesmaids
    • Advice
      • Converting to Judaism
      • Real blogging brides
      • Dear Karen…
    • Honeymoons
    • STG Live
    • Five Minutes With
    • Wedding Must-Haves
    • Wedding Consultancy
  • Covid Weddings + Advice
  • Find a Wedding Vendor
Home > Indian Jewish wedding

Indo-Italian-Jewish wedding at The Garden City Hotel, Long Island, New York, USA

26/07/2016 by Karen

indian-italian-Jewish-wedding
One of my main aims when I started Smashing The Glass was to ensure there would be an abundance of Jew-ish wedding inspiration, by which I mean interfaith wedding inspiration for readers who are marrying out, marrying in (or anywhere in between for that matter) — I call it Jew-ish!

Prior to starting the blog, I remember hearing the same complaint over and over again from friends who were marrying the love of their loves who were of another faith. They desperately wanted a ceremony that embraced both their and their partner’s religion / culture, but there was simply no inspiration, online or offline, for how to create a meaningful fusion Jew-ish wedding.

As a result the blog covers an array of topics from 5 ways to incorporate Jewish’ into a non-Jewish or Interfaith wedding to a diary of a Jewish bride who ‘married out‘, to spotlighting awesome Smashing Suppliers like Rabbi Paul Glantz who has lovingly officiated countless beautiful interfaith Jewish weddings.

It therefore goes without saying that I love blogging mixed faith Jew-ish weddings as part of this focus. I’ve showcased several Indian-Jewish weddings on the blog before, and they are often very colourful affairs, but today’s W Day takes brights and rainbow hues to another level and should definitely be viewed with your sunglasses on!

Ritu, of Indian heritage, and Greg, who’s Jewish, very much wanted a single ceremony versus two separate ones. They found that many of their individual traditions were able to be seamlessly intertwined eg. the chuppah / mandap structure is both a symbol of the home that they would build together (chuppah) and the universe (mandap) and the framework of each is very similar. This blending of both their cultures into one meaningful ceremony meant a lot to them (and by the way, I have a post going live this Friday on how to successfully mix two faiths into one beautiful ceremony… watch this space!).

This entire wedding is magnificent, and not only do we have the images from Priyanca Rao Photography, but also the wedding video from Unique Visions Studio. Ritu’s wedding report is super fun to read too. Don’t miss a beat!

Indo-Italian-Jewish wedding at The Garden City Hotel, Long Island, New York, USA Indo-Italian-Jewish wedding at The Garden City Hotel, Long Island, New York, USA
How we met

I am not sure this story makes me look all that good! My friend (and eventual bridesmaid) Claudia and I were at a party for The Brooklyn Rugby Club’s final game of the season. I was a little hesitant about going in the first place… I had been sorta casually spending time with one of the rugby players and that dalliance had recently ended in a full on crash and burn! But Claudia convinced me to accompany her. And then I met the new guy on the team — Greg Aguele. He followed us to another bar and struck up a conversation with me. I was definitely stand-offish — I didn’t want to be the Brooklyn Rugby Groupie! But I will never forget him saying “I get it. But listen, I am a nice guy, and I think we should get to know each other”. And so we did.

Indo-Italian-Jewish wedding at The Garden City Hotel, Long Island, New York, USA
The perfect  Venue

You know how often the first dress a bride tries on is  THE dress? Well that was the the case regarding our venue. The Garden City Hotel was actually recommended by my father. The second I met with the team there, led by Jerry Rizzo, I was in love. We wanted a place that was close to where we both grew up and where both our families could easily get to. And we loved that all of our events (an Indian wedding can have quite a few) could be in one central place where all guests could also stay.

Continue ReadingContinue Reading

Share this post:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)

LOVE IS LOVE: Marriages that cross boundaries

26/06/2016 by Karen

same-sex-interfaith-wedding
Today’s post marks  a new series on the blog called LOVE IS LOVE where I will be documenting some very special  marriages  that cross boundaries that (to put it quite bluntly) certain ignoramus’s across the globe find unacceptable. Love is love, no matter if you’re of one faith or another, if you’re straight or if you’re LGBT.

It may be the annual Gay Pride festival  this weekend in my home city of London, but that’s just a happy coincidence. This series has been triggered  in response to an  email I received last weekend from a young woman in India who greatly benefitted from Yana and Archita’s same-sex,  mixed faith  wedding that I lovingly  blogged  last  year. I am reprinting her email, with her permission, below:

Hi Karen,

This is probably a pretty unorthodox request. You don’t know me but I’m reaching out because I am an Indian girl who recently came out to my parents as gay and they are having a lot of trouble dealing with it and imagining that I could have a happy life with a woman – especially in India (they currently live in Bangalore).

I believe that part of it is because our extended family, and all our friends are conservative (and fairly ignorant) community. I was hoping that if they could see, or speak to, happily married Indian lesbians, they might believe that happiness is possible even for me.

I noticed you wrote an article on Yana & Archita  and was wondering if you could forward this email to Archita and ask her if she would be willing to speak with me?

Thank you so, so much.

It goes without saying that I passed the reader’s  letter  to Archita and the two of them are now in contact.

I want  to use this space to bring more love to more people, and to show how every kind of love is perfectly valid. No-one should be able to tell you how to live, who to love, and who you should be  spending a lifetime  with.  Love is universal and unbiased.

The film below? Now that’s ‘LOVE IS LOVE. It’s a  video of a  police officer breaking  ranks with his colleagues to propose to his boyfriend yesterday at Pride in London.


The rest of his team look so pleased for him too! This film moves me so much, and it’s everything I value about living in this great country.

I would be so delighted to hear from you if you  would like to write a post (anonymously if desired) about your ‘LOVE IS LOVE’ marriage on Smashing The Glass. And if you know a couple that might like to share their story, do send them my way.

So let’s kick off the series by featuring some of my favourite images from  Yana and Archita’s Jewish-Hindu-Indian-Russian multicultural lesbian wedding. To see more images from their  big day, and to read their  story (in their own words), head over  here.

Jewish-Indian-Lesbian-Wedding

Continue ReadingContinue Reading

Share this post:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)

Yana & Archita | Jewish-Hindu-Indian-Russian multicultural lesbian wedding at Trust, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

19/05/2015 by Karen

Jewish-Hindu-Wedding
Now this wedding is not just special, stylish or merely a good day out – it’s a totally spectacular cocktail of uber-chic modernism, elegant traditionalism, multi-cultural funkiness and fun, all blended and shaken to perfection.

For any of you who are wondering how to mix two completely different backgrounds into one smooth and stylish day — get ready for some serious pinning action.

Yana and Archita seamlessly melded their loves, tastes and cultures together to create a unique day at Trust — a neoclassical styled art and event space gallery in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

An art event in itself, our two gorgeous brides amalgamated a colourful and awesome blend of Russian, Jewish, Hindu and Indian traditions against the ridiculously gorgeous, all white, architectural splendour of a soaring 10,000 square foot, turn of the century building.  Simple.  Ahem.

What could have been contrived or clunky – trying to shoe horn different traditions and styles together — is instead thoughtful and elegant.

But the simplicity really lies in their motivation — to unite two families into one, representing both cultures.  Even more, what underlined and defined the wedding was FUN. They wanted a huge, huge party and they got it, right down to the last few bars of Bohemian Rhapsody.

I’m still grinning from ear to ear at the image of the couple being raised high on chairs by friends and family, old and young — all partying together with the help of some homemade “traditional” vodka — to the Black Eyed Peas’ I Got a Feeling!

Even their choice of traditional wedding dresses had a twist… Archita wore a sari, whilst Yana wore a white wedding gown but with a sash around her waist made from the same material as Archita’s sari — a beautiful and subtle symbol to truly demonstrate the bond between the two.

All of the fantastic photography is by Michael and Melissa at M2 Photography. Now over to our beautiful brides…

Jewish-Indian-Lesbian-Wedding
How we met

Yana & Archita, the Brides: We met in undergrad at Penn at the largest party of the year called “Spring Fling”. To this day we debate about who made the first move. Chita’s friends were having a small party in a dorm room, and Yana crashed it. It was only three weeks before summer break began, so this was supposed to be just a fling… but we fell in love before the summer.

Jewish-Indian-Lesbian-Wedding
Continue ReadingContinue Reading

Share this post:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)

Nirmala & Ian | Indo-Trini Jew-ish Barn Wedding at Full Moon Resort, Big Indian, New York, USA

03/03/2015 by Karen

Indo-Trini-Jewish-Barn-Wedding-
Today I am bringing you the most immense interfaith wedding that came to my attention courtesy of the wonderful By Petronella. It’s a cultural extravaganza full of heart and sentiment, and anyone planning, or even thinking about, an interfaith wedding ceremony must read Nirmala’s W-day report.

I can’t promise that her wedding to Ian won’t make you cry, as at the end of the post is the wedding film by Mae B Films and hearing them recite their personalised vows set me off… I may just have shed a tear or two over how pure and emotive it was. Instead of feeling constrained by their interfaith ceremony, as some couples do, Nirmala and Ian’s was an undiluted celebration of love in its very purest form.

Apart from the obviously very happy and very in love Nirmala and Ian, and the unbearably gorgeous setting (a deer makes an appearance!), this wedding is all about the magical blend of cultures for me.

Oh and there’s the sparkler send-off…yep an actual send-off with hundreds of sparklers — I love that idea – and what a great photo opp! Take it away, Nirmala and Ian.

interfaith wedding
a rustic country wedding venue

Nirmala, the Bride: We chose the venue because of its natural beauty, rustic setting and low key vibe.  We visited the area in the Autumn of 2013 and felt very connected. We also loved that no cell phone service was available in the area which allowed us and our guests to disconnect from the busy city life, reconnect and have a mini retreat.  We fell head over heels in love with the barn on our first visit to Full Moon Resort. It simply brought a magical feeling the moment we stepped into it. Growing up in the country, the setting brought a sense of home for me. We both felt a sense of belonging and peace amidst the mountains.

interfaith wedding
Continue ReadingContinue Reading

Share this post:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)

Roupa & Marcus | central London Jewish Hindu ‘HinJew’ wedding at The Criterion, London, UK

27/01/2015 by Karen

Jewish-Hindu-wedding
As a huge fan of glorious  colour, multi-cultural weddings are such a visual treat for me and I love all the creative  ways that our  interfaith couples fuse their varying cultures, ceremonies and traditions into one magical blended  feast.

Today’s couple are a prime  example, and Marcus, the groom, puts  it brilliantly, “Quite simply we amalgamated both religions, building the symbolic chuppah/mandap and so weaved together a merry religious dance come ceremony.”

Roupa and Marcus’s wedding is extra special because it has two ceremonies and three (yes THREE!) gowns. So there’s thrice  as much wedding pretty for you, and it all takes place in the heart of London at the super opulent Criterion.

But I digress… Marcus and Roupa planned their spectacular, yet very laid back day in incredibly timely fashion, and in a very authentic,  creative way. Marcus says, “Roupa  was the planner, I was the protagonist and thorn in her side and together we planned a wedding from booking the venue to wedlock in around 12-14 weeks. We brought 160 guests together from all over the world, requesting the soothing colours or cream, ivory or  beige to be worn… apart from us! With the opulence of the Criterion, I added brilliant blues and greens, whilst Roupa wore gold and green, mauve, and a luscious red for her three outfits.”

You can understand why I love this wedding already, right? And I haven’t even told you about the  Brazilian carnival dancers, the Blues Brothers style entrance up to the chuppah / mandap, the thoughtful home-made wedding favours, not to mention the  the  DJ playing Mauritian  Sà©ga!

Roupa, our inspirational  bride, provides the full inside story  below, whilst all  the stunning photography is by  Matt Parry.

Jewish Hindu ‘HinJew’ wedding at The Criterion, London, UK
Continue ReadingContinue Reading

Share this post:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • 1
  • 2
  • Next Page »

Jewish Weddings by Country

Vendors We Love

Weddings by Colour

Awesome Jewish Gifts

Vendors We Love

Get posts directly into your inbox

Enter your email address below and get the latest posts delivered straight to your inbox.

Bobbi Brown UK
Liberty London
Monica Vinader
Kate Spade UK Limited
Mr And Mrs Smith Honeymoons
Shop BHLDN Weddings
Biscuiteers Baking Company

Today’s Top Posts

  • Dates in 2021, 2022 and 2023 to avoid for a Jewish wedding plus a 12 Month Wedding Planning Monthly Checklist
    Dates in 2021, 2022 and 2023 to avoid for a Jewish wedding plus a 12 Month Wedding Planning Monthly Checklist
  • A guide to the Jewish Wedding Ceremony and Order of Service under the chuppah
    A guide to the Jewish Wedding Ceremony and Order of Service under the chuppah
  • A Stella York Bride for a Jewish Shift Wedding at the Inn at the Forks, Winnipeg, Canada
    A Stella York Bride for a Jewish Shift Wedding at the Inn at the Forks, Winnipeg, Canada
  • Chuppah ideas
    Chuppah ideas
  • An Epic Super Luxe Romantic and Regal Jewish Wedding With an Eight-Foot Train and a Ten-Tier Cake at Thornton Manor, UK
    An Epic Super Luxe Romantic and Regal Jewish Wedding With an Eight-Foot Train and a Ten-Tier Cake at Thornton Manor, UK

Subscribe by Email

Enter your email address below and get the latest posts delivered straight to your inbox.

Popular Posts

  • original-guestbook-ideas 18 Unusual and Creative Guest Book Ideas
  • Jewish-Wedding-Tribeca-Rooftop-NYC-New-York-USA_0060 Dates in 2021, 2022 and 2023 to avoid for a Jewish wedding plus a 12 Month Wedding Planning Monthly Checklist
  • birch-rose-chuppah Chuppah ideas
  • A guide to the Jewish Wedding Ceremony and Order of Service under the chuppah
  • SONGS-WALK-DOWN-THE-AISLE Top 50 Songs To Walk Down The Aisle To at a Jewish Wedding

Connect

Instagram
TikTok
Facebook
Pinterest
YouTube
Twitter
Advertise
Mailing List
Email Karen

Receive Smashing The Glass posts via Email

Enter your email address below and get the latest posts delivered straight to your inbox.

closePlanning A Jewish Wedding During COVID? {Click to download our free guide for Jewish brides}

All content © Smashing The Glass 2021