Jos Daniel Archives - Smashing the Glass

Real Jewish Brides: Jos’s Grooms’ Eye View into Wedding Planning

25/02/2020 by Smashing The Glass

Jos will be marrying Daniel on 28th June 2020 at Hackney Town Hall, London, UK. Click here to read all Jos’ planning posts to date.

THREE FACTS: (1) Before meeting Daniel, Jos was known for her torrid dating tales – so much so that her friends used to call her Bridget Jonestein! (2) Daniel proposed to Jos in the Greek island of Naxos! (3) Jos is a member of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club!

The lead up to Daniel and I getting engaged was one of great anticipation. My mum called me one day and said ‘just tell him, the minute he proposes, I’m ready to get organising’. I too had tentatively started googling things… not wanting to tempt fate, but just to prep.. you know… just in case. Fast forward to the week after Daniel proposed, and I received of the biggest shocks of the wedding planning process so far.

Daniel, had an opinion.

And I really don’t blame myself for the surprise I felt. We’re conditioned to believe that the wedding is the biggest day of a girl’s life. That the bride is the centre of attention. And if you think about popular culture, that’s really not surprising.

Take movies as an example. A cursory google brought up 99 films with ‘Bride’ in the title. These of course don’t include films that focus on a bride, but don’t specifically call it out in the title (i.e. almost every Disney cartoon). It does include the ‘Bride of Chucky’, which is not exactly within the romantic genre, but this isn’t an exact science.

Guess how many films I found with the word groom in the title? Five. Four of those films were made in the 1930’s, and one, confusingly, was called ‘The Well-Groomed Bride’, so, it doesn’t count. TV is another example.

The only TV show I can think of that really features a groom is called… ‘Don’t tell the Bride’. So, I think I can be excused for the surprise when it dawned on me that this wasn’t the movies, it was real life and in real life, the Groom has a say.

So, in true British style, I’ve decided to dedicate this post to the underdog. The most underrepresented demographic in the wedding world. The Groom.

From left to right: Jen, Jos, Charlotte and Jocy, all Brides Club Members and actual/former Real Blogging Brides. Their partners have been interviewed by Jos.

Real Jewish Brides: Jos on Finding Her Place in Judaism

15/01/2020 by Smashing The Glass

Jos will be marrying Daniel on 28th June 2020 at Hackney Town Hall, London, UK. Click here to read all Jos’ planning posts to date.

When I Was 21

On my 21st birthday my synagogue sent me a card. In the card, they wished me a very happy birthday, and explained that I was no longer a member on my parent’s membership and that I’d have to start paying for my own membership.

As a second year student at Birmingham University, I wasn’t particularly flush with money although, in truth, this is probably because I spent most of my student loan on M&S ready meals – this Jewish Princess wasn’t up for slumming it.

However, I can’t really blame my penchant for indulgent convenience for my decision not to pay for a shul membership.

Image by STG Recommended Vendor The Crawleys from Nicola and Dave‘s wedding
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Real Jewish Brides: Jos Gets Real about Body Image and Planning Curveballs

13/11/2019 by Smashing The Glass

Jos will be marrying Daniel on 28th June 2020 at Hackney Town Hall, London, UK. Click here to read all Jos’ planning posts to date.

Fiction Vs Reality

As a child I grew up with a beautiful view of love. Disney princesses with impossibly small waists and hair that seems to just fall into place meet similarly beautiful men, usually on horseback and then suddenly appear, doe eyed, at their weddings.

Yes, there are a few bumps in the road, a few wicked witches, maybe a poison apple or two, but the end game is always the same. We all live happily ever after.

So, with such high expectations, the experience of being engaged so far has fallen somewhat short. Don’t get me wrong, I am 100% sure that I am marrying the right guy, he’s an angel. However, there are two things that have been making the past few months difficult, and they are two things that Disney did not prepare me for.

2020 Real Jewish Brides: Introducing Jos + Daniel: How They Met To The Present Day…

02/10/2019 by Smashing The Glass

Today on the blog we’re introducing our 5th gorgeous bride from our crop of 2020 Real Jewish Brides! Please give a warm welcome to Jos, who will be marrying Daniel on 28th June 2020 at Hackney Town Hall, London, UK.

How you met to the present day

My friends used to call me Bridget Jonestein. I was always the single one at the wedding, the last (wo)man standing in my groups of friends. I would go on date after date with unsuitable men and eventually came to the conclusion that I was happy single.

I decided I was an independent career woman, but would still enjoy regaling my friends with my torrid dating tales. They were so good (or bad), that one of my best friends declared she would pay £9.99 a month just to read them and who was I to disappoint?

So, having decided I was happy being single, but with an expectant audience, I continued to lazily browse the dating apps until one day, I matched with Daniel on Tinder.

I’d love to tell you that it was love at first sight and we had an incredible first date, but neither of us would describe it as that. Our first date was in fact, awkward.

We went to an average pub in Hampstead, both sent our meals back and I spent much of the evening walking around the pub with my phone torch on, looking for an earring that I thought I’d lost (turned out I’d left it on my dressing table).

However, despite the awkwardness, Daniel made me laugh and after a few dates I decided I was really quite fond of him.