Massachusetts Jewish Wedding Archives - Smashing the Glass

An ASTR Bride for a Jewish Micro Wedding Pulled Together in Just Two Weeks at Endicott Estate, Dedham, Massachusetts, USA

11/09/2020 by Karen Cinnamon Leave a Comment

As if we weren’t already in awe of all the many couples who are pulling together beautiful Jewish weddings during the pandemic, today’s couple brings it to the next level: both bride Yvonne and groom Gabriel are physicians in Boston – working exactly the kind of crazy hours you’d expect – AND they managed to pull together the bulk of the wedding in just TWO WEEKS prior to their date of July 25, 2020. Yep, you read that right… two weeks!

How’d they do it? With the help of a fantastic planner, the mega-talented Luba of Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Primavera Dreams. Because of their time constraints, the couple opted to take a hands-off approach to planning, putting their full trust in Luba to execute their dreams for a simple, elegant, intimate (the two invited just immediate family and one friend on each side) outdoor wedding. After just a few Zoom meetings with Yvonne and Gabriel, Luba was off and running – and she pulled everything together perfectly, as evidenced in Alex Gordias’s stunning photography.

Yvonne and Gabriel didn’t begin planning until February 2020, so they knew from the start that COVID would have an impact on their day – and they were able to build this intimate day from the beginning rather than having to back out of plans for a bigger wedding. They were able to pick their venue, Endicott Estate, based in part on the fact that they could have not only an outdoor ceremony but an outdoor dinner, too, and Yvonne knew from the getgo she wanted to forgot the traditional bridal salon and alterations experience for safety reasons and so instead opted to order lots of white ready-to-wear dresses online, finding the perfect fit in a simple, lightweight number by ASTR the Label.

Read on for the rest of Yvonne’s account of this very special day – we truly could not be any more impressed!

How we met

Yvonne, the bride: We met in 2014 through a mutual friend (his medical school friend and my residency friend). When the mutual friend found out Gabriel was coming to Boston to train as a fellow in trauma surgery, he immediately said that we should meet and the rest is history!

An Emmy Mae Bride for a Chinese-Jewish Wedding with a Peony Chuppah at the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, Wellesley, MA, USA

04/03/2020 by Karen Cinnamon

It never fails to set our hearts aflutter when we see a couple merge their diverse backgrounds into one beautiful Jewish wedding. And we adore a peony chuppah. Therefore, we knew from the get go that we were going to fall head over heels for the wonderful Chinese-Jewish wedding of college sweethearts JingJing, who works in data analytics, and Andrew, who’s in software development.

Since these two were planning a Massachusetts wedding all the way across the country from their home in Seattle, they knew they’d need some support in planning the big day. And so they turned to the fabulous Luba of Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Primavera Dreams, who they knew they could trust to understand their diverse families and cultures.

Luba worked with the couple to incorporate traditions both Chinese – like pops of red, the traditional Chinese wedding color – and Jewish – like the stunning peony chuppah – into the day. There were even some small touches reflecting the groom’s Russian heritage thrown into the mix, like chamomile incorporated into the florals.

And back to that peony chuppah… peonies are JingJing’s favorite flowers (and, after scrolling through these lovely photos by Mark Spooner, maybe ours too?), so it was only natural to showcase them. Mixed with fresh greenery and other flowers in shades of pink, peach, and white, the chuppah struck the perfect balance between minimalism and whimsy, simplicity and lushness.

There’s so much more we could say, but we’re going to leave the rest to the bride, who looked so elegant in her 3D floral lace dress from Emmy Mae Bridal…

A Garden Venue

JingJing, the bride: We got married at The Gardens at Elm Bank at the Massachusetts Horticultural Society in Wellesley, MA. We wanted a primarily outdoor venue that would be beautiful on its own, and we were definitely partial to the garden aspect (we got engaged at a botanic garden!). Elm Bank checked all our boxes for setting as well as location and flexibility as a vendor.Continue Reading

A BHLDN Bride for a Literary Jewish Wedding with DIY Touches at the Bride’s Parents’ Family Home in Falmouth, MA, USA

01/11/2019 by Karen Cinnamon

We love it when a couple makes their Jewish wedding 100% truly THEM. And that’s exactly what Leah, a project manager, and Alex, a lab tech and soon-to-be nursing student, did in their literary-themed backyard wedding, which celebrated the pair’s love of reading, family, and of course their beloved cats!

Their wonderful wedding planner, Luba Gankin from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Primavera Dreams, helped them pull all these strands together to make one ultra-memorable day. We can’t get enough of all the fun details like centerpieces made of old books and escort card bookmarks made of recycled book pages – plus the super colorful chuppah canopy, made from a piece of traditional Egyptian wedding tent cloth the bride brought back with her after spending three years living in Egypt! Photographer Alex Gordias captured it all so beautifully.

Oh, and did we mention that the bride – who looked lovely in her wedding dress from BHLDN – baked the wedding cake (for 150 guests) herself?!

Now over to the couple…

How we met

Leah and Alex, the bride and the groom: The bride and groom first met 16 years ago at age 15 when they were competitive Latin ballroom dancers in high school! The groom claims he had a crush on the bride at the time.

Fast forward 14 years, and the groom moved in with one of the bride’s closest friends completely by chance. When the bride came to visit her friend, she was surprised to find Alex there but impressed with the excellent job he’d done growing up. And the rest is history! True to their roots, the bride and groom performed a sensual tango to Leonard Cohen’s ‘Dance Me To The End of Love’.
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A Rustic Chic Family-Focused Jewish Wedding at Gedney Farm in New Marlborough, Massachusetts, USA

15/07/2019 by Karen Cinnamon

We love it when a couple puts friends and family at the center of their big day – and that’s exactly what Miri, a social worker at the Women’s Prison Association, and Dan, a doctor and is the assistant professor of pathology & cell biology/assistant director of clinical microbiology at Columbia Presbyterian, did.

Not to say that they didn’t pay attention to the aesthetics – it’s hard to go wrong in the beautiful Berkshires, and we’re in love with their gorgeous rustic venue. And that floral chuppah – so sweet and simple, yet so perfect! If you’re anything like us, Christopher Duggan’s wonderful photos will have you wishing you could transport yourself to Western Massachusetts ASAP.

The groom’s father officiated the wedding, and the bride’s father and uncle participated in the ceremony too. And we love that Miri and Dan divided up a modern version of the the 7 blessing among family so that even more of their relatives could participate!

We love that Miri opted to wear her mother’s 50-year-old wedding dress for the big day (with some tailoring and modernization to make it work for her body AND the 21^stcentury) – how special is that?

And the canopy on that gorgeous chuppah? It was taken from Dan’s mom’s wedding dress.

There’s so much more to say about this amazing day, but we’ll leave the rest to Miri…

How we met

Miri, the bride: We met on Tinder in 2014.

A Rebecca Ingram Bride in a Leather Jacket for a Trilingual Rustic Jewish Wedding at Ferncroft Country Club in Middleton, Massachusetts, USA

28/09/2018 by Karen Cinnamon

Okay, how cool is that customized leather jacket, today’s bride Lyubov paired with her classic Rebecca Ingram gown? We just love the touch of edge (not to mention the massive dose of personality) it adds to today’s fab Jewish wedding — and did we mention that Lyubov DIY’d it herself? #goals

There are just so many awesome touches in this fantastic day, from the sweet invitations — complete with cartoon portraits of Lyuobv and Juan, who both work in the pharmaceutical industry, in their W-day attire! — to the beautiful rustic birch chuppah, dolled up with touches of lace and greenery.

Fergie Medar Photography not only captured all the details beautifully, she really did an amazing job illustrating the love between these two and all the emotion that went into their day.

We’re also bowled over that the pair pulled off a tri-lingual (!) wedding. With the bride’s family speaking Russian, the groom’s speaking Spanish, and friends speaking English, Lyubov and Juan had speeches in not one, not two, but THREE languages. Prepare to be bowled over by Jonny Havens Wedding Films’ touching video.

Now over to Lyubov, who credits Smashing The Glass for providing loads of inspo in creating this special day!

How We Met

Lyubov, the bride: Juan and I met our freshman year of college in English class (he sat behind me), and we instantly connected. We were friends for a bit, and then started dating.Continue Reading