Michigan Jewish Wedding Archives - Smashing the Glass

An Anthropologie Bride for a Casual DIY Micro Jewish Wedding at Kensington MetroPark, Michigan, USA

18/06/2021 by Karen Cinnamon

Like so many couples these days, Marisa, a clinical social worker at a psychiatric hospital in downtown Detroit, and Dan, an electrical engineer project manager for car companies, had to change their wedding plans due to the pandemic. But for these two, postponing came with a pretty sweet silver lining: they were able to make it official on their five-year dating anniversary, April 9, 2021!

The couple’s families live out of state and couldn’t make it, but their awesome crew of local friends pitched in to make their chill outdoor wedding a smashing success. For those who couldn’t make it, Marisa and Dan are planning a bigger vow renewal celebration for 2022, complete with dancing, hugging, and food trucks. Sounds like an awesome party, though to be honest we’re already pretty smitten with the couple’s micro wedding – and after scrolling through the gorgeous photos from the pair’s photographer and friend, Eclectic Desire Photography, we bet you will be too.

We’re also in love with Marisa and Dan’s gorgeous ketubah from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Windthrow Fine Art. Marisa and Stephanie – one half of Windthrow, along with her twin brother Eddie, the artist – are former coworkers, and when Marisa saw some of the gorgeous nature-inspired ketubot Windthrow is known for, she knew she’d found just the thing for her wedding – or rather, weddings: Marisa and Dan opted to sign their ketubah, along with one witness, at their micro wedding, and Marisa’s aunt (who also gifted the ketubah to the couple!) plus another witness will add further signatures at the vow renewal next year.

Now over to Marisa…

How we Met

Marisa, the bride and Dan the groom: Dan and Marisa’s wedding took place on the five year anniversary of their first date. Dan and Marisa met on Tinder and after talking via text for about a month, they met in person on April 9, 2016. Their first date was in Easton, PA at a small ice cream shop close to Lafayette College. This date was full of laughter and only a few awkward moments. Looking back, there’s a lot of different ways this first date could have unfolded (online dating is hard!) and it’s a great date to look back on and laugh about.

A year later, Dan and Marisa moved to Pittsburgh, PA. Marisa started a grad school program in social work and Dan started his career in electrical engineering. Two years after that, they moved to Michigan to pursue new job opportunities. They were open to doing something new and Marisa continued her career in Jewish non-profit community organizing before landing in her current role as a clinical social worker at a psychiatric hospital in downtown Detroit. And Dan continues his career as an electrical engineer project manager for car companies.Continue Reading

A Martina Liana Bride for a Jewish Wedding with a Fabulous Paper Flower Chuppah at Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, Michigan

18/09/2020 by Karen Cinnamon

We are totally and completely OBSESSED with the incredible paper flower chuppah featuring in today’s beautiful Jewish wedding. Taylor, a manager of implementation at a software company, and Ross, a manager for sales operations and business development at a finance technology company, wanted to make their big day fun, classy, and a little bit out of the ordinary – and did they ever succeed!

After spotting some chuppahs incorporating giant paper flowers on social media, Taylor knew it was just the thing for her own wedding, and she found the perfect creative partner to pull it off in The Crafty Sagittarius, who brought her vision to life. With giant pink, gold, and taupe paper flowers covering a lucite structure, this chuppah couldn’t possibly be any more delightful. Photographer and videographer Visi Productions captured the chuppah – not to mention the entire day – in all its glory.

We’re also in love with Taylor and Ross’s gorgeous laser cut ketubah, adorned with gold foil and some subtle rhinestones designed by artist Enya Keshet. Like so many STG couples, these two found the ketubah of their dreams via beloved Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor ketubah.com.

There’s much more to say, but we’ll leave it to Taylor – who looked so elegant in Martina Liana– to share all the details…

How we Met

Taylor, the bride: Ross and I met at a Jewish event here in Atlanta, Havinagala. Both of us are originally from up north (Ross from Akron and I’m from Detroit). Ross had moved to Atlanta for work right after college and ended up moving back to Ohio for a few years to work for a new company. They let him move back to Atlanta and we met the same month he moved back!

An Enzoani Bride for an Elegant Jewish Wedding in White at Farmington Hills Manor, Farmington Hills, Michigan, USA

25/05/2020 by Karen Cinnamon

It’s always a special day when we get to feature the Jewish wedding of one of our beloved STG Brides Club members, and we’re especially psyched to see the beautiful day Nargiz, an attorney, practicing criminal defense and real estate/business litigation, and Ryan, a mechanical engineer pulled off.

Nargiz did such a beautiful job chronicling her efforts to include her late mother in the celebration so movingly (which she wrote about in this moving blog post for STG) – not to mention the couple’s work to craft a day that reflected both the bride’s Azerbaijani Jewish background and the groom’s Ashkenazi American one.

She and Ryan also happen to have put together an absolutely gorgeous wedding. With an all-white theme – how elegant is that chuppah?! – and a glam mermaid gown by Enzoani, this pair’s aesthetic was on point, as captured exquisitely by photographer Visi Productions and videographer was Blue Racer Productions.

Getting married without a beloved parent is always a bittersweet experience, and we’re so moved by some of the special touches Nargiz worked in as remembrances of her mother, from attaching a picture of her mom to her bouquet to making a contribution in lieu of favors to the American Cancer Society and Mazon.

And we love how Nargiz brought her heritage into the day with Azerbaijani food (plus bottles of vodka on all the tables!) and Russian singers performing traditional Kavkazi songs.

As a member of STG’s Brides Club, Nargiz loved trading stories and advice with Jewish and Jew-ish brides from all over the world. If you want to join the Club too (we’re currently particularly supporting brides-to-be whose wedding plans are affected by the pandemic) click here.

We’ll let Nargiz – who blogged her wedding planning journey on STG – tell her story from here…

How me Met

Nargiz, the bride: We met through mutual friends 6.5 years ago.

A La Femme Bride for a Rainbow Glitz Jewish Wedding at The Rattlesnake Club, Detroit, MI, USA

14/02/2020 by Karen Cinnamon

Happy Valentine’s Day! In honor of February 14, we’re bringing you something extra special today – the Jewish wedding of Amy Becker, who you may know as the inventive foodie behind What Jew Wanna Eat and online Judaica emporium ModernTribe, and groom Andrew, a tech executive.

Amy’s known for colorful (literally!) recipes like rainbow challah (which made an appearance at the wedding) and Jewnicorn hot chocolate, so it’s no surprise she and Andrew cooked up a totally rainbowtastic wedding. The bride describes the wedding theme as “rainbow gold glitter formal,” and in keeping with that vibrant ethos went for a non-traditional and super fun pink La Femme wedding dress. Photographers Holly and Erik and videographer Dustin, both from Mike Staff Productions, captured the day in all its glory.

This wedding was totally, 100% Amy and Andrew, and we’re obsessed with Amy’s advice on going all out to make your big day just the way you want it:

A few people advised us to pick a timeless wedding look, but we did the opposite! Don’t worry about picking something trendy or unique if that’s what you want. We added lots of colored lanterns and a Funfetti cake and neon table numbers and it felt totally us. It may look dated one day, but who cares as long as it reflected you on your special day.

And would you believe that Amy and Andrew planned the whole thing in just four months, and long-distance too?! We’re so touched that Amy credits our very own STG Brides Club with having helped them pull it off. In her own words:

I especially enjoyed bouncing ideas off other brides in the STG Brides Club Facebook group. The girls and Karen feel more like friends, and have the best ideas so you don’t have to nag your friends for feedback. I also stalked the Smashing the Glass website and got so much inspiration from the other wedding posts and the checklists were invaluable.

If you’d like to get in on the Smashing The Glass Brides Club magic too, now’s your chance! We’re currently offering a free 30-day trial so you can check out this wonderful community for yourself – but it’s only valid until Monday 17 Feb at 23:59 PST, so sign up now and see what all the fuss is about!

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Everything Bagel Forever

Amy, the bride: We met on the dating app Coffee Meets Bagel when we both lived in San Francisco, and from that day forward I was “Amy Bagel” in Andrew’s phone. Our first date was at the club Andrew is a member of, where he convinced me to try a booze-heavy Vesper instead of my usual red wine. After a few drinks and lots of laughs, we moved onto late-night oysters and talked for hours. On our third date, Andrew made me a multi-course dinner complete with a Funfetti cake to win me over, and it totally did. I was smitten and impressed.

After a month of travelling separately, we reunited on New Year’s Eve 2018, when Andrew changed his flight from Michigan to come back early to celebrate with me. He also brought me back corned beef. I knew he was a special one, and we were exclusive from then on. A few months later he proposed we move to Puerto Rico for a job opportunity, and a year after that he proposed we get married. Both were easy questions to say “yes” to. I’m still “Amy Bagel” in Andrew’s phone, and now I’m his everything bagel forever.