New York City Jewish Wedding Archives - Smashing the Glass

An Alexandra Grecco Bride for a City Chic Jewish Wedding with Bright Florals at Tribeca 360, New York City

04/01/2019 by Karen Cinnamon Leave a Comment

There’s nothing like an NYC wedding. The views. The awesome streetscape photo ops. The cobblestones. And did we mention the views?!

Alie and Mike’s downtown Manhattan wedding at Tribeca 360 does not disappoint – they really did get views of the city from every angle, and we can’t stop swooning over the NYC-perfect portraits Kathleen Fox Photography shot of the couple in the beyond picturesque neighborhood surrounding the venue.

The views inside were pretty fantastic too, especially with that lovely floral chuppah – we love the bright playful colors, and it just goes to show that you don’t need an unlimited floral budget to craft a memorable floral design for your canopy.

They also had a gorgeous papercut ketubah from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Ruth Mergi, and rather than the traditional text Alie and Mike went for a modern version that focused on marriage as entering into a partnership – we love that they were able to incorporate their own values this way!

We also love that Alie emphasizes a topic we feel pretty strongly about: day-of coordinators. Even if you’re a Type A DIY-er like Alie, a day-of coordinator can give you that extra reassurance to enjoy the big day worry-free. From dealing with the venue to making sure the day ran to schedule to saving some of the (delicious) wedding food for the coupe in their bridal suite afterward, these two can’t stop singing the praises of their coordinator, and they say hiring her was some of the best money they spent in planning the wedding.

Now over to Alie, who looked beautiful in her dress by Alexandra Grecco…

A Manhattan Venue

Alie, the bride: We got married at Tribeca 360 in downtown Manhattan. We live in NYC and are both from the area, so we knew we wanted to get married in Manhattan or Brooklyn.

We loved the views of the city from every angle, and liked how the space was set up to flow easily from ceremony to cocktail hour to reception. We also liked that food and tables, settings, etc. came with the venue, so that we didn’t also have to find a caterer. (And people are still telling us how good the food was!)

An Isabelle Armstrong Bride for a Jewish Wedding with Killer Manhattan Views and an Orchid Chuppah at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, New York, New York, USA

14/11/2018 by Karen Cinnamon

There are no words for how obsessed we are with epic orchid chuppah. With lucite columns draped in strands of gorgeous flowers, it’s just SO dreamy. And don’t even get us started on the backdrop of Central Park and the Manhattan skyline.

It doesn’t get much more quintessentially NYC than the Jewish wedding of Vlada, who works in corporate banking, and Joshua, a corporate and bankruptcy litigation attorney (#2beepst). Between their venue – high atop the landmark Mandarin Oriental Hotel – their magnificent New York skyline cake by none other than Ron Ben Israel, and the bride’s Isabelle Armstrong dress purchased from Kleinfeld.The couple even had a wedding announcement in the New York Times!

It wouldn’t be the ultimate NYC wedding without a touch of celebrity, and Kevin Osborne Band from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Hank Lane provided that and then some – Kevin is a backup singer for Billy Joel, in addition to being an awesome band leader in his own right.

Felix from Fred Marcus captured all the glam details and jawdropping views with aplomb, and Frank Ahn from Frank Ahn Films recorded the emotion of the day so well.

Okay, now over to the bride…

How We Met

Vlada, the bride: We were introduced by a mutual family rabbi named Joseph Potasnik.

A Monique Lhuillier Bride for an Old New York Wedding at Cipriani 25 Broadway, New York City, USA

15/10/2018 by Karen Cinnamon

We are totally obsessed with today’s couple’s TREE CHUPPAH. With four carefully constructed “trees” – white roses lovingly hand-placed on each for the most beautiful blossoms – whose canopies meet at the top, it’s unlike any we’ve seen before. You don’t want to miss Brian Marcus’s glorious photos of it.

We’re also crazy about bride Alison’s mega-glam Monique Lhuillier dress, inspired by the wedding theme of old New York – we just love the simple, architectural lines and the hint of ‘40s glam. Such a perfect match for the vintage vibes.

Plus, Alison, a doctor and Michael, who works in finance, had a beautiful ketubah, brilliantly designed by Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Stephanie Caplan of The Ketubah.

Oh, and Alison said the absolute sweetest things about what it was like listening to Michael’s wedding speech – we’re totally melting just reading it – sure you will be too…

How we met

Alison, the bride: We met on Jswipe in 2014.

A Maria Farbinni Bride for an Ultra Glam Jewish Wedding with a Mirrored Peony Chuppah at the Metropolitan Club, New York City, USA

01/10/2018 by Karen Cinnamon

Um, WOW. Excuse us as we pick our jaws up off the floor. We are just floored by the magnificent mirrored (!) peony (!!) chuppah in today’s Jewish wedding.

It is just BEYOND, and those hanging peonies suspended from the canopy? Serious, serious #chuppahgoals. Bride Marina says standing under it felt like being in a midsummer night’s dream garden!

Actually, just about everything about this wedding is hardcore #goals. And it’s no wonder, with superstar wedding planner and Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Amy Katz running the show.

Marina, who works in product development, and Gary, an MBA student at UPenn’s Wharton School, can’t stop singing her praises, but her work bringing this epic day together really speaks for itself.

This duo had absolutely the quintessential NYC wedding, just bursting with old-school elegance (but with some very cool, very contemporary touches thrown in to keep things from getting stodgy – you won’t want to miss their tequila-infused Mar-Garita cake pops!.

And we could not be more in love with their exquisite Central Park photo shoot spearheaded by the couple’s fantastic photographer, Lilian Haidar.

There’s so much more to say, but we’ll leave it to Marina, who looked stunning in her strikingly elegant princess gown by Maria Farbinni…

How We Met

Marina, the bride: We met at a 4th of July party in Amagansett, NY. Marina invited Gary’s friend to a party her friend was hosting. The friend brought Gary along and the rest is history.

A Monique Lhuillier Bride for a Tradition-Meets-Brooklyn-Style Jewish Wedding at Greenpoint Loft, Brooklyn, New York, USA

12/09/2018 by Karen Cinnamon

Combining Jewish tradition with your own 21^st-century style isn’t always easy. That’s one of the reasons Smashing The Glass was founded. So we’re always excited to see couples finding creative ways to merge their contemporary lives with Judaism’s beautiful, if sometimes baffling, traditions.

Today’s couple, a Leigh, middle-school teacher and Ian, an attorney, did SUCH an amazing job of it with their Jewish wedding. Their wedding, at super cool Greenpoint Loft in the trendy Brooklyn waterfront neighborhood by the same name, exudes contemporary cool at the same time as it embraces tradition.

The couple found a kosher caterer able to provide a fun, of-the-moment menu featuring herb and bitters infused cocktails, bao buns, and chicken and waffles. And their music? This duo had a cantor, a klezmer band, AND a DJ to play all their favorite current hits.

Their understated, nature-inspired chuppah, wrapped in greenery with some accent florals, is totally Brooklyn chic, too—and guests got to watch the sun set over Manhattan through the windows behind the couple during the ceremony!

We also adore Leigh and Ian’s playful approach to the day – you’ve GOT to check out their impromptu Oktoberfest photo shoot, brilliantly captured by Unique Lapin Photography. And you won’t want to miss the super fun story of how it all came about.

Leigh, who looked so beautiful in her romantic, long-sleeved lace dress from Monique Lhuillier (purchased from STG favorite Kleinfeld), will fill you in on that, and the rest of the fab details…