New York Jewish Wedding Archives - Smashing the Glass

A Magic Secret Garden Backyard Jewish Micro Wedding in Chappaqua, New York, USA

22/02/2021 by Karen Cinnamon Leave a Comment

Okay, HOW amazing is Samantha and Brandon’s uber-dramatic chuppah for their Jewish wedding?! These two built a raised platform above a hot tub in the groom’s parents’ backyard, where they wed, to form a dramatic perch from which they got to look out at all their guests while making it official. Samantha says they went “a little over the top,” but we think they got it just right. Don’t miss it in Mindy Briar’s epic shots!

The custom chuppah platform is also the kind of thing that would probably be hard to pull off in a traditional venue. The couple, who had originally planned a big black-tie wedding, pivoted to something much more intimate so that they could marry on their original date ofOctober 3, 2020, and we love that they took advantage of all the options afforded them by their Plan B. Gathering with just local family, and including loved ones from outside the New York area via Zoom, Samantha and Brandon shifted gears to pull off the magic secret garden-themed wedding of their dreams – and it was all inspired by their amazing custom ketubah!

These two had a clear vision of what they wanted, and they worked with beloved Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Tallulah Ketubahs to bring their dream ketubah to fruition – and then some! Founder Rachel was ultra-attentive to the couple’s wishes, and, in addition to the gorgeous, colorful hand-painted florals framing the text, she incorporated ultra-personal touches, like the pair’s cats, and passports to represent their love of travel. The level of detail is just phenomenal – we bet you’ll be just as blown away as we are!

Now over to Samantha, who’ll fill you in on all the other special details of the day…

How We Met

Samantha, the bride: Brandon and I grew up about five minutes down the street from each other and attended the same middle school and high school, but had never crossed paths. I knew who he was because he was the cute, albeit slightly obnoxious, boy in my freshman math class. When he showed up on my Tinder 15 years later I couldn’t resist swiping right. Once we started talking we just never stopped!

Brandon is a Finance and Business Operations Manager for WeWork and I am the President and Creative Director at Auburn Jewelry, a custom jewelry company based in New York. We spend our free time together cooking, baking, dancing, gardening, hanging out with our two rescue kitties and enjoying each other’s company.Continue Reading

A Sareh Nouri Bride for an Elegant Urban Jewish Micro Wedding at Gramercy Park Hotel, New York, New York, USA

29/01/2021 by Karen Cinnamon

How NYC chic is the gorgeous Jewish micro wedding of Amy, who works in marketing for a real estate developer, and Adam, who works in finance for a media company?!

These two had a big NYE wedding planned, but the pandemic forced them to reimagine their big day. With the help of the fabulous Joanna Greenfield of Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Ruby J Events, Amy and Adam opted for an ultra-intimate celebration – the guest list was limited to immediate family and one friend each for the bride and groom – at the elegant Gramercy Park Hotel.

Amy went into planning without much of a vision for her micro wedding, but Joanna honed in on what she was looking for and put together the day of her dreams. Amy worked with Joanna independently to plan the day, and the details ended up being a surprise to all – even her mother! Needless to say, the results were nothing short of breathtaking – don’t miss the joyous images from Steven Young from Stak Photography. Due to Amy and Adam’s tight schedule once they set their new date, they needed a ketubah fast – and Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Ketubah.com’s selection of beautiful “quick ship” options came to the rescue, as it so often does for couples facing a time crunch.

Now over to the bride, who looked luminous in Sareh Nouri…

How we Met

Amy, the bride: We met in 2008 at Penn State University. Adam knew then that I was going to be his person; I had no idea; thought I just had a new friend. We remained friends until 2016 when we started dating.

A Casual, Vibrant Backyard Interfaith Jewish Micro Wedding in Scarsdale, New York, USA

15/01/2021 by Karen Cinnamon

We love that when their original wedding plans for a black tie New York City wedding were waylaid by COVID, Bryar, a physician assistant at NYP Columbia, and Bradley, a VP at a private wealth management firmed based in Manhattan, opted to see it as an opportunity.

A few months into the pandemic, they moved out of their NYC apartment and into a house in Scarsdale. And given that it happened to have a gorgeous backyard, they figured it would be the perfect spot for a casual minimony – in which, unlike their big wedding (now scheduled for October of this year) where they’re going for timeless elegance, they felt free to experiment and have fun.

The 15-person micro wedding was a chance to try out things they wouldn’t have chosen for their big celebration – like filling tiny bud vases with bright seasonal flowers and opting for a non-traditional but totally stunning bridal ensemble. We’re obsessed with the dramatic sleeves on Bryar’s Vanessa Cocchiaro dress, ordered from Net a Porter, and how cool is her DIY pearl tiara (which she made by combining two pearl headbands)?!Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Megan Mills captured everything so perfectly, from all the gorgeous details to the couple’s love and happiness. Oh, and speaking of gorgeous details, don’t miss their beautiful white laser cut ketubah from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Ketubah.com!

Before we hand you over to Bryar, we want to share some of her reflections on her micro wedding:

In hindsight, I am so overjoyed that we got to have our micro wedding in our backyard of our new home. The evening was so intimate and we both were so present throughout the entire day. I feel like we are both so looking forward to our bigger celebration now because it will be just that. We will get to dance and hug everyone we will not have seen in so long, without the stress that a whole wedding day usually carries. Our advice to anyone considering a micro wedding is…do it!

Micro Wedding

Bryar, the bride: Our original wedding date was May 30, 2020 at Tribeca 360. We were so excited to have a black tie New York City wedding. We wanted an evening that was glamorous, yet filled with love, and lots of dancing! When the COVID pandemic began, I was working with Covid patients daily, so Brad actually moved in with his mom in CT and I stayed at our apartment in NYC. We initially postponed our wedding to October 31, 2020 (the last Saturday that wasn’t booked in 2020 at our venue), but we quickly realized that a large wedding in 2020 was not going to be feasible.

In July, we ended up moving out of the city and purchasing a home in Scarsdale. We are lucky enough to have a beautiful backyard and we decided to have a small ceremony in our backyard on September 5. It was 15 people total, just our immediate family and two friends, along with our Rabbi, Rabbi Michael Friedman from Temple Israel in Westport, CT.Continue Reading

An Autumnal Backyard Jewish Minimony in Yonkers, New York, USA

11/01/2021 by Karen Cinnamon

We’re totally and completely in love with the beautiful backyard micro wedding of Brides Club member Sara, a social media coordinator at a jewelry company, and Ian, a special education middle school teacher.

These two had originally planned a 150-person wedding for October, but due to the pandemic they opted to postpone their big celebration to next year and proceed with a 20-person minimony held in Sara’s father’s backyard.

On a perfect, sunny autumn day, Sara and Ian gathered with their families – including their beloved grandparents – for an intimate outdoor celebration, complete with COVID safety precautions: everyone wearing masks, hand sanitizer everywhere, and each household assigned to their own space. They streamed the proceedings on Zoom so those on their original guest list who couldn’t be there in person could still take part in the day.

For the in-person guests, Sara and Ian provided individual boxed lunches – and, best of all, Sara’s aunt gifted the gluten-free bride a super chocolatey, super delicious gluten-free cake from one of her favorite places, Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor By The Way Bakery– known far and wide for the tastiest and most beautiful GF wedding cakes around.

We love all the DIY touches – Sara not only did her own hair and makeup, she also hand painted her denim wedding jacket with a moon, stars, hearts, and the words “Written in the Stars” to wear as a coverup – and you can just feel the joy exuding from each and every one of the photos by Tohid Rasel of Monolith Images Studio.

We’ll let the bride fill you in on the rest…

How we met

Sara, the bride: Ian and I started chatting on JSwipe in 2017 and we’ve talked everyday since. We had an immediate connection, went on a few dates, and just two weeks later we were exclusive.Continue Reading

A Vera Wang Bride for a Brooklyn Meets Tropical Paradise Jewish Wedding at 501 Union, Brooklyn, New York, USA

23/11/2020 by Karen Cinnamon

There’s nothing like a little hometown pride – and what better to serve as inspiration for your Jewish wedding? Today’s bride and groom, Rebecca and Brandon, are both passionate Brooklynites – and they used their love of their home borough as inspiration for their big day.

Their venue, 501 Union, in Brooklyn neighborhood Gowanus, is SO industrial chic, and the couple complemented it with fun touches like a personalized map of Brooklyn on the back of their invitations (with key spots in the couple’s lives marked), mini Junior’s cheesecakes as favors, a Brooklyn-fabulous cocktail hour menu including lox on everything bagel chips, pastrami bites, and Coney Island hot dogs, and even a Coolhaus ice cream sandwich truck!

We’re also digging the urban jungle vibes Rebecca and Brandon went with for their florals – how fun is their chuppah?! Don’t miss it in Billye Donya Photography’s wonderful pics.

We’ll leave it to the bride, who looked utterly urban chic in Vera Wang…

How we met

Rebecca, the bride: We swiped right on Tinder, so obviously didn’t know much about each other before we met. For our first date, he suggested we meet after work near the Grand Army Plaza entrance to Prospect Park, since it was right in between our apartments, and grab a drink from there.

I had certain hesitations about meeting a random internet man at the park at dusk so I told a good handful of friends about the date, so they’d know what to tell the authorities if I never came back… Anyway, once I saw Brandon in his Canadian tuxedo (denim on denim, baby!), I knew I had nothing to worry about (;