New York Jewish Wedding Archives - Page 13 of 14 - Smashing the Glass

Ava & Josh | Super-glam Art Deco inspired Jewish wedding at 501 Union, Brooklyn, New York City, USA

20/07/2015 by Karen

Sometimes New Yorkers just reach a level of perfection mere mortals can only imagine. This is one of those instances. Ava and Josh married in the 501 Union space in Brooklyn and theirs is an Art Deco-inspired day, serving the associated glamour, luxury and exuberance in spades. It’s stylish and polished beyond belief, yet family and their own union remains as the focal point throughout.

As an event producer, it was no surprise that the Ava, the bride, decided to orchestrate the entire day herself. In her own words, Ava ‘liked the idea of balancing organic, lush greenery and florals with fancy champagne towers and glamour golds’ — Let’s face it, this is not a run of the mill bride here — this lady knows her stuff.

And of course Ava was spot on – the organic and the glitz do work spectacularly together — diametrically opposed but so complementary. Have a look at the family style dinner amidst glamorous palms and champagne towers. The simple chuppah (incorporating her father’s tallit) and the beautiful hanging florals in the ceremony room and then, in the evening, guests partied under a gold ticker tape/snow globe effect on the dance floor.

In fact, I’m going to have to track down one of those industrial gold confetti machines, I’m not sure I can celebrate my next birthday without it. How did I not know they existed?!

While I’m at it, I might have to pinch Ava and Josh’s leaving gift ideas too — bagged coffee, late night snacks and Berocca. How super cool is that!

Ava and Josh found their photographer by browsing various wedding blogs — that’s why I love STG — I get a chance to showcase the works of the most amazing photographers and you have the opportunity to reach out and snap them up for yourselves!

Check out Kelly Kollar Photography’s photos below – and remember Ava and Josh are a very discerning couple!
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Jessie & Craig | Spectacular book-themed Jewish wedding at the New York Public Library, New York, USA

02/04/2015 by Karen

I’m not sure you can get much cooler than Jessie and Craig’s New York City nuptials. Their Jewish wedding has it all. The glamour, the style, the chic, and the unique. I almost died when I first clapped eyes on their chuppah design — I’m telling you, it’s one of the best I’ve ever seen, and you’ll have to excuse me for including so many pictures of it.

Prepare to be green eyed folks as I cannot possibly deny that this W-Day may cause some serious wedding envy, namely because of the exquisite fashion that bride Jessie sported on the day itself. Firstly there are her Christian Louboutin clear heels with silver studs, swiftly followed by her divine Reem Acra dress. Honestly Jessie has the most wonderful sartorial taste.

And what with getting married in the iconic New York Public Library, I haven’t even begun to tell you about how well-executed their literary bookish theme is. I’m talking real-life librarians helping guests find their seats, library card catalogue escort cards, and a chuppah made entirely out of antique books! But wait, it gets better. Their chuppah was topped with hundreds of lightbulbs, so when it came to smashing the glass at the end of the ceremony, the groom picked out a light bulb from their chuppah to smash, and swiftly stamped on it. Have you ever?

So if you want to take a page from Jessie and Craig’s wedding (see what I did there?!), now’s the time, as I’m handing over to the beautiful bride for the story behind her big day. All of the fantastic photography is by the wonderfully talented Dave Robbins, and design is by AaB Creates.

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Neela & Jeffrey | Indo-Trini Jew-ish Barn Wedding at Full Moon Resort, Big Indian, New York, USA

03/03/2015 by Karen

Today I am bringing you the most immense interfaith wedding that came to my attention courtesy of the wonderful By Petronella. It’s a cultural extravaganza full of heart and sentiment, and anyone planning, or even thinking about, an interfaith wedding ceremony must read Neela’s W-day report.

I can’t promise that her wedding to Jeffrey won’t make you cry, as at the end of the post is the wedding film by Mae B Films and hearing them recite their personalised vows set me off… I may just have shed a tear or two over how pure and emotive it was. Instead of feeling constrained by their interfaith ceremony, as some couples do, Neela and Jeffrey’s was an undiluted celebration of love in its very purest form.

Apart from the obviously very happy and very in love Neela and Jeffrey, and the unbearably gorgeous setting (a deer makes an appearance!), this wedding is all about the magical blend of cultures for me.

Oh and there’s the sparkler send-off…yep an actual send-off with hundreds of sparklers — I love that idea – and what a great photo opp! Take it away, Neela and Jeffrey.

a rustic country wedding venue

Neela, the Bride: We chose the venue because of its natural beauty, rustic setting and low key vibe. We visited the area in the Autumn of 2013 and felt very connected. We also loved that no cell phone service was available in the area which allowed us and our guests to disconnect from the busy city life, reconnect and have a mini retreat. We fell head over heels in love with the barn on our first visit to Full Moon Resort. It simply brought a magical feeling the moment we stepped into it. Growing up in the country, the setting brought a sense of home for me. We both felt a sense of belonging and peace amidst the mountains.

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Claudia & Felix | uber-stylish and creative urban Jewish wedding with a rustic twist, Studio 450, New York City

08/09/2014 by Karen

The Manhattan wedding of Claudia and Felix, two professional ballet dancers, is the perfect way to ease you into your Monday. It’s bursting with style, creativity, fashionable touches, and super original ideas.

They picked a clean, crisp, white canvas NYC loft space, and warmed it up with a farmhouse, rustic feel. As Claudia herself puts it, they wanted to match up their city slicker selves with their dream of a country wedding, and it works brilliantly. They also incorporated lots of meaningful and amusing Jewish, American, and Dutch traditions (Felix hails from The Netherlands) so that their guests had lots of little surprises throughout the day. One of my favourite idea of theirs are the kippot (skullcaps) supplied for every guest with “my mother was right” inscribed on the inside. You get why I’m loving this wedding!

Claudia and Felix also managed to create the most original I’m-not-sure-I’ll-ever-see-anything-like-that-ever-again escort cards / favours — but I’ll let Claudia surprise you with those.

Finally I love Claudia’s Vera Wang dress and Valentino heels more than dark chocolate. And I like dark chocolate A LOT.

The sublime images come from the fabulous STAK Photography who captured every last detail beautifully.

AN URBAN LOFT VENUE
Claudia, the Bride: Our wedding was at a beautiful loft called Studio 450 in midtown Manhattan. The venue has amazing 360 degree views of the city but especially incredible views of the Hudson River. The space itself is industrial yet very clean and entirely white. It also had a lovely upstairs space and some terrace space.

Our initial idea was to get married upstate at a big old house in Rye, NY but as Felix and I are both urbanites at heart and with many out of town guests it seemed impractical. When we came upon Studio 450 we knew it was the perfect space to marry our city slicker selves with our dream of a country wedding.

Dana & Stuart | Autumn city rustic Jewish wedding at the spectacular Angel Orensanz Foundation, Lower East Side, New York City

19/06/2014 by Karen

Dana and Stuart’s wedding has Autumn completely wrapped up. Long farm tables with flowers and candles, orange and cream colours with pops of russet inspired by Dana’s amazing auburn hair, and a total sense of joy, warmth and tenderness thoughout.

Our bride is so very elegant but at the same time clearly having the time of her life… That smile – it’s so infectious! And what’s one of my favourite moments? When Dana swaps her jewelled Manolo Blahniks for white low top Converse when the former falls off during the Hora – so down to earth! I also love the little creative details like classic movies of their favourite Hollywood icons playing in the background during the cocktail hour.

Oh… and have you ever heard of ‘Dudesmaids’?! Dana had two – see them posing with the girls above?!

All the fantastic photography is by the one and only Karen Wise.