Online dating success story Archives - Smashing the Glass

2019 Real Jewish Brides: Introducing Jaime + Varun: How They Met To The Present Day…

08/01/2019 by Smashing The Glass Leave a Comment

Today on the blog we’re introducing our 5th gorgeous bride from our crop of 2019 Real Jewish Brides! Please give a warm welcome to Jaime, who will be marrying Varun on 26th October 2019 at Hummingbird Nest Ranch, California, USA.

THREE FACTS: (1) Jaime and Varun will be having a Jewish ceremony AND a Hindu ceremony – on the same day! (2) They’re planning a swanky but not stuffy wedding at one of our fave California venues, Hummingbird Nest Ranch! (3) Jaime is a member of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club!

About Us

Varun and I are former Silicon Valley techies turned entrepreneurs. I own an online weight loss coaching and personal training and holistic nutrition business – and Varun started a mobile ordering app. We ditched our jobs in Silicon Valley back in 2016 to pursue our dreams and V’s job took us to Boston for the time being!

We have a passion for larger than life experiences and believe deeply in the power of manifestation and the fact that the universe always has our back. I guess you could say we are woo-driven hustlers (but truth is – I’m more woo than him).

My mom is Jewish and my dad was raised Italian Catholic – I was raised Jewish but have always been more spiritual than anything. Varun is Hindu. We feel so blessed that our families have grown so close with each other and we already feel like one big family!

His parents literally feel like my second set of parents and vice versa. We will be having wedding celebrations that bring together all parts of who we are are a couple!

So basically lots of cannolis, falafel, and ladoo – with colors, sparkle and a whole lot of fun!

A Monique Lhuillier Bride for a Destination Jewish Wedding with a Peony Chuppah at L’Andana, Castiglione della Pescaia, Grosseto, Tuscany, Italy

21/12/2018 by Karen Cinnamon

We can hardly believe it ourselves, but this is our LAST real Jewish wedding of 2018!! Before Team STG heads off on our holiday break next week, we’re sending the year out with a bang (both literally and figuratively) with an amazing destination wedding in Tuscany, full of the most delicious Italian food, fireworks, and flowers for days.

We’ll be back with fresh content the first week of January, but until then be sure to check out our Instagram over the holidays for the latest and greatest Jewish wedding inspo.

So to close the year, we’ve got the fabulous Italian wedding of Meredith, who works in children’s fashion, and Sean, who’s in corporate finance. With the help of masterful planner Sara from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Infinity Weddings, the couple pulled together the wedding of their dreams all the way from New York.

We can’t get over all the wonderful details they put into the day, from a luxe peony chuppah (!) to surprise fireworks to a classic lace gown from Monique Lhuillier to a silk ribbon-strewn walkway on the way to the dinner – we’re totally obsessed with this last, ultra-creative idea, courtesy of the mother of the bride.

Not only did the colorful silk ribbons cast a magical ambience, each also had a handwritten fact about the couple, from where they met to their favorite vacation spots. Photographer David Bastianoni and videographer Marco Caputo did such a fantastic job of capturing the day in all its elegant splendor.

Oh, and did we mention that Meredith and Sean served their guests cacio e pepe out of a giant cheese wheel at dinner? Um, yes please!

There’s so much more we could say, but we’ll turn you over to the bride now…

How we met

Meredith, the bride: We met on Jdate!

A Rita Vinieris Bride for a Multicultural Jew-ish Wedding at Villa Medicea di Lilliano, Florence, Tuscany, Italy

05/12/2018 by Karen Cinnamon

Jewish wedding Villa Medicea di Lilliano, Florence, Tuscany, Italy_0024

We’re not sure what we’re more excited about in today’s Jew-ish wedding: the ultra-personal ceremony the couple crafted that blended their collective Italian, Israeli, and American backgrounds to perfection, or the jaw-dropping Tuscan scenery—and photographer Edoardo Agresti’s exquisite captures of the day, which somehow manage to be natural and artistic all at once.

Oh… and we’re going nuts for the couples Fiat 500 wedding car too!

Lital and Andrea, who run Padano Productions —providing sound, lighting, and AV for events (yes, that includes weddings!) in the LA area—knew their top priority was crafting a wedding that was totally them. That meant combining Andrea’s Italian heritage and Lital’s Israeli-American background, and making sure the Jewish traditions they incorporated into the day were meaningful and fit with their personal beliefs.

Our favorite example? They reworked the traditional seven blessings to put a unique, personal spin on the ancient text, and then had their closest friends and family read them aloud – 3 in Italian, 3 in Hebrew, and 1 in English.

And then there’s the ketubah. Lital and Andrea found the perfect combination – text that reflects who they are as a couple plus fabulous design – in mega-talented Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Stephanie Caplan from The Ketubah whom we ADORE!

On a less spiritual note, we also love the fun favor these two opted to hand out to their guests: hats! But not just any old junky hat to shade them from that midsummer heat during the outdoor ceremony. These were super nice, sylish straw hats that, Lital reports, many of the guests are still wearing to this day!

Now over to the bride, who looked totally gorgeous in her boho chic gown by Rita Vinieris – not to mention her epic flower crown!

How We Met

Lital, the bride: we met on J-Swipe (even though Andrea is not Jewish)!

2019 Real Jewish Brides: Introducing Mimi + Andrew: How They Met To The Present Day…

04/12/2018 by Smashing The Glass

Today on the blog we’re introducing our 2nd gorgeous bride from our crop of 2019 Real Jewish Brides! Please give a warm welcome to Mimi, who will be marrying Andrew on 7th July 2019 at Hazel Gap Barn in Welbeck, Nottinghamshire, UK.

THREE FACTS: THREE FACTS: (1) Mimi and Andrew met online in 2013. (2) Mimi is a flight attendant and writes her own travel and beauty blog on the side (3) Andrew proposed to Mimi, who at the time was nearing the completion of her conversion to Judaism, at the top of Masada – wow!

How We Met

Andrew and I met online. I used to succumb to a full-body cringe if I had to tell anybody that – but five years on and it seems a pretty common way of meeting, if not the most common. It wasn’t on J-swipe, nor was it on J Date, and that is because whilst Andrew was Jewish – I was not.

We met on the good, old fashioned Plenty Of Fish, otherwise known as ‘POF’. Ok… perhaps there’s room for a mini-cringe still. Andrew is a lawyer and I work as a long haul flight attendant and so between us we were both pretty busy – but we always prioritised our dates with each other, and Andrew took me on some pretty amazing ones.

We spent our first year of dating practically living on the Northern Line, which isn’t fun by anyone’s standards. Andrew lived in North London whilst I was in Clapham, but eventually we realised it would make life much more enjoyable if we at least both lived on the same side of the Thames.

And so after a year, I moved in with Andrew, we adopted two house bunnies who hop around our apartment (people think we are a little bit bonkers, and they’re probably right!) and the rest – as they say – is history!

A Pronovias Bride for a Glam Garden Party Jewish-inspired Wedding at Laura Ashley The Manor in Elstree, Hertfordshire, UK

19/11/2018 by Karen Cinnamon

Squeal! Proud mom moment… yes, another one of my beautiful blogging brides is married! I’m so sad to say goodbye to lovely Clare, but also delighted to share her GORGEOUS Jew-ish wedding with you today…. and my goodness doesn’t she look gorgeous?!

Clare, a nursery school teacher, and Chris, a planning manager for a property developer in London (#onclouddeeks), started off their Smashing The Glass journey with a session with me as part of my wedding consultancy service. We worked together to to help bring her vision to life for what would eventually become her spring garden-themed day, and Clare reports that gained some incredible vendor recommendations from this session too – awww – that’s the best news!

Neither Clare nor Chris is Jewish, but the couple have Jewish family and opted to incorporate some traditions they found especially meaningful. I love the modernized, personal rewriting of the seven blessings their friends and family read to them (some of the blessings guests came up with are pretty hilarious!) and, of course, the magical birch chuppah with lanterns and candles strewn around the base.

Speaking of candles… the couple made liberal use of luxe scented candles throughout the day, which not only made their venue smell amazing but also made for wonderful memories: Clare reports that every time she smells, say, Jo Malone’s ‘wild fig and cassis’ (one of her picks), it immediately brings her back to the big day. Such a clever idea!

Photographer Catherine Carter and videographer Jeff Woods captured all the emotion – not to mention the fab creative touches – to perfection, and Clare looked beyond stunning in the exquisitely beaded fishtail-style Pronovias dress she purchased from STG Recommended Vendor The Wedding Club in South Kensington (where she had “the most amazing experience” – not that we’re surprised).

Okay, enough from us… take it away, Clare!