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Home > Online dating success story > Page 11

A Pronovias Bride for a Sustainable Backyard Jewish Micro Wedding in Somerville, Massachusetts, USA

24/05/2021 by Karen Cinnamon

Leo-and-Alana-private-residence-Somerville-MA

Today’s fantastic couple, Alana and Leo, are always up for an adventure – whether that means marking their 10-month dating anniversary by taking part in The Amazing Race or retooling their plans for a three-day summer camp-style wedding extravaganza in the Berkshires to an intimate micro affair in their very own backyard!  

And do we ever love the way these two ended up leaning into their homey, sustainable low-pressure celebration. From a gorgeous simple chuppah built by a friend a wedding gift to a ketubah handcrafted by a designer friend featuring hand-pressed wildflowers from the couple’s own garden, this Jewish wedding is just chock full of meaningful touches.

We’re in love with Simi Rabinowitz’s luminous, joy-filled photos of the day. And though only a handful of the couple’s original guest list could attend in person, thanks to the professional live streaming services of Bob Antonelli friends and family around the world were able to take part.

Echoing the sentiments we’ve heard from so many couples who’ve married during the pandemic under circumstances very different than the ones they’d expected, Alana says, “We wouldn’t have done our wedding any other way. It was true to us, and felt like a real celebration of our friends and our neighborhood!”

Over to you, Alana!

Leo-and-Alana-private-residence-Somerville-MALeo-and-Alana-private-residence-Somerville-MALeo-and-Alana-private-residence-Somerville-MALeo-and-Alana-private-residence-Somerville-MA
How we Met

Alana, the bride: We met on Tinder in January 2018! And then, right after moving in together six months after we met — all our friends thought we were crazy! — we did something even crazier and applied for The Amazing Race on a whim … and we were cast! It was such a whirlwind. We actually started the first leg of The Amazing Race on our ten-month anniversary!

Racing around the world together wasn’t what convinced us we were meant to be (we’d known that probablyyyy since our third date) but it was such an affirming experience. After you’ve done such wild things with someone and been in such high-stress situations, getting married is a no brainer. We got engaged on our one year anniversary at Walden Pond in Massachusetts.Continue ReadingContinue Reading

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A Joss Couture Bride for a Romantic Jewish Wedding Weekend at Monate Lodge, South Africa

21/05/2021 by Karen Cinnamon

Jess-and-Dan-Monate-Game-Lodge-South-Africa

How incredibly gorgeous is the Jewish wedding of South African couple Jess, an entrepreneur, and Dan, a financial director for a property company?! These two knew from the beginning they wanted to make their big day into a weekend away where they could kick back and enjoy the time with their family and friends, and they opted for a stunning game lodge highlighting South Africa’s stunning nature.

Jess and Dan kicked things off with a game drive and dinner in a candlelit cave in advance of their Sunday wedding, which took place outdoors right in the midst of the South African bush. To make the most of the scenery, the whole wedding, from chuppah to reception, took place outside (luckily, there was no rain!). We’re obsessed with the fact that the couple wed under a gorgeous 400-year-old (!) rock fig tree, and how special is it that Jess’s dad built the chuppah from scratch? And how beautiful are the luminous images from Agape Wedding Photography?

In the leadup to her wedding, Jess joined Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club, and we’re so touched by her wonderful words about the members club:

I have loved every minute of being part of STG Brides Club, the sense of community from total strangers, turned friends is just incredible. There is no better place to ask questions, share ideas, as well as wedding woes and wins than Brides Club! Dare I say the spin off from Brides Club, Smashing Life, is even better! None of us could bear the thought of leaving the community once we got married and it has become a place I often turn to for inspiration or advice.

Now we’ll turn you over to Jess…

Jess-and-Dan-Monate-Game-Lodge-South-Africa

Jess-and-Dan-Monate-Game-Lodge-South-Africa

Jess-and-Dan-Monate-Game-Lodge-South-AfricaJess-and-Dan-Monate-Game-Lodge-South-Africa
How we Met

Jess, the bride: We met on Tinder which was an absolute fluke because I was in another city at the time at my best friend’s wedding and Dan did not usually look outside a certain radius.Continue ReadingContinue Reading

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Real Jewish Brides: Orli on Her Upcoming Wedding

05/05/2021 by Smashing The Glass

Orli will be marrying Ben on 22nd July 2021 in Orli’s parents’ garden, UK. Click here to read all Orli’s planning posts to date.

THREE FACTS: (1) Orli and Ben met on Jswipe. (2) Orli & Ben will marry in an intimate setting in Orli’s parents’ garden (3) Orli is a member of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club!

A couple of days after I sent off my blog previous post we made the difficult and heartbreaking decision to postpone for the second time and to find what we hope and pray is our final wedding day. After all third time lucky. We met with the caterer and ran through the options that we had with a wedding on the 30 May with the restrictions lifting alongside the roadmap. This would mean we could have 30 people but there would be no dancing and social distancing in place. Whilst we had accepted only being able to have thirty people, we had thought that we would be allowed to dance and to celebrate with our closest 30 people or 28 including us.

Continue ReadingContinue Reading

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An Amsale Bride for a Backyard Jewish Micro Wedding in Boynton Beach, Florida, USA

30/04/2021 by Karen Cinnamon

 Marissa-Rory-private-residence-Boynton-Beach-Florida

Like so many 2020 couples, Marissa, a physical therapist and reiki master, and Rory, an accountant, ended up with a Jewish wedding very different from the one they’d originally planned. The NYC couple had originally opted for a jam-packed wedding weekend on the beach at a private club in Florida’s Palm Beaches. Everything was just about ready to go for their May 2020 date when the pandemic hit.

Despite all the work and dreams that went into planning their dream wedding, two changes of date later Marissa and Rory ultimately had to make the hard decision to cancel their original celebration and plan a micro wedding for ten in Marissa’s parents’ backyard from scratch. For the most part, the pair had to find new vendors, but two of the ones they’d originally booked were able to make the shift: first, there was Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Nava Shoham, Marissa and Rory’s rock star ketubah designer, who came through with not one, not two, but THREE versions of the couple’s gorgeous ketubah, to account for all of their changes of date. Second was Emily Harris Photography, who’s responsible for the couple’s exquisitely joyous pics.

In Marissa’s words, “The day and night was the most perfect imperfect celebration and ended up being so much more than we imagined. We do hope to get the big party eventually but the night will always be so incredibly memorable.” We’ll let her take it from here…

Marissa-Rory-private-residence-Boynton-Beach-FloridaMarissa-Rory-private-residence-Boynton-Beach-FloridaMarissa-Rory-private-residence-Boynton-Beach-FloridaMarissa-Rory-private-residence-Boynton-Beach-Florida
How we Met

Marissa, the bride: We met online 6 years agoContinue ReadingContinue Reading

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Real Jewish Bride: Sarah on Finding the Perfect Dress

14/04/2021 by Smashing The Glass

Sarah will be marrying Rich on 19th June 2022 at Tikitano Beach, Marbella, Spain. Click here to read all Sarah’s planning posts to date.

THREE FACTS: (1) Sarah knew Rich was the one when he brought a gift of dog treats for her toy poodle Nuala along to their fourth date! (2) They are crafting an amazing destination wedding weekend in Marbella with beloved Smashing The Glass Recommended vendor optimum weddings as their planner. (3) Sarah is a member of  Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club!


I was looking through my previous blog posts for Smashing the Glass and realised, much to my amazement, that I had never written about my experience dress shopping! Considering that I am a pretty typical girly girl, I don’t know how I let this quintessential wedding prep experience escape my blog posts! Anyway, nearly two years later (thanks Covid-19) I have had the pleasure of reminiscing over my dress shopping experience for this blog post, so read on and enjoy!

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