Paul Smith Archives - Smashing the Glass

A Riki Dalal Bride for a Wedding Planner’s Own Jewish Wedding at Merrydale Manor, Knutsford, Cheshire, UK

13/01/2020 by Karen Cinnamon Leave a Comment

We always love seeing what Jewish wedding pros choose when it comes to their very own big days, so we were excited for the beautiful wedding of beloved Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Rachel of Rachel Flax Events to groom Mikey, a property lawyer (#friendsforever, in honor of their new shared surname!) – especially after hearing the tantalizing tidbits she’s shared with our Brides Club!

Naturally, Rachel opted to plan her own wedding, and she really ended up with the perfect English country garden wedding with a touch of modern sophistication. Take her Perspex chuppah – it was chosen so that guests could have an unimpeded view of the ceremony as they were seated in a circle surrounding the structure, but there’s no denying it also added a hit of contemporary style to the pastoral surroundings.

Photographer David Stubbs and videographer YSD Media captured everything so beautifully, and naturally. Also, how cool is it that the pair had a chuppah painter on hand to paint the ceremony as it was happening?!.

We’re also obsessed with Rachel and Mikey’s gorgeous pocket fold invitations by Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor E.Y.I Love in the bride’s trademark colours of dove grey and pale pink, with the couple’s logo in gold on the front to tie it all together.

Rachel and Mikey took advantage of the honeymoon planning prowess of Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Abby Taubman to organize their upcoming trip to Japan – we’re sure it’s going to be totally fab!

There’s so much more we could say – we haven’t even gotten to the fact that the couple gave each and every guest a personal handwritten note on the day… and the guests were also treated to a bonfire at the end of the evening with a s’mores table!

Let’s hand you over to the bride, who looked gorgeous in a bespoke gown from Israeli designer Riki Dalal…

An Outdoor Wedding

Rachel, the bride: We got married in Merrydale Manor which is a new venue in Knutsford, Cheshire. It was incredibly important to me that my wedding venue felt as homey, exclusive and modern as possible. As a wedding planner, it was also key for me to have our wedding at a place that I hadn’t worked in before, which was a challenge!

A St. Patrick Bride for a Wes Anderson-Inspired Jewish Wedding at Finca Villa Palma, Marbella, Spain

22/11/2019 by Karen Cinnamon

We don’t know what we love more about today’s gorgeous Jewish wedding, the Wes Anderson-inspired dusty pink color scheme and fun touches (think churro station!), or the meaningful, personal ceremony Claudia, a solicitor, and Marc, a dental therapist and property developer (he featured on an episode of Homes Under the Hammer), put together.

It’s hard to go wrong with a quintessentially Marbella venue like Finca Villa Palma – we’re talking palm trees, ocean vibes, and mountain views galore – but these two really took it to the next level with design touches like luxe blush pink and gold foil invitations from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor EYI LOVE, one of the very best luxury design and print studios in the business. Claudia and Marc can’t stop raving about the unique design and the high quality.

And we love that these two made sure their ceremony was a true reflection of who they are as a couple – for example, instead of Claudia circling Marc seven times as is traditional, each of them circled the other three times, and then they made a final circle together. And Claudia used her grandma’s wedding ring under the chuppah – so special!

Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Bloomfield Photography captured all the details and emotion of this magical day so perfectly – we’re totally obsessed with their incredible photos. And they also connected the couple to their wonderful videographer, Reece Iveson.

Now over to the bride, who looked luminous in her St Patrick dress…

How We Met

Claudia, the bride: Marc and I met while I was living in London and Marc was living in Manchester. We went to a New Year’s Eve party with some mutual friends and things just went from there. We then did long distance for 3 years before I finally moved up to Manchester around 5 years ago!

A Limor Rosen Bride for a Meaningful Family-Centered Jewish Wedding at Ba’yaar, Israel

08/11/2019 by Karen Cinnamon

We adore the magical forest vibes of today’s Jewish wedding at incredible Israeli venue Ba’yaar. This is one stunning celebration, no question – and the couple’s photographer, Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Ran Bergman, captured all the emotion and beauty of the day in his signature style.

But the thing that REALLY warms our hearts about how Shira, an occupational therapist, and Jonathan, who works as a political consultant, celebrated their marriage is the way they made their big day all about tradition and family – while making sure their own personalities always shone through.

Take the ceremony. For Shira and Jonathan, there was no question that crafting a personal, moving, yet traditional ceremony was priority #1. To make sure their ceremony truly spoke to who they are as a couple, the pair each spoke under the chuppah, shared individual vows to each other, and exchanged rings. We also love that in between the traditional 7 brachot said by men, they asked 4 women to each add their own personal blessing.

And then there’s the couple’s incredible paper cut ketubah from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Danny Azoulay Art– truly a work of art!

But what really, REALLY blew us away about this ceremony was something we don’t usually remark on: the groom’s wedding band. Jonathan used his grandfather’s wedding ring from before World War II, to his first wife who perished in the Holocaust along with the couple’s two young children. What an incredible heirloom to pass down through the generations.

There’s so much more to say, but we’ll let the bride (who wore an absolute stunner of a gown from wonderful Israel designer Limor Rosen) take it from here…

A Magical Forest

Shira, the bride: We scoured throughout Israel to find something that conveyed a feeling of magic while also providing the highest quality. When we walked into Ba’yaar we knew we found it. Nothing compared to the feeling you get of walking into a magical forest when you walk into their perfectly lit and beautiful garden of orange trees and blossom. Additionally, they stood out with the very high quality food, technology and professional staff.

We got married in spring, and another important factor was a stunning indoors due to what turned out to be a realistic fear of rain. The spectacular glass incased room surrounded by lit greenery was exactly the combination of class and nature.

A Bright and Bold Quirky Jewish Wedding at Woodberry Wetlands, London, UK

02/02/2018 by Karen

Here at STG HQ, we’ve just about come down from the high of our Smashing Summit and launching the VIB club – so normal service resumes once more in the form of this amazing, colorful and uplifting Jewish real wedding.

Ruth and Dan are both journalists, and they applied their creative skills to their wedding with aplomb! The day was an absolute visual feast, from the eco-friendly and foliage-heavy floristry, to the magically lit marquee and the bright, color-pop giant balloons. Just gorgeous!

Bride Ruth showed off her unique and stunning sense of style with her two-piece BHLDN ensemble, and looked a vision in it, pairing it with some killer heels from ASOS, before changing into her sensible-but-gorgeous Kurt Geiger bridal flats.

Even their chuppah has an adorable origin story, with the couple constructing it together with their best friends, who tied the knot the week before Ruth and Dan’s wedding.

Both bride and groom made a speech (hooray) and the couple had a moving Reform Jewish ceremony, involving the whole family, and honoring Ruth’s late grandfathers by using their tallit to cover the chuppah.

Jordanna Marston absolutely smashed the photography, with her expert eye for character and emotional moments, while the tear-jerking wedding trailer was provided by Olive Grove Films.

We’ll leave you now with Ruth’s incredibly eloquent write up – we know you’ll all enjoy reading it and gazing at all the wedding pretty as much as we did!

How we met

Ruth, the bride: We met at a Halloween party in 2009 (our costumes are too embarrassing to share… let’s just say it’s a miracle we got talking). The two friends who brought each of us to that party were at our wedding, pleased as punch.
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A Maggie Sottero Bride for a Jewish Wedding with a Living Tree Chuppah at Micklefield Hall, UK

27/11/2017 by Karen

Hold up – press pause on your day, put down that deadline for a minute (I know, we’re terrible influences) and take some proper time to appreciate the utter gorgeousness that is Becky and Adam’s Jewish wedding!

We thought we’d seen every chuppah design out there, but a living-tree chuppah, adorned with friends’ and family’s blessings and wishes for the couple’s future is such an awesome, unique idea. There are so many incredible hidden gems at their venue, Micklefield Hall, but Becky and Adam were the first couple to get married underneath that tree, making their own mark on the venue’s story.

To say Becky and Adam did things their way would be an understatement – they did things their way, and then some.

We LOVE that bride Becky stayed true to herself, even when under pressure, and went with her own beeeeautiful minimalist makeup look. Becky did so with the confidence that, in the words of the couple’s wonderful photographers, Adam and Hannah, “the best photos are of a happy bride”. And right they were – Becky’s happiness and ease with herself glows through in the stunning spread of wedding pictures Adam and Hannah provided.

Becky’s detailed Maggie Sottero gown also looked like a dream on her, and was a perfect fit for the rustic, boho-style aesthetic of the day as a whole.

The couple opted for a really personalized Jewish ceremony, with both bride and groom smashing a glass. We are SO here for that, and it’s a prime example of how Jewish customs don’t have to be antiquated. You can absolutely make them your own and construct a ceremony that works with your own values.

THREE of our incredible Recommended Vendors were involved with this love-filled big day. The ketubah was lovingly made by Ink With Intent, wedding band The White Keys rocked the reception and videographer Moon & Back made the cinematic, heartfelt wedding video below, which you simply MUST watch!

There’s so much more to say about this breathtaking day, we haven’t even had time to touch on the divine dà©cor, but we’d be going on forever, so we’ll pass you over to Becky, and Adam, for the full report.

How we met

Becky, the bride: We met when we both lived in Moishe House London, a home-based community for Jewish young adults. I interviewed Adam to live in the house and it went from there…
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