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Real Blogging Brides: Clare – All About My Wedding Inspiration Session with Karen, Founder of Smashing The Glass

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Karen Cinnamon, founder of Smashing The Glass. Image: Blake Ezra Photography

Clare is one of  seven brides-to-be currently blogging her wedding planning process on Smashing The Glass. She is marrying Chris on 5th May 2018 at Laura Ashley The Manor in Elstree, UK.

THREE FACTS: (1) Clare is not Jewish but discovered Smashing The Glass via her Jewish sister-in-law and during her wedding planning journey it has (in her own words! became her favorite and most useful wedding blog (2) She finds STG refreshing in a sea of wedding blogs as she loves reading stories of couples for whom the ceremony itself is as pivotal as all the other details. (3) Due to falling in love with so many amazing Jewish weddings through the blog, and then booking a wedding consultancy session with STG founder, Karen, it confirmed to her that there were a number of Jewish elements she was going to bring into her wedding that symbolise a lot of things that are very important to her and her fiancà© in their future marriage – she will be having a ‘Jewish-inspired’ wedding!


Being Engaged: The First Couple of Months 

Due to getting engaged back in June 2016 and setting a date of May 2018 I  figured that the planning process would be a breeze with this long engagement….. 

The first couple of months were filled with the excitement that this was actually happening! My living room was a sea of engagement cards (which were only begrudgingly brought down three months later because we were moving!) and I whiled away many hours of perusing blog posts and every form of social media containing wedding inspiration.

Our choice of venue was easy- in the February before our engagement Chris had taken me for valentines dinner at the Laura Ashley The Manor and I fell in love with its beautiful simplicity and the stunning mix of modern and traditional. I couldn’t bear the thought of swirly patterned red carpets or dark wood panelling which seem to have featured in many of the wedding venues I’ve attended, and a castle or big stately home didn’t really feel like me so this seemed the perfect balance for us. 

Excitingly Booking our First Wedding Vendors

Following the booking of the venue I also was quick to book our photographer and videographer. Catherine Carter did one of my very good friends weddings and came highly recommended. She produces some beautiful images and I felt I could trust her to capture our day. 

The video was perhaps most important to get right to both Chris and I. Jeff Woods had come on my radar years before I was even engaged after an acquaintance of mine shared her wedding trailer on Facebook. I fell in love with the cinematic style and his films are truly a work of art and feel like you’re watching an actual movie, which I cannot wait to star in next year! Continue ReadingContinue Reading

Real Jewish Brides: Amanda – Planning a Jewish Wedding That’s Not Dictated by ‘Shoulds’

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Amanda will be marrying Adam on 25th March 2018 in a Jewish wedding at Braxted Park, UK.

THREE FACTS: (1) Amanda & Adam met outside in a bar in Tel Aviv (2) Adam has a ridiculous sense of humor (as described by Amanda!) and we love him all the more for it (3) Amanda & Adam’s wedding is 100% focused on all the people and things that mean the most to them.


“Wait… but why?”

Adam: “Are there any other roles we can give out on the day of the wedding?”

Amanda: “Well, there’s always the toast to the Queen…you know…where you sing the national anthem….*trails off*”

Adam: “Wait, you do what?! But why?!”

Amanda: “Sing the national anthem?

                                   …actually, I have no idea why we do that…it does feel weird when you say it like that. My mum will know…”

*Calls mum*

Amanda: “Mum, why on earth do we toast the queen and sing the national anthem at weddings?”

Mum: “Good question…I always remember it being a signal to the smokers that the speeches were over so they could go outside.”

Amanda: “But that can’t be the actual reason…

Mum: “Hmm no, it can’t be. I’m actually not sure… ?”

(As it happens, after a bit of further research, I discovered that the toast to the Queen is deemed a mark of respect for the country we live in, immediately following the toast to the State of Israel. I’m still not sure if anybody outside the UK has these traditions? I don’t ever remember hearing of a Jewish wedding in the USA where they sang the Star Spangled Banner…. 

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Real Jewish Brides – Mel: Family Really is the Most Important Thing

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Today on the blog it’s the 2nd post from Mel who will be marrying Mitch on Sunday 18 March 2018, in a Jewish wedding at Warren Weir at Luton Hoo, UK.

THREE FACTS: (1) Mel and Mitch met online on JDate (2) Their Jewish wedding will be classy and traditional with plenty of modern touches  (3) Mel is a member of Smashing The Glass’s private Jewish & Jew-ish Brides Facebook Group. Not yet a member? Come join us here!

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Involving our families

As I write this post, we are just 9 months away from our wedding. Planning is picking up again with our focus now on our invitations.

Throughout our planning so far, our family has been very involved; visiting venues, meeting vendors, giving their input, etc. Mitch and I are both really close to our parents so it’s important for us that they are involved. We are so lucky that our parents are happy for us to have the final say over everything.

I come from a fairly large family on my dad’s side. Mitch’s family is much smaller. Despite the size, we are both very close with our family and always have been. Family is one of the most important thing, and at our wedding, we obviously want all of our loved ones round us to celebrate the happiest day of our lives.

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Fear becoming reality

It would be the worst thing in the world if someone close to us wasn’t able to be there with us. Unfortunately, that fear almost became a reality. Twice.

In October 2016, 4 days before Mitch and I got engaged, my uncle went missing. No one had seen or heard from him for 10 hours, which was very unlike him. With a lot of rallying around and the use of a private investigator, my uncle was found the next day; 15 hours after last contact. He felt ill at the wheel, pulled over and had suffered a major stroke.

It hit us all really hard. Particularly the fact that he was one of the healthiest people I know and life and soul of the family. Thank G-d he survived but his recovery is still ongoing.Continue ReadingContinue Reading

Real Jewish Brides – Gillian: My Wedding Registry Experience

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Gillian will be marrying Pete on 8th September 2017 in a Jew-ish wedding at the Ballroom at Ellis Preserve in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania.

THREE FACTS: (1) Gillian is Jewish and Pete is Catholic (2) A Rabbi and a Priest will officiate at their wedding (3) Gillian is a Health & Wellness Coach and Pete is a Travel Occupational Therapist.

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To Do List: Wedding Registry

During the wedding planning process there are one million things on your to-do list (literally). This is especially true if you are a DIY bride or someone who wants to throw a big party. One item on the list I thought would be so much fun to tackle was registering for our wedding. How fun would it be to pick out items that we would have, hopefully for a long time and possibly even the rest of our lives?

Well, I was mistaken. Somehow something that I love so much (SHOPPING!) became stressful and something of a chore. I couldn’t figure it out, and it threw Pete for a loop when we went into Crate and Barrel and I pretty much had a mini meltdown. Picture brisk walking through the store, minimal eye contact, saying “I don’t care, you pick something you like, I don’t care about any of this, let’s leave.” Like woah, I was becoming a weird version of Bridezilla right before his eyes.

Luckily Pete handled it calmly, but it wasn’t the experience I had heard all about. I always pictured using the cool scanner gun and picking out items that we both loved. And, honestly, I thought it was going to be super easy.

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Image from Prezola (a gift list registry that we absolutely ADORE here at Smashing The Glass!)

Reflecting on it all, it seems so silly that anyone would get overwhelmed by picking out gifts for other people to buy them (seriously??) But that was a huge part of it. I didn’t mind that people were buying me presents, but I wanted them to get the best deal. I didn’t want them to buy overpriced items I knew I could find cheaper or on sale at our favorite stores like Marshalls and HomeGoods (I checked, you can’t register there.)

The other part I struggled with was “picking the right items” with endless options. So we needed cookware, but what set was best? Silverware; which ones will we actually like eating with? What dishes will go with a kitchen we don’t even have yet for years to come? It all seemed like so much to think about and so many opportunities to make the wrong decision. (Crazy talk I know, but this is what was going through my head, and I’m sure I’m not the only one to think about these things.)

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Real Jewish Brides – Hayley: My Conversion to Judaism

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Today on the blog it’s the 2nd post from Hayley who will be marrying Ashley on Sunday 17 September 2017, in a Jewish wedding at  at El Cortijo De Los Caballos in Spain

THREE FACTS: (1) Hayley & Ashley met on Tinder (2) Ashley proposed with a Haribo ring (after which he pulled out the actual engagement gem!) (3) Hayley is converting to Judaism to marry Ashley.

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Converting to Judaism

The next chapter for me was I would need to convert to Judaism before our wedding on 17th September 2017 to make sure we could have the chuppah and the dancing on the chairs*. The process started by trying to locate a synagogue, which proves to be difficult if you live the wrong side of Brentwood! Ashley was told by one of his friends that his sister-in-law converted and the name of the synagogue, what was then called South Woodford Liberal Synagogue but which is now known as ELELS (East London and Essex Liberal Synagogue).

Our first meeting with Rabbi Richard Jacobi was Early February 2016. We met at the South Woodford Synagogue where I was asked a lot of questions including “Why I wanted to convert”? After our long hour and a half meeting I left feeling more puzzled then when I went in, Maybe the conversion wasn’t right for me after all?

We decided to attend shul weekly for about 3 weeks and then once again we met with Rabbi Richard to see how I was getting on attending Shul. Feeling slightly more relieved than last time I was again asked the same question “Why I wanted to convert”? I feel like I had answered the question sufficiently but again I was not given a start date for the Conversion to Judaism class. I felt slightly disheartened at this and kept asking Ashley why? 

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Charlotte from Sex and The City converted for her Jewish wedding to Harry…

Why do I want to convert?

The third and final meeting I was handed a sheet of paper and asked to write down my answer to that very question… “Why I wanted to convert” I wrote down everything I could think of and why this was important to both ashley and I. I completed it and handed it to Rabbi Richard, whom looked over it and next thing I was booked onto the conversion classes which started the following week, by this time it was March 2016. (Later I found out that Rabbi’s have a rule and want you to be completely sure, that’s why they ask you three times!)Continue ReadingContinue Reading