Rosh Hashana Archives - Smashing the Glass

A Nitzan Krispil Bride for a Laid-Back Seaside Wedding at Beit Andromeda, Tel Aviv, Israel

31/05/2019 by Karen Cinnamon

We’re always obsessed with Israeli oceanside weddings…. especially when they’re smack dab in the middle of picture-perfect Old Jaffa. Like the gorgeous Jewish wedding of Olga, a graphic designer, and Chen, a programmer, which we’re totally and completely obsessed with.

It’s hard to go wrong when you’re starting out with a venue like Beit Andromeda. Throw in cool, contemporary photography with just a little bit of edge from mega-talented Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Gamba Photographers (the couple have known Gamba’s Avihai since their military service!), and you’ve pretty much got a slam dunk.

And that’s before we even get into the awesome touches the couple added to reflect the fact that their wedding was the day before Rosh Hashanah – in honor of the holiday, Olga and Chen adopted the themes of blossoming and new beginnings, and added sweet details from honey jar favors to fun dancefloor props embellished with floral and fruit motifs (handmade by the bride and her friends in the buildup to the big day – love that!).

We also love the couple’s commitment to making sure they crafted a wedding that truly reflected who they are – so in line with what we believe her at STG, and what we want to make sure all brides (and grooms) to be have the tools to accomplish for themselves. That’s why we’re so excited about our first-ever FREE Jewish Wedding Planning Bootcamp, starting this Monday, June 3 – it’s going to be truly unmissable, so if you’re planning a Jewish or Jew-ish wedding, do sign up!

Now back to Olga, who looked effortlessly romantic in her two-piece Nitzan Krispil…

How we met

Olga, the bride: We met during our military service at a mutual friend’s birthday party, and got married 6 years later.

A Suzanne Neville Bride for a Super Chic Seaside Jewish Wedding at Rosh Hashanah, Bait al Hayam, Jaffa, Israel

30/03/2018 by Karen Cinnamon

Can you believe it’s Erev Passover this evening? How did that happen already?! And what are you doing for seder night tonight? I’m on holiday and we’re having our Seder in Tel Aviv, celebrating with my family in Israel, so it seems appropriate to post a gorgeous Israeli wedding today!

And today’s real Jewish destination wedding fully embraced another beautiful Jewish holiday: Rosh Hashanah.

London-based bride Jamie, a PR and marketing manager for a cancer charity, and groom Joel, who works in finance, opted for a chic outdoor destination wedding in sunny Jaffa, Israel, during the High Holiday season.

Opting to marry at gorgeous seaside venue Bait al Hayam, the couple had an outdoor rooftop chuppah overlooking the city of Jaffa and the sea, with the party in a beautiful air conditioned room beneath — a big deal given the Israeli climate!

In honor of Rosh Hashanah, Jamie and Joel had mini honey pots and apples at each place setting — isn’t that sweet?! We love that this couple incorporated Jewish tradition into their day in ways that were totally authentic to them.

For instance, even though, as Ashkenazi Jews it would have been customary for them to have their badeken separately from the chuppah, they chose to do it on the aisle, because that’s what spoke to them.

And the pair opted to follow the Jewish tradition of not seeing each other in the week leading up to the wedding… that takes some real dedication!

Their wedding also had some incredibly cool touches inspired by sources other than Jewish tradition: for one, as part of their entertainment they had a flower stall where guests could have flower wreaths, bracelets, hair slides, and boutonnieres made! Isn’t that lovely? And a great alternative activity if you’re not into some of the more standard options like photo booths.

Photographer Ronen Boidek captured the day in all its effortless elegance and the insanely talented STG Recommended Vendor Portnoy Brothers brought emotion out of all of the guest through their incredible acoustic sound and beautiful traditional songs. We can’t recommend the Portnoy Brothers enough, one of our absolute favourites! Jamie, who looked super glam in her old Hollywood-style silk Suzanne Neville gown (seriously, we’re all a little bit obsessed with it at STG Towers), will fill you in on the rest.

Hag Sameach – enjoy your matzoh ball soup wherever you’re celebrating this evening!

How we met

Jamie, the bride: I always knew of Joel… I lived with his brother at university, but I met Joel properly once I moved to London, at a friend’s birthday. He carried me out of the bar over his shoulder and we’ve never looked back! 😉

A Greenery-filled Rustic Jewish Wedding at Aquatopia, Ottawa, Canada

04/12/2017 by Karen

Greenery is the Pantone Color of the Year 2017 and it seems that Taylor & Dovi intentionally, or unintentionally, took a huge note of that! Just look what you can achieve with well-placed greenery! We’ve just spent our whole morning swooning over Taylor and Dovi’s nature-inspired Jewish wedding, and with very good reason! The whole effect was just enchanting, and the perfect setting for a heartfelt family day.

These gorgeous high school sweethearts held their simply beautiful, rustic-look wedding at Aquatopia in Ottowa, Canada. Incorporating beautifully-placed greenery, rustic signs and romantic lanterns, the dà©cor was understated enough to let the natural surroundings of the venue shine, but still stunning in its own right. Absolutely dreamy!

We literally gasped when we saw the magical chuppah design, with vines hanging down, framing the happy couple. Such a unique idea and so well executed – we’ll definitely be filing that one under ‘totally steal-able’!

Beautiful bride, Taylor, looked like a whimsical woodland princess in her two-piece gown, comprised of designs by Saja Wedding and Wtoo respectively. We LOVE the idea of combining two designs to create the dream dress!

There were unique touches galore: ‘meant to bee’ honey pot Rosh Hashanah favors, marvellously mismatched bridesmaids, a Polaroid guestbook and one very emotional bride’s speech!

The story of the day was captured with aplomb by photographer Agatha Rowland and the wonderful writeup is by bride Taylor, who we’ll hand over to now for the full report! Enjoy – and don’t forget to Pin the pictures you love.

How we met

Taylor, the bride: We met in high school ten years ago!
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A David Fielden Bride for a Shakespearean Jewish Wedding at Bevis Marks and The Underglobe, London, UK

20/09/2017 by Karen

A very Happy New Year to all our Jewish readers as it is, of course, Erev Rosh Hashana tonight! We hope you all have some lovely family plans – we’d love to hear about them in the comments!

What better way to kick off the new year than with a beautiful Jewish wedding at one of our favorite London synagogues, Bevis Marks? Jenni and Rich’s celebration continued at The Underglobe, leading to a spectacular Shakespearean theme, drawing on elements of a Midsummer Night’s Dream for a dimly lit, magical atmosphere.

The venue even came with its own magical tree – what more could anyone ask for?

There’s so much to love about this lively and exciting celebration, which saw the bride being thrown in the air on a sheet, proving that on your big day, you can do anything – a flying bride!

All of the magic and detail was captured with expert ease by Miki Studios, including the romantic floral arrangements on the low-lit tables, centered with gorgeous gold candelabras.

Let’s hear from bride Jenni, who looked every bit the boho babe in her lacy David Fielden dress! Take it away, Jenni!

How we met

Jenni, the bride: Richard and I met at King Solomon High School when we were 16 and 17 years old. We were together till we left school and went out separate ways. Richard attended golf college, while I went on year course to Israel. Once I returned we reunited, and the rest is history.
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A Jewish Wedding with a Palm Leaf Theme at Beth Emeth Synagogue, Toronto Ontario, Canada

23/06/2017 by Karen

It’s been a bit of a scorching few weeks in our London Smashing the Glass HQ – what we need is someone to fan us with palm leaves… fortunately there were plenty of those to be found at Tamara and Ilan’s wonderful Canada wedding!

Psychiatrist Tamara and family physician, Ilan, met when they were introduced by friends and they hit it off immediately. Their synagogue wedding celebrated the very best of their respective ashkenazi and sephardic backgrounds, creating a gorgeous fusion of cultures, set against the backdrop of their palm leaf theme.

All of the raw emotion of the highly personal day was captured by our fantastic STG Recommended Vendor, Niv Shimshon Photography, who (proud Jewish momma moment) proved to be the couple’s favorite vendor, of course.

We are big fans of the personalized table names, especially with the provided stories about the meanings behind the name choices – we’re sure we’ll see our STG couples creating their own versions!

That’s quite enough from us. Over to Tamara for the full story on all of her and Ilan’s big-day choices!

How we met

Tamara, the bride: Ashkenazi girl from Dundas, Hamilton, meets Sephardic Iraqi from Montreal!

We met three years ago, when we were introduced through two of our close friends, and we continue to feel so grateful they helped us find each other. Our friends (the matchmakers) happened to get engaged the week of our first date, so we actually met for the first time at their l’chaim! We love travelling the world, exploring our neighbourhood, or just ordering dinner, relaxing at home and watching various crime documentaries.

We got married at Beth Emeth Synagogue, Toronto ON.