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A Maison Signore Bride for a Colorful Jewish Wedding Focused on Fun at Claridge’s, London, UK

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Rebecca and Peter, Claridges, London, UK

When Rebecca and Peter set out to plan their London Jewish wedding, they knew they wanted their day to be fun. And was it ever!

Focused around the idea of a big party at Claridge’s with all their friends and family, Rebecca and Peter opted for a vibrant color scheme of hot pink and orange, a chuppah overflowing with bright blooms, and spectacular giant paper flowers as décor.

In the bride’s words,

The centerpiece of the wedding was our amazing band, Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Sensation Band, and a custom black and white dance floor – we knew we wanted our guests dancing all night. Sensation Band gave us a fantastic party, with DJ Benny from midnight to 1am for the afterparty. Sensation Band also led a phenomenal Israeli dancing set.

Instead of a formal seated dinner, Rebecca and Peter opted to keep things casual, starting with cocktails, canapes, and a champagne trolley, followed by a taco and tequila station, passed bowls, and sushi trolleys.

The couple’s photographer, Blake Ezra, captured all the emotion and fun of the day so beautifully – keep scrolling for some serious eye candy, plus more fab details in the bride’s own words…

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How We Met

Rebecca, the bride: We met on JSwipe back in 2016! Peter, a New Yorker, was working as a journalist in London for two years. We actually met three times, the first two never quite working with timings, but the last time we dated for five months before Peter moved back to NYC. After two years of long distance, Rebecca, a British diplomat, got posted to New York for work, while Peter started law school, and is now a practicing lawyer in NY.Continue ReadingContinue Reading

Top Jewish Wedding Planning Tips

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Jasmine & Brett’s wedding featured on Smashing the Glass | Photo by Claudine Hartzel

So you’re planning a Jewish wedding – mazal tov! Wedding planning is exciting, no question, but it can also be seriously overwhelming. There’s so much to learn, so much information to sort through and, in many cases, so many opinions to contend with. 

But having the right tools goes a long way! And that’s why we tapped into our fabulous network of wedding planners to share their top tips for a smooth wedding planning journey. Read on for some essential Jewish wedding wisdom!

Charlotte from La Fete says

Make sure that you are really clear with your parents from the start on their involvement in your big day. Are they expecting certain things – do you have any non-negotiables? The clearer you are earlier on, the easier and smoother the whole process will be. 

Rebecca & Emmanuel, Villa Luisa, Seville, Spain

Rebecca & Emmanuel‘s wedding featured on Smashing The Glass | Photo by Juan Luis Morilla

 Michelle from Elegante by Michelle J says

We are very fortunate that the Jewish marriage ceremony is very poignant and meaningful;  so my advice to all of my couples is to make it especially so,  the highlight of your wedding day. It’s all too easy to get caught up with the dinner florals, the entertainment, the food and of course they are important (and as a wedding planner I also love to get caught up in all of these details). But everyone is gathering together to witness the two of you entering into the commitment of marriage. So this should be considered “the main event”. Everything else that follows is a celebration of the beautiful wedding that your guests have had the privilege of witnessing.

Chloe & Danny‘s wedding featured on Smashing The Glass | Photo by David Bastianoni

Yana Andreev from Craspedia Events says

Create an email account that will be designated for wedding things only. That way you’ll have all the corespondence in one convinient location, you both have access to and it won’t mix with work and personal stuff. 

Jewish wedding Bayaar, Hadera, Israel

Shelly & Harel‘s wedding featured on Smashing The Glass | Photo by Noa Magger

Luba from Primavera Dreams says

My #1 tip for a destination Jewish wedding: Make sure that your planner knows the traditions, understand the particularity of a Jewish wedding and can actively help to source what may be needed (from chuppah and rabbi to challah, to kosher food and wine, etc. if needed). Or it may cost you a lot of money and stress.

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Rita & Daniel‘s wedding featured on Smashing the Glass | Photo by Tatiana Blanco Photography 

Dyana from Dyana Dessar says

Do remember why you are getting married, because you love each other!  it is not a military manoeuvre and whilst it is important to have a good timeline don’t sweat the small stuff, stop take a moment and take the day in as it will be over all too soon, and to make sure it all runs smoothly employ a professional wedding planner! 


Jolanda & Jack‘s wedding featured on Smashing the Glass | Photo by The Love Hunters

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A Suzanne Neville Bride for a Conservatory Jewish Wedding at Syon Park, London, UK

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There’s not much we love more than seeing a couple work with a mega-talented team of our beloved Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendors to make their Jewish wedding a day to remember – which is exactly what London couple Emma and Arik did!

From the moment the duo chose Lucie and Alex from #STGvendor Ruby J Events as their wedding planners, they were off and running. Lucie and Alex understood the vibe the couple were after and ran with it, sourcing an amazing team of vendors and taking care of all the details so that Emma and Arik “were able to enjoy every minute of planning and every second of the day” – no small feat, especially during Covid!

Another amazing #STGvendor, Sensation Band, provided the perfect soundtrack to the ceremony, with Guy singing the couple down the aisle accompanied by Jason on keyboard. For the reception, #STGvendor Balagan Roaming Band roamed the venue getting the party going and creating an electric atmosphere for the evening!

To capture their day, Emma and Arik opted to work with Promise Photography and #STGvendor Michael Pearl Films. The duo found Michael an absolute delight to work with, and they’re in love with bot their highlights video as well as the full 2-hour version!

Last but absolutely not least, the couple chose #STGvendor Feast by Ed for his mouthwatering kosher catering, and they were bowled over by not only the deliciousness of it all but the beautiful presentation too – and how wonderful Ed himself is to work with, of course!

There’s so much more to say, but we’ll leave the rest to the bride, who looked so elegant in Suzanne Neville…

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How we Met

Emma, the bride: Arik works in data analytics and I’m a nanny, 2 professions that would never cross paths if it hadn’t of been for Hinge! We chatted for a while on the app and then we arranged to go for a drink (neither of us knowing at that point that neither of us drank). We met at Sophie’s bar in Soho and stayed chatting and laughing for hours, which is pretty much how we spend every day now – minus being in Sophie’s bar!

We moved in together 1 year later and spent 2 months living together at my dads at the beginning of lockdown. Arik was sad to leave so that was a good sign! I came home after a long walk with my sister one day (not knowing that Arik had planned this, to get me out the house), to find Arik on one knee in the lounge, surrounded by rose petals, candles and holding a ring. The rest as our rabbi said under the chuppah, is soul music.Continue ReadingContinue Reading

A Sareh Nouri Bride for an Elegant Urban Jewish Micro Wedding at Gramercy Park Hotel, New York, New York, USA

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  Amy-and-Adam-Gramercy-Park-Hotel-New-York

How NYC chic is the gorgeous Jewish micro wedding of Amy, who works in marketing for a real estate developer, and Adam, who works in finance for a media company?!

These two had a big NYE wedding planned, but the pandemic forced them to reimagine their big day. With the help of the fabulous Joanna Greenfield of Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Ruby J Events, Amy and Adam opted for an ultra-intimate celebration – the guest list was limited to immediate family and one friend each for the bride and groom – at the elegant Gramercy Park Hotel.

Amy went into planning without much of a vision for her micro wedding, but Joanna honed in on what she was looking for and put together the day of her dreams. Amy worked with Joanna independently to plan the day, and the details ended up being a surprise to all – even her mother! Needless to say, the results were nothing short of breathtaking – don’t miss the joyous images from Steven Young from Stak Photography. Due to Amy and Adam’s tight schedule once they set their new date, they needed a ketubah fast – and Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Ketubah.com’s selection of beautiful “quick ship” options came to the rescue, as it so often does for couples facing a time crunch.

Now over to the bride, who looked luminous in Sareh Nouri…

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How we Met

Amy, the bride: We met in 2008 at Penn State University. Adam knew then that I was going to be his person; I had no idea; thought I just had a new friend. We remained friends until 2016 when we started dating.

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An autumnal Jewish wedding with a bride in a Melanie Potro dress at the Intercontinental on Park Lane, London

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Jewish-Wedding-Intercontinental-on-Park-Lane-London Fall has arrived early on STG! If you’re already missing all the seasonal colourful leaves, chunky knits and spicy drinks, then settle in and relive the season with Frances and Rudi’s magically autumnal real wedding, captured by photographer Elegant & Wild. 

Beautiful bride, Frances, wore an astoundingly stunning bespoke gown made by much-loved Smashing Supplier, Melanie Potro. The gown evoked echoes of Audrey Hepburn, and Frances looked like an absolute dream. We’re totally in love! We also highly approve of Frances’s choice to pair the dress with gorgeous, glittery gold heels.

Talented Frances was also able to harness her creative side, crafting the entire autumnal stationery suite for the wedding and even launching her own website selling her gorgeous products.

Melanie Potro wasn’t the only Smashing Supplier at Rudi and Frances’s big day. Amazing party band, Sensation Band, also played at the reception, even saving the day by keeping everyone entertained during a temporary mishap.

We also want to mention the beautiful, sentimental chuppah idea of using tallis from the bride and grooms’ respective grandfathers. The story behind this is so moving and it was a really wonderful way to honour generations of  their families. 

I’ll hand over to our gorgeous bride to tell us more. Take it away, Frances!  

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How we met

Frances, the bride: We have lots of mutual friends, we were friends on Facebook and knew each other from parties over the years, but in the end it was that good old matchmaker, Tinder, that got us together.

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An appropriately named venue: Intercontinental on Park Lane in London

We got married at the Intercontinental on Park Lane, quite simply because it was central and big enough to hold 300 people. My Dad gave a nod to its significance in his speech, commenting on the ‘intercontinental’ nature of our wedding. Rudi’s family is from Iraq and mine from London, although prior to that Austria, Russia and Poland. We had guests from all over too.

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