Smashing the Glass | Jewish Wedding Blog

Inspired Jewish Weddings

Home > Scotland

An Elegant Jewish Wedding with Unforgettable Music at Mar Hall Golf & Spa Resort, Scotland, UK

by

Sam-and-Sophie-Mar-Hall-Golf-Spa-Resort-Scotland

Sophie and Sam’s Jewish wedding at Mar Hall, outside Glasgow, was the most perfectly elegant celebration, featuring a stunning indoor/outdoor venue, a moving ceremony (complete with gorgeous floral chuppah), and unforgettable music from start to finish.

Sophie and Sam knew from the get-go that music was a high priority, and they chose Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor The Twentysomethings to create the perfect atmosphere throughout the day. The couple worked closely with the band to craft their setlist, including personalized wedding procession songs. From the emotional chuppah performance by The Twentysomethings Duo and their Israeli vocalist through to the 9-piece band that kept guests on the dancefloor all evening long, it’s safe to say The Twentysomethings totally rocked it.

Take one look at the photos by Ashley Coombes and you can see what a fabulous time was had by all. Now over to the couple for all the details…

Sam-and-Sophie-Mar-Hall-Golf-Spa-Resort-Scotland Sam-and-Sophie-Mar-Hall-Golf-Spa-Resort-Scotland
A Classic Venue

Sophie, the bride and Sam, the groom: We had multiple run throughs and visits with the venue, Mar Hall, and Nicola from the events team who were always willing to accommodate our plans and needs.  She helped ensure specific family were placed in accessible rooms where needed.  The beautiful grounds of the hotel and stunning visual of the hall itself made for some amazing photos. Our pre-ceremony / drinks were held within the hall itself, our ceremony took place in Morton House (Part of the estate next to the main Hall) and dinner / dancing took place in the Garden Pavilion.Continue ReadingContinue Reading

A Viktoria Chan Bride for a Boho Jewish Barn Wedding with Lot of DIY Touches at Kinkell Byre, St Andrews, Scotland, UK

by

Genna-Raph-Kinkell-Byre-St-Andrews-Scotland

We love it when a couple plans a Jewish wedding that’s 100% totally them – which is exactly what Glasgow couple Genna, who works for an innovation charity, and Raphael, an architect, did for their big day in beautiful St Andrews.

Celebrating the groom’s Brazilian heritage as well as the couple’s home in Scotland and incorporating so many DIY touches from the couple and their mums, this is truly a wedding to remember.

The groom designed all the wedding stationery plus the ketubah – and also built the couple’s stunning minimalist chuppah – Genna’s mum handmade the kiddush cups over 50 wooden candle holders that were placed around the venue and on the tables, and Raphael’s mum baked the couple’s wedding cake! Don’t miss all the wonderful details in Christian Olliver’s beautiful photos!

Food is important to Genna and Raphael, and when it came time to choose a kosher caterer they went for the best of the best: Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Feast by Ed Shaerf. In Genna’s words, Feast by Ed “absolutely blew us away. Not only was the food incredibly tasty, but the presentation and the professionalism of the staff were also out of this world! Everything was seamless and ran like absolute clockwork.”

There’s so much more to say about this joyous, love-filled day – but we’ll leave it to Genna, who looked so radiant in her minimalist gown by Swedish designer Viktoria Chan – to fill you in on the rest…

Genna-Raph-Kinkell-Byre-St-Andrews-ScotlandGenna-Raph-Kinkell-Byre-St-Andrews-Scotland Genna-Raph-Kinkell-Byre-St-Andrews-ScotlandGenna-Raph-Kinkell-Byre-St-Andrews-Scotland
How We Met

Genna, the bride: We met through my brother, Adam, who has been Raph’s best friend since they were 10 years old. About 5 years ago, Adam and his then fiance, now wife, Olivia suggested that we go for a drink together because we had ‘lots in common’ – and it went from there! After a few years of a long distance relationship between Glasgow and London, we settled in Glasgow, where we’re both originally from.Continue ReadingContinue Reading

A Flora Bride for a Fairy Tale Destination Jewish Wedding at Cluny Castle, Inverurie, Aberdeenshire Scotland, UK

by

Jewish wedding Cluny Castle, Inverurie, Aberdeenshire Scotland, UK_0066

We love it when a couple goes out of their way to make their guests feel extra loved at their Jewish wedding – especially when they’ve traveled across the world to celebrate together. But today’s couple, Anna, an architect, and Nir, a PhD student in economics with an online tutoring business, Israelis who opted to wed in Scotland, really amped it up to the next level.

With an intimate crew of just 26 guests, who traveled from Israel, the US, and Canada, Anna and Nir went all out, planning not just a wedding weekend but a full wedding week of classic Scottish activities, from Highland games and clay shooting to visits to Loch Ness and distilleries – and castles.

Although given the venue – not only was the wedding held at the majestic Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Cluny Castle, but the guests were also able to stay at the castle for the entire week – it’s hard to see a need to leave the grounds of this stunning spot. Catom Photographers captured the splendid setting in all its glory – not to mention the love and emotion of the big day.

Anna and Nir couldn’t possibly have picked a better place to make their guests all feel like princes and princesses for the week – and in pursuit of this goal, they even hired makeup artists and hairstylists to take care of each and every one of their female guests on the wedding day!

Now over to the groom, who’ll fill you in on all the details…


Jewish wedding Cluny Castle, Inverurie, Aberdeenshire Scotland, UK_0066Jewish wedding Cluny Castle, Inverurie, Aberdeenshire Scotland, UK_0066Jewish wedding Cluny Castle, Inverurie, Aberdeenshire Scotland, UK_0066
Theme

Nir, the groom: The theme was a “fairy tale” and Scottish wedding. We tried our best to make sure each guest would feel like a price/princess for the entire week. We planned a schedule for the week so each day would include a classic Scottish activity: Highland games, distilleries, clay shooting, castles, Lochness etc. The guests even saw her majesty the Queen and Prince Charles from a very close range at the highland games.

Continue ReadingContinue Reading

A Modeca Bride for a Multicultural Jewish-Scottish Wedding at The Principal Hotel, George Street, Edinburgh, Scotland

by

Jewish wedding The Principal Hotel, George Street in Edinburgh Scotland UK_0070
Today’s Jew-ish wedding features a wonderful blend of the couple’s Jewish and Scottish heritages, with so many heartfelt personal touches. Leigh (@Leighjshhh), a personal assistant and team secretary, and Steven (@Hunter941), an ammunition technician in the British Army, married at The Principal Hotel in Edinburgh.

Leigh, who is Jewish, and Steven, who is Scottish, crafted an ultra-personal day that combined their two cultures seamlessly. They paired their registrar-run legal ceremony with a Jewish blessing from a rabbi they worked with closely to create a very personal service.

We just love how this couple strove to run their day in a way that was true to who they are, individually and as a pair, and that would feel inclusive to all of their guests. They had an archway of flowers instead of a chuppah; they didn’t have a ketubah but did smash the glass — and to make sure everyone could follow along, Leigh made a program explaining the Jewish traditions. In a very cool nod to Steven’s Scottish heritage, the color scheme of teal and gold was taken from his family tartan. 

But we think our favorite way Leigh and Steven blended their backgrounds is through music — and dance. Their DJ, Graeme Barrie Entertainment, not only played music for the Israeli dancing; he also served as ceilidh caller (instructor) for their Scottish dancing! Check out Cro+Kow Photography’s stunning shots of the couple and their guests in action.

Now over to Leigh, who looked beautiful in her strapless ivory Modeca gown…

Jewish wedding The Principal Hotel, George Street in Edinburgh Scotland UK_0070

Jewish wedding The Principal Hotel, George Street in Edinburgh Scotland UK_0028

Jewish wedding The Principal Hotel, George Street in Edinburgh Scotland UK_0070

ewish wedding The Principal Hotel, George Street in Edinburgh Scotland UK_0064

Jewish wedding The Principal Hotel, George Street in Edinburgh Scotland UK_0070 Jewish wedding The Principal Hotel, George Street in Edinburgh Scotland UK_0070

How we met

Leigh, the bride: We met at a mutual friend’s wedding. We both knew the groom, and after both of us enquiring about the other we started chatting and knew almost instantly that this would be a conversation that would never end!

Nearly four and a half years later, after an entire long-distance relationship, we got married ourselves and now start our new journey together as husband and wife – and finally living together! 

Continue ReadingContinue Reading

Sara & Elliot | Scottish Castle Jewish Wedding, Dundas Castle, Edinburgh, Scotland

by

Scottish-Castle-Wedding
In today’s castle weekend wedding we have bagpipe players, custom made Gina shoes, a seriously breathtaking castle venue, and the best favours / name plates I have ever seen: personalised tubes of chocolate Rolos with each guests’ name on them. I’d have loved one of those!

For this wedding, I’m thrilled to welcome photographer extraodinaire, Claudine Hartzel, to Smashing The Glass whose wonderful images capture the occasion perfectly. Happy Monday all, I know you’re going to enjoy this one.
SCOTTISH CASTLE JEWISH WEDDING 20
VENUE
Sara, the Bride: We didn’t want a typical “Jewish Wedding” as we both aren’t religious. We wanted something different and also wanted to try and make a weekend of it. We didn’t wanted to get married in London and had gone to Edinburgh for Hogmanay in 2009 and loved it there. I started to research castles and stately homes to get married in in Scotland, Ireland, France and Italy.
Dundas Castle in Edinburgh was the first venue that appeared in my search and nothing else came close to it. When we visited it, we both fell in love with the Castle and not just because everyone who worked there was incredible and couldn’t do enough to help, which made organising a wedding quite far from where you live hardly stressful at all!
SCOTTISH CASTLE JEWISH WEDDING 56
SCOTTISH CASTLE JEWISH WEDDING DSCOTTISH CASTLE JEWISH WEDDING E
CEREMONY Our Rabbi had us facing the guests during the whole ceremony which was lovely albeit a bit scary! We didn’t know he was going to do this and had he suggested this beforehand, I probably would have said no, but in the end it was a very special touch. We wanted our wedding to be really modern and not be long and bore anyone but also have some traditional touches like me walking around Elliot seven times (with the giggles!).

For me, my favourite part of the ceremony was the badeken as it was so personal and emotional. Also our Rabbi was amazing with his brilliant sense of humour, his personality and the most incredible voice you have ever heard. I don’t think there was a dry eye whilst he sang.

Continue ReadingContinue Reading