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

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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…

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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

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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…

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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

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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…


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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.

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A Limor Rosen Bride for a Jewish-Scottish Wedding at Winter Gardens Botanical Gardens and West Brewery, Glasgow, Scotland, UK

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When Tel Aviv chic meets Scottish tradition… We’re crazy about the way STG Brides Club member, Arden and Steven brought modern Tel Avivian colors and geometrics into their very Scottish venues, and we can’t get enough of PJ Phillips’ wonderful photos and videographer Sandy Butler’s gorgeous trailer.

Arden, a writer originally from Florida, and Steven, a Scottish developer, both work in tech in Tel Aviv, but they opted to marry in the groom’s hometown of Glasgow.

We love how they incorporated both Jewish and Scottish customs into their humanist ceremony – the traditional handfasting is really not to be missed! And neither is the gorgeous ketubah from wonderful Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Ketubata.

And how perfect were their favors: mini bottles of oh-so-Scottish whiskey and gin from Tel Aviv’s own Milk & Honey Whisky Distillery?!

Arden, who looked stunning in Limor Rosen, will fill you in on the rest…


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How we met

Arden, the bride: We actually met at AM:PM (convenience store) in the neighborhood we used to live in! Not long after meeting, a friend connected us on Facebook and we started dating shortly after.

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An Essense of Australia Bride for an Enchanted Autumn Jewish Wedding at Garnethill Synagogue and Oran Mor in Glasgow, Scotland, UK

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It’s always a good day when we hear from couples who loved used Smashing the Glass to plan their Jewish  weddings — like today’s fab couple, Stephanie, an architect, and Darren, a retail director for Aspinal.

We’re so pleased that the bride was a loyal reader of STG in the lead up to her big day, even finding fantastic videographer Velvet Wedding Studio on the blog! He and photographer David Grant Simpson did the absolute best job of capturing the magic of the couple’s enchanted autumnal wedding (over Halloween weekend, no less!).

As an architect, Stephanie was focused on getting married in a beautiful space — and she ended up with not one, but two of them! With the chuppah at the majestic 19th-century Garnethill Synagogue and the evening party at super cool converted church venue Oran Mor, this wedding was basically non-stop architectural splendor.

We love how Stephanie and Darren decided to include a ceilidh in their big day as a way of honoring the bride’s Scottish background and providing some familiarity to balance out the novelty of the Israeli dancing for their non-Jewish guests. Good sport Darren even let Stephanie cajole him into putting on a kilt for the Scottish dancing!

Stephanie, who looked stunning in her Essense of Australia dress, will fill you in on the rest of the fantastic details…

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How We Met

Stephanie, the bride: I never ever thought I would try online dating, but as time went on I just realized that it was now the ordinary way to meet someone and gave it a go. We both have stressful jobs, which can make it difficult to find time to date. I still can’t believe that I met my now-husband on Jswipe but I guess that’s modern day romancing for you!

So many people ask me when we knew we wanted to get married. About a month into the relationship after coming in from a night out with, Darren we were laughing about something and then told me he would marry me tomorrow. I know it was a passing comment after I made him laugh, but I guess in the back of our minds we both knew that we wanted to settle down. It sounds odd to many but I think when you meet someone in your thirties you have both already seen the world, been around the block and essentially are in a totally different mindset when you are getting into a relationship. Online dating is literally like modern‐day matchmaking! I guess in a way you could say it was love at first sight, or love at first selfie.

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