The Black Tux Archives - Smashing the Glass

A Grace Loves Lace Bride for a Desert Jewish Wedding at The Lodge at Ventana Canyon, Arizona, USA

16/05/2022 by Karen Cinnamon 1 Comment

Today we’re featuring the wedding of a very special Smashing The Glass Brides Club member Jenna! You see, way back in the Before Times, Jenna hosted the very first NYC Brides Club meetup – a challah bake at her place in Brooklyn, which, as a mega-talented baker, she also led!

During the pandemic, she and now-husband Mat (who’ve got a super cute how-they-met story, by the way) relocated from NYC back to their shared hometown of Tucson, Arizona, where they also held their wedding – and while I know the New York Brides Club crew misses Jenna’s generosity and baking prowess, after taking a look at the gorgeous landscape featured in She.We Studio’s photos, can you really blame her?!

Even before Jenna and Mat’s move back to the Southwest, they always knew they wanted their wedding to reflect the beauty of the region where they met and grew up. Their main requirement in a venue was epic mountain views, their ketubah featured watercolor mountains reminiscent of Tucson’s, their invites featured prickly pear cacti – Jenna’s bridal bouquet even featured succulents! And she found the perfect lightweight gown for Arizona climate at Grace Loves Lace, too.

There’s so much more to say about this wonderful wedding, and we’ll let Jenna tell you all about it in her own words – but before we do, we’ve got to share her kind words about her time in Brides Club:

“I joined the Brides Club because Smashing the Glass really is the only resource out there for modern Jewish weddings. The Brides Club was a way to have that same community I was seeing from other wedding resources, but with the added bonus of people actually understanding questions related to a Jewish wedding. What I didn’t know was that I would meet so many wonderful women and make so many amazing friendships, which was especially helpful when Covid hit and caused so many of us to change or cancel our plans. I honestly couldn’t have weathered two postponements without being surrounded by my friends and having Karen there for mental and emotional support.”

Awww! Doesn’t get much better than that, does it? Take it away, Jenna!

How we Met

Jenna, the bride: I am a data analyst, currently working in retail, & Mat is a customer success manager in tech. We actually met back in 1994 (we weren’t even two years old yet) at a tumbling class at a local park’s rec center. We reconnected throughout life, as we both grew up in Tucson, AZ and belonged to the same synagogue (I even stole Mat’s birthday for my Bat Mitzvah date), but we happened to both be at a mutual friend’s high school graduation party (who ended up being our wedding videographer) one summer.

It turned out that Mat was going to be in the same freshman business mentorship program at our local university I had been in the year prior (I was a grade ahead of Mat in school) and was planning to attend the orientation that following week (University of Arizona is a large school with multiple orientation dates). A few days later, I got a Facebook message from Mat saying “I got your book.” Somehow, Mat got the book we read in the business mentorship program that I had signed – out of 60 from my year and 60 in his incoming year and of all orientation dates, he got my book! When school started, I invited Mat to our school’s Chabad welcome back barbeque for free kosher food, and the rest is history (although, it would take us until March of the following year to start dating).Continue Reading

A Pronovias Bride for a Desert Jewish Wedding at McCormick Ranch Golf Club, Arizona, USA

09/08/2021 by Karen Cinnamon

We love it when a couple takes advantage of their wedding as a way to showcase their hometown pride. So naturally we’re obsessed with the Scottsdale, Arizona, wedding of Jessica, a 4th grade teacher, and Daniel, an actuary. Both born and raised in the Phoenix metro area, these two love the dramatic landscape of their home state and wanted to showcase it for their guests.

Even though the couple had to cut down their guest list to just close family and their wedding party for their March 2021 wedding in light of the pandemic, they were still able to make it official at their original venue, McCormick Ranch Golf Club, with an outdoor chuppah overlooking the sunset over Camelback Mountain in the distance. Doesn’t get much more quintessentially Arizona than that – don’t miss the gorgeous photos by Ryan Nicole Photography.

We’re also obsessed with the couple’s wonderful ketubah was designed and created by Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Noa Attias. Jessica loved it so much that after seeing the finished product, she ordered a challah board by Noa Attias as her wedding gift to Daniel!

Now over to the bride, who looked ever so elegant in Pronovias…

How we Met

Jessica, the bride: We were both advisors for BBYO and met at my first meeting as an advisor.

An Essense of Australia Bride for a Jewish Wedding at the Maryland Historical Society, Baltimore, Maryland, USA

07/06/2021 by Karen Cinnamon

There’s nothing like a good museum wedding. And we’re seriously smitten with the Jewish wedding of Melissa, a personal stylist, and Evan, who works for the U.S. government as an outdoor recreation planner and project coordinator. These two held their celebration at Baltimore’s Maryland Historical Society, which is chock full of cool history displays and art galleries – and it made the absolute perfect setting for their black-tie festivities. Have a scroll through the couple’s incredible photos by The Oberports and we bet you’ll agree!

We adore Melissa and Evan’s gorgeous ketubah, created by Nava Shoham of Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor 1-800-Ketubah. The couple chose her “Royal Claddagh” design, in honor of their Scottish and Irish ancestry, and we’re in love with the bold, beautiful, colorful ketubah. In the bride’s words, it’s a real statement piece!

Now over to Melissa, who looked radiant in Essense of Australia…

How we Met

Melissa, the bride: We met in college where we were both involved with the marching band. Although, we weren’t in the band at the same time, we attended the same band parties and hit it off there. That was 15 years ago!Continue Reading

An ASOS Bride for a Garden of Eden Jewish Micro Wedding at White Meadow Lake, Rockaway, New Jersey, USA

05/02/2021 by Karen Cinnamon

How gorgeous is the ultra-intimate micro Jewish wedding of Jori, who works in customer success for a social enterprise tech startup, and Corey, a copywriter at an ad agency?!

These two had originally planned a big wedding, but when COVID hit they had to rethink things. They ended up opting for a ceremony with just immediate family, to be followed by a big reception post-pandemic, date TBD. Jori and Corey worked with Rabbi Samantha Frank of Modern Ritual to create an intimate ceremony that made the most of the bare essentials.

The pared-down outdoor celebration was very different than the one they’d originally planned, but they managed to fit in some stunning floral touches; bright, beautiful dresses; a stunning floral ketubah by Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Rachelle Tchiprout of The Delicate Brush – and speeches by every single one of their guests (admittedly, there were just six – the couple’s parents, plus the groom’s brother and his girlfriend)! There’s something so special about having such a tight-knit group, and the luminous photos from One Night Cereus capture that so well.

Now over to the bride, who looked oh-so-chic in a dress from, believe it or not, ASOS!

How we met

Jori, the bride and Corey, the groom: We met on the first day of college at The New School, when we both ended up at the same party that neither one wanted to be at. As I was leaving, Corey gave me his phone number and asked me to text him if I ever wanted to hang out. I ended up texting him twenty minutes later. He hadn’t even left the party himself.

We met up right away and spent our whole first night in the city walking around Greenwich Village, talking and making each other laugh. It would take a few months before our friendship would blossom into something more, but we were inseparable from that point on.Continue Reading

A Vera Wang Bride for a Brooklyn Meets Tropical Paradise Jewish Wedding at 501 Union, Brooklyn, New York, USA

23/11/2020 by Karen Cinnamon

There’s nothing like a little hometown pride – and what better to serve as inspiration for your Jewish wedding? Today’s bride and groom, Rebecca and Brandon, are both passionate Brooklynites – and they used their love of their home borough as inspiration for their big day.

Their venue, 501 Union, in Brooklyn neighborhood Gowanus, is SO industrial chic, and the couple complemented it with fun touches like a personalized map of Brooklyn on the back of their invitations (with key spots in the couple’s lives marked), mini Junior’s cheesecakes as favors, a Brooklyn-fabulous cocktail hour menu including lox on everything bagel chips, pastrami bites, and Coney Island hot dogs, and even a Coolhaus ice cream sandwich truck!

We’re also digging the urban jungle vibes Rebecca and Brandon went with for their florals – how fun is their chuppah?! Don’t miss it in Billye Donya Photography’s wonderful pics.

We’ll leave it to the bride, who looked utterly urban chic in Vera Wang…

How we met

Rebecca, the bride: We swiped right on Tinder, so obviously didn’t know much about each other before we met. For our first date, he suggested we meet after work near the Grand Army Plaza entrance to Prospect Park, since it was right in between our apartments, and grab a drink from there.

I had certain hesitations about meeting a random internet man at the park at dusk so I told a good handful of friends about the date, so they’d know what to tell the authorities if I never came back… Anyway, once I saw Brandon in his Canadian tuxedo (denim on denim, baby!), I knew I had nothing to worry about (;