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A Helena Kolan Bride for a Colorful, Multicultural Jewish-Hindu Wedding at Hummingbird Nest Ranch, California, USA

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Get ready to be BLOWN AWAY by the incredible Jewish-Hindu wedding of our beloved Brides Club member Jaime, who has an online fitness business, and Varun, who is CEO of a tech company. These two wanted a one-of-a-kind day that felt larger than life, and did they ever achieve that goal – thanks in no small part to the expertise of their wedding planner, Leora of Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Best Bride, who Jaime describes as “the best wedding planner on the planet. Period.”

Blending two different faiths and cultures is no small feat, but Leora made it a breeze, working with Jaime and Varun to craft a jam-packed day – and we do mean a full day; this wedding went from noon until midnight! – including two ceremonies (one Hindu, one Jewish), a positively mouthwatering bicultural food experience featuring Israeli and Indian street food, and, of course, a rocking party to end things off.

The results were thoroughly, breathtakingly beautiful – we’re equally obsessed with the color and energy of the Hindu ceremony and the romance and drama of the sunset Jewish ceremony. And how beautiful is the couple’s floral ketubah, created by Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor The Delicate Brush?! Jaime can’t stop raving about her experience working with founder Rachelle to create the perfect design to match the color and décor scheme for her Jewish ceremony.

You really, really don’t want to miss the fantastic photos from Clane Gessel and Sanaz Photography. Because their day had so much going on, planner Leora encouraged Jaime and Varun to hire two photography teams to make sure none of the good stuff went undocumented, and Jaime is SO glad she followed that advice. And the trailer by AndHer Visuals is equally unmissable.

Now over to the bride, who had not one, not two, but THREE dresses for the big day – her gorgrous, vibrant dress for the Hindu ceremony was made by Vama Designs, and her gown for the Jewish ceremony was custom made by Israeli designer Helena Kolan (who also created Jaime’s reception dress)…

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How we met

Jaime, the bride: We met on OKCupid in San Francisco when we were both working in the start up scene. 

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An Allison Webb Bride for an Industrial Rustic Jewish Wedding at The Venue, Asheville, North Carolina

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We are obsessed with the industrial-meets-rustic vibe of today’s beautiful Jewish wedding! Taryn, a software consultant, and Josh, a software engineer, combined their love of the city life – they reside in the DC metro area – with a passion for the mountains of western North Carolina, and their big day was a pitch perfect reflection of that.

The Venue in Asheville, North Carolina, was the perfect spot, with its mix of chandeliers and exposed brick walls, and we love the way Taryn and Josh added soft romantic touches with candlelight and the loveliest floral chuppah. Don’t miss the wonderful photography and videography from Beautiful Life Films! 

And how beautiful is the couple’s beautiful ketubah, by the amazing Rachelle of Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor The Delicate Brush? The design – featuring a gold star of David intertwined with the seven species of Israel – is just so lovely, and we’re not at all surprised to hear that Taryn and Josh adored working with Rachelle!

We’ll let Taryn, who looked totally fab in Allison Webb, fill you in on the rest…

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How We Met

Taryn, the bride: We met online through Jswipe. After many unsuccessful online dating attempts, I was fed up with the online platform and was not too excited for another date. Josh and I had our first meeting at a coffee shop in downtown DC called SlipStream. I called my Mom on my walk from work to the coffee shop and she gave me some encouraging motherly advice, which I am forever grateful for.

I fell in love on that date and the rest is history. Since it was only a coffee date, both of us had made plans for later in the evening. Both of us were over an hour late for our other plans because we could not stop talking and laughing. Josh is truly the most incredible human I have met, and I am so lucky to be married to him. We love each other more every day and look forward to spending the rest of our lives together side by side. I wish we could live to be 500 years old, just so that I would have more time with him.  

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A David’s Bride for a Nature Lovers’ Jewish Wedding at Ramat Rachel, Jerusalem, Israel

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There’s nothing like an Israeli wedding. And we’re especially in love with the beautiful Jewish wedding of Cassie, a social media manager, and Yona, who works in construction, who met while working together in Jerusalem’s Old City. Both nature lovers, we’re obsessed with the way the pair brought their enthusiasm for the outdoors into their big day.  

They opted to wed at Ramat Rachel, a kibbutz in the outskirts of Jerusalem full of wild greenery, with a verdant ketubah strewn with pink and white flowers to match.They even opted for a gorgeous nature-inspired ketubah from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor The Delicate Brush. We’re crazy about the exquisite, joyous photos from Jonny Finkel Photography and videography by Shlomi Tzur.

Music also played a big role in Cassie and Yona’s wedding, with Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor DJ Naor keeping the guests on the dance floor until the end of the night, and the bride’s family surprising her with an original song! The bridesmaids and groomsmen got in on the action too, secretly working with the groom to choreograph a dance they all did together to surprise the bride. Aww!

Now over to Cassie, who looked like an absolute princess in her David’s Bridal gown and rose gold glitter sneakers by Keds – Kate Spade…

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Natural Vibes

We got married at Ramat Rachel which is a kibbutz in the outskirts of Jerusalem. We fell in love with all the nature when we went to visit the venue for the first time and we were sold. 

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A Sassi Holford Bride for an Elegant Countryside Jewish Wedding at High Billinghurst Farm, Surrey, UK

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We just love it when our readers work with our amazing Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendors to make the Jewish wedding of their dreams a reality – like Katie, who’s a fundraising manager for an education charity, and Max, an officer in the British army, did in planning their gorgeous outdoor countryside wedding in the beautiful Surrey countryside.

These two knew their top priority was making sure their wedding would be fun for each and every one of their guests – and one of their best decisions was tapping Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Louise Perry to plan the big day. Louise and Natalie brought together the couple’s vision for a relaxed but elegant day focused on connecting with friends and family SO perfectly.

Katie and Max wanted to make sure their ceremony was inclusive too, so they worked with Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Rabbi Paul Glantz to craft a chuppah that made everyone feel involved. Rabbi Glantz made sure to explain what was happening at each stage of the ceremony so guests of all backgrounds could follow along – and he did such a good job that lots of non-Jewish guests commented afterward that they wished they could have had a Jewish wedding ceremony!

We’re also obsessed with the pair’s beautiful nature-inspired ketubah by Rachelle of Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor The Delicate Brush, as well as their birch tree chuppah decorated with white flowers and greenery – don’t miss Brett Harkness’s beautiful photos!

Putting your guests first means making sure you’ve got not only a beautiful ceremony but also a rocking party, and Katie and Max knew Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor The White Keys were just the band to keep their guests on the dancefloor all night long.

There’s so much more to say, but we’ll let the bride – who looked so elegant in Sassi Holford – tell you the rest…

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HOW WE MET

Katie, the bride: We met during our first year at Newcastle University in 2009. Neither of us remember the moment that we first met but we know it was during our very first week in Newcastle when me and the girls on my floor ventured to the floor below to meet the boys living below us.

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A Countryside Wedding

We got married at High Billinghurst Farm in Surrey. It was the first venue that we saw and we fell in love with it, even on a rainy January winters day. It ticked all of our boxes, a beautiful barn, countryside location, easy for our family and friends who travelled from around the world to get to and enough space for all of our guests. Once we saw it we knew that was the venue we wanted and did not even think about looking anywhere else.

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A Pronovias Bride for a Windy City-Themed Jewish Wedding at The Shapiro Ballroom, Chicago Illinois, USA

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We’re so excited to be featuring the beautiful Jewish wedding of STG Brides Club member Leah, a food scientist, and Scott, a middle school science and social studies teacher – and these two might just have the coolest venue story we’ve EVER heard.

You see, back in the ‘60s, Leah’s grandfather owned a movie theater in Chicago, The Alvin – it’s such a big part of the bride’s family’s story that her father was even named Alvin in its honor! After many years of abandonment, just a few years ago the theater was finally renovated and turned into… wait for it… a wedding venue! What more perfect place for these two to wed – especially given that they themed their big day around their love for their home city of Chicago? #livinlavidavenus indeed!

This is just one of the many amazing personal touches that added up to make Leah and Scott’s wedding truly one for the books. How cute are the mini Heinz (in honor of the bride’s workplace, Kraft Heinz, as well as her love for ketchup) ketchup bottles with personalized labels they gave out as favors? And of course we adore the pair’s tree of life ketubah by the wonderful Rachelle of Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor The Delicate Brush!

Jamie & Eric Photography captured all the details – not to mention the emotion – exquisitely, and we can’t get enough of the shoot they did with the couple at all of their favorite Chicago landmarks.

Now over to the bride, who could not have looked more elegant in her classic Pronovias ballgown…

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How we met

Leah, the bride: We actually met 5 years ago through Jcrush! Swiping right really paid off as I married my best friend.

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