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A Suzanne Neville Bride for a Super Luxe Destination Jewish Wedding at the Great Synagogue of Florence and Villa de Maiano, Florence, Italy

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BRB — booking a ticket to Florence. Okay, maybe not, but we are a million percent tempted by today’s dreamiest of Italian destination Jewish weddings. Between the ceremony at the majestic Great Synagogue of Florence to the swoon-worthy reception at Villa di Maiano, Paige and Richard‘s day was as dreamy as it gets (and they also had an adorable wedding hashtag — #paigegetsrich).

Much-loved STG Recommended Vendor Michelle Jacobs of Eleganté by Michelle J helped the couple pull all the fab design elements together from London, where they live. From the magical floral chuppah (who would’ve thought such a fresh, natural design would be the PERFECT fit for such a grand, historic space?) to THE most stunning top table we have ever, ever seen complete with a pergola, crystal chandeliers, hanging glass globes filled with tea lights (seriously, check out David Bastianoni’s photos — it is not to be missed!), we can safely say she hit a home run with this epic day. Oh… and Waterfall Visuals‘s film  below is the dreamiest thing ever.

We’re thrilled to have a chance to chat with their awesome planner, Michelle Jacobs, live on the Smashing The Glass Facebook page tomorrow at 7: 30 p.m. GMT/2:30 p.m. EST tomorrow, Thursday, October 4. And if you love today’s wedding as much as we do, do not miss this one as we’ll be covering all the ins and outs of planning a Jewish (or Jew-ish) wedding in Italy. Please do tune in, and bring your questions!

Another wonderful STG Recommended Vendor, Totem (who Paige and Richard loved enough to fly out from London!) provided ultra-emotional chuppah music before transitioning to party mode at the villa, where they kept the dancefloor packed all night. Talk about a smashing party! Oh, and speaking of things that are smashing, did we mention Paige and Richard used one of our very own Smash Glass pouches?!

We are also LOVING their exquisite stationery by Ruth Kaye Design another STG fave and Recommended Vendor… we’re literally dying over how fabulous everything about this wedding is. —don’t you agree?

We’ll let Paige, who looked goooooorgeous in her glam Suzanne Neville gown, take it from here…

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A Room with a View

Paige, the bride: Our chuppah took place at the Great Synagogue of Florence and then afterwards we moved over to Villa di Maiano, a beautiful villa in Fiesole, a small town in the hills above Florence. Villa di Maiano is where the movie A Room with a View, was filmed (just celebrating the 30th anniversary of the film).

We went to see several venues, this was the first. We had a special feeling as soon as we walked into the gardens — we both cried — so we just knew this was the place for us. We did consider having our ceremony at Villa di Maiano, but Michelle suggested we visit the synagogue… and again, the minute we walked in we just knew we had to have our chuppah there.Continue ReadingContinue Reading

A Mediterranean Garden Destination Jewish Wedding at El Cortijo de los Caballos in Marbella, Spain

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We’re always thrilled to blog the weddings of our real blogging brides, and we could not be more excited to feature beautiful Hayley’s sun-drenched Spanish wedding to Ashley at El Cortijo de los Caballos.

We loved reading along with Hayley as she went through the process of converting to Judaism during her engagement, and couldn’t be more proud to see her and Ashley standing under their lovely DIY chuppah, which put folded umbrellas to use as poles, draped in tulle and lace — including a square from Hayley’s dress! Check it out in Anna Gazda’s luminous photos.

This wedding was chock full of personal touches… between custom kippot inscribed with “Man Utd Rule” with footballs printed on them, as a nod to Ashley’s chosen team, to a very memorable rap by the bridesmaids (they turned Ice Ice Baby into “Ash Ash Hayley”!) Hayley and Ashley injected so much personality into their fun-filled day.

And to make sure their wedding was a party to remember, the couple flew out Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Totem as their band! Performing at both the ceremony and reception, Hayley and Ashley credit their fab band with making the party happen — and report that guests are still telling them how great the music was!

Now over to Hayley, who was lucky enough to have her gorgeous princess gown was custom designed for her by her new sister-in-law, who used to be a pro bridal wear designer…

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How we met

Hayley, the bride: We met online through Tinder, although I’m sure Ash told a few people we met at a bar in Shoreditch!

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An Inbal Dror Bride for a Vintage Glamor Jewish Wedding at Essendon Country Club, UK

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Lovers of vintage glamor, take note – today’s stunning, old Hollywood-style Jewish Essendon Country Club wedding is definitely one for you! 

Set in a barn and accented with gold tones, Laura and Gio’s wedding stayed true to the couple’s motto: ‘keep it simple’, while still looking insanely chic and luxe! Oh, and there were personalized cocktails, just in case you weren’t already at peak FOMO!

We love Israeli designers for their sense of subtle but smoking hot sex appeal, and Inbal Dror gowns truly tick these boxes. Bride Laura looked like an A-lister in her gorgeous and ridiculously flattering embellished, gold-tone dress, with some seriously on fleek hair and makeup game going on, too!

The loved-up couple, who actually met over the phone during a work call, and hit it off so well that they stayed in touch, made sure the day was about them and their adoration of one another, sneaking off regularly to really take in their surroundings.

A true Smashing The Glass wedding, there were three Recommended Vendors involved in making the day so incredible. Wedding band, Totem, totally rocked the reception, and earned a glowing writeup from bride, Laura. 

Rabbi Paul Glantz, another much-loved Recommended Vendor led the moving ceremony, and the story of the day was told in the beautiful, documentary-style spread of images by phenomenal RV, Paul Rogers. What a dream team!

It’s definitely time to let Laura loose on the blog to fill us in on all the big-day details, so take it away, Laura! 

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How we met

Laura, the bride: We meet the phone years ago when Gio was in recruitment. I called up (the company I was working for was looking to employ) and ended up speaking to Gio. We began a phone and email friendship and one day decided to meet up in person, and that was it, the voice over the phone ended up being the love of my life. Continue ReadingContinue Reading

Real Jewish Brides – Hayley: Finally Jewish… and the Final Countdown!

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Hayley will be marrying Ashley on 17th September 2017 at El Cortijo De Los Caballos in Spain.

THREE FACTS: (1) Hayley & Ashley met on Tinder (2) Ashley proposed with a Haribo ring (after which he pulled out the actual engagement gem!) (3) Hayley is converting to Judaism to marry Ashley.

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Officially Jewish!

Yay! I’m officially Jewish!!  I had my Mikveh on the Monday which I can honestly say I left feeling refreshed and just different, I can’t explain but a good feeling of different! 
 
The Thursday came around very quickly and off I went to the Liberal Beit Din. I loved everything about it! I felt Ashley was more nervous then I was but  I had three fantastic Rabbi’s talk to me and ask me all different questions about Judaism and my essays. What was meant to be fifteen minutes long, ran fifteen minutes late! I literally did not stop talking!
 
I then left the room for the rabbis to make a decision, I came back into the room with Ashley. I was then explained that I was officially accepted into Judaism. Happy was an understatement! I have worked so hard to become Jewish and I can say that I genuinely feel Jewish. I have a lot of Ashley’s (now mine) friends to thank for my constant texting and having to answer all my Jewish questions especially Amy!
 
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Chuppah from Jade & Adam’s Jewish Wedding on Smashing The Glass

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A fairy-light filled Jewish Barn Wedding with a crowd-surfing Enzoani Bride at Tewin Bury Farm, Hertfordshire

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If there’s one thing we’ve learned over the years about Essex couples, it’s that they know how to party – and party is exactly what fun-loving Sammy and Wayne did, with gusto! In fact, they partied so hard to STG Recommended Vendor, Totem‘s, set, that bride Sammy threw caution to the wind, and herself into the arms of her guests, becoming our first crowd-surfing bride!

Sammy, an assistant producer with credits on just about all of your favourite entertainment shows, and Wayne a lettings manager, met as teenagers, and these childhood sweethearts stayed together through thick and thin, tying the knot on their ten-year anniversary.

The pair chose a rustic barn theme, with an abundance of gypsophila and a plethora of twinkling fairy lights, creating an absolutely magical atmosphere. 

Sammy looked sensational in her Enzoani gown, and Jenny Packham heels, which she later swapped for embellished, personalized Converse, echoing one of her favorite films, Father of the Bride. 

All of the details (including that epic crowd surf) can be seen in much-loved STG Recommended Vendor, Denee Motion‘s, film (below) and the gorgeous images by photographer, Reportage By Limited.

We’ll pass you on to Sammy for the full lowdown on her and Wayne’s special day! 

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How we met 

Sammy, the bride: We went to King Solomon High School in Essex, but Wayne was two school years above me and emigrated from South Africa when he was 14 years old. We never spoke at school.

When I was in sixth form and Wayne was on a gap year before university, we met at a mutual friend’s birthday party in a nightclub. We clicked straight away, and went on our first date a week later.

On our first date, we went to a restaurant where we chatted for five hours, we practically got chucked out of the restaurant as we didn’t want the night to end. The rest, as they say, is history.

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