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A Festival-Themed Jewish Wedding with a Ball Pit and Mini Golf at Brook Farm Cuffley, Hertfordshire, UK

17/10/2018 by Karen Cinnamon Leave a Comment

You know we’re all about “Your Jewish wedding, your way” here at Smashing The Glass. It’s really our mission, and while all the weddings we blog are chosen for their authenticity and individuality, sometimes one really blows us away with its inventiveness.

That’s definitely the case today. Rachel and Josh packed their festival-themed Jewish wedding so full of unexpected fun, from the ball pit (!!!) to the BBQ-style mezze menu to the mini golf course!

Since a festival is nothing without fantastic music (and plenty of it), the pair booked multiple musical acts, including Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor, the incredible Totem.

Our hats are totally off to Rachel (who owns the photo booth company Megabooth!) and Josh for crafting such an utterly unique day, and one that is so obviously, unabashedly them. You won’t want to miss Tom Webb and Dan McCourt’s glorious photos of this one-of-a-kind wedding… or Rachel’s writeup of the “mad party,” as she says!

How we met

Rachel, the bride: My husband and I were set up by mutual friends. However, the proposal was an interesting one! We got engaged in the desert on a stargazing tour, went for a walk, saw a shooting star, and then he got down on one knee!

A Charlie Brear Bride for a Fashionably Floral Outdoor Jew-ish Wedding at the Bride’s Parents’ Holiday Home in Old Minster Lovell, Cotswolds, UK

21/09/2018 by Karen Cinnamon Leave a Comment

I am absolutely, whole-heartedly in love with today’s Jew-ish wedding. For starters I’m loving the fantastic floral details on the chuppah by STG Recommended Vendor Paula Rooney. They’re luxe while still managing to stay understated, and that coral color scheme? Perfection.

And just the thing for the idyllic Cotswolds setting. Lucky Miriam, a lawyer, and Josh, a banker, were able to take advantage of the bride’s parents’ fantastic holiday home in one of the UK’s prettiest corners, and thanks to fab STG Recommended Vendor Louise Perry Weddings, all the moving parts of this fab marquee wedding came together without a hitch.

STG Recommended Vendor Paul Rogers captured everything about the day so beautifully, from the lovely details to the emotion (you’ve got to see these two under the chuppah!) to that bluer-than-blue sky. Oh, and did we mention that Miriam and Josh found Paul right here on Smashing The Glass?!

Now over to Miriam, who looked stunning in Charlie Brear…

How We Met

Miriam, the bride: We met while studying history at Cambridge University, at the end of our first year. That’s also where Josh proposed!

A Lucy Can’t Dance Bride for a ‘Kosher Braveheart Does Glastonbury’ Jewish-Scottish Wedding at the Fox and Hounds, Great Moulton, UK

03/09/2018 by Karen Cinnamon

We’ve got two words for you: Wisteria. Chuppah. Just look at it! Have you ever seen anything more lovely than those simple strands of purple and white perfection swinging gently in the breeze, captured to perfection by photographer Katy Treadwell?! Because we’re pretty sure we haven’t.

Sophie, a property photographer for an estate agent, and Andy, a web designer, totally rocked their “Kosher Braveheart Does Glastonbury” Jew-ish wedding style (seriously, have you heard of a better theme?!). Between Sophie’s swoonworthy bridal ensemble—consisting of a boho-perfect Lucy Can’t Dance two-piece, flower crown, and green and blue ombre cathedral veil (that the bride dyed herself!)—that knockout chuppah, and their awesome festival-inspired wedding cake with THE coolest hidden back (seriously, do NOT miss this one!), this is one wedding we’re seriously sad not to have attended.

Oh, and you know how much we love it when couples let us know they’ve used Smashing the Glass to plan their big day. Well, not only did Sophie and Andy draw inspiration from the blog in planning their beautiful boho English-Scottish-Jew-ish wedding—Sophie reports that our Real Blogging Brides and 5 Minutes With sections—were especially helpful, they even used one of our very own Smash Glass pouches for under the chuppah.

We love love LOVE seeing our smash glass pouches in our Jewish wedding features so make sure you buy one and send us your pictures just like gorgeous Sophie did! So now over to the bride herself…

How we met

Sophie, the bride: We’d been friends for around 6 years before we started dating, and it only took him another 6 before he popped the question! But we wouldn’t have it any other way, and I feel like the luckiest lady in the world that I got to get married to her best friend!

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

24/08/2018 by Karen Cinnamon

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 19^th-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…

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.

An Epic Enchanted Garden-Themed Jewish Wedding with Airplanes, Classic Cars, and a Carousel at Bicester Heritage, Bicester, UK

06/08/2018 by Karen Cinnamon

Where do we even start with today’s Jewish wedding? It’s got to be one of the most amazing we’ve seen, like… EVER. Do you see that chuppah?! We’ve honestly never come across one like it before, like an actual magical forest transported indoors (thanks to the never-ending talents of Amie Bone Flowers)– and it’s about the size of one, too.

Shier, a junior doctor, and Xander, a product designer, went BIG with everything from their venue – an actual airplane hangar that they transformed into an enchanted forest for the day – to their glorious chuppah (!!!) to Shier’s wonderfully OTT flower crown.

The pair brought a Victorian-style carousel in for the day, and post-ceremony Shier and Xander drove onto the dancefloor in one of Xander’s many classic cars, a baby blue open top from the 1960s. Seriously. Check it out in At Motion’s brilliant video of the day. Oh, and the groom flew into the wedding, landing a 1930s open-top airplane in feet away from the crowd of guests.

When we say this pair went big with everything, we do mean everything. Dessert-loving Shier couldn’t bear to choose just one cake, so Smashing the Glass Recommended Vendor Food Story put together a dessert table with literally dozens. The couple’s guests couldn’t stop raving about how delicious the food was, and many were shocked when they found out it was kosher (as is often the case with the amazing Food Story!).

Smashing the Glass Recommended Vendor David Pullum did SUCH an amazing job photographing the day, capturing the drama of the setting, the emotion of the ceremony, and the fun of the party so well, we feel like we were there ourselves. We certainly wish we were – we’ve fallen head over heels for this wedding, and we’re pretty sure you will too.

Oh, and did we mention there’s a super cool story behind Shier’s fab gown (and no, it’s not a Vivienne Westwood). Read on to find out its unexpected journey – and all the other details of this most epic of weddings.

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🙌🏻😍 If we could BE a Chuppah… this is what we’d be. Hands down! Who else is as obsessed with this floral masterpiece by 🌸 @amieboneflowers as we are?! 📋 @everyeventlondon – #chuppahgoals #chuppah #chuppahs #chuppahideas #chuppahflowers #weddinggoals #weekendvibes #weddingflowers #jewishwedding #jewish #jewishweddings #bridetobe #ceremonydecor

A post shared by Jewish Wedding Blog (@smashingtheglass) on Jun 9, 2018 at 12:05pm PDT

Not Your Average Venue

Shier, the bride: We got married in a beautifully alternative venue, an airplane hangar within a site called Bicester Heritage. The site is a repurposed WW2 RAF bomber station now dedicated to all things relating to classic cars and motoring. My brother initially read about the site in a classic car magazine and immediately thought of Alexander (my now husband!) and me because Alexander’s biggest passion in life, apart from me of course, is his classic car collection and all things related.

I sent an email over to their event manager Tiggy Atkinson and the rest was history! Initially even Tiggy was a bit skeptical as they had never hosted a wedding before, although they do host many large-scale events such as car auctions and classic car conventions. Our families and friends were also very skeptical upon hearing we wanted to get married in what was essentially an empty 50,000ft garage, however Jess from Every Event London (our wedding planner) and my brilliantly creative mum consistently reassured us that together we could turn this monolithic empty space into a dream wedding venue.