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An Allison Webb Bride for a Gluten-Free Jewish Wedding at El Caribe, Brooklyn, NY, USA

06/04/2020 by Karen Cinnamon Leave a Comment

We’re so excited to be blogging the beautiful Jewish wedding of STG’s very own features writer, Sam Levitz! We got to know Sam as a beloved member of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club, and based on her talent for writing, wise words of advice, and great sense of humor, we realized she was just the person to join Team STG.

Sam, who in addition to serving as STG’s features writer works in publishing, and Ethan, a patient coordinator, had a totally gorgeous, 100% heartfelt wedding that also happens to have been 99% gluten free! Both bride and groom are GF – and Sam, who’s been allergic to wheat her whole life, never thought she’d be able to eat cake at her own wedding. But thanks to the baking wizardry of Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor By the Way Bakery, the pair were able to have their (gluten-free, dairy-free, and kosher pareve) cake and eat it too! They can’t stop raving about what a delight By the Way’s owner Helene was to work with – or how scrumptious the cake was! Plus, how cute is that rubber duck cake topper, which now sits proudly in Sam’s prized rubber duck collection?!

Lest you think this wedding was all about the food, Sam and Ethan also had an exceptionally moving ceremony. The two incorporated lots of personal touches: they wrote and read their own vows, were wrapped in the groom’s late father’s tallis under the chuppah, and instead of Sam circling Ethan seven times per tradition they each circled each other three times and then simultaneously did a circle together – symbolizing their equal partnership. We also love the beautiful Lori Loebelsohn ketubah they ordered from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Ketubah.com.

We’ll leave it to Sam, who looked positively ravishing in her Allison Webb gown, to fill you in on the rest…

How we met

Sam, the bride: We met on OkCupid right before New Year’s Eve going into 2017. We were a 98% match, but because of different traveling obligations we couldn’t meet up for almost 3 weeks after meeting. After that first date we were pretty much inseparable.

A Lis Simon Bride for a Homecoming-Themed Jewish Wedding at the University of Missouri, Colombia, Missouri, USA

27/03/2020 by Karen Cinnamon Leave a Comment

In uncertain times, there’s nothing like a return to the familiar. Which is why the homecoming-themed Jewish wedding of Savannah, who works as the development director at a Jewish nonprofit, and Josh, who’s starting law school this fall, who opted to wed at the University of Missouri (also known as Mizzou), where they met as college freshmen.

These two truly followed STG’s motto of “your Jewish wedding, your way.” They worked together to craft an ultra-personal ceremony that paired the traditional structure with the couple’s egalitarian values. Since lots of the guests had never before attended a Jewish wedding, Savannah and Josh also put together a program explaining the ceremony – which doubled as a fan, perfect for keeping cool in the Missouri heat! They even FaceTimed the bride’s grandma in, since she couldn’t travel to attend in person – this is such a great way to include long-distance loved ones, and in light of COVID-19 its’s something we’ll probably start seeing a lot more of.

And how special is it that Josh’s dad built the couple’s chuppah, and his mom decorated it? They even made it so it can be taken apart and moved easily, and Savannah and Josh have since repurposed it as a sukkah! Don’t miss it in the beautiful photos from Chase Castor and Cam Wiley of Kindling.

We’re also in love with the couple’s cool contemporary ketubah from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Ink with Intent. It’s a true piece of art, which now hands proudly outside Savannah and Josh’s bedroom. These two even wrote their own ketubah text, based on the egalitarian structure with some personal touches thrown in.

There’s so much more we could say about this joyous Jewish wedding, but we’ll let the bride – who looked beautiful in Lis Simon Bridal – tell you the rest…

How we met

Savannah, the bride: Josh and I met as 18-year-old college freshmen at the University of Missouri. We were set up accidentally by a mutual friend, Clayton, and I didn’t even think Josh liked me that much! I complained to Clayton that I was bored — he was out of town — and he told me to see what Josh was up to. So, that was the first time I talked to Josh one-on-one, and we then proceeded to get locked out of our dorms in the rain.

We spent all night talking outside our dorm and because it was 3 a.m., our friends weren’t answering their phones and the dorm assistant on call was asleep. We were truly locked out until the early risers woke up! The next day, Josh asked me out on our first date, where our friend (and my bridesmaid), Katie, picked out both of our first date outfits without telling either of us. So, thanks to Clayton and Katie, we’re now happily married!Continue Reading

A Vera Wang Bride for an Elegant Spring Jewish Wedding at Pleasantdale Chateau West Orange, NJ, USA

23/03/2020 by Karen Cinnamon 1 Comment

Because we can all use a bit of springtime cheer right now, we’re excited to share the beautiful Jewish wedding of two high school sweethearts: Smashing The Glass Brides Club member Elizabeth, a lawyer, and Bernie, a doctor (#cantTARASaPART).

It’s always a pleasure blogging the weddings of our Brides Club members, and we’re so touched by the bride’s kind words about how the group helped her plan her big day. Elizabeth especially loved the personal vendor referrals Team STG provides to Brides Club members on a daily basis – we connected her with her fab planner, Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Amy Katz Events, who did SUCH an incredible job bringing the couple’s vision for their day together and keeping everything running smoothly on the day, as well as the couple’s ketubah designer, Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Melanie Dankowicz – the gorgeous floral papercut she created was the absolute perfect fit for the soft springtime vibes that characterized the day.

Speaking of springtime vibes, how about that chuppah?! We adore the profusion of roses and peonies in soft pinks, corals, and whites – and those hanging floral strands just add that little something extra. The mirrored frame keeps the whole structure looking contemporary, too – don’t miss it in the wonderful photos from Maya Myers and video from Motoko Fukayama of Love in Progress.

We’ll let Elizabeth, who was a total knockout in Vera Wang, take it from here…

A Chateau Wedding

Elizabeth, the bride: We got married at Pleasantdale Chateau in West Orange, NJ. We are both from NY so neither one of us had any particular ties to NJ, but we were struggling to find a venue that spoke to us. Then someone suggested Pleasantdale and we fell in love from the moment we walked in.

An Enzoani Bride for an Elegant Outdoor Jewish Wedding at Castle Green in Pasadena, CA, USA

09/03/2020 by Karen Cinnamon

Can you believe this beautiful Jewish wedding was planned by a bride in the midst of her general surgery residency?! Juliane deserves some kind of wedding planning award – and groom Guy doesn’t have it much easier as a detective with the LAPD!

Despite their busy schedules and short planning period – just six months, so the couple could wed before Juliane had to move across the country for her colorectal surgery fellowship – these two were committed to being involved in their planning and crafting an ultra-personal day. To make it happen, they enlisted the fantastic team at Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Amethyst Event Productions.

In the bride’s own words:

My advice is to get a wedding planner. You don’t have to break the bank and they don’t have to plan your whole wedding (but they also can), but they can definitely make it a stress free zone on the day of the wedding. Our wedding planners made every last detail and vision come together and our wedding was so memorable because of it.

Before we turn you over to the bride – who looked so classically elegant in Enzoani– we have to remark on how much we adore Juliane and Guy’s simple white chuppah – with just a few arrangements at the corners, and a tallit canopy, it just goes to show you don’t need to go over the top to create a super-memorable chuppah. Don’t miss the photos from White August Photography!

How We Met

Julianne, the bride: Guy and I met via the dating app J Swipe. We texted via the app and then Guy called me. We had a lengthy conversation and by the end of it Guy apparently wasn’t convinced enough to ask me out because he told he would call me again instead of asking me out. I remember being surprised and disappointed that we spent so long on the phone and he didn’t mention a date! Eventually after another phone call we did go out. Our first date was at the Black Liquor Market and it is the last first date each of us has been on since.

An Emmy Mae Bride for a Chinese-Jewish Wedding with a Peony Chuppah at the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, Wellesley, MA, USA

04/03/2020 by Karen Cinnamon

It never fails to set our hearts aflutter when we see a couple merge their diverse backgrounds into one beautiful Jewish wedding. And we adore a peony chuppah. Therefore, we knew from the get go that we were going to fall head over heels for the wonderful Chinese-Jewish wedding of college sweethearts JingJing, who works in data analytics, and Andrew, who’s in software development.

Since these two were planning a Massachusetts wedding all the way across the country from their home in Seattle, they knew they’d need some support in planning the big day. And so they turned to the fabulous Luba of Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Primavera Dreams, who they knew they could trust to understand their diverse families and cultures.

Luba worked with the couple to incorporate traditions both Chinese – like pops of red, the traditional Chinese wedding color – and Jewish – like the stunning peony chuppah – into the day. There were even some small touches reflecting the groom’s Russian heritage thrown into the mix, like chamomile incorporated into the florals.

And back to that peony chuppah… peonies are JingJing’s favorite flowers (and, after scrolling through these lovely photos by Mark Spooner, maybe ours too?), so it was only natural to showcase them. Mixed with fresh greenery and other flowers in shades of pink, peach, and white, the chuppah struck the perfect balance between minimalism and whimsy, simplicity and lushness.

There’s so much more we could say, but we’re going to leave the rest to the bride, who looked so elegant in her 3D floral lace dress from Emmy Mae Bridal…

A Garden Venue

JingJing, the bride: We got married at The Gardens at Elm Bank at the Massachusetts Horticultural Society in Wellesley, MA. We wanted a primarily outdoor venue that would be beautiful on its own, and we were definitely partial to the garden aspect (we got engaged at a botanic garden!). Elm Bank checked all our boxes for setting as well as location and flexibility as a vendor.Continue Reading