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A Vintage Bride with an Heirloom Gown for an Outdoor Wedding at Wente Vineyards, Livermore, CA, USA

13/07/2018 by Karen Cinnamon

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Today’s Jewish bride has got one of the most incredible wedding dress stories we’ve encountered yet. Her gorgeous vintage gown was worn not only by her mother, but by her grandmother and aunt too.. I mean WOW!

It’s hard to believe that Alana’s dress dates all the way back to 1949 (!) — but with some modifications, which the dress’s previous wearers kindly permitted, it’s the perfect blend of contemporary and vintage, and just the thing for an outdoor winery wedding. You’ve got to check out all the lovely details in Nightingale Photography’s pics.

Alana, a customer success manager, and Ben, a landscape architect, initially planned on renting their synagogue’s chuppah, but it turned out it was broken and out of commission! This setback turned out to be a blessing in disguise, since it prompted Ben to build one from scratch — and it turned out just tremendously. We love the modern design, and those flowers in the corners? Perfection!

Now over to Alana for the rest of their gorgeous Jewish wedding story…

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How we met

Alana, the bride: We met online on Jdate!

An Eddy K Bride for a Modern Vintage Jew-ish Wedding at Sixth & I Synagogue and Loft at 600 F, Washington, DC, USA

06/07/2018 by Karen Cinnamon

We always love hearing from couples who’ve used Smashing The Glass as a wedding planning resource, and today is no exception. Beautiful bride Kiki reports that she loved STG for the real wedding inspo and vendor suggestions, and especially the Jewish 101 sections, which she found super helpful in planning her Jew-ish ceremony. Aw, thanks Kiki!

It was important to Kiki and Rob to plan an inclusive Jew-ish wedding that would be equally welcoming to Rob’s family, who are Jewish, and Kiki’s, who are not. They found the perfect spot in the historic Sixth & I Synagogue in their hometown of Washington, DC — you’ve got to check out the gorgeous photos from Ryan Hicks of Lily & Lime — with the reception nearby at Loft at 600 F, another cool historic building, just the thing for a modern vintage-themed wedding!

Also perfect for the modern vintage aesthetic? Kiki’s stunner of a gown by Eddy K, a strapless lace low-backed number with a dramatic train.

But the visuals are far from the only thing we’re loving about this wedding. Kiki and Rob incorporated all kinds of personal touches into the day. Our favorite: before the wedding, their rabbi had them each write ten things they love about each other and email it to him. Then, on the day, before the seven blessings, he talked about the pair as a couple and mentioned the things they had said about each other. Isn’t that the sweetest?!

Before we hand things over to Kiki, we’ve got to mention that we’re so pleased we were able to help guide Kiki and Rob toward Smashing the Glass Recommended Vendor Ink with Intent for just the right ketubah. In Kiki’s words, working with them was “nothing short of amazing,” with customer service that went above and beyond.

How we met

Kiki, the bride: We met when I started working at George Washington University in fall of 2013 and became friends first through lots of happy hours with coworkers and mutual friends. He now works at NIH in research imaging and I work at GWU assisting in patient care. We started dating that December, and got engaged while on vacation in Florida in December 2016 on the beach at sunrise.

A Martina Liana Bride for a Destination Jewish Barn Wedding at Blue Sky Ranch in Wanship, Park City, Utah, USA

11/06/2018 by Karen Cinnamon

We’re so in love with today’s couple’s ultra-personal chuppah. Lennie and Mark combined ten (yes TEN!) family tallits (prayer shawls), from both sides, to make their fantastic canopy — literally weaving together their two families into a new one! Isn’t that beautiful?

And for the poles, the couple used Aspen branches, in a nod to the natural flora of their destination location, the stunning mountain retreat of Park City, Utah. Check out Pepper Nix‘s gorgeous photos of the ceremony — not to mention the fab party, before and after!

Yep, another thing we adore about Lennie and Mark’s Jewish wedding is their pre-chuppah cocktail hour. The pair made a point of attending and enjoying it fully, and clever bride Lennie even took the smart step of sourcing a special cocktail dress (purchased from BCBG on the sale rack for $100!) so she wouldn’t have to worry about anything spilling on her gown. The cocktail dress came in handy again when the bustle on Lennie’s modern, chic Martina Liana gown broke during a very energetic hora!

Oh, and one last detail we can’t get enough of: this pair seriously mixed up the standard hotel welcome bag formula, injecting some serious personality into your regular selection of snacks and water bottles: since Lennie is a dentist and Mark is a gastroenterologist, the goodies they handed out included monogrammed toothbrushes and reflux meds! Now over to Lennie…

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How we met

Lennie, the bride: We met on a blind date! One of my friends was out with her husband and another couple, and the guy happened to be one of Mark’s co-workers. Mark was talking about moving, and his coworker was trying to set him up so he wouldn’t move! He’s now stuck in Tampa (where I grew up 🙂

What’s ironic is that I had messaged Mark on Jswipe a year before we met, and he responded once and then never again. So when my friend called me telling me she was setting me up and describing him I said “oh, he didn’t message me back.” This time, he called me, we made plans, and that was that. (I later found out he was getting back together with his ex-girlfriend at the time when he didn’t message me back.)

A Carol Hannah Bride for an International Jewish Wedding at The Lighthouse at Chelsea Piers, New York, New York, USA

06/06/2018 by Karen Cinnamon

You don’t get much more cosmopolitan than today’s couple. Hayley, from New York, and Emmanuel, from Paris, met while living in London, and chose to hold their Jewish wedding (well, one of them…) in the bride’s super-cool hometown, whilst including so many gorgeous creative details!

Their wedding at The Lighthouse at Chelsea Piers celebrated their international backgrounds through details like bilingual French-English invitations and a custom designed map displaying all of the places both Hayley and Emmanuel have lived, and that have been important in their relationship.

We love this idea for an ultra-personal touch, and Smartup Visuals came up with the most fun design — you’ve got to see Corey Torpie’s photos of it!

You know how we said in the intro that one of the duo’s weddings took place in NYC? Well, that’s because these two had already gotten legally married in a civil wedding in France, the groom’s home country, which let them let loose and enjoy the celebration and religious ceremony at wedding part 2.

With guests from all over the world, making sure everyone felt included was paramount. One lovely way Hayley and Emmanuel made all of their guests feel part of the day was by having a group reading of the Seven Blessings. They found some modern interpretations of the Seven Blessings they liked, printed out copies for all the guests, and asked everyone to join in during the ceremony — isn’t that beautiful?

Hayley, who looked stunning in her modern, almost sculptural Carol Hannah gown, will fill you in on the rest…

How we met

Hayley, the bride: Emmanuel and I met a few years ago when we were both living in London. Ironically, I had lived in Paris – where Emmanuel is from – for a few years before moving to London, and Emmanuel had lived in New York (my hometown) before moving to London. We had lived in the exact same places but at different times, so we connected right away.

An Ultra-Personal DIY Gay Jewish Wedding in the Hamptons, Amagansett, New York, USA

04/06/2018 by Karen Cinnamon

We love a good DIY Jewish wedding here at Smashing The Glass, and Adam and Curtis’s intimate day in the Hamptons ticks ALL of our boxes. NYC couple Adam, a senior news producer for CBS News’ 24/7 live streaming network CBSN, and Curtis, an actor and teaching artist currently performing in Angels In America on Broadway, in search of an affordable place to host a wedding weekend, found a gem of a house (with 17 bedrooms!) in Amagansett, in the Hamptons, via VRBO.

Looking at Libby Christensen’s artistic, emotion-filled photos of the day, you’d never guess this wedding was pulled off on a tight budget. But thanks to plenty of help from family and friends, Adam and Curtis were able to pull off an ultra-chic day without spending a fortune.

One of the biggest labors of love was food. Rather than going for a traditional caterer, the pair ordered food from Fresh Direct. The food was delivered to their NYC apartment the day before the wedding, and friends helped them drive all 70 (!) boxes out to the Hamptons so it would be ready on the day.

The couple’s super-devoted wedding party came through to save the day when some inevitable wedding mishaps occurred, too — you’ve got to see what one of the groomswomen did when the cake topper Adam and Curtis had ordered didn’t arrive on time…

The couple calls their wedding a group effort, and the day was really all about honoring their community. At their super-intimate ceremony Adam and Curtis asked their guests to stand around the chuppah, circling them in support and love.

Now over to the grooms, who looked incredibly handsome in their suits from ASOS, Adam ina tweed and Curt in maroon…