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Aly & Zach | Mountain-top Jewish wedding at The Lodge at Sunspot, Winter Park, Colorado, USA

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I’m ready to favourite this post, and I haven’t even written it yet! You see, as a self-confessed ski nut, any wedding that includes a bride and groom atop a chair lift, a mountaintop vista, cable cars as wedding transport, an oxygen bar (yes really!) and a beaming bride and groom is a winner in my book. And thanks to the talents of Daniel Lopez Perez Photography, this Colorado beauty is all that plus SO much more.

Aly and Zach decided to have their ceremony 10,700 feet up a mountain. You see, you really can have a Jewish wedding anywhere! Aly’s skied down Winter Park Mountain every year of her life since she was five and the region means so much to her. What better reason to choose it as her wedding venue?

Frankly this W Day looks like it was a blast with so many cute details (like blue sunglasses as wedding favours) not to mention the sweetest dress and the most besotted groom I’ve seen in a while. I think you’ll love it all!

Take it away Aly…

Colorado mountain Jewish wedding
how we met

Aly, the Bride: Zach and I met at a small dive bar that our mutual friends were playing a live show at. I saw him at the end of the bar and told my friend I thought he was cute and asked her what I should say to him. My friends’s answer: “hello.” So I did. The rest of night included giant jenga, funk music, three bars, dancing, a few drinks, and a lot of laughing…. We moved in together three months later, and never looked back.

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Sara & Ben | Gloriously Colourful and Creative Jewish Wedding at Castle Green, Pasadena, California, USA

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Sara is a true Smashing The Glass bride — she did it her way (to paraphrase old blue eyes). For Sara, this meant a traditional Jewish ceremony with some of her and Ben’s own egalitarian touches added in. It meant a beautiful home-made chuppah, created by her mother, that integrated small pieces of her and Ben’s past, and it meant listening to her instincts when she felt weird, alternate pressure to create something quirky and cool, and needed a middle ground. Ben was great at helping her to acknowledge when she needed to relax and let it go, and he did much of the work, making a lot of small details happen.

The end result is a wedding full of personality, astonishing detail straight from the heart, intimacy and gloriously magnificent colour. What could be be more perfect?
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The gorgeous couple first met in Israel whilst Sara was living there and Ben was visiting on holiday. She was taking classes in Jerusalem, and while Ben was in town he wanted to sit in on a class, since he had attended the same school a few years earlier. One morning in January, Sara walked into her usual class and Ben just happened to be sitting next to her regular seat. They struck up a conversation and ended up being chevruta (study partners), but spent most of their study time chatting and getting to know each other. By the end of that day’s class, they had exchanged emails and after Ben returned to the US they started getting to know each other first on email and Gchat, and then long hours over the phone. Several months later, when Sara arrived back in NYC, Ben was waiting for her at the airport with a bouquet of flowers. That was three and a half years ago…. I’ll now hand over to the lovely Sara to tell the story of her and Ben’s wedding day from June earlier this year.

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VENUE + LOCATION

Sara, the Bride: We were married in Pasadena, California, which is a city in Los Angeles county. I’m from the Pasadena area, and although I moved to New York City seven years ago, I still feel very connected to Southern California. My family and many of my dear friends still live there.

Ben is from the Bronx, and likewise, feels very connected to his city, NYC.  Since we both live in NYC, and our lives are anchored there now, I really wanted a wedding that would change the centre of gravity a little. California is such a huge part of who I am, and therefore it felt like an authentic place to officially declare our love. In addition, I wanted my family to feel connected and involved. The fact that I live in NYC often means they can’t be involved in the details of my life, and I wanted to change that.

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Shoshana & Sam | Outdoor Bohemian DIY Jewish wedding at River Bend in Lyons, Colorado, USA

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“It’s like rai-ayy-ann on your wedding day…” Alanis Morissette famously sang. And it’s not ironic, it actually doesn’t matter one jot! This wedding proves that, for one, you’ll end up with some incredible pictures (today’s images are by the awesome June Cochran). I’m talking happy guests dancing in the rain, colourful umbrellas adorning the ceremony, and a whole heap of merriness and creativity totally untroubled (hell, even enhanced!) by the showers.

Shoshana and Sam mixed Jewish tradition and boho chic together effortlessly, and handcrafted so many thoughtful details for their W Day. They are also testament to the fact that wedspiration can strike anywhere: their colour scheme was inspired by coffee packaging they came across at their local grocery store!

As will as bringing their own creative talents into play, they called upon family and friends to play a very central part, both in the lead-up to the wedding, and on the day itself. As Shoshana puts it (and I SO agree with her) “Ask for help… people really want to be a part of your celebration so don’t be afraid to assign tasks.”

And doesn’t Shoshana look beautiful? Her French lace Sarah Seven dress is divine and I love how she’s accessorised her look with fresh flowers in her hair — she looks sensational.

Tragically, Sam’s grandmother died a few days before the wedding but the couple  knew even before the event that she wasn’t in a position to travel. So they chose a beautiful white latticed blanket that belonged to her as their chuppah covering. Sam told me, ” I was extremely close with my grandmother, so it was very meaningful to have a tangible token from her with us. And that it was covering us during our ceremony was even more poignant.”

This detail is so very special and an illustration of exactly why I started Smashing The Glass — to inspire you with the most beautiful, creative and symbolic ways to personalise your Jewish (or Jew-ish) wedding from start to finish. Shoshana and Sam’s W Day has it in bucketfuls. Take it away you two!

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how we met

Shoshana, the Bride: Sam and I met in graduate school at NYU while studying Food Systems. We actually had a mutual friend in common (that lived in Colorado) that told me to look for Sam in one of my classes. I spotted him, eventually introduced myself, became friends for about 6 months and then started dating. Much more to the story than that but that’s the simple story!

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Julie & Abe | Outdoor Jewish wedding, with a vintage botanical theme, at Vineyards at Chappel Lodge, Austin, Texas, USA

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I’m not sure if you know that when I graduated from university back in 1999, I embarked on a career as a graphic designer, having studied graphic arts & design at university. I’ve always had an enthusiasm for great design, and those were the days before digital so it was ALL about interesting paper stocks and beautiful print techniques. I’ve never lost that passion for creativity  (if anything it’s been amplified since starting my design company in 2002 which I ran until Smashing The Glass became my full-time business) and that’s why I so appreciate today’s wedding with its exquisite creative streak and attention to detail.

The craft and care for everything at this wedding is so apparent and I’ve been lapping it all up! I’m blown away by the stationery for starters – it’s magnificent. Luigi Maldonado, the art director at the creative studio in Austin where Julie works, designed the entire suite as a gift to Julie and Abe and it’s beyond beautiful.

And their wedding is a totally outdoor affair! They had their chuppah under an elegant oak tree, and their reception within a unique open-air ‘dinner tent’. It was essentially a tent structure without the tent itself and was decorated with festoon lighting so that guests could dine and party under the moonlight. Er… WOW.

Julie and Abe managed to mix tradition and creativity together effortlessly. Taking inspiration from vintage botanical sketches and illustrations of cacti and succulents, their colour palette ended up taking on a lot of white and greens, and cacti became a foundational element across floral designs, and decor.

Before I hand over to Julie let me just say that I know you’re going to go pin crazy with all the wonderful images by The Nichols. Enjoy!

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how we met

Julie, the Bride: Abe and I knew each other growing up, and at one time in our teen-aged years, we lived about two blocks away from one another. I left for college in LA, he went to Israel and then to New York and back. Years later, after I had returned to Austin, we ran into each other while he was in town visiting. After that, we started seeing one another on his trips home and kept in touch long-distance. He eventually moved back to Austin full time and we got married a few years later.

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A lavish destination Jewish wedding at Vizcaya Museum & Gardens, Miami, Florida, USA

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Oh. My. Word. What a magical chuppah that is. Not only do the intertwined branches topped with hydrangeas, roses, and orchids look thoroughly mesmerising, but the candles within the glass spheres create such a romantic, fairytale feel too.

And there’s a meaning to it all as well… Because three of the bride and groom’s grandparents sadly passed away, they honoured them by hanging not one but three tallits (prayer shawls) within the chuppah structure. I absolutely love it when couples incorporate personal details into their chuppah and this is such a beautiful and symbolic idea.

Lemor and Adam married at the super luxe Vizcaya Museum & Gardens in Miami, Florida, and their big day is every bit as enchanting and classy as you’d expect. From Lemor’s dress of dreams (a vision of sophisticated yet delicate Lazaro  frills embellished with crystals and finished off with a cathedral length veil) to her shimmery Jimmy Choo‘s, to her glamorous ombre bridesmaids, and the seamless melding of Ashkenazi, Sephardi, Persian, Israeli, and American traditions throughout the day. Enjoy all the wonderful details and get ready to swoon!

Lemor and Adam — thank you for having such an à¼ber stylish  wedding and thank you Maloman Studios for capturing it so wonderfully and submitting it to Smashing The Glass.

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how we met

Lemor, the Bride: We met at a charity fundraiser for Israel that I serve on the board for. I walked up to a friend to say hello and he was talking to Adam, who he then introduced me to. We saw each other the next night at another event for the charity, and the rest is history!
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