Valentino wedding shoes Archives - Smashing the Glass

An Isabelle Armstrong Bride for a Jewish Wedding with Killer Manhattan Views and an Orchid Chuppah at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, New York, New York, USA

14/11/2018 by Karen Cinnamon

There are no words for how obsessed we are with epic orchid chuppah. With lucite columns draped in strands of gorgeous flowers, it’s just SO dreamy. And don’t even get us started on the backdrop of Central Park and the Manhattan skyline.

It doesn’t get much more quintessentially NYC than the Jewish wedding of Vlada, who works in corporate banking, and Joshua, a corporate and bankruptcy litigation attorney (#2beepst). Between their venue – high atop the landmark Mandarin Oriental Hotel – their magnificent New York skyline cake by none other than Ron Ben Israel, and the bride’s Isabelle Armstrong dress purchased from Kleinfeld.The couple even had a wedding announcement in the New York Times!

It wouldn’t be the ultimate NYC wedding without a touch of celebrity, and Kevin Osborne Band from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Hank Lane provided that and then some – Kevin is a backup singer for Billy Joel, in addition to being an awesome band leader in his own right.

Felix from Fred Marcus captured all the glam details and jawdropping views with aplomb, and Frank Ahn from Frank Ahn Films recorded the emotion of the day so well.

Okay, now over to the bride…

How We Met

Vlada, the bride: We were introduced by a mutual family rabbi named Joseph Potasnik.

A Vesselina Bride for an Edgy, Colorful Jewish Wedding at Fox Junction in Johannesburg, South Africa

16/07/2018 by Karen Cinnamon

We’re experiencing some serious chuppah envy right now. Do you see that canopy? #chuppahgoals or what?! Dani, an interior designer, and Codey, an MBA student, wanted their wedding to be romantic but edgy, and nothing embodies that more than their fantastic chuppah.

Dani was inspired by the coolest piece of bold floral fabric she found at a local textile house, and she knew instantaneously that it would make the perfect chuppah topper. And was she ever right – the bright colors against the black background are just so cool, and miles away from your typical all-white canopy.

The couple continued their theme of edgy, artsy brights and florals in their décor – you’ve got to check out their epic tabletop décor in Verve Films and Ryan Graham Photography’s captures of the day – and completed their uber-cool look with a neon sign featuring the lyrics to their song. What song, exactly? Read on to find out from beautiful Dani, who found the perfect blend of vintage and rock ‘n’ roll in her beaded lace dress from Vesselina…

How we met

Dani, the bride: We met many years ago when we were around 11 or 12 at a Jewish summer camp (Habonim Dror). Through the years we remained good friends although we did not attend the same school. My husband even attended my bat mitzvah back in the day. We will both attest to the fact that we knew we were each other’s “one” and that marriage was inevitable between us. You can even say we were childhood sweethearts from the moment we met.

An Amanda Wakeley Bride for a London-Chic, Rose Gold and Grey Jewish Wedding at Rosewood, London, UK

03/01/2018 by Karen

So how are you settling into 2018?! And have you heard the big news about our super exciting ‘Your Wedding Your Way’ online summit on 31st January? It’s going to be EPIC – just like today’s real Jewish wedding that’s breathtakingly beautiful – inside and out.

With a rose-gold and slate grey color scheme, Emma and Liam accented the best features of gorgeous London venue, Rosewood, and complemented the already divine surroundings with fashion-forward geometric shapes.

At just five feet tall, bride Emma had a unique challenge when searching for the perfect wedding dress, but found her saviors in the team at Amanda Wakeley, who worked to create the perfect design for her frame. I think we can all agree that the result was just sensational! Emma added some height with a pair of iconic Valentino rock stud heels – a classic designer wardrobe staple we just ADORE.

We’re also all aquiver for the stunning chuppah, decorated with fresh flowers by Wildabout – what a beauty!

There were so many friends of Smashing The Glass involved in making this day happen, from submitter Aron from Whitepaper Event, who we love, love, LOVE, to THREE incredible Recommended Vendors: The Function Band, who created an out-of-this-world party atmosphere, Food Story and their delicious catering (and thoughtful cold towel idea for the Israeli dancing) and Denee Motion, whose sensitively captured, romantic trailer can be seen below.

A dear friend of the couple, Tom Archer Photography, led a team of photographers capturing every last detail of the day, and Emma and Liam worked together to provide the loving and wonderful writeup below. We’ll leave you in their capable hands now – get ready to fall in love!

How we met

Emma, the bride: We met six years ago, travelling in Australia. We were both looking for flatmates on Gumtree and Liam replied to my advert. As they say, the rest is history!

A Pronovias Bride for a Party-Vibe Destination Jewish Wedding with an Epic Chuppah at Finca La Concepcion, Marbella Spain

06/12/2017 by Karen

Pass us a cocktail, please, it’s Wedding Wednesday and we’re off to sunny Marbella, Spain, to vicariously attend the fabulous, party-vibe wedding of Tamara and Craig!

We love a good Jewish destination wedding, particularly one with such avid attention to detail, and such a STUNNER of a chuppah with a breathtaking view behind it! Would you believe the ceremony took place in a totally made over car park?? We could barely believe it either!

Tamara and Craig really made the most of their incredible location, with a pre-wedding pool party (yes!) and an overall party atmosphere with incredible production: stage sound, a giant screen, lighting, smoke machines, indoor fireworks and LED wrist bands, as well as Magic Mirror selfies! So much fun!

Bride Tamara looked eye-poppingly amazing in her subtly glittering Pronovias gown and trademark Valentino heels – total bridal chic goals!

And the ceremony boasted Moni Tivony from STG Vendor, Totem as chazan, and guests partied all night to sounds by 14-piece band and DJ, Club Live. Tamara even went with the flow and got up to say a few impromptu words.

Of course, such a fabulous wedding had to involve an incredible Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor. Fabulous photographer Jeremy Standley was on hand to capture the magic, along with Reynard Productions, who provided the heartfelt wedding video below.

Oh and if you’re planning a destination wedding of your own, you must tune into tonight’s Facebook Live at 8pm GMT – it’s a Destination Wedding Q&A special!

We’ll leave you in Tamara’s capable hands now for the full report – we hope you love it as much as we do!

A destination venue

Tamara, the bride: We got married at Finca La Concepcion in Marbella Spain. We chose Spain, as we wanted to make a whole weekend away for everyone, and we love the sun.

We used the best wedding planner in Marbella – Scott from Sunshine Weddings. The second we saw the venue, we fell in love. It was perfect, but it was also a blank canvas, and we knew exactly how we would style it.

We also had a pre-wedding pool party at Avanto Beach Club.

An Oscar de la Renta Bride for a Super Luxe Italian Garden-Themed Jewish Wedding at The Dorchester, Park Lane, London, UK

18/10/2017 by Karen

There’s only one appropriate word to describe Sophie and James’s Italian-style Jewish wedding day: bellissimo!

Yes, if you breathe in deeply, you can almost smell the stunning Italian-inspired herb garden this creative couple reconstructed in their London venue, you can almost taste the limoncello, the bombe desserts, the gelato station… sorry we drifted away for a minute! I think we can all agree that wedding planners, Banana Split, know a thing or two about creating an incredible, immersive experience.

Sophie and James had their ceremony (conducted by none other than THE Chief Rabbi Emeritus, Lord Jonathan Sacks) at the place their relationship began, Norrice Lea Synagogue, under an ah-maaaazing olive-tree chuppah.

The party really got started at super-luxe venue, The Dorchester, which was transformed into an Italian heaven, with ludicrously wonderful floral arrangements by Wild at Heart. Seriously, a recipe for divine décor.

Let’s take a second to swoon over beautiful bride Sophie’s stunner of an Oscar de la Renta gown, altered especially to fit her vision – and what a vision she looked!

There’s so much to love about today’s big day, from a singing groom to a rapping dad (YES!) but we don’t want our writeup to be longer than Sophie’s! So we’ll take a minute to appreciate the absolute photography GENIUS that is our Recommended Vendor and Smashing The Glass regular, Blake Ezra Photography. We have been lucky enough to feature Blake on many, many occasions, and he has knocked it out of the park yet again with today’s sublime spread of images.

Videographer AtMotion provided the beautiful wedding film below – and if groom James’s speech doesn’t make you well up, then we don’t know what will! Enjoy, and remember, Pin your gorgeous hearts out!

How we met

Sophie, the bride: We actually grew up around the corner from each other, but being a few school years apart, our paths never crossed. Our fathers trained as accountants together, and both our mothers went to the same hairdressers and regularly chatted.

Our fathers share a best friend, Wayne, who approached James in shul during the Kol Nidrei service and told him that he had just had an epiphany – that he had the perfect match in mind. He told James he should take me out on a date, and the rest is history.
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