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A Vera Wang Bride for a Magical Forest Jewish Wedding in the City at the Hilton Midtown Hotel, New York City, New York

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Jewish wedding New York Hilton Midtown USA_0053

Okay, we’re still picking our jaws up off the floor from this INCREDIBLE chuppah. I mean… wow. Bride Rebecca says she felt like she was in a magical forest, and we can’t really think of a better way to put it than that. You don’t want to miss the exquisite photos by Cristina Calvi and Hy Goldberg.

Rebecca and Eric, who both work in finance, wanted to bring the outdoors in to their big day – despite getting married smack dab in the center of Manhattan – and did they ever. The fairytale trees and flowers surrounding the couple under their chuppah, amidst an uber-romantic background of flickering candles, was just beyond.

The flowers for the rest of the wedding were totally outstanding, too – the arches of hanging ombre wisteria that formed the backdrop of the badeken, the luxe tablecenters, even the flowers adorning the couple’s gorgeous wedding cake.

Now over to the bride…

Jewish wedding New York Hilton Midtown USA_0053Jewish wedding New York Hilton Midtown USA_0053
How we met

Rebecca, the bride: We grew up only a few blocks from each other and were one grade apart, but we “officially” met and starting dating in high school (Rebecca’s junior year, Eric’s senior year) and we have been together ever since. We only figured out years after we started dating that we had been on the same bus in elementary school!

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A Rosa Clara Bride for an Art Deco Jewish Wedding at Hackney Town Hall, London, UK

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We are seriously obsessed with the Art Deco style of today’s fabulous London Jewish wedding. Lara, who works in HR, and Dan, who plays guitar in the band London Grammar, drew inspiration from the architectural stylings of their venue, hidden gem Hackney Town Hall (seriously, check out their ceremony space — we’re in awe of all those glass walls, exposed brick, and high ceilings). We’re obsessed with Rebecca Goddard’s beautiful, natural captures of the day.

Lovely Lara continued the Art Deco theme with her gorgeous beaded gown from Rosa Clara, and Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Blue Sky Flowers made the duo’s dream florals a reality, adding a bit of a wild side and an element of contemporary chic to the day.

Lara reports that one of the couple’s most enjoyable wedding planning tasks consisted of meeting wonderful Liz of Blue Sky Flowers at New Covent Garden flower market and walking around with her to pick their preferred flowers!

We’ll hand you over to the bride in a sec, but not before we make sure you’re aware that these two had one of the cutest interactive dessert station ideas we’ve seen yet: a pick ‘n mix stand, inspired by Lara’s favorite cinema snack, where guests could help themselves to an assortment of 16 types of sweets!

 

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How we met

Lara, the bride: Dan and I have been together for 10 years, we met at Nottingham University in 2009. For us this day felt so special as all our friends are so close to us both, so it felt like one big family in the room.

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A Vera Wang Bride for a Magical Outdoor Jewish Wedding at The Vineyards in Simi Valley, California, USA

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Jewish wedding The Vineyards in Simi Valley, California, USA_0012
We are absolutely and unequivocally in love with today’s gorgeous outdoor Jewish wedding. The garden chuppah, the California vibes, the perfect summer light… just WOW. Miki and Sonja Photography captured it all SO perfectly, and videographer Stavro Productions made such a moving recording.

But this awesome celebration was about so much more than the magnificent surroundings. Lisa, a therapist who works with Holocaust survivors in addition to running her own concierge practice, FeelingConfidential, and Alexander, a personal injury attorney, also made sure their big day was full of unique personal touches.

For instance, we love how the duo designed their ceremony programs to be folded into fans, so that guests could use them to keep cool during the outdoor ceremony.

And how sweet is it that Lisa recorded herself reciting a blessing, and then arranged to have it played while guests (and the groom, of course) were waiting for her to walk down the aisle?!

Now over to beautiful Lisa, who looked like an absolute modern day princess in her gorgeous Vera Wang… 

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Jewish wedding The Vineyards in Simi Valley, California, USA_0012

Jewish wedding The Vineyards in Simi Valley, California, USA_0012
How We Met

Lisa, the bride: Although we both lived in NYC at the same time, lived in Israel at the same time, and attended various parties and events over the last 10 years, we had never met.

3 years ago Lisa was living in Los Angeles, and Alex in his hometown of Las Vegas. My best friend and Alex’s best friend set us up the old fashioned way. We went on our first date in Las Vegas on the strip… the date lasted 7 hours 🙂

Flash forward a few months later, Alex knew he couldn’t take the LA girl out of LA, so he quit his job, passed the CA state bar, and started anew in LA to be with me. The ultimate sacrifice for love 🙂

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New York Bridal Market Fall 2019 Recap {and Top Bridal Trends for 2019}

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Ines Di Santo’s afterparty at the Baccarat Flagship Photo by JP Yim/Getty Images

5 days, 18 appointments, approximately 57 million Insta stories (if you missed them, you can catch the best bits in our highlights), and countless fantastic dresses later, New York Bridal Fashion week is over for another season. Basically Fashion Week for wedding dresses, Bridal Fashion Week (aka Bridal Market) is easily one of the most fun times of a wedding blogger’s year. 

Some of the collections are presented at full-on runway shows (and Ines Di Santo put on a particularly epic one this Bridal Market, plus the coolest afterparty at the Baccarat Flagship), while others are shown at more intimate appointments for small groups of buyers from bridal boutiques (plus press, of course), sometimes with the designers present. 

Suzanne Neville

Limor Rosen

Ines Di Santo Photo by FIRSTVIEW

I had some fantastic conversations with designers and PR reps, learned a ton about everything from who actually buys those epic but unwearable-looking designs you see on the runway (answer: often no one, since some designs are purely intended for editorial impact and never even make it to production) to the differences between what American and British brides are looking for in a gown (according to Sassi Holford, it’s half an inch: Americans invariably want deeper sweetheart necklines, while the Brits prefer theirs with less of a dip). The more you know!

There’s so much fantastic bridal fashion in the pipeline for next year, and I’m so excited to share it with you, along with my take on some of the top trends we’ll be seeing (or, in some cases, continuing to see) over the next year. From classic elegance inspired by Meghan Markle’s gown to a burgeoning range of alt coverups from capes to ruffs (perfect for under the chuppah!) to unexpected bursts of color, 2019’s going to be an exciting year for bridal. Pin your favorite looks!

Caroline Castigliano 

Suzanne Neville

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A Monique Lhuillier Bride for a Tradition-Meets-Brooklyn-Style Jewish Wedding at Greenpoint Loft, Brooklyn, New York, USA

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Combining Jewish tradition with your own 21st-century style isn’t always easy. That’s one of the reasons Smashing The Glass was founded. So we’re always excited to see couples finding creative ways to merge their contemporary lives with Judaism’s beautiful, if sometimes baffling, traditions.

Today’s couple, a Leigh, middle-school teacher and Ian, an attorney, did SUCH an amazing job of it with their Jewish wedding. Their wedding, at super cool Greenpoint Loft in the trendy Brooklyn waterfront neighborhood by the same name, exudes contemporary cool at the same time as it embraces tradition.

The couple found a kosher caterer able to provide a fun, of-the-moment menu featuring herb and bitters infused cocktails, bao buns, and chicken and waffles. And their music? This duo had a cantor, a klezmer band, AND a DJ to play all their favorite current hits.

Their understated, nature-inspired chuppah, wrapped in greenery with some accent florals, is totally Brooklyn chic, too–and guests got to watch the sun set over Manhattan through the windows behind the couple during the ceremony!

We also adore Leigh and Ian’s playful approach to the day — you’ve GOT to check out their impromptu Oktoberfest photo shoot, brilliantly captured by Unique Lapin Photography. And you won’t want to miss the super fun story of how it all came about.

Leigh, who looked so beautiful in her romantic, long-sleeved lace dress from Monique Lhuillier (purchased from STG favorite Kleinfeld), will fill you in on that, and the rest of the fab details…

Jewish Wedding Greenpoint Loft Brooklyn NY USA_0066

Jewish Wedding Greenpoint Loft Brooklyn NY USA

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How We Met

Leigh, the bride: Although we usually don’t admit it, we met on a dating app, way before they became the dating “norm” that they are today!

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