Washington DC Jewish Wedding Archives - Smashing the Glass

A Vintage Bride for an Eco-Friendly DIY Jewish Wedding on a Budget, San Juan Island Grange Hall, Washington, USA

10/01/2022 by Karen Cinnamon Leave a Comment

We couldn’t be more delighted to feature the gorgeous DIY Jewish wedding of our Brides Club member Emily to Jason! The couple, who live on a sailboat and run a sailing business, planned a laid-back eco-wedding totally in keeping with their values and lifestyle – and in line with their tight budget.

How’d they do it? With a little help from their friends. Emily and Jason asked guests to pitch in on wedding prep in lieu of gifts, and it made for such a special day – from the food cooked by guests to a chuppah constructed from local driftwood by the Boy Scout troop Jason leads! Don’t miss it in the gorgeous images by Nyama Photography.

We loved following Emily’s wedding planning journey during her time in Brides Club, and we’re so touched by her kind words about the community:

“I loved being a member of Brides Club, joining after I got engaged was a no brainer for me because I’d already been in Karen Cinnamon’s Smashing Life and love the community she has created there. I found our ketubah, yarmulkes and invitation/wedding website through Bride’s Club. I received so much support and love in this group.”

Another thing we’re obsessed with? Emily’s gorgeous vintage dress, ordered from Etsy! The classic ‘50s styling is SO chic, and going vintage is such a great eco-friendly option.

Now over to the bride…

How we Met

Emily, the bride: We started dating after Emily moved to Bellingham, WA from New York City. Jason quickly told her that he would never live on land again. Emily started taking to life on sailboat having admired sailboats from a far for much of her life. Emily bought a ballet school on San Juan Island and moved to Friday Harbor.

After a brief time living on land and loving hosting large dinners (which Jason especially loved), Emily and Jason decided to move back full-time to the sailboat, where they are very happy and looking forward to extended cruising. We are loving life on our boat and started a sailing business, Essential Sailing Industries. Jason with an emphasis on battery and solar systems, electrical work and generally meeting and helping people work with their boats and solving their boat problems. Emily is putting her years of sewing to work making canvas for boats.Continue Reading

A Pronovias Bride for a Picture Perfect Jewish COVID Wedding at Larz Anderson House, Washington DC, USA

26/03/2021 by Karen Cinnamon

Merav and Dmitri’s Jewish wedding was SO incredibly dreamy, if not for the personalized masks and “vaccine” shooters we’d never have guessed it took place during the pandemic.

We’re obsessed with their gorgeous venue, Larz Anderson House in downtown Washington, DC – a spot the couple had looked at and loved when they first started planning, but eventually rejected because it couldn’t accommodate their pre-COVID guest list.

Once the pandemic hit and they had to scale things down, though, the Anderson House became a viable option. We’re not sure which we love more, the lush garden where Merav and Dmitri held their outdoor chuppah or the beautiful ballroom they used for their reception. Don’t miss a single detail in Adam Mason’s luminous photos or Wise Films’ wonderful trailer.

We’re also in love with Merav and Dimitri’s fabulous ketubah by Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Ink with Intent. The couple searched long and hard for a ketubah that felt truly them, and when they stumbled onto one of Ink with Intent’s past ketubot featuring text printed over a picture of the couple, they knew that was the direction for them. Needless to say, the pair adore their ketubah, and it now graces a wall in their home as a special piece of art.

We’ll let the bride, who looked so elegant in Pronovias, take it from here…

How we met

Merav, the bride: Dmitri and I originally met in 2008 through a mutual friend, but we didn’t know each other well and only saw each other sparingly over the years. When he moved down to Washington, DC to start a data analytics company, we reconnected over coffee and we started working together to make the dream a reality.

Together, we worked at WeWork Chinatown (where we did our pre-wedding photo shoot!), 7 days a week, through holidays and snowstorms to build our company. Today, we have 40 employees and a growing business.

As our respect and trust for each other grew, so did our relationship. A year and a half after working together, we started dating. After 4 years of growing our company together, moving in, and adopting two cats, Dmitri proposed at a private dinner on a beautiful beach in Mexico.Continue Reading

A Suspended Floral Chuppah for a Festive, Glitzy Jewish Wedding at Dock 5 in Washington, D.C., USA

20/08/2018 by Karen Cinnamon

You know there’s little we love more than a distinctive chuppah design at a Jewish wedding.

At first glance, today’s version may look like a fairly standard-issue floral design… but look again. Specifically, look at the poles – or, more precisely the lack thereof.

That’s right, Jillian, a reporter at the financial news site MarketWatch, and Steven, a dental student, went for a suspended chuppah for their big day, with asymmetrical greenery and white flowers descending from each of the four corners but stopping a good few feet from the floor. How cool does it look in Sam Hurd’s glam photos?!

The non-traditional (yet still permissible according to Jewish law — the couple checked with their rabbi) chuppah is just one of the wonderful ways Jillian and Steven merged Jewish traditions with their own 21st-century sensibilities.

For example, the pair liked the tradition of a pre-wedding tisch (a ceremony for the groom and male guests) and kabbalat panim (for the bride and female guests), but weren’t crazy about the gender segregation thing. Their solution? During the cocktail hour, they held both ceremonies, but made each gender-neutral so that all of the guests could experience both — and get in some valuable time with the bride and the groom. We LOVE that.

There’s so much more to say about this fun, festive wedding, but we’ll let Jillian — who looked so glam in her custom gold lace gown designed by family friend Sharon Wilkes — take it from here…

How we met

Jillian, the bride: We first met through mutual friends – a close friend of Steven’s from growing up was one of my roommates in college – but then began dating while working together at HuffPost in New York, shortly after graduating from college. And of course our relationship continued through job changes and Steven’s career left turn into dentistry!

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.

Robin & Joe | Intimate + whimsical ‘dinner party’ Jewish wedding, Washington DC, USA

07/11/2013 by Karen

Today’s bride, Robin, has the most exquisite bridal style. As her wonderful wedding photographer, Piper Watson, puts it, “a mix of old school classy gal and modern minx”. Her stunning black and white ensemble is achingly chic and in fact, the couple’s whole event manages to be simultaneously stylish and elegant, yet warm and homely.

In their own words, Robin and Joe say they had a very non-traditional wedding by design. They truly wanted the feel of a of an informal dinner party, where two people happen to be getting married. They didn’t have many of the traditional wedding staples – only 45 guests, no flowers, bridesmaids, or first dance – and this gave the evening a truly intimate, unique and personal feel.

Their wedding report is a joint effort written by both the bride and groom, and the beautiful set of images produced by the lovely Piper Watson, will ensure that all those fantastic memories stay fresh and vibrant for many years to come.

AN INTIMATE VENUE + BLACK & WHITE COLOUR SCHEME
Robin the bride and Joe the groom: Ultimately, we wanted our wedding to feel like a dinner party (with a ceremony beforehand) for our closest family and friends. It was very modern and a bit whimsical; it was really a perfect reflection of our sensibilities and who we are as a couple.

The ceremony was held at Joe’s cousins’ (Martha and Bob) house in Washington, DC. She and her family have an amazing house that had been fully redesigned. Martha is an interior decorator and it shows! The reception was at Elizabeth’s on L, a converted town house in downtown DC which added to the intimate feel we were going for.

Our colour scheme was black and white (to match Robin’s dress) and green as an accent colour.

HAIR + MAKE-UP
Robin and Joe’s long time stylist, Gregg, did the hair for Joe, Robin, Joe’s sister Rachel, and Robin’s mother Ann. Robin had a really unique hair style at the time and only her stylist was good enough to style her hair. Robin’s makeup was done by a woman named Keisha from beautiful.flawless.face makeup. She was fantastic! Robin wanted to look like a more glamorous version of herself, but still look relatively natural. She made Robin look like herself, only better and also did the makeup for Ann and Rachel, who looked fantastic as well.