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A Lee Petra Grebenau Bride for a Romantic Enchanted Garden Jewish Wedding at Villa Miani, Rome, Italy

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Get ready to fall in love with Natalie and Marc’s epic Jewish wedding in Rome. The UK-based couple wanted a spring destination wedding surrounded by blooming flowers, and they found everything they wanted and more at the breathtaking Villa Miani, nestled atop a hill with sprawling gardens and a panoramic view of Rome.

Natalie and Marc knew a destination wedding was a big ask for our guests, so they prioritized making it as seamless as possible – and they turned to the best of the best to help make it happen, Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Elegante by Michelle J.

In Natalie’s words,

Elegante by Michelle J exceeded every expectation. Michelle thought of everything—details I didn’t even know existed—and her team coordinated the entire day with such precision and care that everything felt seamless. They turned what could have been a stressful process into a joyful experience, and their expertise allowed us to simply enjoy the day. For anyone seeking a wedding planner, I can’t recommend her enough.

We’re also head over heels for the duo’s exquisite invitations, created by Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Big Day Designs. Featuring whimsical illustrations inspired by Villa Miani, they set the tone for the big day so perfectly.  

Read on for all the details of this fabulous day – including Natalie and Marc’s touching tribute to the hostages – and don’t miss the wonderful images from photographer  Alex Wysocki and trailer by videographer Waterfall Visuals!

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How We Met

Natalie, the bride: Marc first messaged me in 2019 to set up a date, but he ended up cancelling and never rescheduled! Then, a year later in 2020, he reached out again and suggested a socially distanced walking date. I decided to give him another chance—it’s not like I could pretend to be super busy during that time. But he cancelled again!! Claiming he had Covid. At that point, I decided, No way am I giving this guy another chance.

Fast forward to June 2021. Marc’s good friend was having a birthday party, and somehow, both Marc and I got invited—his friend and some of my friends had conspired to make this happen. I went to the party, had a great time, and made a point of ignoring Marc the entire night. I could feel him looking at me, but I avoided eye contact. Eventually, he worked up the nerve to come over and ask me out again. I said no, reminding him he’d already cancelled on me twice.

Marc spent the rest of the night trying to convince me to give him another chance. Finally, I gave in and when we did set a date, we met for drinks at the Ham Yard Hotel (the same place he later proposed) and the rest is history.Continue ReadingContinue Reading

An Elie Saab Bride For a Tuscan Jewish Wedding Full of Love, Lemons, and Local Charm at the Great Synagogue of Florence and Villa Maiano, Tuscany, Italy

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Aviva and Alan, Villa di Maiano, Fiesole, Italy

There’s nothing like a Tuscan wedding – and Aviva and Alan’s is one for the books! These two went all out in embracing the local color and charm of their oh-so-scenic environs, from the majestic Grand Synagogue of Florence where the chuppah took place to the dreamy reception at Villa di Maiano, nestled in the rolling hills of Tuscany.

Planning a destination wedding abroad is no easy feat, and Aviva and Alan wisely chose to work with planner extraordinaire Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Elegante by Michelle J to make their dream Jewish wedding weekend a reality.

Michelle brought in a team of nine coordinators who all worked to ensure that the couple and their guests were incredibly well looked after, not only on the wedding day but throughout the wonderful pre- and post-wedding events Aviva and Alan hosted for everyone.

Michelle also worked with the couple’s florist, Il Giardino delle Fate Flower Design, to style every space in a unique and beautiful way – don’t miss it all in the wonderful images by David Bastianoni!

Now over to the bride…

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Venue

Aviva, the bride: We married at the beautiful Florence Synagogue where we hosted a pre-ceremony reception in the gardens, tisch in the synagogue entrance hall and a stunning ceremony with a small orchestra in the synagogue itself.

Following the ceremony, our planner had arranged transportation to drive all of our guests to Villa di Maiano, which is in a small town called Fiesole, about 15 minutes’ drive away and in the hills just above Florence. The venue is in a beautiful setting with spectacular views of the city and the surrounding countryside.Continue ReadingContinue Reading

A Galia Lahav Bride for a Jewish Wedding at Villa di Maiano, Florence, Tuscany, Italy

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There’s nothing like a Tuscan Jewish wedding. And we’re totally obsessed with the incredible nuptials of London-based couple Chloe, who works in PR, and Danny, who’s in property.

The couple’s incredible planner, Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Elegante by Michelle J, helped them bring the day of their dreams to life – not the easiest feat when planning from abroad! Michelle set them up with many of their fantastic vendors – like photographer David Bastianoni and videographer Waterfall Visuals– and suggested their picturesque venue, Villa di Maiano.

With grounds straight out of a Renaissance painting and epic views of Florence, this is a venue that doesn’t need much help to shine. But even so, Michelle knocked it out of the ballpark with her incredible chuppah setup – and the table décor’s pretty fantastic too.

There’s so much more to say about this gorgeous wedding, but we’ll leave the rest to the bride – who could not have looked more elegant in her Galia Lahav gown, which she worked with beloved Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Browns Bride to customize…

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How we met

Chloe, the bride: We met at Glastonbury for the first time about 5 years ago but we only started dating 2 years ago.

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A Crystal Design Bride for a Romantic Destination Jewish Wedding with Moody Florals and Fireworks at Villa Montefiano, Fiesole, Florence, Tuscany, Italy

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Today’s Jewish wedding is 100% pure dreamy-misty-eyed romance. The fact that it took place at a totally stunning venue in Florence doesn’t hurt, obviously. But the couple’s excellent (and elegant!) taste, along with the amazing team assembled by their stellar wedding planner, Rossana from The Knot in Italy, is what really made the day.

We’re totally in love with the moody glam look Andrea, an executive assistant/office manager, and Seymone, an attorney, cultivated. Between the lush florals (peonies and eucalyptus!), twinkly lights, and liberal use of candles — not to mention that subtly dramatic chuppah — every single detail is totally on point. Silvia Galora Photography and videographer Waterfall Visuals both captured the romance and visual splendor of the day absolutely exquisitely.

Oh, and did we mention that there were fireworks? And not just the metaphorical kind.

We’ll let Andrea, who looked stunning in her dreamy princess gown from Crystal Design, fill you in on the details…

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Jewish wedding Villa Montefiano Fiesole Florence Tuscany, Italy_0016

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How we met

Andrea, the bride: I met Seymone 5 years ago in the basement cafe of our then-office building. This is our story as told on our wedding website:

Andrea captured Seymone’s attention in the basement cafe at their old (now demolished) office building in Century City, CA. Seymone’s first words, “How’s the soup?” led him to finding out Andrea worked at the real estate firm on the 2nd floor.

The next day, Andrea would receive an edible arrangement and a card that read, “It was lovely meeting you in the cafe yesterday, hope the next time I see you is over dinner and drinks – SJ.”

After many adventures and years of getting to know each other Seymone popped the question on February 16, 2017.

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A Suzanne Neville Bride for a Super Luxe Destination Jewish Wedding at the Great Synagogue of Florence and Villa de Maiano, Florence, Italy

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BRB — booking a ticket to Florence. Okay, maybe not, but we are a million percent tempted by today’s dreamiest of Italian destination Jewish weddings. Between the ceremony at the majestic Great Synagogue of Florence to the swoon-worthy reception at Villa di Maiano, Paige and Richard‘s day was as dreamy as it gets (and they also had an adorable wedding hashtag — #paigegetsrich).

Much-loved STG Recommended Vendor Michelle Jacobs of Eleganté by Michelle J helped the couple pull all the fab design elements together from London, where they live. From the magical floral chuppah (who would’ve thought such a fresh, natural design would be the PERFECT fit for such a grand, historic space?) to THE most stunning top table we have ever, ever seen complete with a pergola, crystal chandeliers, hanging glass globes filled with tea lights (seriously, check out David Bastianoni’s photos — it is not to be missed!), we can safely say she hit a home run with this epic day. Oh… and Waterfall Visuals‘s film  below is the dreamiest thing ever.

We’re thrilled to have a chance to chat with their awesome planner, Michelle Jacobs, live on the Smashing The Glass Facebook page tomorrow at 7: 30 p.m. GMT/2:30 p.m. EST tomorrow, Thursday, October 4. And if you love today’s wedding as much as we do, do not miss this one as we’ll be covering all the ins and outs of planning a Jewish (or Jew-ish) wedding in Italy. Please do tune in, and bring your questions!

Another wonderful STG Recommended Vendor, Totem (who Paige and Richard loved enough to fly out from London!) provided ultra-emotional chuppah music before transitioning to party mode at the villa, where they kept the dancefloor packed all night. Talk about a smashing party! Oh, and speaking of things that are smashing, did we mention Paige and Richard used one of our very own Smash Glass pouches?!

We are also LOVING their exquisite stationery by Ruth Kaye Design another STG fave and Recommended Vendor… we’re literally dying over how fabulous everything about this wedding is. —don’t you agree?

We’ll let Paige, who looked goooooorgeous in her glam Suzanne Neville gown, take it from here…

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A Room with a View

Paige, the bride: Our chuppah took place at the Great Synagogue of Florence and then afterwards we moved over to Villa di Maiano, a beautiful villa in Fiesole, a small town in the hills above Florence. Villa di Maiano is where the movie A Room with a View, was filmed (just celebrating the 30th anniversary of the film).

We went to see several venues, this was the first. We had a special feeling as soon as we walked into the gardens — we both cried — so we just knew this was the place for us. We did consider having our ceremony at Villa di Maiano, but Michelle suggested we visit the synagogue… and again, the minute we walked in we just knew we had to have our chuppah there.Continue ReadingContinue Reading