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The Top 5 Ways to Cover Your Shoulders Under the Chuppah in 2026

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Tonic bolero by Galia Lahav

From pearl-dusted couture boleros to barely-there detachable details, shoulder coverage for the chuppah has officially entered its fashion-forward era. Today’s Jewish brides are embracing clever, removable layers that honor tradition and personal style – without compromising on the dress of their dreams.

Ben and Lauren, Kin House, Wiltshire, UK

Lauren‘s shrug | Photo by Natalie J Weddings

Whether you’re drawn to timeless elegance, modern minimalism, or a touch of drama, there are more beautiful options than ever before for ceremony-ready coverage that feels intentional, elevated, and unmistakably bridal. Here are our top five chic, modern ways to cover your shoulders under the chuppah in 2026 – and look effortlessly stylish while doing it.

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Sydney‘s bolero | Photo by Alex Knight Studio 

1. Brilliant Boleros 

A timeless and elegant choice for brides who want to keep their shoulders covered under the chuppah, boleros add structure and sophistication without overwhelming your gown – and there are so many options, whether you’re going for a classic princess look or something sleek and modern. 

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A Martina Liana Bride for a Jewish Wedding with a Fabulous Paper Flower Chuppah at Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, Michigan

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We are totally and completely OBSESSED with the incredible paper flower chuppah featuring in today’s beautiful Jewish wedding. Taylor, a manager of implementation at a software company, and Ross, a manager for sales operations and business development at a finance technology company, wanted to make their big day fun, classy, and a little bit out of the ordinary – and did they ever succeed!

After spotting some chuppahs incorporating giant paper flowers on social media, Taylor knew it was just the thing for her own wedding, and she found the perfect creative partner to pull it off in The Crafty Sagittarius, who brought her vision to life. With giant pink, gold, and taupe paper flowers covering a lucite structure, this chuppah couldn’t possibly be any more delightful. Photographer and videographer Visi Productions captured the chuppah – not to mention the entire day – in all its glory.

We’re also in love with Taylor and Ross’s gorgeous laser cut ketubah, adorned with gold foil and some subtle rhinestones designed by artist Enya Keshet. Like so many STG couples, these two found the ketubah of their dreams via beloved Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor ketubah.com.

There’s much more to say, but we’ll leave it to Taylor – who looked so elegant in Martina Liana– to share all the details…

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How we Met

Taylor, the bride: Ross and I met at a Jewish event here in Atlanta, Havinagala.  Both of us are originally from up north (Ross from Akron and I’m from Detroit).  Ross had moved to Atlanta for work right after college and ended up moving back to Ohio for a few years to work for a new company.  They let him move back to Atlanta and we met the same month he moved back! 

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10 Gorgeous Ways to Cover Your Shoulders Under the Chuppah

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Splendid cape cover-up from Ella and Matt’s Jewish Wedding. Image by Barney Walters.
 

What happens when you’ve bought the dress of your dreams, but later realize that you need some sort of coverup for under the chuppah? Maybe your Rabbi requested that your shoulders remain covered during the ceremony, or perhaps there’s a family member that expects certain traditions to be followed through.

Then again, maybe it’s a personal choice, and while you absolutely ADORE the dress you’ve picked out, covering yourself under the chuppah is something that is important to you personally.

I promise you don’t need to run out and return your dress for a long sleeve option—although a long sleeve dress is a great way to have the best of both worlds

A chuppah covering is not a death sentence for your dress! In fact, there are so many ways to use a cover up to your advantage and add a bit of personal flair and style to your bridal look.

Below are my top ten favorite ways and styles to bring modesty and your personality with you under the chuppah. Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered!

Sensational illusion sleeves from Natalie and Edward’s Jewish Wedding. Image by Ran Bergman.
 

1. Illusion Sleeves

Illusion sleeves seem like such an obvious fix, but it’s a classic for a reason. I love how glamourous adding illusion sleeves to your dress can look. It’s such a great idea to make sure that every detail of your dress shines through, while still maintaining a certain modesty. One of our own Smashing the Glass Bride’s looked sexy and gorgeous in TWO Lee Petra Grebenau gowns with stunning illusion embellishments.

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Two extraordinary brides for a sumptuous bohemian Jew-ish Wedding at Broger’s End Kangaroo Valley, Australia

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Today’s wedding  reaches new heights  on the wedding spectrum and  I am entirely and whole-heartedly in love with every little bit  of it. The attention to detail and the  amount of creativity is phenomenal. I hardly know what to talk about first because it’s  such a total feast for the eyes, but what I love the most is that Lara and Cass’s  union remains as the focal point throughout.

On the other side of the lens for a change, Lara is one of the world’s most renowned  creative wedding photographers, and indeed I have  featured her work  on Smashing The Glass several times. She’s a girl after my own heart wearing  not one, not two, but THREE  wedding gowns, accessorised by a simply astonishing bouquet by  Mikarla Bauer + Jardine Botanics  — truly one of the best I’ve ever seen.

So much  originality permeates Lara and Cass’s day from choosing to  get ready and walk down the aisle together, to all sorts of gorgeous DIY like a ‘Guess Who’ game handmade by Cass using their  family members, to  an idea that I’ve never seen before: a flower crown station for the  guests to accessorise with before the ceremony  so that when the couple walked  down the aisle they saw all their guests with flowers in their hair. Love love LOVE!

Sheree from  She Designs Events  blended their two very different loves into one creative  theme which works brilliantly even though it combines everything from  Country & Western  to Vintage Romance! I love the idea of not compromising to one theme but rather merging both your loves.

Our  two brides  come from different religious backgrounds and  chose to incorporate Lara’s Jewish  culture with  some crazy  Jewish Dancing that  really set the tone for the evening.  Lara said:

We had the Jewish dancing  before entering the reception and it really loosened everyone up! We were being thrown up and down on chairs and tossed in the air and running around in circles and forming conga lines around the fire pit! It was a definite highlight.”

And there are so many… You truly have to savour every one of  Dan O’Day‘s astonishing images to take it all in. Oh, and there is a wonderful  film by  Light Noise Films  at the end which you just must watch. What a total treat!

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Planning the wedding ourselves

Lara: I think I completely underestimated how time consuming planning an entire wedding from start to finish can be, never mind running a business at the same time.

Cass was great as she really let me take full control of everything but was always there when I needed her to bounce ideas with and make final decisions or to get things done.

We had spread sheets and documentation for everything — its really quite overwhelming how many things / vendors there are to keep track of and all the little details to organise — but well worth all the effort in the end.

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A Carolina Herrera bride for a destination Jewish Wedding in a castle at Castello di Vincigliata, Florence, Italy.

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Today’s gorgeous bride first made contact with me back in 2014, when she was looking for supplier recommendations for her destination wedding in Florence. I immediately noticed that her email signature read ‘Head Scientist at playdohlab.tumblr.com‘ and I thought, WOW, I really do have the coolest readers in the universe!

And her wedding does not disappoint. Whilst it isn’t play doh-themed (which I was secretly hoping for!) it’s a delicious destination set in an astonishing castle in Florence, and the crazy thing is, I attended a wedding in the very same venue last summer!

Anna and Chaim enlisted the help of SposiamoVi (one of my much-loved Smashing Suppliers) to plan their big day, and what a great choice they made. Their fabulous wedding included two bridal gowns (a Carolina Herrera and a MaxMara Bridal), lace-adorned Jimmy Choo’s, exquisite Louis Purple tailoring (with some wonderful embroidered personalisation), Chaim’s father officiating the wedding, a brilliant band that included the bride’s uncle, as well as some glorious Tuscan candle favours (Anna says she wanted to create a memory of the wedding through smell), and an unplugged chuppah ceremony — something that I’m a really big fan of. Anna said:

We requested no cameras, smartphones, or iPad use by any of the guest during the chuppah — we wanted everyone to be in the moment. The only people taking pictures and videos were our photographer and videographer.

And what a fabulous pair they were: Edoardo Agresti captured all the stills, and Marco Caputo‘s film is simply a must-see at the end of the post.

A gorgeous couple in fabulous attire having their day their way. Perfect.

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An orthodox Jewish wedding in Florence

Anna, the Bride: My parents actually met in Florence and live there part of the year. I also have a large extended family that lives in Europe, so Florence was convenient destination for many guests. For those that would have to travel, I knew that a long weekend in Florence would be the most irresistible magical getaway.

Originally, I wanted to get married in the Great Synagogue of Florence, as it just takes your breath away, but then we saw Castello di Vincigliata, a castle in the Tuscan hills- how could we not pick it? We contemplated having the chuppah in the synagogue and then transporting guests to the castle, but ultimately we thought the schlep to and from would disrupt the atmosphere. Chaim had his Shabbat Chatan at the synagogue so guests that attended were able to experience the beautiful Sephardi service and architecture.

Jewish Wedding Florence

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