White Archives - Smashing the Glass

A Galia Lahav Bride for an Elegant and Energetic Persian Jewish Wedding at the Sheraton Universal, Los Angeles, CA, USA

24/05/2019 by Karen Cinnamon

We love a good Persian Jewish wedding here at STG, and today’s is no exception. Sadaf, a clinical pharmacist, and Payam, a personal injury lawyer, had an epic party – with over 500 guests, how could they not?! The awesome energy kept everyone on the dance floor nonstop, and we really do mean nonstop – the bride and groom were so busy tearing up the dance floor that they skipped dinner!

And we love how they followed the Persian Jewish tradition of having the wedding party and close relatives walk down the aisle before the bride and groom and their parents – for Sadaf and Payam, that amounted to over 40 people, each of whom danced down the aisle to a song of their choice!

We’re obsessed with the glam photos from V Production – and how cool is the post-wedding shoot they did of the couple at Malibu Creek State park?!

We’re so touched by how the couple included Payam’s mom, who had tragically passed away two years before, into the wedding, by dedicating the wedding to her on their invites and displaying a picture of her under the chuppah.

We’ll let Sadaf, who was nothing short of ravishing in her dreamy Galia Lahav mermaid gown, tell you the rest…

How we met

Sadaf, the bride: Two and a half years ago, Payam and I attended a mutual friend’s house party. We never talked or met at the party. After the party, a mutual friend told Payam that she thinks we may be a good match for one another.

A few days later Payam send me a message on Facebook. Since we were not Facebook friends, his message went into my spam folder. After a few months I accidently came across his message, which was upper, cute. In the message he wrote: “a mutual friend has spoken highly of you and I would like to get to know you”. It was too cute to say no. I messaged him back and we started a conversation. On June 27th 2016, we finally went on our first date and the rest was history.

A Pronovias Bride for a Glam Garden Party Jewish-inspired Wedding at Laura Ashley The Manor in Elstree, Hertfordshire, UK

19/11/2018 by Karen Cinnamon

Squeal! Proud mom moment… yes, another one of my beautiful blogging brides is married! I’m so sad to say goodbye to lovely Clare, but also delighted to share her GORGEOUS Jew-ish wedding with you today…. and my goodness doesn’t she look gorgeous?!

Clare, a nursery school teacher, and Chris, a planning manager for a property developer in London (#onclouddeeks), started off their Smashing The Glass journey with a session with me as part of my wedding consultancy service. We worked together to to help bring her vision to life for what would eventually become her spring garden-themed day, and Clare reports that gained some incredible vendor recommendations from this session too — awww – that’s the best news!

Neither Clare nor Chris is Jewish, but the couple have Jewish family and opted to incorporate some traditions they found especially meaningful. I love the modernized, personal rewriting of the seven blessings their friends and family read to them (some of the blessings guests came up with are pretty hilarious!) and, of course, the magical birch chuppah with lanterns and candles strewn around the base.

Speaking of candles… the couple made liberal use of luxe scented candles throughout the day, which not only made their venue smell amazing but also made for wonderful memories: Clare reports that every time she smells, say, Jo Malone’s ‘wild fig and cassis’ (one of her picks), it immediately brings her back to the big day. Such a clever idea!

Photographer Catherine Carter and videographer Jeff Woods captured all the emotion — not to mention the fab creative touches — to perfection, and Clare looked beyond stunning in the exquisitely beaded fishtail-style Pronovias dress she purchased from STG Recommended Vendor The Wedding Club in South Kensington (where she had “the most amazing experience” — not that we’re surprised).

Okay, enough from us… take it away, Clare!

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How We Met

Clare, the bride: We met in 2014 by swiping right!

A Spine-Tingling Old City Destination Jewish Wedding at Mamilla Hotel, Jerusalem, Israel

12/02/2018 by Karen

We have goosebumps – and after immersing yourself in today’s absolutely beautiful Jewish destination wedding in Israel, we’re pretty sure you all will too. It’s GORGEOUS!

Iliya and Gavin chose to forego a wedding in their native Sydney in favor of a spine-tingling service in Jerusalem. With a chuppah overlooking the Old City, the couple expressed their mutual love of the country and how much it meant to both of them.

We adore the spirit of this wedding as much as the gorgeous Jerusalem-inspired aesthetic – from the Western Wall wish jar (what a moving idea) to the dancing Nachmanim – everything about it felt just perfect.

Both successful lawyers, the pair flew many of their 110 guests to Israel to help celebrate their wedding, which was produced by none other than our much-loved Recommended Vendor, planners extraordinaire BE Group TLV who are also offering an amazing gift to all our VIB Members Club Brides (VIB is AMAZING – join here if you haven’t already!)

Iliya and Gavin wholeheartedly agreed that planning the wedding from such a distance would not have been possible without them.

Gorgeous bride, Iliya,

Iliya and Gavin are clearly both stunning souls, inside and out, and their devotion to each other is so clear in the breathtaking spread of photographs by Ronen Boidek and the moving, cinematic video by Nir Tenenbaum. Those speeches! We may be just a little bit second-hand in love.

And now, without further ado, we’ll hand you over to Iliya for the story in her own words – enjoy! (And by the way, didn’t she just rock the boho-chic look in her Rhonda Hemmingway gown? A-list-level stuff! )

How we met

Iliya, the bride: Gav and I attended the same Jewish day school in Sydney – but Gav was five years above me in school and we only met years after graduating. We met through mutual friends in 2013.

A Jumpsuit-Wearing Bride for a Chic, Alternative Jewish Wedding at Avigdor 22, Tel Aviv, Israel

13/12/2017 by Karen

Super cool couple, Tamar and Asaf, designed the perfect Jewish wedding day for them – with spectacular results.

With a typically Israeli cool vibe, this Tel Aviv wedding featured a secular, alternative and egalitarian ceremony, with both bride and groom speaking under the chuppah and the happy couple smashing a glass each. We love it!

Fashion-forward bride, Tamar, ditched the traditional wedding dress for an oh-so-chic wedding jumpsuit by Kaviar-Gauch. Not only was it a bargain, but she looked absolutely breathtaking, and stole the show with her unique wedding getup.

The wedding was designed to feel like a luscious life vacation. The couple worked with florist Yahav Green to fill their venue with foliage and white flowers, in honor of Shavuot, on which their big day took place. With cocktails in hand, and their own self-created wonderland, the wedding provided a wonderful break for the couple and their guests.

All of the action and details were captured with aplomb by marvellous Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor, Luz Weddings, who truly told the story of the day in the images below.

Tamar is the latest Smashing The Glass bride to take over these pages, so please give her a very warm welcome, and take it away, Tamar!

A relaxed, urban venue

Tamar, the bride: We got married at Avigdor in Tel Aviv. When we looked for a venue, the most important thing for us was that it would be conveniently close to Tel Aviv, where we, and most of our guests, live. The second thing we took into consideration was the food quality, and the third was the atmosphere.

The Avigdor uses the catering service of Erez and Hanan who are amazing. The design and atmosphere at the Avigdor is known as urban, groovy and relaxed and besides that, the place is known for it’s professionalism at the highest level of service.
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