We are totally and completely obsessed with Lauren and Ben’s super stylish Jewish wedding. Their vision for the big day was modern countryside with Shabbat dinner vibes – how awesome is that?!
Kin House in Wiltshire, England, with its combination of classic country exterior and quirky, modern interior, was the perfect setting for the celebration – and the couple’s fabulous florist, Sarah of Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor The Way to Bloom, put together the most exquisite arrangements (not to mention a stunner of a chuppah) that added Lauren and Ben’s unique stamp to the space.
In Lauren’s words,
We both agree that Sarah and her floral arrangements, were the highlight of our wedding. Sarah doesn’t know the word “no” — she was always ready to try a new idea, offer some advice, and take charge where needed. We are forever grateful to her and her expertise for making our wedding shine, and we are lucky to still consider her a friend to this day.
For their band, Lauren and Ben chose another amazing Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor, The White Keys. Their 8-piece band – including both a saxophonist and an electric violinist – kept the dance floor packed all night (including an epic 12-minute hora!).
Lauren and Ben’s wedding day fell on Shabbat, and we love the fact that they wanted their wedding breakfast to feel like a giant Shabbat dinner. The couple lit the candles, their rabbi led the blessings, and they even had a challah tug-of-war! Spoiler: Lauren won. Don’t miss it in the incredible photos by Natalie J Weddings and video by John Taylor Films.
We’ll let Lauren fill you in on the rest…
How We Met
Lauren, the bride: We met on a dating app in 2020. Fun fact – after our first date, I called my mom and told her, “I met my husband!”
Ben proposed in Dulwich Park in October 2022. A truly special place for us both, it reminds us both of Central Park in NYC, which is where I lived before moving to London and Ben spent a lot of time as well. We always called the bridge in Dulwich Park our “happy place” so it was fitting to get engaged there.
Countryside Quirky
We chose Kin House in Wiltshire, England for our venue. We knew we wanted to get married in or around the Cotswolds and wanted to choose somewhere that embodied us. We loved the countryside feel but modern interior – it wasn’t a stuffy old manor house, but rather colourful, quirky and fun. The art deco décor, the checkerboard dance floor and the fun design of the house truly felt like us! It was extremely spacious and could fit all of our guests while maintaining a sense of intimacy. A highlight was a handmade seashell grotto.
Classically Ethereal
We didn’t have a wedding planner, because as Lauren’s mother said, “If Lauren had a wedding planner, she’d end up firing them.” We are a couple who knew exactly what we wanted, which was a classically designed ethereal wedding, tying together both our modern values with our Jewish traditions.
But we cannot speak highly enough about our wonderful coordinator at Kin House, Charly, who spent over 18 months with us helping plan our wedding. She was always available for a call, text or email — or even us popping by Kin House every other month “just to check on things.” Charly was a fantastic sounding board and supported us to make our wedding our dream day.
Invitation/Stationery
We had Smith and the Magpie for stationery.
Hair + Makeup
I wanted a soft, natural look – the plan was to look like myself on my wedding day! Lauren Gosling and Phoebe with May Williams Makeup Artistry made it happen, and I cannot recommend them highly enough for your wedding. They also did my 8 bridesmaids and mother of the bride/groom hair/makeup as well – and were so calm, fun and organised with our big group!
A Caroline Castigliano Dress
Lauren’s dress was a custom design from Caroline Castigliano, a classic British designer. The style was a classic understated design: A sheath dress with a matching leather belt, which was removable and replaced with a sparkly alternative for the dance party.
For the ceremony, Lauren wore a custom shrug by the same designer with delicate lace and weaving eucalyptus leaves – an ode to Ben’s favourite type of plant/flower.
After trying on almost 100 dresses (I am not joking here) and not finding “the one,” I had my appointment at Caroline Castigliano. I just had this immediate feeling that I was in good hands. When I tried on what would be my dress, which my father picked for me, I knew it was right! I felt exactly how I had hoped to feel on my wedding day, just like myself. It was classic and elegant – a dress that will never go out of style! Pairing it with the custom shrug made it one-of-a-kind and truly made me feel so special.
Accessories & Shoes
In my hair I wore a Roback family heirloom headpiece. It was first worn by Ben’s great grandmother, and passed down to the Roback women. His mother and sister both wore it at their weddings, and I was honoured to wear it at mine, continuing the tradition.
For my shoes, I wore blush pink Manolo Blahnik heels.
Bridesmaids
I had eight bridesmaids! They wore navy blue satin Six Stories dresses.
Ceremony & Chuppah
Our ceremony was the highlight of our day. Our chuppah was designed by Sarah Tappen at The Way to Bloom.
Walking down the aisle to Keane’s “Somewhere only we know,” we both could feel the love from our family and friends. Both parents walked us up the aisle and stood under the chuppah with us. At the end of the aisle, we did a symbolic bedeken, where Lauren’s parents veiled her, and Ben walked forward to unveil Lauren – symbolising his love for her goes beyond the physical.
Our ceremony was traditional, but modern. Ben’s father’s tallis draped over our chuppah, and we were gifted old and new Kiddish cups for the ceremony. We had a modern take on the Sheva Brachot – where seven closest family and friends blessed us in their own words with what they hope we will take into our marriage.
There’s a Hebrew verse that you say to your partner under the chuppah while exchanging rings: “I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine.” This moment, which tied our souls together, was so emotional and powerful for us both. It really was so special and is a moment we’ll cherish throughout our entire marriage.
Ketubah
Our ketubah was gifted to us from our lovely Synagogue, West London Synagogue. Rabbi David Mitchell, who performed our ceremony, is the most brilliant rabbi, and he mentored Lauren through her conversion to Judaism. It was so incredibly special to have him marry us, as he was with us on our journey from the beginning.
Our music choice
Lauren’s mother is the biggest Coldplay fan, so it was extremely fitting that we walked back up the aisle to Coldplay’s Sky Full of Stars.
For our ceremony and cocktail hour, we had Ardeton String Quartet playing hit artists, like ABBA, Justin Bieber, The Beach Boys, etc.
For our reception, we had The White Keys – an 8 piece band who really brought the party! Highlights included both a saxophonist and an electric violin who had the dance floor full all night.
Our first dance song was Frankie Valli’s Can’t Take my Eyes off You. Then came the Hora, which lasted 12 minutes long! We had everyone in chairs – Lauren and Ben, Ben’s parents and Lauren’s parents. It was so much fun and a great way to involve our non-Jewish guests who had never been to a Jewish wedding before.
Flowers
We both agree that Sarah with The Way to Bloom, and her floral arrangements, were the highlight of our wedding. From the first initial call with Sarah, we knew we wanted her and her brilliant talent at our wedding. She was the first vendor we confirmed!
Sarah helped us narrow down what we wanted for our wedding, and we landed on a classic, black-tie look. The flowers all had meanings as well. Lauren made sure to include flowers that had featured in both her mother’s and mother-in-law’s bouquets at their own weddings – gardenias, roses and anemones. For Ben, we included sprigs of eucalyptus and lavender as well, which were his grandparents favourite plants.
Sarah went above and beyond for our wedding. She did the table arrangements and florals for our Sicily-themed welcome dinner (complete with lemons and tomatoes on the table!) and expertly designed and arranged our chuppah, aisle liners, wedding breakfast florals and design, and even helped hang a giant disco ball for our dance floor.
Sarah doesn’t know the word “no” — she was always ready to try a new idea, offer some advice, and take charge where needed. We are forever grateful to her and her expertise for making our wedding shine, and we are lucky to still consider her a friend to this day.
Photographer and videographer
Natalie J Weddings, our photographer, was absolutely incredible. She spent the entire day with us, going above and beyond to capture every facet of our wedding. We knew we were in good hands – we were able to enjoy our day without the stress of worrying about photos! Natalie is so reassuring, kind and calm – it made us confident and at-ease on the wedding day knowing she was there!
Our video was done by John Taylor Films, who really brought the party! He is so funny, energetic and had everyone dancing, smiling and having the time of their lives – which you can definitely see in our video!
Food and cake
Kin House did all of our catering, and the menu was delicious. We all ate family style –starting with burrata with asparagus and pine nuts, and then moving to thyme-roasted chicken, hasselback potatoes, broccoli and a summer slaw. To finish, we had a summer berry pavlova. Our guests said the food was the best they’ve had at a wedding, and like a good Jewish wedding, no one went hungry!
Our wedding day fell on Shabbat, so we wanted our wedding breakfast to feel like a giant Shabbat dinner with our closest friends and family. We lit the candles, our rabbi led us in the blessings, and the most fun part — we did a challah tug-of-war! We had a 3ft challah from Daniel’s in Golders Green (the best place for challah in London). Our rabbi had the guests cheer for who they thought would win, and then Ben and I each grabbed an end and broke it apart! Spoiler: Lauren won the tug-of-war. We then passed the challah around the tables so everyone could take a piece and ring in Shabbat with us.
Wedding List/Registry
We used Prezola.
Extra Details
We had an old-time photo booth next to our guestbook so friends and family could print extra photos to include in our book. On the table, we also had photos from our families weddings, dating back to great-grandparents!
Honeymoon
We traveled to Taormina, Sicily for a week after our wedding to decompress and start married life right: full of arancini and gelato.
Lauren had lived in Sicily for a few months back in 2014, and knew she wanted to return. Around our wedding, The White Lotus season 2 had premiered, and the deal was sealed – we immediately booked our flights!
We stayed at Villa Fiorita and highly recommend it. The staff and villa were exceptional and location is perfect. It’s right in town and opposite the cable car to take you to the beach.
We also ate at some incredible restaurants like Nunziatina Taormina, Morgana Lounge, and Tischi Toschi.
Advice to couples currently planning their wedding
My biggest advice to couples is to create a separate wedding email account. By doing this, we were able to create separate labels/buckets for each vendor, and nothing was lost amongst other unrelated emails. This also helped with keeping track of RSVP’s, sending out information to guests and keeping an excel document for finances, timelines and updates.
On the day, my advice would be to take yichud, even for 10 minutes. It gives you and your partner just a moment to smile, take a deep breath, scarf down some canapes, and toast to your newlywed status. This was a highlight for us, and grounded us in between the high emotions of the ceremony and the whirlwind of the day.
LAUREN & BEN’S LITTLE WHITE BOOK
Photography – Natalie J Weddings
Videography – John Taylor Films
Ketubah – West London Synagogue
Venue & catering – Kin House
Bride’s dress – Caroline Castigliano
Bride’s shoes – Manolo Blahnik
Bridesmaids – Six Stories
Hair – Lauren Gosling Hair
Makeup – May Williams Makeup Artistry
Flowers & chuppah – The Way to Bloom
DJ – The White Keys & Ardeton String Quartet
Stationery/Invitation – Smith and the Magpie
Rabbi – Rabbi David Mitchell
Wedding List/Registry – Prezola
Honeymoon hotel – Villa Fiorita
If you’re a Jewish or Jew-ish bride-to-be, you’ll want to join Smashing The Glass’ Brides Club. Guided by the world’s number 1 Jewish wedding expert, Karen Cinnamon, Brides Club is the private community for Jewish and Jew-ish brides that removes wedstress and indecision and gives you what you need to plan with confidence during these uncertain times. Join our Brides Club here.
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