We’re so excited to be sharing the gorgeous winter wonderland Jewish wedding of Dorothy, who’s not only a beloved Brides Club member but also happens to be the winner of a very special competition we ran last year with luxury sweet purveyors GC Couture.
Dorothy and Dan were the lucky winners of an amazing kosher Indulgence Bar® by GC Couture, an assortment of luxe sweet treats from cookies to cake pops to macarons to brownie bites to cupcakes plus a fabulous centerpiece wedding cake. The pair can’t stop raving about their tasting at GC Couture‘s Mayfair offices, where they settled on red velvet as their cake flavor – along with intricately decorated biscuits, cake pops, cakes, and macaroons matching the couple’s winter white color scheme. Everything looks SO mouthwateringly delicious – don’t miss this epic spread in Chiko Photography’s images and Yoni Cohen’s trailer!
Lest you think the party ended there, Dorothy and Dan also booked phenomenal Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor The Function Band, who, true to form, kept guests on the dancefloor all night with their incredible energy and played something for everyone. The couple also worked with the wonderful Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Toastmaster Jango, who kept everything in check and ensured things ran smoothly on the day.
Before we turn you over to Dorothy, we just have to share some of her kind words about her experience as a member of Brides Club: “During the lead up to the wedding my biggest saviour were the girls in Brides Club! Any question you ask, no matter how silly you might think you are for asking, anything that’s on your mind they’re there within seconds to help you!” We couldn’t agree more!
Cosy Meets Luxe
Dorothy, the bride: We got married at the Grove in Watford. Set within the most beautiful grounds, it’s the perfect mix of cosy and comfortable with luxury hotel all rolled into one.
I fell in love with it after a family visit over 10 years ago and knew then I wanted to get married there one day.
A Masterful Toastmaster
We didn’t use a wedding planner, I would say I planned 99% of the day myself but on the day we had the amazing Toastmaster Jango who kept everything in check and ensured the day ran smoothly – we really couldn’t have done it without him! We went with silver and white, the flowers, the cake, the tables, stationary and even bridesmaids dresses all created our own little winter wonderland.
What ‘Smashing The Glass Brides Club’ Did For Us
During the lead up to the wedding I have to admit my biggest saviour were the girls in Brides Club! Any question you ask, no matter how silly you might think you are for asking, anything that’s on your mind they’re there within seconds to help you! It’s such an amazing community to belong to and something I wouldn’t have been able to do without the girls or Karen!
Invitations
After seeing lots of beautiful wedding designs for invitations and day of stationary, we went with a beautiful silver and pearl white laser cut by Cartalia. The owner Dominique was such a pleasure to use, helping at every stage to ensure our invites were exactly what we envisioned.
Hair + Makeup
I started my pre wedding prep by getting my lashes done by the wonderful Charley at WINK Beauty, she also did a classic milky french manicure, pedicure and HD brows for me. I had met Zhila in May when I went to Hourglass in Brent Cross for our engagement party make up and loved everything about her and how she did my make up so it was a no brainier really. She did a soft pink smokey eye, “insta brows” and a natural pinky lip.
My hair is very much my ‘thing’ and Zoe Norris Hair was absolutely amazing at recognising that and creating beautiful soft curls half up half down with the comb.
A David’s Bridal Dress
I had a very specific type of dress I wanted in my head but I also knew I didn’t want to spend thousands on a dress I’d wear once so after hundreds of Pinterest and Instagram searches my mum and I ended up at David’s Bridal in Watford and I bought a strapless empire pleated dress. I then went to The Silk Society on Berwick Street to buy the exact lace I wanted for the top. I then had a long sleeve topper made & sewn onto the dress along with my veil with the matching design.
Accessories
I found a hair slide I loved in Debenhams & wore my Tiffany knot earrings (perfect for tying the knot) and Dan bought me a beautiful diamond tennis bracelet as a wedding present which I wore.
Shoes
I’m very much a flats kind of person and after my idea of wearing my slippers was shut down by everyone I gave in and looked for heels. I wore a pair of satin white block heels from Lace and Favour, they were so comfortable – but not comfortable enough for me not to change into white leather converse for dinner & dancing!
The Handsome Groom
Dan wore a velvet tuxedo from Hugo Boss, he decided against the matching velvet trousers and bought regular ones instead. He wore a velvet bow tie from Pinks and shoes from Ted Baker. I bought him cuff links which said “i do” on one and our wedding date on the other. He also changed shoes half way through the night into red Gucci trainers.
Bridesmaids
I had 4 bridesmaids, my two best friends, my cousin, and Dans sister. They wore grey, floor length backless dresses and all looked stunning! I had my maid of honour’s son and my cousin’s son as my page boys – they both looked unbelievably cute!
Ceremony
We went through a few obstacles with the Beth Din during our planning but met Rabbi Paul Freedman at Radlett Reform who was wonderful and performed our wedding for us. We had wanted to use both our maternal grandfathers’ tallits as a top for our chuppah but on the day it didn’t work out so we ended up using my grandpa’s under the chuppah. We knew we wanted to involve as many of our family and friends in our day as we could so we had two of our very close friends witness our civil marriage certificate.
I asked my dad’s best friend (and best man at his wedding) to witness our ketubah and Dan asked his dad’s best friend (also best man at his wedding). It meant so much that they had been in each of our lives ever since we were born and they could be such a special part of our day.
Our Music Choice
We had the Function Band who were absolutely phenomenal! From the very first meeting with Dan (in the coolest office) we knew they were going to be amazing but we had no idea quite how amazing. They played something for everyone. Our entrance song was Beyoncé – ‘End of time’ and our first dance was Tom Walker – ‘Better half of me’. Their version of ‘Gangstas Paradise’ with us at the top table is still being talked about, it was absolutely amazing!
Flowers
The one part of the wedding Dan had very little interest in was the flowers but he did come along to meet with Flowers by Alina. Alina is so talented and created the most beautiful arrangements for us. We had an acrylic chuppah with mix of orchids and roses around the top. We had gypsophila and hydrangeas for our centrepieces.
Dan, both our dads, his best man and his ushers had gypsophila button holes and Alina made me the most beautiful round bouquet with roses and gypsophila.
Photographer and videographer
Dan has known Chiko Photography for years and I’d seen his work online and at friends’ weddings so there was no one else we would have trusted to capture our day. He did not disappoint! He is such a talented photographer and on the day was so calming and professional as well as joking around with us which was very needed during the morning!
We had Yoni Cohen as our videographer, I’ve known Yoni for around 10 years and Dan has known him for 24! His cinematography style was absolutely perfect for what we wanted and we knew we’d be in good hands as he is so gifted and talented at what he does!
Food and Cake
We used Jason Millan, for our reception we had everything from sushi and duck pancakes to salt beef sandwiches, mini burgers & mini hot dogs! Jason then created an amazing duck noodle tower for starters followed by beef wellington with mustard mash carrots and green beans and the most delicious chocolate fondant for dessert!
I was so incredibly lucky to win the most amazing Indulgence bar by GC Couture thanks to Brides Club and Karen! We went to meet with Sach in their Mayfair offices a few months before the wedding where he had four amazing cupcakes for us to try. Cherry Bakewell, lemon meringue, chocolate and red velvet.
Each one was better than the last and we HAD to have the red velvet for our wedding cake. On the day we had biscuits, cake pops, cakes, macaroons all decorated so intricately and beautifully and tasting amazing and it was all kosher! They’ve now opened in Selfridges London – I highly recommend a trip just for them!
Favors
I knew I wanted our wedding favours to be useful on the day so when came across the nicest family run business on Etsy who create slate coasters with your names on them it was perfect. Table names people could take home and actually use again!
Table Names & Memory Table
As I mentioned before, I planned 99% of our wedding. Dan had to have his stamp somewhere so, much to many of our guests disgust, our tables were not simply table 1,2,3,4 etc, they were Arsenal legends. Thankfully both our families are arsenal supporters but it was the butt of most jokes that evening – especially the friends who got sat at the Seaman table!
As we have both lost most our grandparents we had a memory table where we had pictures of our grandparents who were no longer with us at a similar age to we are now with a little poem and a yahrzeit candle lit. These pictures are now displayed in our house. My maid of honour’s husband Jordan made the toast to the president and state of Israel while Dans close friend Adam made a toast to the queen.
Both my mum and dad made welcome speeches & Dans best man made a wonderful speech – it included prizes! Dan followed with the highly embarrassing story of our engagement – I refused to get on the plane almost ruining his plan! At the end of the night I made a very quick, fumbled thank you to our vendors and everyone who made the day so perfect for us!
Honeymoon
Two days later we went to a very cold New York for our mini moon. We both love New York and try to go at least once a year. We booked using our Avios we had collected over the year and as a wedding present my dad and step mum upgraded us and booked us the most amazing room at the Edition by Madison Square Park. We were planning to do a fly drive from San Francisco – LA – Vegas in May but that has been put on hold for obvious Corona related reasons.
Advice to couples currently planning their wedding
My advice for all brides to be is have a massage a few days before the wedding! At that point there is very little you can do, everything is planned and finalised and you need to relax or you might just end up getting a migraine like I did on the day! Everyone will tell you to take a step back on the day but really this is so important, the whole day goes so quickly and you really do want to remember it!
DOROTHY & DAN’S LITTLE WHITE BOOK
Photography – Chiko Photography
Videography – Yoni Cohen
Toastmaster – Toastmaster Jango
Band – The Function Band
Venue – The Grove
Bride’s dress – David’s Bridal, The Silk Society
Bride’s shoes – Lace and Favour
Bride’s accessories – Debenhams, Tiffany
Groom’s attire – Hugo Boss, Ted Baker
Hair + Makeup – Zoe Norris Hair, Zhila Beauty
Lashes, nails – WINK Beauty
Flowers – Flowers by Alina
Catering – Jason Millan
Cake – GC Couture
Stationery – Cartalia
Production – Main Event
Smash The Glass Pouch – Smashing The Glass Etsy Shop {or join Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club and get one for free!}
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.
