Between the horrific terrorist attack in Manchester on Yom Kippur and the second anniversary of October 7 coming up tomorrow – even as we enter into the joyous festival of Sukkot – this is shaping up to be a hard week. Like so many times throughout our history, we’re required to take on the difficult task of holding sadness and joy all at once. And today we’ve got a beautiful Jewish wedding that encapsulates exactly that balancing act.
Though the UK-based couple wed at the Sheraton Grand Hotel in Park Lane, London, Israel is always close to Shera and Jared’s hearts, and their love for the country was a key theme running throughout the big day – from a tallit purchased by the bride’s parents on a trip to Israel just days prior to October 7 to Israeli flags on the dance floor to a moving Misheberach for the IDF under the chuppah and a heartfelt tribute to the groom’s late friend Jake Marlow, who was murdered at the Nova Festival.
We’re obsessed with all of the love and emotion that come through in every shot from the couple’s photographer, Devon Shoob, and every frame from their videographer, Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Michael Pearl. His trailer is truly something special – do give it a watch!
We’ll let Shera fill you in on the rest of the details…
How We Met
Shera, the bride: Our story started over 10 years ago where we both had met at our Jewish youth movement, Jewish Lads’ and Girls’ Brigade (JLGB).
Having known each other for a couple of years, it wasn’t until we were both older where, like many young Jews today, we matched on JSwipe. At the time, our connection was nothing more than just a couple of messages to each other with a waiting response time of about 3-5 working days!
A few months went by and to our surprise, we were both interrailing across Europe at the same time. The waiting response time had decreased to 5 minutes where we were both non-stop messaging trying to coordinate how our paths would cross.
It wasn’t until we had both returned and reunited back at JLGB Summer Camp that year, where we both had that funny feeling you get in your belly and it definitely wasn’t from the camp food. Our feelings became clear about one another and at that point, we knew it was something more than a friendship. 7 years later, Jared got down on one knee in Thailand and now after 8 years together, in May 2025, we became Mr and Mrs Bourne.
Venue
We got married at the Sheraton Grand Hotel in Park Lane, London. We’d love to say that we had chosen the venue ourselves, however, Shera’s parents attended a wedding there just before Covid and fell in love with it.
It was to our surprise on the way home from our holiday in Thailand where we had got engaged, not even 24 hours of being an engaged couple, were we told by Shera’s parents that they had reserved a date at the Sheraton as long as we loved it there too!
Shera. Sheraton. Shera-ton. It just made sense.
Lilac and Sky Blue
In September 2023 Jared had sat with Shera’s dad and asked him for his daughters hand. Lisa (Shera’s mum) wanted to fulfill a tradition she had heard of the bride’s mother buying her son-in-law a tallit to wear for the first time on their wedding day.
Whilst they were in Israel on holiday, on the 5th of October 2023 they went into Gabrielli in Jerusalem and bought the most beautiful Lilac, Blue and Green Tallit. After getting engaged in November Lisa gifted the tallit to Jared and this was then where we decided the perfect spring wedding theme of Lilac and Sky Blue.
We did not have a wedding planner or coordinator but Shera and Lisa could now take this on as a new job after planning every detail down to the little packs of tissues. We did however have Simon Green as our toastmaster and he helped us with all the timings and ensuring the day ran extremely smoothly.
Something that ran as a constant theme was Israel and that it has been extremely important in our lives not only as we are extremely proud Jewish young people but also due to Shera’s parents being out there on October 7th. This was reflected many times during the wedding from the tallit, chuppah lighting, Jared’s speech and the Israeli flags.
Invitation/Stationery
After seeing a stall at the Jewish Wedding Show at Borehamwood Hilton we got in touch with Aimee at Oy Vey Studios to do our wedding stationary.
From start to finish Aimee came up with some of the most beautiful and unique ideas to make our wedding a little bit different. One of our favourite items was the place names which doubled up as a fan with the menu and order of events inside.
Hair + Makeup
Since the age of 18 only one make up artist would ever be booked by me and my mum and that was Georgia Marcus. At 1am me, mum and my MOH looked exactly the same as we did at the start of the wedding and our make up hadn’t budged.
Hair was a massive deal for me as I am a hairdresser myself but after seeing the work done by Sarah-Louise Okin, I had to book her nice and early. She continued to help with my Disney fairytale dream and created a stunning half up design.
The same as Georgia, my hair never moved and looked exactly the same at the end of the night as did everyone else’s hair. I am very much looking forward to December for my brother’s wedding to have this dream team back together again to make me feel like 1 million dollars.
The two of them together with Devon and Michael kept me so calm and had such good energy on the morning of the wedding.
A Disney Fairy Tale Weddings Dress
I had had a dress saved for about 4 years on my phone that was only sold in one little boutique shop in Burges Hill (Brighton), Couture and Tiaras, so off we went 4 weeks after getting engaged.
When we got to the shop the lady said we should all pick out dresses and the one I had gone there for I should try on last. I had always dreamed of the huge fairytale princess dress from the day I could talk so picked out this beautiful dress and the lady in the shop said to try it on first.
The minute I put it on I genuinely knew this was the one but I still decided to try on 15 other dresses in every shape and style possible. I got to the last dress which I thought was my ‘dream dress’ but all I wanted to do was put the first one on again. So I put it back on, and the matching veil too and I knew this was THE ONE.
We asked the lady what the brand of the dress was and you can only imagine the look on our faces when she told us it was from the ‘Disney Fairy Tale Weddings collection. The dress itself was inspired by Snow White and had stunning big sleeve features and a very sparkly underskirt. The veil was perfect with lace over the top section where the dress was backless.
The only change I made was making the veil super sparkly, the veil left a glitter train everywhere I went. It genuinely was the dress of my dreams and I felt like a true princess.
Accessories
My dress had a stunning pearl button feature running down the back that was so fitting with me having my late grandma’s pearl necklace. My grandma’s middle name was Pearl and wearing her pearls was extremely special to me.
Fortunately my dad is an incredibly talented Jeweller – Laurence Ian Jeweller – he had the pearls re-strung for me and also made me some absolutely stunning earrings to match my engagement ring, both given to me by Jared. It was extremely special to sit with my dad to design both our wedding rings after he made the most absolutely stunning engagement ring with a family heirloom of Jared’s Nana. He also made a pair of cufflinks gifted by me to Jared to match his barmitzvah signet ring.
I got my headpiece from Lace and Favour and worked with their team to customise the piece to suit my hair style and the matching colour to my late grandmas pearls
Another special extra was that I spent time with my brothers fiance making all of the personalised bits as she has a cricut machine and a little personalisation business so we hand made all the dressing gowns, slippers, some fans, cufflinks and socks for the boys, tops for the dads. This really added our very own little touch and was lovely that we got to do it together.
Shoes
Whilst looking for the perfect shoes, I knew I wanted a low heel and I came across a gorgeous pair of Kate Spade shoes with an intricate detail of a pearl heel.
Bridesmaids
My bridesmaids were my two sisters in law and my Maid of Honour was my nursery best friend. I gave them the brief which was a very simple one, sky blue. I wanted them to all love their dresses and find one that suited them and could be as unique as they wanted.
Our niece and my baby cousin were our two flower girls and I got their dresses from JJs House and they were in lilac with a stunning pearl detailing around the neckline that matched my accessories.
Our adult groomsmen wore lilac bow ties and we had two page boys who were my little cousins and we got them a sky blue outfit of matching shorts, waistcoat and bow tie. The colours together were absolutely perfect and my vision came to life.
Ceremony & Chuppah
After spending a week apart before the wedding with no contact, we chose to do a private badeken. This was one of the most special parts of the wedding as it was so intimate with just us, our parents and our 5 incredible grandparents. Unfortunately, Shera’s grandparents on her Dad’s side, and Jared’s Poppa were not there with us but we felt their spirit under the chuppah.
The chuppah was designed by Flowers By Alina who had worked with me to decorate our chuppah with hanging features from wisteria and an array of beautiful flowers to match the colour scheme. The wisteria was a feature included in our invite design and wedding stationary that helped keep consistency of the theme throughout.
During the ceremony, we both shared a beautiful moment singing ‘Im Eshkachech Yerushalayim’ accompanied by the amazing Moni Tivony of Totem Superstars. There wasn’t a dry eye in the room.
One of our very close family friends had come from Israel and through the wedding we had a strong theme of Israel and remembering the events of October 7th so we asked him to under the chuppah to sing the Misheberach for the IDF, this was an incredibly emotional and powerful moment.
Ketubah
One thing that I love to do is support small businesses and through a friend of a friend, came across Carmel Designs. Carmel who took inspiration from the wedding invitation using wisteria and gold leaf as the main details.
Carmel and I spent time going through designs and individual details such as the shape of the ketubah to create a round and bespoke design.
Our music choice
One non-negotiable of both of ours was to have Totem Superstars play at the wedding. An amazing group of musicians that feed on the energy from the audience but also transmit it too. We had worked with Brett Warren to curate a list of songs from party anthems, movie classics to a two-part Jewish and Israeli music set. Given the events in Israel, it felt more prominent than ever to show our love and respect by finishing on a modern Israeli dance set. During this, we gave out Israeli flags personalised with yellow ribbon to remember the tragic events on October 7th.
Shera’s parents surprised us on the day with Totem’s Piano Man who played during the meal time. This was a gorgeous surprise and it meant that at all times of the evening the dancefloor was completely full. The Piano Man was surrounded by everyone who danced and sang their hearts out alongside him.
Not only did Totem play, but Shera had spoken with Brett to organise a surprise set by Jared’s old band COVES to play their hit song ‘Smile Again’. Jared then continued behind the drum kit to play with Totem.
Flowers
As mentioned absolve Flowers By Alina was our florist.
I pretty much knew what I wanted after seeing Alina’s Instagram and worked with her to make the vision come to life. We decided against the traditional button holes and went for a floral piece that went into the pocket of the dinner suits instead of a pocket square.
For my bouquet I wanted some form of hanging flowers and this was done with a gorgeous lilac orchid. For the table centres we went for a mix of high and low arrangements and candles to surround. The top table use flowers from the chuppah.
Photographer and videographer
After being good friends through secondary school and JLGB, it was clear that there would only be one photographer who knew both the bride and groom and their families that could capture the event – Devon Shoob. 1700 photos later from Devon and Amanda (her second photographer on the day), we found it difficult to decide on 60 photos for this as we felt all 1700 were captured perfectly!
After seeing the one-minute highlight videos pop up on Instagram, we loved the style of Michael Pearl! We haven’t yet received the whole video but the one minute highlight video left us wanting more. Michael and Harry (his second videographer) were so great to work with especially having Harry’s bow-tie skills to help all the groomsmen on the day!
Along with us wanting to support small and newer businesses, when we heard that our photographer’s husband Daniel, had set up a new venture in doing event Magnets that are printed during the night, we knew we had to get in on it. It was something so gorgeous that our guests got to take home with them. We worked with Daniel and his team from Hold That Pic to create a design for the border that matched the rest of our wedding stationary. They were absolutely amazing to work with and really did add a special touch.
Food and cake
One of the amazing perks of the Sheraton is that it is the only hotel in London with an internal kosher caterer. Arieh Wagner at Starguest was the person responsible for our yummy food and was part of the team ensuring that no job was too big and that everything we asked for was possible. His chilled demeanour made sure we were extremely relaxed and the day ran to time and very smoothly.
A super special touch was that at the food tasting Arieh noted down that we absolutely loved his Apple Tart Tatin but it didnt go with the rest of the menu but he made sure that there was one especially just for us that was brought out for us to share alongside his stunning deconstructed Eton Mess.
We decided against a wedding cake but Shera could not let it go ignored that the day after the wedding was Jared’s Birthday so surprised him with a cake from Petalz Kosher Cakery.
Extra Details
For the wedding shtick we used Swish Shtick. I gave this job to one of my good friends who organised and decorated the arches to match the theme, the parachute skirt which fit everyone perfectly and the large Israeli flag that was used at the beginning to throw Jared in the air and at the end as we finished the night dancing underneath it.
During Jared’s speech he left the room speechless by ending the speech talking about how his love for heavy metal took him to a gig years ago where he met and became friends with Jake Marlow. Jake was murdered at the Nova Festival on the 7th October 2023 acting as security to keep those festival goers safe. Nearly 400 people were murdered that day with 58 still held hostage.
Honeymoon
On the Thursday after the wedding, we stayed at The Grove in Watford for a much needed spa retreat post-wedding. From using the spa facilities, an hour long body massage to stuffing our faces at the Glass House buffet, it was the perfect way to decompress and talk about the wedding day.
For our honeymoon, we will be going to America in May 2026 to celebrate our one year wedding anniversary and Jared’s 30th birthday across Orlando, Nashville and New York!
Advice to couples currently planning their wedding
Try not to stress and plan everything with plenty of time as this is a time you will never get back and you really want to have enjoyed your ‘Engaged Era’.
Decide early on your nonnegotiables and at the end of the day the people who matter most in all of the decisions are the bride and groom, it’s YOUR day, no one else’s, so make sure its everything you ever dreamed of!!
SHERA & JARED’S LITTLE WHITE BOOK
Photography – Devon Shoob
Videography – Michael Pearl Films
Ketubah – Carmel Designs
Venue – Sheraton Grand Hotel
Bride’s dress – Disney Fairytale wedding found at Couture and Tiaras
Bride’s shoes – Kate Spade
Bride’s accessories –Lace and Favour
Bride’s jewelry – Laurence Ian Jeweller
Flower girls dresses – JJs house
Hair – Sarah-Louise Okin
Makeup – Georgia Marcus
Flowers & Chuppah design – Flowers By Alina
DJ – Totem Superstars with the Piano Man
Catering – Arieh Wagner at Starguest
Cake – Petalz Kosher Cakery
Toastmaker – Simon Green
Stationery/Invitation – Oy Vey Studios
Magnets – Hold That Pic
Shtick – Swish Shtick
Honeymoon hotel – The Grove
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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