There’s not much we love more than hearing that STG has helped a couple plan the Jewish wedding of their dreams – and we’re especially stoked that today’s couple used not one, not two, not three, but SEVEN of our very favourite Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendors.
Smashing The Glass Brides Club member, Julie, a TV lawyer, and James, a TV editor, had the most stunningly gorgeous stately home wedding – and the ultimate wedding day dream team to bring it all together. We’re so pleased to hear that they found their amazing wedding planner,Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Louise Perry, right here on STG! Julie says Louise truly made the wedding day, and knowing how awesome she is we totally believe it – she was also the one to come up with the fab pink colour scheme! Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Paul Rogers captured everything SO perfectly in his trademark documentary style – we really feel like we were there!,
Back to that colour scheme – Julie and James kept it going strong in their beautiful three-layered marbled invitations from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor EYI Love, as well as their lovely modern floral ketubah from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Ketubata (which the couple now proudly display in their home).
Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Ambassador Band brought the party atmosphere and kept everyone on the dance floor, and Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Feast by Ed Shaerf handled catering with his trademark delicious food (there was a profiterole tower involved!) and attentive service.
And spot our iconic smash glass pouch in the picture above? (They’re free for STG Brides Club members so Julie of course had one!).
Now over to the bride, who looked stunning in her super cool stripey Hayley Paige gown from beloved Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Mirror Mirror…
How we met
Julie, the bride: We met at a work awards ceremony. We saw each other from across the room and the rest is history.
Fairy Tale Wedding
We got married at Longstowe Hall, just outside of Cambridge. We had been looking for a big stately home (after I gave up on my dream of a vineyard in France!) and Longstowe was not only that, but has the most breathtaking gardens and scenery. It was like getting married in a fairy tale.
In the Pink
The fabulous Louise Perry was our wedding planner, and I can honestly say that we wouldn’t have had the truly amazing wedding that we did without her. Initially we didn’t have a colour scheme, but Louise instantly picked up on the fact that I love all things pink, and we ended up using this throughout the wedding.
What ‘Smashing The Glass’ Did For Us
I loved Smashing The Glass. I took ideas and advice from other people, and it was great to hear what other people were going through. We initially found Louise Perry on STG, but we used a whole host of STG vendors on the day.
Invitation
Our design was by EYI Love and we loved it. We incorporated the pink into the invitation together with a marble effect that we had never seen before. It had three layers (one was the main invitation, the next the information card, and the last was the RSVP) all slightly different in size and they sat one on top of the other and were help together by a pink band with our initials on.
Hair + Makeup
I had a great team. Debbie Lloyd did my make up and it was perfect. It was natural but striking, and I still looked like me on the day, which is what I had wanted. Michelle Walker did my hair and she also understood immediately the look I was going for. I wore my hair down with a little bit pulled back off my face, and wavy. I had mentioned to Michelle that curls never stay in my hair – but rest assured the curls stayed in all day, and I was delighted. I genuinely couldn’t have asked for two more lovely people to spend the morning of my wedding with.
A Hayley Paige Dress
I bought a Hayley Paige dress from Mirror Mirror. I’d always said when it came to my dress the bigger the better..! I’d say it was a princess dress but it wasn’t too big in the end. I absolutely loved the stripes, the layers and the fact that it had straps. I had never seen anything like it before. I knew it was the one instantly! I also loved the way it moved when it was on.
Accessories
I wore a veil given to me by a very close friend, and it really made me feel like she was with me every step of the way to the aisle. It was really special. I had some small spray roses (pink of course) in my hair, they were gorgeous, I’ve never seen flowers like it!
Rachel Simpson Shoes
I love pink (could you tell?!) and glitter, and I found pink glittery shoes from Rachel Simpson. They were perfect, mid sized heel, very comfortable – I kept them on all night!
The handsome groom
James wore a 3 piece blue suit that was from a designer in Soho called Mark Powell. It was the first suit he tried on and he loved it. He wore a pink knitted tie and a white round collar shirt, making him a good mix of trendy and smart. His shoes were brown from Grenson.
Ceremony
Our ketubah was from Ketubata. It’s beautiful and we’ve already had it framed and it’s on the wall. Our ceremony was conducted by the rabbi from our synagogue, together with our dear friend Angela Gluck who taught the conversion programme that James and I attended for 18 months. It was really special for us to have Angela there as she had been through a huge journey with us and she spoke beautifully about us.
Chuppah
The chuppah was my biggest surprise of the day. I hadn’t really discussed the chuppah with Bev (our florist) and sort of just let her get on with it..! In the circumstances, I was more thrilled that I was able to get married under a chuppah than actually thinking about the design! As you will see from the pictures, Louise took me down to see it before the ceremony (thankfully before I had my makeup done!) and I broke down. It was honestly the most stunning chuppah I had ever seen and I couldn’t believe that in a few hours I would be getting married underneath it. The flowers used, the design and the setting, it was just perfect.
Our music choice
James walked down the aisle to ‘A Thousand Years’ by Christina Perri and I walked down to ‘Everything’ by Michael Buble. Our entrance song was ‘Shut Up And Dance With Me’ (in the hope that everyone would get up and dance!) and our first dance was ‘Hey Ho’ by the Lumineers.
Flowers
Our fabulous florist was Bev from Jade’s Flower Design . She knew I wanted high arrangements and pink flowers and she created the most stunning centre pieces for us and of course my gorgeous bouquet. They were filled with lots of different pink and white flowers such as peonies, Keira roses, Rosalind roses, mini Eden spray roses, white dill, white stock, pink hydrangeas and white delphinium. They smelt wonderful! We didn’t have button holes.
Photographer
We used Paul Rogers. He was brilliant. We loved his documentary style of photography which is what we were looking for – we wanted to make sure that the camera wasn’t in our face the whole day, and Paul was so discreet we didn’t notice him all day!
Food
We had Feast by Ed Shaerf cater our event. Ed was so accommodating and his food is absolutely delicious. He was so creative with our canapes and dishes and catered to our every need. We had a sushi station at the reception and salt beef and fish finger sandwiches at midnight – it was to die for! He also provided the bar for us. We had a profiterole tower instead of a cake – James loves dessert and his favourite is profiteroles.
Music
We had Ambassador Band for the duration of our day. They really created the fun party atmosphere that we were looking for and everyone had a ball!
Entertainement
We made door hangers for our guests welcoming them to the wedding, and left them in their hotel rooms. On the day, we had giant games during the reception, hook a duck to find your seat, we had personalised fans, and wooden place names. We also had a photo booth and a glitter bar during the party, novelties to dance with and flip flops for the ladies sore feet.
Hook a duck to find your seat
We had hook a duck to find your seat and the guests took the duck home. It was my dads idea that I wasn’t initially on board with until Louise convinced me that we could make it classy with pink ducks and flowers. It was amazing.
Rap speeches
The most significant story of the day is that my parents did a rap at the end of my dad’s speech to rappers delight. It was hilarious!
Honeymoon
We went to Mykonos for a few days after the wedding to unwind but don’t have anything else planned at the moment.
Advice to couples currently planning their wedding
My advice would be on the day to take a step back for a minute and have a look around and take in the moment. It goes by so quickly and you’ll hopefully never get to do it again! I’d also say that you should pick your battles – if there is something that you feel really strongly about then do stand your ground, but otherwise let it go. You won’t notice anything apart from your husband on the day. Lastly – remember the real reason behind the day is to get married to the person you love, and nothing else matters.
Julie & James’ little white book
Photography – Paul Rogers {offers 10% discount to all members of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club}
Wedding planner – Louise Perry Weddings {offers 10% discount to all members of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club}
Bride’s dress – Hayley Paige dress found and fitted at Mirror Mirror {offers £200.00 for accessory purchases over £400 to all members of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club}
Catering – Feast by Ed Shaerf {offers 10% discount to all members of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club}
Band – Ambassador Band
Ketubah – Ketubata {offers 10% discount to all members of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club}
Invitation – EYI Love {offers 10% discount to all members of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club}
Venue – Longstowe Hall
Bride’s shoes – Rachel Simpson
Groom’s attire – Mark Powell and Grenson
Hair + Makeup – Michelle Walker and Debbie Lloyd
Flowers – Jade’s Flower Design
Smash The Glass Pouch – Smashing The Glass Etsy Shop {or join Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club and get one for free!}
