We’re so excited to be publishing our first-ever Jewish wedding in Wales today! Though Jess, a primary school teacher, and Louis, a tax advisor, now live in London, Jess hails from the small but mighty Welsh Jewish community, and it was important to her to get married back home in South Wales.
They chose The Vale Resort in Pontyclun as the venue for their summery wedding weekend in pink, filled with tons of gorgeous blooms in all shades of the tone, and we can’t get enough of it. Neither could Jess – she loved planning her big day so much that she’s since launched a small business, The Wedding Desk, where she support couples who are planning their own wedding so that they can feel prepared and ready to hand over to their suppliers / on-the-day coordinator on the day!
Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Claudine Hartzel captured the day so beautifully – in Jess’s words, “She was just like having a best friend and supporter with us every step of the way. From our engagement shoot, we instantly felt at ease and comfortable in front of the camera and knew we were in for an absolute treat after receiving our engagement shoot photos. On the wedding day itself, Claudine and her team were everywhere but never in the way – she made sure every second was captured and her photos really show the emotion and positive energy of our special day.”
We also love that, in addition to their general wedding registry with The Wedding Shop, Jess and Louis also set up a Judaica registry with Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Contemporary Judaica – such a smart way to make sure you’ll be gifted Judaica you’ll be proud to display in your home!
Now over to Jess…
How We Met
Jess, the bride: Jess is from Cardiff and Louis is from Manchester but we both moved to London after university. We met during Covid on Hinge but after a couple of dates, we realised that both our families share very close family friends – turns out we were both at a lot of simchas together when we were younger and there’s lots of photos of us! We were also on an Israel trip together during uni but had no idea!
Venue
The Vale Resort, Pontyclun. We chose to get married in South Wales as that is where Jess is from. For me (Jess), it meant so much to get married in Wales as the Welsh Jewish community is so small and so it was extra special to have had a big Jewish wedding there! It meant so much to me, my family and our community to have a proud, Jewish wedding in Wales. We purposely chose a bank holiday weekend as we have family and friends all over the world and we wanted to have a full wedding weekend to all be together and celebrate.
Theme
We went for a summery pinks theme. We planned it ourselves but had an on-the-day coordinator – Sarah (Sarah Louise Wedding Planner) – who was just amazing! It was her first Jewish wedding and it was so great to be able to talk through all of the Jewish traditions and parts of the day with her. I loved the planning myself but I felt so reassured to be able to pass everything on to Sarah so that we could all enjoy the day! She made sure everything was accounted for and no question was every too much of an ask!
I loved planning my wedding so much and didn’t want to give up my wedding eta so since have launched a small business – The Wedding Desk where I support couples who are also planning their own wedding so that they can feel prepared and ready to hand over to their suppliers / on-the-day coordinator on the day!
Invitation/Stationery
My dad’s business – Personalisation Boutique – created all of our bespoke name places – they were the perfect wedding favour for our guests and we love seeing them up on people’s shelves when we visit friends and family.
Hair + Makeup
MUA – Amy Louise. Hairdresser – Anna Williams. Both were so amazing! I had quite a large bridal party and they made each of us feel a million dollars and were our biggest hype squad in the morning!
Dress
My dress was from Samantha K’s Bridal — it was the very first dress I tried on and I instantly fell in love! I felt comfortable and supported but also had space to dance and move around! After trying on the dress, I tried on others at Samantha K’s, and also visited other bridal boutiques, but my heart was always set on that very first one; I loved the lace, sweetheart bodice and the satin ball gown bottom. Samantha and the team were just incredible – they made the whole experience so special and fun and even though I was worried about the whole experience before, she instantly put me at ease and I loved every minute! One extra special touch was a blue, satin bow -my “something blue”- that was sewn into the inside of my dress; it was the same satin blue bow that my mum had in her dress on her wedding day.
Bridesmaids
I had 8 bridesmaids and 2 flower girls. Their dresses were from JJ’s House. Their dresses were baby pink and tied in with our wedding theme.
Ceremony & Chuppah
We wanted a very traditional chuppah and ceremony, full of lots of ruach from our friends and family. Our procession was sung by Paul Greenberg, from our band (Pure Showband) and it was so special to have our family, siblings, nieces and nephew, bridal party and grandparents walk down the aisle. Moreover, we had our family members sing our sheva brachas under the chuppah. The pinnacle of our chuppah ceremony was when Louis smashed the glass (first time tg!) and a swarm of our nearest and dearest came under the chuppah and sang us back down the aisle and round to the Yichud room; the atmosphere was electric and exactly what we wanted!
Ketubah
Our Ketubah was hand painted by the insanely talented Rena Mednick (Art and Ketubot by Rena) and was a wedding present from our brother and sister-in-law all the way from Israel. The hand painted pink flowers matched our pink wedding theme.
Our music choice
Our band were Pure Showband, and they were honestly phenomenal. We wanted a band that could do both Israeli dancing and secular dancing well and Pure did not disappoint! From the chuppah ceremony, to the crazy sets of Israeli dancing, to the old classics and to the modern day tracks, our dancefloor was full throughout the whole night and everyone was having the best time. The sweat, the questionable dance moves and the ruach was just incredible and is something we will always remember.
Flowers
Our florist was Jan Lima Flowers and she was incredible. There was no one else we wanted as our florist! Jan was my teaching assisstant in primary school and I always remembered her amazing displays around the school and costumes she designed for our end of year shows – that same creativity was exactly what we were going for with our flowers. Made up of different shades of pink, our chuppah, bouquets and button holes were created using roses, gypsophila and hydrangeas. Our little niece had a very special flower girl bouquet made up of pink and white marshmallows – this went down a hit and kept her busy during the photos. Most importantly, the pink marshmallows were very on brand with the wedding theme!
Photographer and videographer
Our photographer was Claudine Hartzel and she was just like having a best friend and supporter with us every step of the way. From our engagement shoot, we instantly felt at ease and comfortable in front of the camera and knew we were in for an absolute treat after receiving our engagement shoot photos. On the wedding day itself, Claudine and her team were everywhere but never in the way – she made sure every second was captured and her photos really show the emotion and positive energy of our special day.
Our videographer was Steve Hazelton. At first, we were discussing whether we wanted a videographer or not, and whether we wanted anything fancy, but we absolutely made the right decision to have one and Steve and his team were just simply incredible. They too captured every part of our day but managed to quietly blend in to the background. The energy, love and atmosphere was filmed so well -nothing was missed- and the fact that we get to rewatch our wedding day time and time again is truly special!
Food and cake
Our catering was Ushi’s. As two foodies, we wanted the food to be good and plentiful and we weren’t let down. We were able to choose 14 different canapes for our reception and our meal was a selection of our favourite foods, including a trio of desserts!
Wedding List/Registry
Our wedding registry was with The Wedding Shop and our Judaica was all from Contemporary Judaica.
Extra Details
Our speeches were some of our favourite moments – the brief was to keep them short, funny but meaningful and everyone who gave a speech did just that. A favourite was the groomsmen’s speech. They played a recording out loud of Louis’ voicenote to them after our first date. It was safe to say that the room erupted in laughter and even to this day, it is still being spoken about!
Honeymoon
We went to South Africa and Mauritius and had the most incredible time!
Advice to couples currently planning their wedding
In all honesty, and I know its such a cliche, but live in the moment and enjoy it. You only have this special day once so go for it!
JESS & LOUIS’S LITTLE WHITE BOOK
Photography – Claudine Hartzel
Videography – Steve Hazelton
Ketubah – Art and Ketubot by Rena
Judaica – Contemporary Judaica
Venue – The Vale Resort
Coordinator – Sarah Louise Wedding Planner
Bride’s wedding planning business – The Wedding Desk
Bride’s dress – Samantha K’s Bridal
Bridesmaids – JJ’s House
Hair – Anna Williams
Makeup – Amy Louise
Flowers – Jan Lima Flowers
Band – Pure Showband
Stationery/Invitation – Personalisation Boutique
Wedding List/Registry – The Wedding Shop
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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