Today’s London Jewish wedding is filled with tons of beautiful personal touches, and we are here for it. Bride Eli, a nutritionist and Zac, a lawyer, met while living in Israel – and while they’ve since moved back to the UK, so much of their day was shaped by their time in Tel Aviv (including Eli’s choice to wear Israeli designer Lee Grebenau).
The pair wove in so many elements that felt uniquely them, from modern Hebrew music that, to a hand-designed ketubah crafted by the groom’s father and filled with symbols from the couple’s life together, to fresh fruit layered into the floral design as a nod to both the bride’s work as a nutritionist and the duo’s shared love of food. Catch all the gorgeous details in the wonderful photos from Susie and Harley of Barker Evans and trailer by Denee Motion!
We also love that Eli and Zac opted to work with Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor XS Showband, who, in Eli’s words,
completely exceeded every expectation. The band were nothing short of sensational. From the moment the dancing began, the energy in the room was incredible and it never dipped for a second. The dance floor stayed full all night, exactly as we had hoped, and so many guests have since told us it was one of the best wedding bands and parties they had ever experienced.
We also worked closely with Fran from XS on all the production, including the dance floor, staging and lighting. She was an absolute pleasure to work with, genuinely lovely, hugely helpful and incredibly professional. The entire team made everything feel seamless from start to finish, which meant I felt calm and relaxed knowing it was all in safe hands.
Now over to Eli…
How We Met
Eli, the bride: We met at a wedding in Israel. Zac had moved from London to Tel Aviv a year earlier, and I was just about to make the move myself. What followed was an incredible year living in Israel together before we eventually decided to return to London to be closer to our families.
Venue
We got married at the Rosewood London, which felt like the perfect setting for the atmosphere we wanted to create.
It is such a spectacular hotel, full of character and elegance, and it gave us exactly the timeless backdrop we had imagined. It managed to feel both grand and intimate at the same time, which was incredibly important to us.
Personal Touches
From the beginning, we wanted our wedding to feel timeless, elegant and deeply personal, with every detail reflecting not just how we wanted it to look, but who we are and the life we have built together.
So much of the day was shaped by the chapter we shared living in Israel, our love of family, music and food, and our desire to create a celebration that felt full of warmth, meaning and energy. Jewish tradition was at the heart of everything, but we also wanted to weave in elements that felt uniquely ours, from modern Hebrew music that reminded us of Tel Aviv, to a hand-designed ketubah filled with symbols from our life together, to fresh fruit layered into the floral design as a nod to both my work as a nutritionist and our shared love of beautiful food.
Above all, we wanted people to feel joy the moment they walked into the room, and for the entire day to feel full of heart, emotion and unforgettable atmosphere.
We didn’t have a planner, but we did have XS Showband who assisted with coordination in the 4-week lead-up and on the day – they were incredible!
Invitation/Stationery
Our invitations and stationery were designed by my talented friend Alissia from Studio Alissia. The design beautifully reflected the floral vision, from the cherry blossom through to the subtle fruit details that Craig later brought to life in the room.
Hair + Makeup
Gaby Goldring did my hair, and I genuinely could not recommend her more highly. Not only is she incredibly talented, she brought such a calm and grounding energy to the morning and was a joy to spend the day with.
Natasha De Cazalet did my make up and was equally brilliant. She is unbelievably talented and so lovely to be around. Somehow my make up looked just as perfect at the end of the night as it did at the beginning, despite some tears!
A Lee Grebenau Dress
I had always imagined finding my wedding dress in Israel, so it felt especially meaningful that I found my dream dress at Lee Grebenau.
It was actually the very first dress I tried on, and there was an immediate sense that nothing else would compare. It felt completely right from the moment I put it on. It made me feel like a true princess, but in a sophisticated, grown-up way.
Later in the evening, I changed into a second dress by Self Portrait for the final hour of dancing, which was such a fun shift and much easier to dance in once the party was fully underway.
Shoes
My shoes were from Malone Souliers and were a gift from my uncle, who has impeccable taste in shoes.
Bridesmaids
I had nine bridesmaids: three cousins, six close friends, and my sister as maid of honour. Spending the morning getting ready with them was one of the most fun parts of the day.
I asked each of them to choose a dress they genuinely felt confident and comfortable in, in any shade of pink, because I wanted everyone to feel like the best version of themselves rather than wear something overly prescriptive.
Ceremony & Chuppah
The chuppah itself was more beautiful than I could have ever imagined, with baby pink roses, lemon ranunculus, white daisies and delicate touches of cherry blossom to reflect the early spring timing of our wedding (more on our incredible florist Craig White below). We were standing underneath my grandfather’s tallit, which made it even more special.
Our chazan was Guy Barzily, and he brought something truly extraordinary to the ceremony. His voice is breathtaking, and he made every moment feel deeply emotional.
Our favourite moment was during the Sheva Brachot. Guy learnt specific melodies we had asked for including singing the final blessing to one of our favourite Israeli songs, which felt incredibly personal. He also sang the prayer for the IDF, which was especially moving given that our wedding took place during the Iran war.
The ceremony itself was led by Rabbi Ellituv, who had recently joined our community from Manchester. We had really enjoyed getting to know him and learning with him in the lead-up to the wedding, so having him marry us felt very special. One of the most memorable moments came at the end of the ceremony, when he blew the shofar to symbolise new beginnings and the merging of two souls into one.
Ketubah
One of the most meaningful details of the wedding was our ketubah, which Zac’s father designed and handcrafted himself. He is an architect with extraordinary design talent, and he created something deeply personal to us.
The artwork included symbols from our life together, including date palm trees and Old Jaffa to represent our time living in Tel Aviv and our Saturday walks to Jaffa, alongside a Chanukiah, Shabbat candles and the Tree of Life. It became far more than a ketubah – it felt like a visual story of our relationship.
Our music choice
We had XS Showband, and they completely exceeded every expectation. The band were nothing short of sensational. From the moment the dancing began, the energy in the room was incredible and it never dipped for a second. The dance floor stayed full all night, exactly as we had hoped, and so many guests have since told us it was one of the best wedding bands and parties they had ever experienced.
One of my favourite memories from the entire evening was seeing my 90-year-old grandpa and my iconic grandma in the centre of the dance floor for almost the whole night. That felt incredibly special and captured exactly the atmosphere we had wanted: joyful, high energy and full of all generations celebrating together.
The Israeli dancing was another major highlight. That part of the evening brought a completely unique energy and felt especially personal to us because of our time living in Israel. Our chazan, Guy Barzily, stayed on to sing many of our favourite modern Hebrew songs beyond the traditional Jewish repertoire, with plenty of Omer Adam and even some Alabina in honour of my Sephardi side.
Our first dance was to Amazed by Lonestar. My best friend and her husband are both brilliant dancers, so they choreographed a few fun moves for us that felt natural and playful without becoming too formal.
We also worked closely with Fran from XS on all the production, including the dance floor, staging and lighting. She was an absolute pleasure to work with, genuinely lovely, hugely helpful and incredibly professional. The entire team made everything feel seamless from start to finish, which meant I felt calm and relaxed knowing it was all in safe hands.
Flowers
Craig White Flowers was an absolute dream to work with. The flowers were romantic, elegant and natural in feel, and we had lots of candlelight around the chuppah and across the tables, which created such a beautiful warmth in the room.
With my career as a nutritionist, and our shared love of food, I knew I wanted fresh fruit incorporated into the floral styling. We used sliced grapefruits, lemons and the sweetest green grapes, which we noticed guests eating throughout the evening! The stunning fruit display ended up being one of the details guests still talk about – and one of my favourite visual details.
Photographer and videographer
Our photographers were Barker Evans. Susie and Harley are such an iconic duo and captured both the emotion and the energy of the day so beautifully. They had photographed all my cousins’ weddings along with my sister’s so it was a natural choice and I am so glad we used them!
For videography, we always knew we wanted Denee Motion (they are the best of the best). Denis and Max were fantastic to work with and brought such calm professionalism throughout the day.
We also decided to have a content creator, which I am so happy we did. We worked with Vix from Rings and Reels, who was wonderful and delivered so much fun content almost immediately afterwards.
Food and cake
The wedding was catered by Ben Tenenblat and everything was as delicious. The apple tarte tatin was even better than I remember it being at the food tasting! One of my favourite details was the espresso martini shots being passed around later in the evening. We worked with Shelby who was super helpful throughout the whole process.
Wedding List/Registry
We used The Wedding Shop.
Extra Details
We had a talented artist, Liam Dickinson, create a live oil painting of the chuppah scene during the wedding, which felt like such a special touch and gave us something unique to keep from the day.
The MCs were my twin cousins, Joe and George, who have always felt much more like older brothers, and they brought so much personality, humour and fun to the evening. Having them lead that part of the celebration made it feel even more personal.
Honeymoon
The morning after the wedding we escaped straight to the Cotswolds for a mini-moon, which felt like exactly the right pause after such an emotional and joyful few days. We stayed at Estelle Manor which was truly spectacular. We are very excited to head to Hawaii in May for our honeymoon.
Advice to couples currently planning their wedding
Try to keep coming back to what actually matters most to you as a couple, because it is so easy to get swept up in endless decisions and details. There are so many opinions when planning a wedding, but the most memorable weddings are always the ones that genuinely reflect the people getting married.
I would also say to choose suppliers who not only do beautiful work, but who bring calm energy, because that has such a huge impact on the experience of the day itself.
And finally, try to pause and take in little moments together throughout the day. The whole thing moves so quickly, and those quiet moments in between everything else become some of the memories you treasure most.
ELI & ZAC’S LITTLE WHITE BOOK
Photography – Barker Evans
Videography – Denee Motion
Content creator – Rings and Reels
Venue – Rosewood London
Bride’s dress – Lee Grebenau
Bride’s shoes – Malone Souliers
Hair – Gaby Goldring
Makeup – Natasha De Cazalet
Flowers – Craig White Flowers
Music – XS Showband & Guy Barzily
Catering – Ben Tenenblat
Stationery/Invitation – Studio Alissia
Rabbi – Rabbi Ellituv
Wedding List/Registry – The Wedding Shop
Live oil painting – Liam Dickinson
Honeymoon – Estelle Manor
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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