Get ready to be blown away by the positively breathtaking Jewish micro wedding of Amelia, a senior women’s fashion buyer, and Shaun, head of mining sales for a procurement company!
Like most 2020 couples, Amelia and Shaun went through a couple changes of plan (and date) – but the wedding they eventually pulled off, an intimate 15-person gathering in December, could not have been any more gorgeous. Home House, a venue built from three Georgian townhouses, was the absolute perfect spot for the couple’s moody winter wedding, adorned with dark florals, amber lighting, and over 1,000 candles.
And thanks to the dream team of Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Claudine Hartzel, who perfectly captured all the emotion (not to mention the wonderful details) of the day in her photos, and Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Denee Motion, who worked his magic on the couple’s wedding video, we feel as if we were right there with them.
And can we talk about how stunning Amelia looks in her gown by Israeli designer Lee Petra Grebenau?!
Now over to the bride…
How we Met
Amelia, the bride: My best friend Jade was dating Shaun’s brother Andy and introduced us to each other about 11 years ago now.
He actually cancelled our first date! But pulled it out the bag when we actually went out properly. The rest was history and Jade is now my sister in law – she also planned the wedding!
Change of Plans
Our plans actually changed three times! But looking back now, it was all for the best considering Covid. These things happen for a reason! We looked to get married in the Maldives initially as we loved the idea of pure paradise and a beach wedding, but then we were limited on numbers considering how small the islands are (ironic considering our 15 people wedding!) so we decided to look in the UK. We had booked a beautiful venue in Hertfordshire for September 2020 just before the pandemic hit us in March!
We obviously had to hold tight and see how the year would pan out, but it wasn’t looking promising. The guidelines had changed and due to our limited numbers we decided to change the venue to something smaller and a lot more intimate. We found a beautiful private members club in the heart of London called Home House. Home House has magnificent character, it is a collection of three Georgian townhouses put together and was built in 1775. We have always loved true character and romance. As soon as we saw it we fell in love with it, it has a sweeping staircase central to the building.
Theme
Our wedding was going to be in May initially, but ended up being in December so it was dark, moody and beautiful. The theme changed from a summer wedding of all white florals to a dark, wild floral look, with amber lighting and over 1,000 candles setting the mood.
Our planner was Jade Alexander from Fantastique London – we bounced off each other in terms of the brief and Shaun and I were over the moon with the final look.
Invitations / stationery
Due to COVID – we only had 15 guests. We actually live streamed the wedding, so we sent bottles of Whispering Angel to our virtual guests with a streaming link on a little tag attached. We had to keep adapting to the guidelines but streaming the wedding was a great option for us! The Whispering Angel went down extremely well.
Hair + Make-up
Initially, as our wedding was in the summer – I wanted an all natural glowy look, but as it was now in Winter I needed to up the ante! I still thought my makeup looked so natural and effective, it literally didn’t move the whole night. I would highly recommend Frankie Neal Makeup for any future brides who want to look natural & not caked.
I’ve always loved long mermaid hair with a natural wave, my dress was quite Mermaid as well, it had a really low back and a statement front so the hair needed to be natural. George Katsoros created this look for me so perfectly!
A Lee Petra Grebenau Dress
My dress was Lee Petra Grebenau from Tel Aviv. I’m not your typical bride and I always wanted something different. (I also never wear dresses) The idea of visiting all the known dress brands was actually giving me anxiety as I knew I wouldn’t like any of the classic types. I needed to find something different, unique and I wanted to stand out. I visited The Wedding Gallery in Marylebone and tried on my dress for the first time and I just knew this was the dress. I tried on many others but this dress kept coming back to the forefront of my mind every single day! So that was it, I flew to Tel Aviv with my mum in January to meet Lee herself.
I needed to see and try on the full collection just in case anything would compare to the current dress, and nothing did, it was the one! Due to Covid I couldn’t fly back and forth for fittings – so she took my latest measurements and we received the dress literally 2 weeks before the wedding and it fit like a glove! Honestly a dream dream dress.
Shoes
I’m always one for a platform. Luckily my mum is in the footwear industry and she had bespoke shoes made for me using fabric from my dress. They were honestly beyond beautiful!
The handsome groom
He wore a beautiful Hugo Boss tux and some Gucci loafers. He always looks gorgeous but seeing him look so happy under the chuppah will be a moment I will never forget.
Ceremony
We had a gospel choir singing us down the aisle Get Gospel. The songs that were sung were extremely special and songs that mean something to the both of us. Walking down the aisle with my dad was a truly special moment and just seeing how beautiful the room looked, it was everything I could ever have imagined.
Flowers
Our florist was John Carter Flowers who Jade recommended for our vision from the offset. We wanted a wild, romantic look with a lot of candles and this was created so effectively. Due to the limited amount of guests, we had 3 long tables with cascading florals, vases and lots of candles at the base of all tables.
Photographer and videographer
Again my planner had recommended both Claudine Hartzel and Denis to me – but when we saw Claudine’s work we knew she would work perfectly with the natural vibe we wanted. We wanted something less formal and more relaxed and we were so happy with all of our pictures.
There’s nothing not to love about Denis & the team from Denee Motion. He instantly makes you feel at ease. Many of my friends have had Denee Motion so we didn’t even look at other options, we always knew he would be the perfect fit for us.
Honeymoon
We will see if we can this year – fingers crossed. If we can, we will probably do the Maldives or somewhere far, far away 🙂
Advice to couples currently planning their wedding
Stay chilled, enjoy every moment. If you got through 2020, I’m pretty sure you can get through anything! It goes so quickly so take it all in and just enjoy yourself to the fullest, you will never get it back! Although we had 15 guests, we are going to do a huge party this year – so appreciate it when you can have all the people you love there, but even if you can’t, it is still the most special and precious day of your life!
AMELIA & SHAUN’S LITTLE WHITE BOOK
Photography – Claudine Hartzel {offers 10% discount to all members of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club}
Videography – Denee Motion {offers 10% discount to all members of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club}
Wedding planner – Fantastique London
Venue – Home House
Bride’s dress – Lee Petra Grebenau
Bride’s shoes – Dune
Groom’s attire – Hugo Boss, Gucci
Hair + Makeup – George Katsoros, Frankie Neal Makeup
Flowers – John Carter – John Carter Flowers
Gospel choir – Get Gospel
DJ – Tom Broughton
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.
Such great memories! x