This glorious Jewish wedding in Spain is truly the stuff destination wedding fantasies are made of – and no wonder, given that Charlotte, an EA at a financial services firm, and Simon runs his own business, SB Jewellery, assembled a total dream team to help them pull off planning from abroad.
From Dyana Dessar Simmons and her team at Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Optimum Weddings – who led the couple to their jawdroppingly gorgeous venue – to photography by Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Jeremy Standley and his assistant Ruth Blamire-Brown – who captured everything from that smashing the glass moment to the wild Israeli dancing perfectly – Charlotte and Simon had all the Jewish wedding expertise (not to mention creative talent!) you could ask for.
Getting the Jewish element just right was extra important to these two given that the bride had recently converted to Judaism, and she wanted to make sure her family felt included in the big day despite being new to Jewish weddings.
Happily, these two had a super supportive rabbi, who made sure everyone felt a part of the ceremony – and we love how they made some of our favourite Jewish wedding traditions their own, with lovely touches from a birch chuppah to a beautiful bespoke ketubah from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Danny Azoulay that the couple picked out when visiting his shop on a trip to Jerusalem.
Now over to Charlotte, who looked stunning in her bespoke lace gown from Louise Marie…
How we met
Charlotte, the bride: Simon and I met and University of Birmingham both doing a Chemistry degree, it wasn’t until our final year that we got together after being friends from the start.
We had been together 4 years when Simon proposed in the Four Seasons in Johannesburg the first night of our holiday in South Africa just before starting our safari. He arranged the whole thing with the hotel to have our room all decorated and champagne and canapes laid out for us. It was perfect and I really was surprised.
A Wedding in Spain
My mum and stepfather have lived in Spain for over 10 years now and it feels like home to me. We both wanted an abroad wedding for the party/holiday vibe it brings and having spent many weeks their together throughout our relationship it was the perfect choice.
We got married in Finca La Concepcion near Marbella. When Dyana showed us a picture of Finca in our first meeting with her in London we knew it was perfect. My mum and stepfather went to visit the venue and loved it, my mum sent me a tearful video from the venue so we knew it was the one. We loved the spectacular backdrop for the chuppah ceremony and the beautiful garden where we could entertain our guests all evening.
Sunshine Party
Our vision was a sunshine party and it delivered on both aspects. We didn’t have a particular style or theme but we knew we wanted a black tie wedding with a traditional chuppah ceremony followed by a big party.
As we were getting married abroad I knew we would benefit from a wedding planner, we had Dyana and her team from Optimum Weddings. Dyana had previously planned my mums 50th and is a friend of the family, with her Jewish knowledge we knew she’d do an excellent job for us.
Having recently converted to Judaism the Jewish wedding was a whole new concept to my family. It was important to us that they felt included and I knew they’d love the party atmosphere. My parents stood next to me under the chuppah which was extremely important to me, they’re amazing and we went through a lot as a family in 2018. Our rabbi did an excellent job of guiding my parents through the ceremony and all our friends gave everything to the Israeli dancing and are still raving about it now, I’m so glad they loved it.
What ‘Smashing The Glass’ did For us
STG was extremely useful to me in the build up to our wedding, I loved reading other wedding stories for inspiration and love the inclusive aspect of the all types of Jewish weddings.
It was particularly useful to me for getting a proper understanding of what will happen in the ceremony enabling us to write a comprehensive order of service for our guests.
Rose Gold Invitations
Our wedding invitations and all the stationery was designed by Shani from Equal Creative in Temple Fortune (their profits go to Kisharon, an aspect I loved). We wanted to give our guests an idea of the wedding venue so Shani designed us a beautiful invitation with a leaf pattern and rose gold borders, this theme was continued onto our Order of Service, Benchers, menus etc. Shani made the process seamless and I loved how it all looked.
Hair + Makeup
I had Nicola McGeorge for my makeup and Alex Harrocks for hair. Both Nicola and Alex understood me perfectly, for my makeup I wanted to feel made up but not overdone. Nicola did a fabulous job and worked around the clock throughout the wedding to make sure I was glowing perfectly at all times! I had a trial in December with Nicola and she just got what I wanted immediately, she is calm, charming and so lovely!
For my hair I knew I wanted it up as it was hot (on the day during the chuppah it was 34oc!!) and I was going to be partying all night, Alex did a great job fixing in my tiara and putting my hair up in a classic fashion. I never wear my hair up normally but was thrilled with the look, classic & timeless. Alex was excellent on the day a very calming presence.
A Louise Marie Dress
I initially selected a designer gown in a boutique in central London after trawling round numerous stores and trying on 40 gowns. I bought the dress in November however they went into administration the following June and weren’t able to fulfil my dress order, a true wedding nightmare!
With only 3 months until the wedding I was recommended to go to Louise Marie, for a bespoke gown. Louise is truly a superstar and I was blown away by her work and attitude. She designed me the most perfect lace bodice gown with a raw edge Swarovski veil. A real life fairy god mother! I visited her studio in Shenley almost weekly to choose the lace, design etc. I adored the bespoke approach and wish I’d gone to her from the beginning.
Accessories
I knew I wanted a veil and tiara as soon as I started thinking about my bridal style. There won’t be many opportunities to wear a tiara and I knew this would make me feel like a princess. My tiara was from Ivory & Co. I selected it in Forever Bridal in Barnet.
My veil was floor length, raw edged and scattered with Swarovski crystals, I had my back to the congregation for the majority of the ceremony and the crystals glistened in the sunlight over the dress.
My husband is a jeweller so I knew there would be no shortage of sparkles for the day. After the ceremony I wore a stunning pear shaped diamond tennis necklace that Simon lent me from SB Jewellery. As a gift he made me the most beautiful 3 diamond drop pearl earrings that I will treasure forever.
Jimmy Choos
I wore gold glittery Jimmy Choo stilettos, Marianne 120s for the ceremony and reception which I loved, I wanted a wedding shoe I would wear again. I changed into gold strappy wedges for the dancing to ensure I could last all night.
The handsome groom
Simon has very classic style and I knew he’d be wearing traditional black tie. He wore a tailored tuxedo by Hugo Boss that fitted him to perfection and a black patterned bow tie by Mrs Bow Tie. His shoes were traditional patent brogues from Russell and Bromley, he looked so daper under the chuppah!
As is tradition I bought Simon his wedding tallit, on a trip to Israel prior to our wedding we chose it together in a store in Jerusalem. It was the one he would wear on the day and as a married man, it is all cream with a gold embroidered Atarah.
Bridesmaids in Blossom
I had my sister Lucy and best friend from university Rose as my bridesmaids. They were amazing and looked sensational wearing the Regent dress in Blossom by Maids to Measure. The colour of the dress worked perfectly with our flowers.
We also had two flower girls, my gorgeous goddaughter Grace who is 7 and our niece Simon’s brother and wife’s 2 year old daughter Ella. They looked super cute in their damigella ivory dresses as they scattered rose petals in our aisle.
Birch Chuppah
In keeping with the rustic but astounding backdrop for our ceremony I wanted a chuppah that wouldn’t look out of place. We chose to have a birch chuppah with greenery and flowers. It worked perfectly.
Ceremony
The ceremony was extremely special to us, it was officiated by Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg who was my sponsoring conversion rabbi. It was so lovely he was able to travel to Spain to marry us, he made such an effort getting to know our families throughout the conversion and our engagement and gave a very touching address to the congregation. We asked our favourite Chazan Roland Brandman to accompany Rabbi Jonathan to sing under the chuppah and lead the benching. He did a phenomenal job.
A Danny Azoulay Ketubah
We knew we wanted a bespoke ketubah and on our last trip to Israel while staying in Jerusalem we came across Danny Azoulay’s shop, we chose the design in store together, called Blossom. I’m so glad we went for an artist’s design and it is now framed in our hallway.
Our music choice
Music was very important to us especially Simon, we worked with our chazzan Roland and Creation to find appropriate songs for during the ceremony and later during the party. We wanted to have as traditional a chuppah ceremony as we could so we chose the following music:
Grooms entrance: ‘Mi Adir’
Bride’s entrance and aisle Badeken: ‘L’Cha Dodi’
Circling of the groom: ‘Vehi Sheamda’
Our entrance to the Israeli dancing was to Beyonce and Jay-Z ‘Crazy in Love’ and our first dance was ‘All of Me’ by John Legend.
Unique Flowers
As the backdrop for the chuppah was so dramatic and the garden of the Finca so green and luscious we didn’t feel the need to go totally over the top with flowers. Berta at Unique totally understood us and executed the flowers to perfection. I adored my bouquet of white and pinks which matched beautifully to the chuppah design and the beautiful table centres my mum designed with her. The boy’s button holes were pink roses, my favourite.
Photographer
Jeremy Standley and his assistant Ruth Blamire-Brown did our photography. We are absolutely thrilled with the photographs and love looking at them up in our home. They captured the day perfectly from the smashing of the glass to the amazing Israeli dancing. We will treasure the photographs forever and are so happy we chose Jeremy. I researched many photographers before selecting Jeremy, Jewish weddings are a different ball game and with his experience and artistic eye we knew he’d be perfect.
Videography
The Love Hunters did the videography, they were recommended to us by friends who got married in Spain. They were brilliant and we love watching the video, I cry every time!
The Food
Le Panto Catering put on a fantastic spread of canapes and cocktails for the drinks reception followed by a fabulous 4 course meal, salmon and tuna tataki with avocado tartare, a lemon sorbet palate cleanser, baked teriyaki chicken with Mediterranean vegetables followed by a chocolate dessert (Le Pantito).
They made us a beautiful parve cake made up of three tiers, red velvet, lemon drizzle and vanilla sponge, with white icing and decorated with pink flowers.
We had a late night snacks of mini burgers and chips which went down a treat with all our very merry guests!
Entertainment
We flew over Creation Showband to perform for our wedding, they were simply outstanding! Music was a hugely important part to us and they delivered the most exceptional set! Simon the band director was a pleasure to work with in the lead up to the big day, we had every faith in them.
Charity Favours
My stepfather tragically passed away in the middle of last year and was so dearly missed on the day, as a memory of him our wedding favours were pins from Cancer Research telling guests of our donation made on their behalf.
Honeymoon in the Maldives
We chose to do our honeymoon a little while after the wedding, we went to the Maldives in January, the most perfect time to get away from London.
We chose to stay for 10 nights at Carpe Diem, a new resort in the Maldives, it was everything we could have asked for in a honeymoon. The staff and service were exceptional, arranging excursions and complimentary honeymoon extras (in-room dining, free spa treatments and a sunset cruise).
We had a private plunge pool on our terrace which was perfect for watching sunset. We loved our time away, perfect, peaceful and romantic.
Advice to couples currently planning their wedding
Work out what aspects of the wedding day are most important to you and try and focus on them, the little details are lovely but can cause the most stress. Your friends and family are there for you, to watch you marry the love of your life and that’s what is most important.
Charlotte & Simon’s little white book
Photography – Jeremy Standley and Ruth Blamire-Brown {he offers 10% discount to all members of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club}
Wedding planner – optimum weddings {offers 10% discount to all members of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club}
Ketubah – Danny Azoulay {offers 10% discount to all members of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club}
Videography – The Love Hunters
Venue – Finca la Concepcion
Bride’s dress – Louise Marie
Bride’s shoes – Jimmy Choo
Bride’s accessories – Ivory & Co. purchased at Forever Bridal and SB Jewellery
Groom’s attire – Hugo Boss, Mrs Bow Tie and Russell and Bromley
Bridesmaids – Maids to Measure
Hair + Makeup – Nicola McGeorge and Alex Harrocks
Flowers – Unique by Roberto Silva
Band – Creation Showband
Catering- Le Panto Catering
Stationery – Equal Creative
Honeymoon – at Carpe Diem
Proposal – at Four Seasons
Credit to – Finca la Concepcion – The venue looks gorgeous!