There’s not much that’s better than discovering a hidden gem of a Jewish wedding venue right in the center of London – which is exactly what today’s couple, Smashing The Glass Brides Club member Kitty and Sam, found in Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Middle Temple.
As soon as the couple set eyes on Middle Temple – located in the City of London, just a stone’s throw from the couple’s chuppah venue, Bevis Marks Synagogue – they knew it was just the place for their reception. With a striking (and spacious!) hall full of history and the kind of verdant outdoor space you’d hardly expect to find in the heart of the city, Middle Temple is really something special – and Kitty can’t say enough kind words about the experience of working with their events team in the leadup to the big day! Don’t miss it in the wonderful images by Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Marta Ilardo Photography.
Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Shir performed at Kitty and Sam’s chuppah and reception, including leading Israeli dancing and teaching some basics so all the guests, Jewish and non-Jewish, could follow along! And the couple’s minimalist ketubah came from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Ketubah.com!
We’ll let the bride, who looked so elegant in her Louise Selby gown, take it from here…
How We Met
Kitty, the bride: Sam and I met at work – we’re both management consultants and were working on the same project for a short amount of time a few years ago. We quickly became friends, but it wasn’t until COVID struck and we were unable to see each other every day that we realised how we felt about each other.
A Venue with History
We had our ceremony at Bevis Marks Synagogue in the City and then our reception in Middle Temple Hall. When we met, I wasn’t Jewish, but my paternal grandfather had been Jewish and as a child was a member of the Spanish and Portuguese (S&P) community in London, and his family had a long history as part of the community. Sam and I decided that we both wanted to live a Jewish life and (eventually) raise a Jewish family so I underwent conversion with the S&P Sephardi Beth Din.
I completed it shortly before the wedding. It felt only fitting to have our chuppah at Bevis Marks which was such a big part of my family history. It also doesn’t hurt that Bevis Marks is gorgeous, all glistening in gold, having been recently refurbished, and is completely candlelit, which adds so much atmosphere to a wedding! Middle Temple Hall we stumbled on quite by accident, but it was a very happy accident (we had to cancel our original reception venue – long story).
As soon as we went to see it we knew we had to have our reception there. The outdoor space is a wonderful London secret and was fabulous as we were keen to have our drinks reception outside (and thankfully we did as it was 30C). The hall is also very striking, and was a perfect size for a dinner dance for 150 people. I also can’t say enough good things about Kerry from Middle Temple who looked after us, who was always quick to respond to emails and very helpful.
Summery and Bright
We didn’t do anything particularly themed for our wedding. We were keen to keep things summery and bright, but Sam was reluctant to wear anything on the pink spectrum so we paired our summery colours that we used in our flowers with a sage green that we used for our stationery, kippot, ties and bridesmaids’ dresses.
We didn’t use a wedding planner or coordinator but our caterer were very helpful on the day, and one of Sam’s cousins acted as our master of ceremonies and was great at keeping everything running smoothly!
What ‘Smashing The Glass Brides Club’ Did For Us
Smashing the Glass Brides Club was really helpful for our wedding planning. The checklists were a great aid, as was the budget spreadsheet and the vendors lists were great starting points when looking for suppliers. We ended up using recommended vendors for our band, photographer and ketubah.
Invitations + Stationery
All stationery, including invitations, thank you cards, orders of service, bencher covers and table places were designed and created by Papers by Mae, who was very understanding as we made large numbers of reviews and edits along the way, and did a wonderful job, exactly what we’d imagined, with everything for a very reasonable price.
Hair + Makeup
I found Emily, my hair and make up artist, through Lauren from Wedding Hair and Make Up by Lauren. I was really keen to have someone who would make me look very natural as I don’t usually wear much make up myself. She did a fantastic job on me, my bridesmaids and my mum.
A Louise Selby Dress
I tried on many wedding dresses at many different shops. Many of them felt like I was just playing dress up. I then went to see Louise Selby and fell in love with my dress. Her dresses were all very flattering and bridal without being over the top or showing excessive cleavage. Louise was also so accommodating with making adjustments to the design of the dress I chose to make it more synagogue appropriate (lengthening the sleeves and raising the back).
Accessories & Shoes
I had these fabulous hair pins that went under my veil from Hermione Harbutt, they allowed me to still feel bridal with my hair once I decided to take my veil out. I wore strappy heels from Rainbow Club which I cannot recommend more – they were so comfortable, I could have worn them all night, and come in so many different colours (I’m considering getting more just for regular heel wearing)!
Ceremony & Chuppah
Our ceremony was very special, particularly because of the journey we’d been on with conversion to get to that point. We used the Bevis Marks Chuppah with flowers in bright summery colours on the corners – I was particularly keen to make sure that the flowers looked natural, and our florist did a great job! I walked in to Baruch Haba followed by Pitchu Li, both sung by a very good friend of ours, which made both walking up the aisle, and Sam meeting me in the middle of the aisle to do the Bedekken a very special moment.
As we had an Orthodox ceremony we didn’t have a huge amount of flexibility with the order of service, however our Rabbi was great at distinguishing law from custom which allowed me to say a few lines and smash a glass whilst also retaining the feel of an orthodox wedding.
Ketubah
We got our ketubah from Ketubah.com. We spent ages picking our design, but settled on something minimalistic because we want to always have it on display. We left it a little late to order and were so worried that it wouldn’t arrive on time from America that we shipped it to one of Sam’s American cousins, who very kindly brought it over for the wedding in their luggage!
Our music choice
We had the band Shir play for our Chuppah and our reception. Shir played for Sam’s Bar Mitzvah, so it was lovely to have them back for this event. They are so good at reading a room and playing the right music at the perfect time. They also do “Led Israeli Dancing”, taking everyone through some classic dances step by step, which was a great way of including both Jewish and non-Jewish guests and is loads of fun for all!
Shir also work closely with Max Marcus Events – Max was great, providing lighting for the room and playing for the disco later in the evening.
Flowers
We chose summery flowers in pinks, oranges, yellows and reds, with foliage. My favourite flowers are peonies so I was keen to have these as a central part of all the floral arrangements. Flowers by Louise did a fabulous job taking my ideas and working them into a reality. I was keen that nothing was identical, so the bridesmaids had bouquets of different flowers that made up my bouquet and the button holes were different colours.
We had long tables down the room in Middle Temple and on these we had long floral arrangements in the same summery flowers and candles in jars to add some more atmosphere and break up the table.
Photographer and videographer
With both the photographer and the videographer, we looked at the websites of lots of people. With Marta Ilardo Photography and with Songbird, we liked their styles, spoke to both of them over video chat and they seemed lovely (important as you see them a lot on the day!). Both were great at making us feel comfortable and on the day we’re great at being there when we needed them but also blending into the background.
Food and Cake
Philip Small did our catering and was amazing. I’m a coeliac and he catered the entire wedding gluten free, including making hamotzi-appropriate challah which was great! We wanted to keep the food light and summery and everything we had fit the brief! Margalit Dweck did our cake (at rather short notice) – also made it gluten free and absolutely delicious!!
Wedding List
We did our registry on our WithJoy website which we also used for RSVPs, managing our guest list and providing details for our guests. The registry allowed us to pull items from lots of different suppliers into one place. It took a little while to set up and confused one or two of the guests, but most seemed very capable of working it out. What was really great about it was that it allowed us to use gifts from all over the place whilst also giving people the option to buy the same item from a cheaper retailer if they found it elsewhere.
Extra Details
Due to the intense heat, our wedding cake slowly melted over the course of the day, and the top layer toppled over midway through Sam’s speech!
One other thing we did which made the wedding (and the time after) feel extra special were Sheva Brachot meals during the week after the wedding- having that extended period of time where you still feel like a bride and groom is great, and it’s lovely to be able to extend the celebrations.
Honeymoon
We did 4.5 weeks touring round the US – we booked it all and decided the route ourselves. It included time in NYC, Philadelphia, D.C., North Carolina, Denver, Utah national parks, Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, Sequoia, Yosemite, San Francisco and LA and was absolutely fantastic. Too many recommendations to mention, but we’d definitely recommend taking a slightly longer trip if you can to spend time as the two of you after the chaos of the run up to a wedding.
Advice to couples currently planning their wedding
I have two pieces of advice from personal experience – first, try as best as you can to set expectations early with family members as to how much input they can give. We had a lot of drama in the final couple of months before the wedding with unhelpful opinions and wish we had had those conversations earlier! Second – leave everything behind on the day, guests take their cue from the couple, so no matter how stressed you have been, how unwell you feel, how little sleep you may have got, just let it go!
This is a day solely about you and your partner – I was really unwell on our wedding day, but as soon as I started walking down the aisle the only thing that I focussed on was Sam, and after that nothing phased me! The number one thing our guests said after was how nice it was to see us smiling so much all day.
KITTY & SAM’S LITTLE WHITE BOOK
Photography – Marta Ilardo Photography
Venue – Middle Temple Hall.
Ketubah – Ketubah.com {offers 10% discount to all members of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club}
Band – Shir {offers 10% discount to all members of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club}
Videography – Songbird
Synagogue – Bevis Marks Synagogue
Bride’s dress – Louise Selby
Bride’s shoes – Rainbow Club
Bride’s accessories – Hermione Harbutt
Hair + Makeup – Wedding Hair and Make Up by Lauren
Flowers – Flowers by Louise
Catering – Philip Small
Cake – Margalit Dweck
Stationery/Invitation – Papers by Mae
Registry / Website – WithJoy
Lighting – Max Marcus Events
Smash The Glass Pouch – Smashing The Glass Etsy Shop {or join Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club and get one for free!}
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.
