A Lucy Can’t Dance Bride for a ‘Kosher Braveheart Does Glastonbury’ Jewish-Scottish Wedding at the Fox and Hounds, Great Moulton, UK

We’ve got two words for you: Wisteria. Chuppah. Just look at it! Have you ever seen anything more lovely than those simple strands of purple and white perfection swinging gently in the breeze, captured to perfection by photographer Katy Treadwell?! Because we’re pretty sure we haven’t.

Sophie, a property photographer for an estate agent, and Andy, a web designer, totally rocked their “Kosher Braveheart Does Glastonbury” Jew-ish wedding style (seriously, have you heard of a better theme?!). Between Sophie’s swoonworthy bridal ensemble–consisting of a boho-perfect Lucy Can’t Dance two-piece, flower crown, and green and blue ombre cathedral veil (that the bride dyed herself!)–that knockout chuppah, and their awesome festival-inspired wedding cake with THE coolest hidden back (seriously, do NOT miss this one!), this is one wedding we’re seriously sad not to have attended.

Oh, and you know how much we love it when couples let us know they’ve used Smashing the Glass to plan their big day. Well, not only did Sophie and Andy draw inspiration from the blog in planning their beautiful boho English-Scottish-Jew-ish wedding–Sophie reports that our Real Blogging Brides and 5 Minutes With sections–were especially helpful, they even used one of our very own Smash Glass pouches for under the chuppah.

We love love LOVE seeing our smash glass pouches in our Jewish wedding features so make sure you buy one and send us your pictures just like gorgeous Sophie did! So now over to the bride herself…

How we met

Sophie, the bride: We’d been friends for around 6 years before we started dating, and it only took him another 6 before he popped the question! But we wouldn’t have it any other way, and I feel like the luckiest lady in the world that I got to get married to her best friend!

A Pub Wedding

We got married at a small pub in the UK called the Fox and Hounds in Great Moulton. It was the perfect space for us as I grew up in the village, although Andy and I now live in London. We were allowed to do absolutely anything we wanted in their marquee to bring our wedding to life, and as it wasn’t in central London it brought the cost down!

Kosher Braveheart Does Glastonbury

Initially our theme was “English Country Garden”; however, once the ball started rolling that quickly went out the window and as we are regulars to the Glastonbury festival, and Andy has Scottish blood, the theme quickly turned to “Kosher Braveheart Does Glastonbury,” as named by one of the best men.

The only downside was that we didn’t have a wedding planner, however as we are both perfectionists this worked in our favor as it meant we could do absolutely everything we wanted without compromise.

I absolutely love the Real Brides articles you post on Smashing The Glass, it really helped me get ideas for my wedding, as well as your 5 Minutes With posts.

A Monogram by the Groom 

We handmade all our save the dates and invites from scratch, Andy is a web designer and made a monogram for our day (at my request, I must confess I have champagne tastes and a lemonade budget and I thought if we can’t have a monogram for our wedding when can we!). The monogram we then hand stamped onto our invites, and had Andy’s dad write them all as he had experience in calligraphy.

Hair + Makeup

My fantastic sister chose and paid for my makeup artist and I’m so glad she did, as I was originally looking at doing it myself. The makeup artist Kate Morris did my hair as well. I felt fabulous, and the makeup lasted all day without any touch ups!

Lucy Can’t Dance

My dress was a two piece, made to measure by the fabulous Lucy at Lucy Can’t Dance, I originally tried on loads of traditional dresses including some gorgeous Vera Wang and Galia Lahav, however as beautiful as they were they just weren’t “me” and I felt as though I was playing dress up.

I went to a small boutique called Rock the Frock in Chelmsford, who specialize in alternative dresses, and my bridemaids picked it out. I initially turned it down as I was determined not to have a two piece, but as soon as it was on I just knew it was the one for me, I’d never felt so beautiful! (That and as soon as I came out of the changing room we all burst into tears!) Mine was the Tropicana two piece with a Jungle Boogie top.

Flower Crowns and Ombre Veils

As we were in the middle of a heatwave I had a synthetic flower crown as opposed to fresh, as fresh flowers would have just wilted in the heat, I chose the cottage garden crown by a brand called Crown and Glory as their crowns and veils are just gorgeous!

I also had a green/blue ombre cathedral veil, which I dyed myself! (So proud of this bargain.) I bought the single tier with comb veil from the app Wish for one pound! I then dyed it with Rit Synthetic Dyes.

With regards to jewelry I kept it simple and wore three small blue hoops in my ears (for my something blue) and a simple silver bangle which belonged to my late mother (she passed away when I was 11). My dad gifted me the bracelet she always wore, which meant even though she wasn’t there in body on the day, I still carried a piece of her with me all day.

ASOS and Dr Martens

Given that the majority of the wedding was outside, I just couldn’t justify buying stilettos as they would have sunk in the ground, so I bought some small nude heels from Asos, and then for later on in the evening, when my feet got a bit sore I had THE most gorgeous holographic Dr Martens.

Groom in a Kilt

Andy has Scottish heritage on both sides of his family, so it seemed only right for him and his groomsmen to be in kilts. They were in traditional Gordon dress tartan with all the bells and whistles, which they hired from Slaters Suit hire.

Bridesmaids in Forest Green 

I had four bridesmaids, plus one of my sisters as my maid of honor. One of our friends from our synagogue regularly attends historical re-enactments, so she designed and made their dresses to go with the main colors of the wedding. So they were in rich forest green chiffon gowns. Four of the girls were in halter necks, while Rachel, my maid of honor, had a gorgeous deep v neckline.

A Wisteria Chuppah

As Andy’s best man is a cabinet maker he made our chuppah as our wedding gift. We had full on creative control over what we wanted. We went for quite a simple rustic design, as we felt that it fit best with our theme, and instead of a traditional tallit, Andy’s mum made (from scratch) the two by two metre silk hanging to go over the top, with our monogram embroidered on. They both did an absolutely phenomenal job.

As my side of our family are not Jewish, we added a couple of little bits into the ceremony that would help them get to grips with the service. We added some extra more traditional vows (“Do you take… to be your wife/husband?”). As well as this we had my eldest sister read “Love Is a Temporary Madness” from Captain Corelli’s Mandolin.

A Ketubah Handmade by the Couple

Our ketubah was handmade by Andy and me. We’d seen a similar design on Etsy, but it wasn’t quite right, so Andy jumped at the chance to get on Photoshop and have a play. It was 4 layers, with a green background, then three hand cut geometric layers, which we did ourselves, and then one of the layers I gilded. (Let me tell you now, I’m glad this marriage thing is for life because if I ever have to gild anything again it will be too soon!)

Fresh Feeling

Given that it was a festival theme, music played a big part. All of our guests selected a song which we put into a playlist for the afternoon (it worked so well and meant our guests got to hear music they actually liked over the course of the day).

Then when the time came, my bridesmaids came down the aisle to Fresh Feeling by Eels, and when my moment arrived my dad walked me down the aisle to an acoustic version of Sound and Vision by David Bowie (dad, Andy, and I are all big fans). Then when it came to our first dance Andy and I chose Our House by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.

Sunflowers and Thistles

For our florist we used a fantastic lady called Louise (she was fab and was always sending me ideas, and she was so easy to talk to). For the flowers we only had three steadfast rules: we had to include sunflowers and gerberas (two of my mum’s favorite flowers), and then we had to include thistles (for Andy’s heritage). Other than that we let the florist run wild, and we think she did an absolutely fabulous job.

Our fabulous Photographer 

This was the hardest bit for us! I’m a photographer, so picking someone that we felt fit with us and our ideas was difficult. I chose to ask my friend Katy Treadwell to take our pictures as she was one of the few people that I felt I could trust implicitly with them, and I knew I wouldn’t be following her around pointing out potential shots.

She was bowing out from wedding photography so we were her last gig, but for her last gig she knocked it out of the park. We could not be happier with the results she got, and I hardly noticed she was there!

A Glastonbury-Themed Cake

Again this was a DIY job: Andy’s sister made our cake as her gift to us, and it was absolutely divine! We had four tiers, with Victoria sponge, chocolate, lemon drizzle, and a fruitcake for the top. She made it look gorgeous! On the front was a green to white ombre with gold detailing, and then there was a hidden back which revealed the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury festival, complete with a Lego David Bowie performing on stage!

For the catering, the pub chef, James, put on a massive and incredible spread (which is an outstanding feat in itself as he was the sole chef for 138 people!). We had a bbq buffet and it was outstanding! There were four different types of chicken, bbq lamb, salmon, and the brisket was just to die for!

A Live Band

Although we love our music, we knew straight away we weren’t going to have the classic cheesy DJ, so we had a band called the Hillbilly Goats Gruff. They were a skiffle band that also covered modern songs and they really got the crowd going!

Lanyards and Wildflower Seeds

We didn’t have favors as such, but rather than one central table plan, everyone got a lanyard with all the stages (table names) on them to have as a keepsake from the day as well as some packs of wildflower seeds.

A DIY Day 

We had friends and family helping left, right, and center, from helping set up the marquee to the calligraphy on the invites to the outdoor games and tug of war rope. Our wedding really would not have been what it was without all the help we had, and that is what made it really special. Rather than just hiring a banquet hall somewhere and having everyone turn up and leave, there was heart and soul in it from the very beginning. We literally did everything ourselves, from the painting and writing of the signs to putting the wildflower seeds in their little envelopes!

A Minimoon in Cornwall

We’re having a minimoon in Cornwall for the August bank holiday, and then hopefully we’ll go somewhere further a field at the end of the year (which also means we avoid the “Whose house are you going to for Christmas?” scenario).

Advice to couples currently planning their wedding

Take a step back! Allow a moment on the day for you and your other half to just take a step back and take it all in, also I’d say it is YOUR day and YOU DO YOU. Don’t sweat the small stuff, so you might not have the right confetti for the tables, or your entrance music starts slightly earlier than you want it to, people aren’t going to notice this stuff.

They are going to notice you and your partner and the love you have for each other, and they will just be enjoying the honor of being a part of your special day!

Sophie & Andy’s little white book

Photography and videography – Katy Treadwell
Venue – Fox and Hounds
Bride’s dress – Lucy Can’t Dance bought at Rock the Frock
Bride’s accessories – Crown and Glory
Bride’s shoes – Asos and Dr Martens
Groom’s attire – Slaters Suit
Hair + Makeup – Kate Morris Hair and Makeup
Flowers – Louise Jane Warner
Band – Hillbilly Goats Gruff