A country house-style Jewish wedding with all the convenience (and fun contemporary touches) of central London? Um, yes please!
Busy Abbie and Alastair are both doctors: she’s an obstetrician/gynecologist, he’s doing a PhD in trauma and orthopedics – so it’s a good thing they found dreamy venue the Savile Club close to home: see Miki Studios’ breathtaking photography and videography for evidence.
We’re crazy about the juxtaposition of classic and quirky they worked into their big day – from the custom-designed invitations honoring the groom’s love of succulents, by wonderful Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Bigday Designs (who, the bride says, were “totally charming in indulging my bizarre ideas”!) to the beautiful cake Alistair’s grandmother made the couple, covered in hundreds of handmade sugar rose petals she spent the couple’s whole engagement year making!
The pair’s music choice also mixed the traditional with the contemporary: it was key for them to find a live band who could nail both the Israeli music and party music for afterwards, and they found their perfect match in the Matzoh Boys – their singer is fantastic Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Jonny Mosesson!
And we love that, after having heard friends’ regrets about not having spent enough time with their other half on the big day, Abbie and Alastair decided to make the not-so-traditional choice of a sweetheart table, which gave them some precious quality time to enjoy each other’s company during the meal.
Oh, and we can’t hand you over to Abbie without mentioning her romantic Lyn Ashworth gown with 3/4 French lace sleeves and a full silk chiffon skirt…
How we met
Abbie, the bride: We actually met at medical school, when Abbie’s mum forced her to go to the Jewish Society Rosh Hashanah dinner in Nottingham! It was all going really well until Abbie realised that Alastair was a fresher and two years younger than her! Luckily Alastair won her back with his charms and the rest is history!
A London Wedding
Ceremony – Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue on Lauderdale Road. Apart from the fact it is a beautiful old synagogue and a listed building, it’s also where Alastair’s parents and grandparents were married so it was very special and sentimental.
Reception – the Savile Club in Mayfair. It satisfied Abbie’s dream for a beautiful exclusive country house, but with all the convenience of central London! The day we arrived for our viewing, they were actually filming scenes from Vanity Fair – I was instantly sold! We are also serious Londoners so it felt right to party surrounded by the sights and sounds of central London.
Italian Flavours
Alastair and I are serious foodies and we knew people would expect big things from our dinner menu. As we got engaged in Puglia (whilst scuba diving in an underwater cave!) it felt natural to use Italy for our inspiration.
We worked closely with the head chef at the Savile Club to create an exciting menu filled with fabulous Italian flavours with lots of truffle, basil, pecorino and seasonal vegetables like artichokes and courgette flowers! All the wines were Italian and we served espresso martinis with dessert. Not forgetting the beautiful Italian cheeses… I don’t think anyone went home hungry!
Apart from the food, I was really keen to ensure that Alastair had his say in our wedding as I think men often get left out. Alistair has always had a particular soft spot for cacti and succulents (way before the millennial trend) so we decided to work that in as a recurring element in the wedding. So we used them to inspire the invitations, flowers and even the colour scheme! Our wonderful florist (more on him later) even made two enormous initials for each of us, filled with succulents!
What ‘Smashing The Glass’ Did For Us
I love reading all about other people’s wedding on Smashing the Glass. It’s so nice to be inspired and to see how such different weddings can all turn out so beautifully. We found our band Matzoh Boys on STG and they were a dream find!
Succulent Invitations
We worked with an amazing company called Bigday Designs who were totally charming in indulging my bizarre ideas – as I mentioned, I really wanted to somehow work the succulent theme subtly and tastefully into everything as that was the main thing Alastair had given his opinion on.
So I found a gorgeous design on Etsy that ticked all the boxes, sent the graphic to the designer who then used it as inspiration to create the final piece. We couldn’t have been happier with the outcome and the same graphic/motif was then worked into all of our stationery! I loved it so much, I have a collage at home with all the wedding stationery as a reminder.
Hair + Makeup
Hair was done by Charlie from Electric Hairdresser in Marylebone. He has been our family hairdresser for a long time and I really trusted him to do something amazing. We had quite a few hair trials because I couldn’t makeup my mind but the final creation was beyond anything I could have hoped for. Each piece of hair was curled and wrapped into a high bun which survived even through all the Israeli dancing!
My makeup artist Miryiam was gifted to my by my auntie as she works for Brides magazine and had worked closely with her on several occasions. I’m rather clueless when it comes to makeup but she took care of everything and created such a gorgeous natural glow!
A Lyn Ashworth Dress
Finding my dress was surprisingly easy… I had done some research and knew roughly what I wanted so I went to a boutique bridal store in Ruislip (Anne Louise Bridal) and it was the second dress I tried on! It was a traditional and romantic Lyn Ashworth gown with 3/4 French lace sleeves and a full silk chiffon skirt. I knew it was the one because I just stood there smiling and didn’t want to take it off.
I have to say that Cheryl (the owner of Anne Louise Bridal) is one of the nicest, kindest people I have ever met. She even came on the day of the wedding with her mum to help me get dressed and make sure everything was perfect. I insisted she came to the ceremony because she really felt like a special part of the whole process.
Accessories
I wanted to keep my look simple and elegant to complement my dress so I chose a simple pearl and diamond vine to go in my hair with a long veil that floated behind me when I walked.
However my mother and father in law bought the the most stunning Paspaley pearl and diamond earrings which finished the look so perfectly.
My secret, sentimental piece on the day was a bracelet that my mum had been given by her mum on the day I was born. It was hidden within my dress and felt so nice to carry a little piece of my grandma down the aisle right next to my heart.
Irregular Choice Shoes
After spending the entire day with my maid of honour trying to find wedding shoes (looking everywhere from New Look to Harrods) I was about to give up when we walked past a quirky shoe shop called Irregular Choice. They do the most crazy shoes from platforms containing bird cages to dolly shoes with furry ears and everything in between.
My maid of honour convinced me it would be fun to have some crazy, quirky ‘Alice in Wonderland’ type shoes hiding under my dress. We had the best hour trying on all sorts of monstrosities and came out with perfect white and pink sequined sparkly heels with a giant pink bow on the front!
Because I take my wedding dancing very seriously (lol), I also ordered myself some bespoke personalised wedding Converse which were a dream to put on before the dancing started.
The handsome groom
My gorgeous handsome groom has a serious muscly rugby player build so it’s really hard for him to buy suits and normally he won’t go anywhere other than M&S!! As a special treat for the wedding he agreed to have a small upgrade to TM Lewin!
I also bought him sneaky personalised boxers from Bags of Love with my face on incase he couldn’t wait to see me in the synagogue!
Bridesmaids
I had three bridesmaids (my sister in law, my cousin and my best friend). We had a great time in Maids to Measure in Chelsea. I gave all the girls a colour and was so happy for them to all choose their own style but in they end they all loved the same dress!
I also bought them personalised floral dressing gowns to get ready in on the morning of the wedding which looked so great in the pictures!
An Accessible Ceremony
Although Alastair and I aren’t that religious, we have strong spiritual and cultural identities and it was really important to us to have a strong Jewish element running through our ceremony.
As a lot of our friends aren’t Jewish, we researched all the symbolic and special elements of a Jewish ceremony and made little explanation booklets which we left on each seat. Everybody commented on how lovely it was to understand the ceremony and connect to it in a deeper way.
The Sheva Brachot were sung by family which was so special – Abbie’s dad and two brothers and Alastair’s dad each did one and the rabbi did the rest. The whole chuppah ceremony was so warm and so moving… They had all practised and sung beautifully.
I will also never forget walking round the corner of the bimah and seeing Alastair’s face with so much love (and definitely a few tears although he wouldn’t admit it).
No Chuppah Blind Spots
I have sat through too many weddings with serious chuppah blind spots! Although I love big elaborate chuppahs, it was really important to me that the chuppah was beautiful but very simple and minimalist to highlight what was happening underneath and so that everyone could see!
Our music choice
For the bride entry I chose ‘Mehera Hashem’ which is one of the most beautiful and emotional songs! It still makes me cry to listen to it now.
For the first dance we chose ‘Can’t Take My Eyes Off You’ . We wanted something romantic but fun and upbeat! Although I resisted the my desire to have formal dance lessons before, I did make Alastair practice in the living room!
Preserving the Bouquet
Jamie Aston was our fabulous florist and we were so lucky to work with him. He worked our succulents tastefully into everything, even my bridal bouquet and the grooms button hole!
Apart from that I totally loved his portfolio and hence gave him free reign to go crazy and make brave and quirky decisions like using snow berries, herbs and loads of gorgeous foliage. Everyone was asking for his number by the end of the night!
I was so in love with my bridal bouquet I sent it to be preserved by a wonderful lady called Jenny who owns Infinity Flowers. Now it’s up on my wall forever!
Photographer
Miki Studios were an absolutely dream find. From the moment we first met them for our complimentary pre-wed shoot, we realised they were not only exceptionally nice guys but also extremely talented and great fun to work with.
They made us feel comfortable and relaxed and expertly balanced the requests of bride/groom/family and friends! They even helped the bride and groom escape when the formal photos were becoming a bit too much! The images they produced are creative and beautiful and we would recommend them to everybody.
Cake by the Groom’s Grandma
Our beautiful cake was made by Alastair’s extremely talented grandma who frequently features in Sugarcraft magazine. She made us a three tiered cake covered in hundreds of handmade rose petals. The top tier was the basket of roses cake she had made us for our engagement which had inspired the style for the other tiers!!
She was making sugar petals for the whole year that we were engaged in anticipation – a true labour of love! The basket has a lid which opens and inside is a note from her to open on our one year anniversary!
Matzoh Boys
We really wanted a live band who could nail both the Israeli music and party music for afterwards. After serious google searching we came across Matzoh Boys on STG!! Although I wasn’t that impressed with their name (which is nowhere near as cool as they are), we went to see them perform at JW3 and the atmosphere they created was electric! Everyone was up on their feet! We managed to squeeze a fabulous 9 piece band onto our dance floor and danced the night away!
Candy Favours
Alastair has a particularly sweet tooth so we ordered our bespoke wedding favours from an artisan candy store in Barcelona called PapaBubble. We had little packets of handmade passion fruit and cherry rock with our names inside them!
Bride’s speech
I had never really planned on making a speech but I did want to write Alastair a special letter to read on the morning of our wedding. The letter turned into a poem (because how else does one express true love) and I suddenly realised it would be fun to surprise Alastair with the poem on the day! Everyone loved it!
Dad’s song
Alastair wasn’t the only one who had a surprise on the day! The father of the bride surprised Abbie and Alastair by singing ‘Some Enchanted Evening’ at the end of his speech. It was really special and lots of tears followed!
Sweetheart table
Lots of friends told us that their biggest regret from their own wedding was not spending enough time with their other half! So we broke with tradition and instead of having a formal top table or a table with friends, we decided to have a table just the two of us. It meant that for a few minutes with each course we got to sit and enjoy each other’s company and eat the delicious food before we went to mingle. We also got some fabulous pictures focused on the two of us in the magnificent ballroom where we had dinner. I would recommend the idea to everyone as it gave us some really cherished moments just the two of us.
Wedding cars
We were extremely lucky to have two family wedding cars! The bride and the father of the bride travelled to the ceremony in a beautiful old Red Rolls Royce that had been owned by the grandfather and had been passed down through generations as the wedding car!
After the ceremony, Abbie and Alastair drove to the wedding reception in a beautiful classic convertible Mercedes! As the weather was glorious, we drove slowly with the roof down and we were cheered and clapped by passers by the whole way there!
Honeymoon in Africa
After the dramatic proposal, we couldn’t possibly have a relaxing, generic honeymoon. So we went on a 4 week adventure moon! We went to Namibia, Mozambique and Madagascar, going on safari, hiking the skeleton coast, kayaking between small islands and finishing up with a diving liveaboard for three days. Not exactly relaxing but incredible fun and a trip to remember forever.
Advice to couples currently planning their wedding
The most important thing is not to lose sight of the person you’re marrying and what the day is really about. It can be so easy to lose all perspective and focus on the wedding day, rather than the union that it represents!
Alastair always says ‘before you let something upset you, just think if it will still bother you in 1 month/1 year/5 years time… if it won’t upset you then, why should it upset you now?’ It’s such a good way to reset and clear your mind to leave space for the important things. I look back now and laugh at some of the things that I thought were SO IMPORTANT then.
Don’t skimp on photographers… there will be so many things that whizz past on the day and so many things that you won’t see and good photographers will capture and safeguard all your memories for the future!
As I mentioned above Alastair and I really enjoyed having our own little table and I would recommend it to anybody. It just gave us a few precious moments to eat, (get some great pictures) and enjoy each other.
Abbie & Alistair’s little white book
Photography – Miki Studios
Videography – Miki Studios
Stationery – Bigday Designs {offers 10% discount to all members of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club}
Band – Matzoh Boys and Jonny Mosesson {he offers 10% discount to all members of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club}
Venue – Savile Club
Bride’s dress – Lyn Ashworth found and fitted at Anne Louise Bridal
Bride’s shoes – Irregular Choice and Converse
Bridesmaids –Maids to Measure and The Little Lovebird
Groom’s attire – TM Lewin and Bags of Love
Flowers – Jamie Aston
Favours – PapaBubble
WHAT A WEDDING!!! It was a pleasure from start to finish to be there.
Thank you so much for sharing!