Like so many 2020 couples, London couple Anna, a paralegal, and Simon, an English teacher, had to rethink their Jewish wedding plans when the pandemic hit. The pair had originally planned a 300-guest destination wedding in Israel for May 2020, but given the uncertainty of the situation they opted to shift things closer to home with an intimate synagogue wedding in London in September 2020, with a bigger celebration in Israel to follow when possible.
Anna and Simon chose Norrice Lea Synagogue as their new venue, and they were able to hold the wedding in two separate shifts – one for the chuppah and lunch afterward, attended by 30 members of the couple’s immediate families – and a second dinner shift just for 30 close friends who hadn’t attended the first half of the day.
As always, we’re absolutely in love with Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Claudine Hartzel’s dreamy photos of the day – and we’re totally unsurprised to hear that the couple found Claudine an absolute joy to work with on the big day.
We’ll let Anna take it from here…
How we Met
Anna, the bride and Simon, the groom: We were introduced by a mutual friend of our parents; she told us very little about each other. We added each other on Facebook and messaged briefly before going on a ‘blind date’. Things flourished from there – it was an old fashioned introduction.
Venue and wedding plans
We were planning to get married in Bait Al Hayam in Tel Aviv on the 20 of May 2020. It was the perfect venue for a summer wedding, overlooking the sea in Tel Aviv. Most of Anna’s family live in Israel so it made sense to marry in Israel as it would allow them all to attend. The wedding was to include 300 guests with approx 100 guests flying in from London. A week prior to the wedding we had also planned a Moroccan Henna in Ashdod.
Due to COVID19, with great sadness we had to cancel the wedding in Israel as it became apparent that the restrictions in Israel and the UK would mean that the wedding would not be able to go ahead.
Things continued to be affected by COVID19, and we were hesitant to push back the wedding by another year as there were no guarantees that things would improve by then, and there was no certainly no guarantee that the venue will be able to continue to operate due to their significant loss of revenue. In light of this, we decided to go ahead and marry in London in an intimate synagogue wedding with a celebration to follow in Israel when possible.
At the time of our wedding on the 6th of September 2020, the COVID19 regulations meant that we were allowed 30 persons including us, our Rabbi and photographers. We chose Norrice Lea Synagogue as the venue for its beautiful and traditional style and large reception/hall.
Norrice Lea Synagogue were wonderful and accommodating and due to a legal loop hole, we were actually able to hold two separate receptions at Norrice Lea; one reception at lunch time after the chuppa for the 30 members of our immediate family who attended the chuppa, followed by a dinner with 30 of our closest friends (who were invited just for the dinner).
The wedding was beautiful and intimate and many of our guests had commented on how much they enjoyed the simplicity and intimacy of the day.
Theme
We kept things pretty simple and classical – white and green flowers, blooms and cream table tops.
Invitations
Our stationary for the wedding in Israel was designed by Kisharon. For the wedding in London we ordered everything using Paperless Post and Papier.
Hair + Make-up
The bride and the bride’s mother used a lovely family friend, Beth Margetts, for makeup and getting ready. She’s a wonderful make up artist who’s very experienced in doing brides and we couldn’t have imagined using anyone else.
A Madi Lane Dress
The Dress was from Madi Lane, an Australian designer. The dress was picked for the wedding in Israel as it was light with minimal puffiness and a beautiful, romantic lace all over. As it was still quite warm in September, the dress could be used for the London wedding and worked really well.
Accessories
No tiara or special hair accessories. I wore a simple diamond necklace that was gifted to me by mother.
Shoes
I wore these white wedge bridal trainers that were purchased for the wedding in Israel where I expected lots of dancing and partying throughout the night.
They were so amazing in the wedding itself – no one could see them as the dress covered them totally and there were no sore feet! They also made things very steady when walking down to the chuppa which would have been abit more tricky in heels due to the thick carpets in the synagogue.
The handsome groom
The groom wore a lovely dark navy suit with a bow tie from Reiss. The suit was picked as it was double breasted which made it much more formal and special for the occasion.
Bridesmaids
Due to covid19 , social distancing rules and the limited amount of people we could have for the chuppa we unfortunately couldn’t have any bridesmaids or groomsman.
Ceremony
We used the groom’s tallit from his bar mitzvah in the chuppa as the ceiling which was beautiful. The rabbi who married us, Rabbi Black, has also known the groom since his childhood which put everyone at ease and made things really special. We also had the wonderful Jonny Turgel as our chazan and he was really spectacular.
Ketubah
Normal United Synagogue ketubah.
Chuppah
We wanted a flowery chuppa with lots of blossoms, white flowers and greenery. The chuppa was designed by our lovely florist, Alina.
Our Music Choice
We had a Jonny Turgel as our chazan for the chuppa and we then had some music playing in the background in the reception hall. We choose different music for the lunch reception and evening and had a bit of everything playing.
Flowers
All of our flowers were picked and designed by Flowers by Alina. We had blooms and twig, green foliage and fresh white flowers that were in season in September.
Photographer
We were recommended Claudine Hartzel for the photography. She was wonderful and was with us the whole day, capturing some really special shots in Kenwood Park after the lunch reception.
Food
The wonderful Jason Milan did our catering. The food was absolutely to die for and we are still getting complements about the food from the wedding. We had fish, vegetarian and chicken options for lunch and lamb and more meaty options or dinner. It was wonderful, with the chocolate soufflé being a highlight. The groom gave a really nice speech during the dinner reception, and there was a surprise slideshow from the bride’s family in Israel which was played during lunch.
Entertainment
Jonny Turgel was our chazan for the chuppah. We had an ipod playing music during dinner and reception.
Favors
We had navy blue suede kippot from Kisharon, personalised hand sanitisers and personalised benchers.
Honeymoon
We have not yet been able to go on a proper honeymoon but we very much look forward to it.
Advice to couples currently planning their wedding
Start with your venue and catering! Everything else will fall into place.
ANNA & SIMON’S LITTLE WHITE BOOK
Photography – Claudine Hartzel {offers 10% discount to all members of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club}
Venue – Norrice Lea Synagogue
Bride’s dress – Madi Lane
Bride’s accessories – Dune
Groom’s attire – Reiss
Hair + Makeup – Beth Margetts
Flowers – Flowers by Alina
Chazan – Jonny Turgel
Catering – Jason Millan
Stationery/Invitation – Kisharon, Papier, Paperless Post
Rabbi – Rabbi Black of Kenton
