We love an autumnal Jewish wedding – and Londoners Rebz and Ben had one of the very best! Rebz, a senior product designer, and Ben, a freelance video editor, love their home city and didn’t want to wed anywhere else. And they found the absolute perfect venue in Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor The Brewery, right in the heart of the City.
The Brewery ticked all the couple’s boxes – it accommodated their 200-person guest list, was easy for everyone to get to, and fit Rebz and Ben’s brief for a cool industrial aesthetic. And the property’s history was perfectly suited to Ben’s love of beer, as a bonus!
The pair let their wedding date dictate the décor, with autumnal burnt oranges, leafy greens, dark reds, and natural hessians for an urban rustic vibe. David Pullum Photography captured all the detail and emotion of the day exquisitely, and Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Michael Pearl Films crafted the duo’s ultra-moving wedding video.
One thing we love is that Rebz and Ben opted to do a joint speech! In Rebz’s words, “Ben was not keen on doing a speech on his own, he hates public speaking and I’ve never understood why it’s always just the men that get to share stories. I absolutely loved doing a speech together and without blowing my own trumpet, I’ve had lots of people mention to me how much they loved it too.” What a fab idea!
We’ll let the bride take it from here…
How We Met
Rebecca, the bride: We met on JSwipe
A London Wedding
We got married at The Brewery, Chiswell St. London. I wanted a London wedding because I’ve lived here all my life and just love London. It also meant that all my friends could get home easily and no one had to spend money on overnight stays. We knew we wanted something industrial-looking, rather than a hotel and we didn’t want a venue where there needs to be a changeover because I find that to be a little clunky.
Then once we realised the guestlist was going to be around 200 guests your choices are narrowed down quite quickly. But it was the perfect venue. I love the features of the building and Ben loves beer so it was fitting that it was an old brewery.
Autumnal Rustic
My mum’s cousin Paul runs an event planning company Funkie Functions so we were very lucky to have him running the ship and making sure the production was seamless. Then on the day James Paskin Toastmaster ran the show. Otherwise, my parents and I are extremely organised people so we were able to plan it easily ourselves – I knew exactly what I wanted and used Instagram and Pinterest to guide the inspiration.
We went with a simple autumnal theme due to time of year, so burnt oranges, leafy greens, dark reds and natural hessians – kind of rustic. We hung material from the beams at the top of the ballroom kind of like a festival tent which I loved.
Invitation
I designed and printed all my own stationery which I was really proud of.
Hair + Makeup
Hair: Dani Perkins from Sixty Six Salon – one of my oldest school friends – also a guest at the wedding. She made the morning getting ready so amazing I couldnt have done it without her. I went for how I would typically wear my hair down but with an additional side braid to make it feel more special that my usual look.
Makeup: Sophie Fleur Beauty – came as a recommendation from friends. A true professional. Was delighted with the final look and her organisation. I didnt do anything ground breaking with the makeup. Kept it classic glam. Loved the body shimmer – great touch – there’s a reason why she gets booked by almost everyone I know.
A Maggie Sottero Dress
I loved dress shopping but was torn whether to go with a full-on big bridal vibe or something that was a bit slinky which is more my style. After visiting numerous shops around London I then discovered a shop in South Woodham Ferrers called Bellissima Weddings. I chose to visit here because they had my favourite dress so far from the London shops plus a few others I wanted to try. However, it was the sales assistant who actually picked out my dress.
After hearing me discuss my dilemma of wanting something simple but special she picked out the perfect dress by Maggie Sottero. It was clean, smooth and sexy at the front with a straight neckline and thin halterneck straps but then the back had a lace panel and an amazing lace train with buttons all the way down which I love. It was the perfect combo of Hollywood glam meets 90s cool girl with the bridal wow moment at the back. It ticked all the boxes and made my figure look great. Plus I had Katie Lewis altering it for me so that the fit was spot on – she’s the best.
Accessories & Shoes
I wore my mum’s diamond necklace, pearl drop earrings and a bracelet my grandma had bought for my 18th birthday. I also wore knot earrings which I bought for my closest friends to thank them for my hen do. I liked the tying the knot symbol. Perhaps overdone but still cute.
I had a two tiered veil for the bedeken and the drama as well as some organza arm gloves which I thought was quite unique and I like to be a bit different sometimes. My shoes were just standard white stilettos, nothing major. I changed into 90s denim slingbacks at the end of the night – my ‘something blue’.
Bridesmaids
I had my sister and SIL as bridesmaids as I couldn’t pick between friends and felt 2 was quite simple and elegant. I wanted them to wear something a bit less traditional so I had them in copper jumpsuits from Oasis! They looked great and tied in with the autumnal theme for sure.
Ceremony & Chuppah
Chuppah we wanted simple and rustic. We like the ones with tree/bark posts so went with that. Used some grandparents tallit on the top which a lot of people do these days. I also made a ceremony guide for my guests as most were not Jewish which they said was a good touch. We did the bedeken down the aisle because I thought it would be nice for the guests to see this part of the ceremony and then Ben sees me the same time as everyone else which is fun I think.
Ben chose the song he wanted to walk down the aisle to with his family and the bridal party (Minnie Riperton – ‘Les Fleurs’ Lyrics) and then we chose a song we love for when I walked down (‘Anyone Who Knows What Love is’ – Irma Thomas). We had a gorgeous singer at the Chuppah but other than that we kept it fairly modern. We called in a Rabbi I had known growing up who was quite close to my grandparents when they were alive so that was quite special. One of Bens family members is also a Rabbi so he did the ketubah bit which was nice.
Our music choice
We had Totem because they are the best and I’m obsessed with their voices. Our first dance was ‘Thinking of You‘ – Sister Sledge because we’d seen them live together and had lots of other good memories with this song. Plus we wanted something upbeat and fun that everyone could dance to. We really didnt want a slow dance moment with everyone staring – not our vibe at all. I was pretty strict with the music choices.
I veto’d a lot of songs that I feel are hugely overplayed and asked the band to do the fun garage and R&B medleys I’ve seen them do at other weddings. We also specifically picked our last few songs. ‘Angels‘ because it’s a classic end-of-night belter. ‘That’s What Friends Are For‘ – this is a special song for my family and best mates, it’s the best artists in the world – can’t go wrong.
Then we finished on ‘Never Too Much‘ by Luther Vandross which was also our entrance song because this is my favourite party song of all time & we wanted to end on a high. Everyone was obsessed with the band.
Flowers
Flowers by Alina. I gave her the colours and the vibe and let her run with it as she’s the expert. She used logs and floating candles down the aisle which was magical. She did a fantastic job. Re-used the chuppah flowers for the top table. I like the pocket flower idea for the groom where it runs the length of the pocket instead of the button hole style.
She also did a big gold floral hoop for me which we had all our family photos in front of (it was also moved to the main ballroom after so other people could have cute pictures in front of it). I’ve worn a gold necklace with my name on it every day since I was barmitzvah’d but my sister didn’t think it was the right look for the wedding so I tied it round my bouquet 🙂
Photographer and videographer
Our photographer, David Pullum Photography, came highly recommended. I’d seen him shoot at my venue and was very happy with his style and personality.
Our videographer Michael Pearl Films was a recommendation from a family member. He was a good price and I liked his style.
They were both super professional and I couldn’t be happier with the outcome.
Food and cake
Eat Me Events – still the best food I’ve had at any function. Couldn’t recommend more. Dessert trio was a real treat. Bagels at the end were a winner. They also had this guy called Jon working for them who followed us around with drinks and anything we needed. This was unexpected but brilliant. He was also running around the dancefloor with endless trays of shots. Everyone was talking about him haha
Wedding List
Prezola – great company to work with, very helpful.
Extra Details
We did a joint speech together which I’ve not seen anyone else do before. Ben was not keen on doing a speech on his own, he hates public speaking and I’ve never understood why it’s always just the men that get to share stories. I absolutely loved doing a speech together and without blowing my own trumpet, I’ve had lots of people mention to me how much they loved it too.
We also both wrote a paragraph each that we hadn’t shared with each other until the day which was amazing. We had heart-shaped sunglasses with B + R and the date written on the lenses in white pen that people could wear and take photos with. We went for an Instax camera instead of a photo booth that people could snap away and then stick in a book.
Honeymoon
We went to Brazil & Argentina for 2 weeks the day after the wedding. We wanted to go somewhere that was exciting, once in a lifetime and busy with lots of things to do but also some nice places to relax. It was the perfect combo. We went to Rio, then Buzios. Buenos Aries then Mendoza. I highly recommend this route.
Advice to couples currently planning their wedding
I made sure I took in every moment because everyone said it goes by so fast and I was determined to remember everything. I took time to myself just watching the day unfold. We whizzed through photos as quickly as possible so we could enjoy more of the party. I also made sure I ate all my food and drank whatever I wanted which made me happy.
REBECCA & BEN’S LITTLE WHITE BOOK
Photography – David Pullum Photography
Videography – Michael Pearl Films
Venue – The Brewery
Planner – Funkie Functions
Bride’s dress – Maggie Sottero found at Bellissima Weddings
Bridal Alterations – Katie Lewis
Bridesmaids – Oasis
Hair + Makeup – Sixty Six Salon, Sophie Fleur Beauty
Flowers – Flowers by Alina
Catering – Eat Me Events
Band – Totem
Toastmaster – James Paskin Toastmaster
Wedding List – Prezola
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