When Rebecca and Peter set out to plan their London Jewish wedding, they knew they wanted their day to be fun. And was it ever!
Focused around the idea of a big party at Claridge’s with all their friends and family, Rebecca and Peter opted for a vibrant color scheme of hot pink and orange, a chuppah overflowing with bright blooms, and spectacular giant paper flowers as décor.
In the bride’s words,
The centerpiece of the wedding was our amazing band, Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Sensation Band, and a custom black and white dance floor – we knew we wanted our guests dancing all night. Sensation Band gave us a fantastic party, with DJ Benny from midnight to 1am for the afterparty. Sensation Band also led a phenomenal Israeli dancing set.
Instead of a formal seated dinner, Rebecca and Peter opted to keep things casual, starting with cocktails, canapes, and a champagne trolley, followed by a taco and tequila station, passed bowls, and sushi trolleys.
The couple’s photographer, Blake Ezra, captured all the emotion and fun of the day so beautifully – keep scrolling for some serious eye candy, plus more fab details in the bride’s own words…
How We Met
Rebecca, the bride: We met on JSwipe back in 2016! Peter, a New Yorker, was working as a journalist in London for two years. We actually met three times, the first two never quite working with timings, but the last time we dated for five months before Peter moved back to NYC. After two years of long distance, Rebecca, a British diplomat, got posted to New York for work, while Peter started law school, and is now a practicing lawyer in NY.
A Claridge’s Wedding
We got married at Claridge’s in London, which we adored for its art deco elegance, classic London style, and ability to fit our guests with a big dance floor. It was also important to us that Claridge’s had a separate (and beautiful!) ceremony space. We held our night before welcome party at The Wigmore, The Langham’s gorgeous pub, to give our guests a proper taste of London. And we held our morning after breakfast at The Nest at The Treehouse which has amazing terraces overlooking London.
Theme + Wedding Planner
We mostly wanted to have a big party with all of our friends and family, and our theme was “fun” more than anything. While Claridge’s brought black and white deco cool, our colours were hot pink and orange. We very deliberately didn’t have a seated dinner. Instead, we started with cocktails, canapes and a champagne trolley, before going into a taco and tequila station, passed bowls, and sushi trolleys.
The centerpiece of the wedding was our amazing band, the Sensation Band, and a custom black and white dance floor – we knew we wanted our guests dancing all night. Our wedding planners were Ruby J Events who we knew could pull off the brief for a super fun wedding.
Invitation
We used Print Icon in NYC as we could work with Leon their graphic designer to perfect the invitations, signs etc. Rebecca’s dad watercolour painted bright flowers from her family garden which adorned the invitations and ceremony booklet.
Hair + Makeup
Team Glam were phenomenal for the wedding day and day before – especially Carla for makeup and Bethany for hair.
Dress
Rebecca bought her dress from Kleinfelds (of course!) – a strapless A line ballgown with a bow belt. It was designed by Maison Signore, and got to hang out in the First Class closet on the flight from NYC to LDN (while we flew in economy…).
Ceremony & Chuppah
We held our ceremony in the round in the ballroom reception of Claridge’s, under the art deco skylight. We wanted it to feel intimate and to be surrounded by the love and support of our friends and family as we entered that special space. Our chuppah was covered in exquisite bright florals, the Israeli singer sung one of Peter’s favourite songs as he walked down the aisle (‘Thirteen’ by Big Star) and the whole crowd joined in to sing a niggun (a wordless version of ‘Ozi v’Zimrat Ya’) when Rebecca walked and through the 7 circles (which we did jointly). Our French-British Rabbi gave us champagne under the chuppah, and we loved looking around at our friends and families encircling us.
We used this beautiful Flower Bed Ketubah by Karla Gudeon
Our music choice
Sensation Band gave us a fantastic party, with DJ Benny from midnight to 1am for the afterparty. Sensation Band also led a phenomenal Israeli dancing set.
Flowers
Wildabout fully understood the brief for our flowers. We had a phenomenally beautiful chuppah with bright blooms covering a silver birch, gorgeous centerpieces on the coffee tables and bar, and giant paper flowers for spectacle. Leanne was fab.
Photographer and videographer
We used Blake Ezra and PR Films. Both were excellent and made us feel comfortable throughout the day.
Food and cake
For the night before at The Wigmore we had fish and chips in cones, mini crumpets, gin and tonics and pimms. For the wedding itself, we had the best time designing the menu for our guests – Claridge’s went above and beyond in designing a special taco and tequila station, and mini Eton mess’ and NY cheesecakes, and were very accommodating for a fully pescatarian/vegetarian menu. We wanted the cake to be truly delicious so went with a chocolate curly whirly cake with cream cheese frosting from Konditor, with pink ombre icing.
Extra Details
We did various person things that made the day(s) even more special: We bought hot pink silk kippot, and gave out hot pink matches with the London and New York skyline on either side. We gave out flag pins with the UK and USA flags on them for the #special relationship.
We gave out wedding favours of small boxes of chocolate from Rebecca’s (recently passed) grandma’s favourite chocolate shop. And we made personalised cadbury’s bars for the night before.
We made beautiful small ceremony booklets explaining the reasons for elements of the wedding.
The night before, our two bridesmaids and six groomsmen spoke. At the wedding, both of our parent’s spoke, our best woman (Rebecca’s sister Amelia), best man (Peter’s brother Robbie) and we spoke too!
Wedding List
Bloomingdales in the USA and John Lewis in the UK.
Advice to couples currently planning their wedding
Think really hard about what your priorities are. As much as you’re planning the wedding for your guests, you also want a wedding which is reflective of your personalities and vision. Think about your favourite weddings you’ve been to and why have those been the best – and steal from them.
REBECCA & PETER’S LITTLE WHITE BOOK
Photography – Blake Ezra
Band – Sensation Band {offers 10% discount to all members of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club}
Videography – PR Films
Venue – Claridge’s
Planner – Ruby J Events
Bride’s dress – Maison Signore found at Kleinfelds
Hair + Makeup – Team Glam
Flowers – Wildabout
Catering – Claridges
Cake – Konditor
Stationery/Invitation – Print Icon
Wedding Registry – Bloomingdales, John Lewis
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.