We love a good garden wedding. And we love it even more when a couple really goes all out in making the most of their natural surroundings, like Jane, an actor and a voiceover artist, and Adam, who works in digital distribution.
Elegance meets rustic in this beautiful Jewish wedding, inspired by the pair’s love of nature and celebration of the changing of the season from summer to fall at their September celebration, from a seasonal, produce-driven menu (incorporating recipes the foodie duo put together themselves!), earthy clay kiddush cups, anda gorgeous painted ketubah reflecting their love of nature and the changing seasons by artist Jessica Kraft, purchased from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Ketubah.com.
And speaking of beautiful wedding design, Jane and Adam were lucky enough to work with one of our fave
luxury stationers, Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor E.Y.I. Love, on their invitations. We’re obsessed with the minimalist chic invitations they came up with together, featuring gold foiled text and gilt edging, a custom cactus print envelope lining, and forest green calligraphy on each envelope. If you love the look as much as we do, be sure to enter the competition we’re running to win your wedding stationery from E.Y.I Love. It closes in a few days – so make sure you don’t miss out!
Now over to Jane, who looked stunning in her beaded strapless princess gown by Monique Lhullier, which she found at wonderful Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor The Wedding Club in South Kensington, London…
Jiho Park from Lilly Photography and Hunter Floyd from Hunter Floyd Films captured all the emotion and elegance of the day so perfectly. Enjoy!
A Garden Wedding
Jane, the bride: We got married at the Chicago Botanic Garden in Glencoe, Illinois, in the USA (2 September, 2018). The venue is located close to the bride’s family’s home. Though then it seemed like a far-away dream, when Jane was around 7, she told her parents that she “would marry either a South-African or British man and get married at the Chicago Botanic Garden.” And so it was, she married a British man and got married at the Botanic Garden!
Celebrating Nature
We wanted the wedding to very much reflect us as a couple. We did not have a theme, but rather a tagline that we expressed to each of our vendors. “Chic, understated elegance,” was what we came up with. We wanted to create a wedding that was rooted in nature, the changing seasons, and all things mother-earth. All of the hues that could be found at our wedding were reflective of the season changing from summer to autumn. We also used a lot of wood and gunmetal, which contributed both a warmth and rawness to the space.
Jewish weddings are rooted in such strong tradition. We wanted our decor to enhance the natural surroundings while remaining somewhat understated in order to provide breath and space for the most important aspect of our wedding: the ceremony. We did use a wedding planner – she was amazing! Her name is Meghan Andalman from Lovebird Events.
E.Y.I. Love
We were so lucky to be able to work with Jack from E.Y.I. Love, located in Glasgow, Scotland. Together, we created a minimal and elegant invitation card that had gold foiled text and gilt edging. In addition to the English text, we also used some Hebrew, which was important to us. The other two stunning elements that we incorporated were a customized envelope lining and breathtaking calligraphy on each envelope.
The envelope lining was designed from a photo of a succulent which was rendered into a pattern. Each invitation had a slightly different cut of the lining pattern, which made them feel very natural and special. The green hue of the lining provided beautiful contrast to the minimalist invitation and matched the forest-green calligraphy written on our envelopes.
The save-the-date and invitation are a guest’s first impression of your big day, and so we wanted to begin with a design that set the tone for ours.
We could not have been more thrilled about working with E.Y.I. Love!
Hair + Makeup
I decided to go for a polished low bun. I wanted to leave some pieces down and curled in the front to give it a more relaxed look. I usually wear my hair in a low bun anyway and I wanted to make sure that I still looked like myself at our wedding.
The makeup was kept very natural but enhanced with hints of shimmer and glamor.
My hair was styled by Nikki Cohen from Renee Feldman Salon and my makeup was done by Andrea Rappaport from Flawless Beauty Chicago.
A Monique Lhuillier Dress
I found my dress at The Wedding Club in South Kensington, London. The designer is Monique Lhullier and the dress is from the Bliss collection. The style is very princess-y!
The color of the dress was called “Latte”, as the undermost layer of the dress was actually a dusty-grey hue. It was a strapless ballgown that featured structured tiers and intricate beading. I had gone to try on dresses with my immediate family while they were in town to celebrate our engagement.
By the end of our appointment I had tried on lots of dresses that I liked, but didn’t love. My sister really wanted me to try on one last dress of her choice, but I kept refusing. Eventually she got me to try it on, and I instantly fell in love! Sisters often know best 🙂
Handcrafted Accessories
My veil was from the Welsh designer Joyce Jackson. It was a two-tiered veil studded with crystals. It completed the look perfectly!
I wanted to keep the jewelry simple so that it didn’t take away from the dress. I wore a Dana Rebecca Lauren Joy Mini necklace and Blanca Monros Gomez Louisa Hoops. My wedding band is from Noémie.
The last piece of jewelry that I wore is a moonstone ring that was originally part of an earring and necklace set that my dad once purchased for my mom while in Israel. My mom had them made into three rings – one for me, for my sister and for herself. We all wore them to the wedding, which was really special. I chose designers such as Joyce Jackson, Blanca Monros Gomez and Noémie specifically because I wanted to support brands that are sustainable, handcrafted, and environmentally conscious.
Jimmy Choos
The heels were by Jimmy Choo, in platinum! They were mid-height, open-toed slingback heels with a small platform. The upper part was covered in gold sequins, while the heel and platform had a textured silver pattern. The silver worked with the beading and undertone of my dress, while the gold complemented my mostly gold jewelry.
The handsome groom
Adam looked stunningly handsome in his bespoke Harris & Zei suit. The ensemble featured a tuxedo-cut, charcoal jacket, light grey trousers and a white shirt. He accented his outfit with Mr. John‘s Belgian loafers in forest green, a forest green bowtie and green foliage socks. He wore mismatched cufflinks (the same as the groomsmen), which had an image of the Chicago flag on one, and the Manchester flag on the other, which represented each of our hometowns.
The groomsmen’s suits were custom-fit, light grey suits from The Drop. The suit jacket lining was customized to have a foliage print on the inside. The men all wore white shirts, dark green ties and tan shoes.
Bridesmaids in Grey
I had 4 bridesmaids and my maid of honor – my sister, Beth. I wanted my sister to stand out as the maid of honor, so she wore a white, floral midi dress by Joie, accented with a crystal belt and Jimmy Choo heels.
The bridesmaids wore floor-length dresses from BHLDN in grey, which matched the undertone of my dress perfectly. All of my bridesmaids had different colored hair, so I wanted to find a dress that was neutral toned and looked great on everyone. Making sure that they all felt comfortable and excited was a big priority! I also wanted to make sure that dresses had enough flow to them so that they were easy to dance in. The bridesmaids all wore silver open-toed heels. They all looked stunning!
A Natural Floral Chuppah
We wanted our chuppah design to be an extension of all of the gorgeous nature around us. We searched through a lot of images on Pinterest. Eventually, we decided that we would like it to be built of wood poles and covered in asymmetrical clusters of flowers and foliage to keep it looking more natural. We were absolutely in love with the foliage panel backdrop, which was designed by Jessica and her team at HMR Designs. It wouldn’t have been the same without it!
A Spiritual Ceremony
The wedding service was led by my rabbi, Rabbi Kurtz, from North Suburban Synagogue Beth El. I grew up around him and it was really important to me that he would be the rabbi officiating the wedding.
For our ceremony we had custom-made ceramic kiddush cups that were handmade in California. We found the designer on Etsy. We loved the idea of having kiddush cups made of clay because it alluded to the grounded-ness and sanctity of a wedding. The value of the cup shouldn’t be in the material, but rather in the blessings made over the cup which sanctify it.
Another special touch was a new tallit that Adam’s uncle bought for him in Israel.
Lastly, we purchased a burnt orange glass for Adam to break, which we used the fragments of to put into a special mezuzah.
We found our ketubah online. It was designed by Jessica Kraft. We just fell in love with the design!
It is very hard to choose a favorite part of the ceremony – it simply felt magical. We had been worried all week about the possibility of rain, but luckily we were able to hold the ceremony outside as planned. However, there was one very special moment when a small drizzle of rain fell from the sky, then stopped, and my rabbi said, “See, even G-d wouldn’t mess with Jane on her wedding day!” It was so special.
Lastly, with Adam being British and me American-South African, nearly all of our guests came from out of town. It was incredible to be able to look out at our guests during the ceremony and to see so many people we love who had come especially to celebrate with us. Some of the places that our guests traveled from are: New York, Boston, Texas, Michigan, New Mexico, Canada, Israel, England, and South Africa.
Spanish Guitar
The songs for our processional and recessional were very special to us. We had an incredibly talented Spanish guitar duo for our ceremony and cocktail hour. We spent a lot of time trying to find the right songs for the ceremony. Safe to say I think we chose some of the most beautiful songs that I have ever heard!
We wanted the songs for the processional to be Jewish and full of spirit and emotion. Our processional song list was: Erev Shel Shoshanim by Yosef Hadar and Moshe Dor, Im Eshkachech by Lev Tahor and for the bride’s entrance, Niggun of the Birds by Shlomo Katz. The recessional song was a Spanish Guitar version of A Thousand Years by Christina Perri.
The song chosen for the first dance was Say You Won’t Let Go by James Arthur and the father-daughter dance song was Daughters by John Mayer. Our last song was Thinking Out Loud by Ed Sheeran.
King Protea
Most of our wedding design (all furniture, tables, lighting, etc.) including the florals was left up to our incredible designer, Jessica Griffin Pfluegl at HMR Designs.
The only flower that we were intentional about was the king protea, which is featured throughout our entire wedding. The king protea holds significance because it is the national flower of South Africa, where Jane’s dad is from.
The rest of the blooms and foliage, including our chuppah backdrop, were designed by Jessica and her team. We were so lucky to have had a designer that we instantly clicked with and knew exactly how to make our dream come to life!
Adam’s boutonnière was a blushing bride leucadendron, accented with a green leaf back. The groomsmen wore white ranunculus boutonnières. The bridesmaids held bouquets of white blooms, accented with foliage and snowberry. The bride’s bouquet was designed by Jessica and featured a king protea, filled with peach garden roses, coral roses, blush snowberry, white garden stock, spray roses, and varying foliage.
Photographer
Our photographer for our wedding was Jiho Park from Lilly Photography. We searched online through a lot of Chicago wedding photographers’ portfolios until we saw Jiho’s work and instantly fell in love.
What we love about Jiho’s photography is his unique ability to capture special moments that would otherwise go unnoticed. I distinctly remember seeing one B&W photo on his website which completely confirmed our desire to have him as our photographer. The photo was of an elated woman’s face, presumably the mother of the bride, that was shot through a gap created by the bride’s lifted veil. It was so breathtakingly stunning and emotional. He has such a creative, intuitive eye and we were so excited when we heard the news that he was available. We would also like to thank his assistant who was incredible as well!
Videographer
We were lucky enough to have Hunter Floyd from Hunter Floyd Films as our wedding videographer. There’s not much one can say whilst viewing Hunter’s work, as there will likely be choked up throats, teary eyes, swellings of emotion and overflowing hearts. Hunter has such a phenomenal talent for capturing the essence of one’s wedding and translating it into a beautiful film. His gift for listening to each and every one of his clients and providing them with film that is utterly unique to themselves and the energy of their special day is so clear.
A Menu Planned by the Couple
One of the most exciting elements of our wedding that we worked on was the menu. We designed nearly the entire menu ourselves, as we both love cooking. The menu featured some incredible dishes and recipes from restaurants and chefs we love, while also incorporating produce and recipes that we put together ourselves. The culmination was a somewhat rustic, seasonal, and Mediterranean-inspired menu that we loved sharing with our guests at our wedding.
Our cake was a gluten-free vanilla cake with blood orange frosting on the inside and coconut frosting out the outside. It was decorated with shaved coconut flakes and florals provided by our floral designer. The cake was made by Dimensions Kosher Catering who catered the rest of our day as well.
From Spanish Guitar to Rap
For our ceremony and cocktail hour we hired a stunning Spanish guitar duo from Elan Artists. We really wanted to transport our guests for the evening to a magical and romantic place, and the duo helped us to do just that! They could not have been more fitting and we were blown away by their talent.
We were so fortunate to have had Final Say as our band for the reception. In addition to the incredible, powerhouse voices of Robby and Morgen, as well as the band, we hired a fantastic rapper named Antar who made our evening of celebrations all the more fun!
There’s not much rhyme or reason as to why we chose these artists other than for the fact that, in our opinions, they are the best of the best!
Welcome boxes
Upon arrival in Chicago, we provided welcome boxes for all of our out-of-town guests that had a bottle of Moet & Chandon, Voss water, champagne-flavored jelly beans, a nut, berry and seed mix, and a personalized itinerary for each guest.
Heartfelt Gifts
We truly believe that every part of our wedding was imbued with our touch, but there were two specific items that were given to us that made the day extra special. The first was a handkerchief embroidered with lovebirds that was given to Jane by the mother of the groom. Helena, Adam’s mother, chose to give Jane this gift because she had received one herself from her mother-in-law for her wedding.
The other gift was a beautiful book that was made by one of the bridesmaids and given to Jane while all of the women were getting ready. The book had letters from all of the bridesmaids and other close friends of Jane, sharing advice, thoughts and photos of them together. It was an incredibly special way to begin the day and Jane will cherish it forever!
Honeymoon in Rome
We went on a short honeymoon to Rome immediately following our wedding. We are planning a longer trip for the coming year. We wanted to go to Rome because it is romantic, brimming with history and has lots of fabulous food. We also happened to be there over Rosh Hashanah and were lucky enough to have attended services at The Great Synagogue of Rome, which was an unparalleled experience. We stayed in a beautiful Airbnb located just around the corner from the Spanish Steps.
Advice to couples currently planning their wedding
One piece of advice that I would love to share with future brides is to have your part in the planning (if that’s what you are into), communicate your ideas, make sure they’re understood, and then beyond that just let the rest go!
Trust that your wedding will be beautiful no matter what and any elements that might not be executed exactly as planned will only add to the beauty of your day. I had literally stepped through my dress with my heels and tore through some layers of tulle, all before the wedding began! Luckily we had a dresser (thank goodness for her!!!) who fixed it immediately. Moral of that story is that I chose to not let it bother me because there was nothing I could do about it but move on! (You also couldn’t really notice the tears since they were under layers – phew!)
Another piece of advice that was given to us by a few people is to find a time during the reception to step back and view your wedding from a bird’s-eye view. You won’t regret it.
Jane & Adam’s little white book
Photography – Lilly Photography
Stationery – E.Y.I. Love {offers 10% discount to all members of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club}
Bride’s dress – Monique Lhullier found and fitted at The Wedding Club {waives appointment fee and offers 10% discount off accessories to all members of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club}
Ketubah – Ketubah.com {offers 10% discount to all members of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club}
Videography – Hunter Floyd Films
Wedding planner – Lovebird Events
Venue – Chicago Botanic Garden
Bride’s accessories – Joyce Jackson, Dana Rebecca, Blanca Monros Gomez and Noémie
Bride’s shoes – Jimmy Choo
Groom’s attire – Harris & Zei and Mr. John
Bridesmaids – Joie and BHLDN
Groomsmen – The Drop
Hair + Makeup – Renee Feldman Salon and Flawless Beauty Chicago
Flowers and chuppah – HMR Designs
Entertainment – Elan Artists and Final Say
Catering – Dimensions Kosher
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