We knew we were going to love Francesca and Brad’s London Jewish wedding the moment we learned the couple found inspiration for their gorgeous white floral chuppah (the perfect place to put their Smash Glass pouch to use) right here on STG — do these two know the way to a wedding blogger’s heart, or what?!
Of course, it doesn’t hurt that Francesca, who works in finance as head of customer service, and Brad, who works for Linzi, his family’s shoe business, worked with some of our very favorite Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendors, from the wonderful Mirror Mirror, where the bride found her fishtail Nurit Hen gown, to powerhouse band Totem — as Francesca says, “no one gets a party started like they do”!
And then there’s the couple’s wedding planner, Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Rachel Flax. She brought their dreams of a fresh white ballroom aesthetic to life — and, even more importantly, took the stress right out of planning. So much so that Francesca’s top tip for other couples planning weddings is “get a Rachel Flax”!
Oh.. and did we mention that we love how these two met?! You never know where love is going to strike you…
Photographer Benjamin Toms and videographer AtMotion captured all the excitement of the big day so perfectly — read on for all the fun details from Francesca!
How we met
Francesca, the bride: We had always known each other from school although we were in different years, but we met and started talking in a Tesco car park on my 17th birthday and have been inseparable ever since.
Ballroom Wedding
We got married at 8 Northumberland – we lost our first venue, which had a completely different feel, so we then started exploring further venues in town and fell in love with the ballroom.
A Fab Planner
We didn’t have a theme nor a colour scheme, we kept everything white and fresh. We had Rachel Flax plan our wedding, and we would have been completely lost without her.
What ‘Smashing The Glass’ Did For Us
We have both followed STG on Instagram since we got engaged. It helped us with ideas for every single aspect of the day and gave us lots of inspiration to create the wedding of our dreams.
Modern Classic Invitations
We went for a modern, classic look.
Hair + Makeup
Hair — I had my hair half up half down. I wanted most of my hair down as that is how I feel most comfortable. My hair dresser was Sarah Okin of Hair by Slo.
Makeup — I went for a natural, soft look. My makeup artist was Nicolette Bella.
A Nurit Hen Dress
I found my dress at Mirror Mirror, Islington. The designer was Nurit Hen, the style was ‘fishtail’. I knew it was the one as soon as I tried it on, I loved the detailing and I just knew in my head instantly ‘this is the one’.
Custom Headpiece
I had a headpiece made by the lady who did my alterations, just a little idea she came up with and it was perfect.
Gianvito Rossi Shoes
I went with a classic Gianvito Rossi style in white leather with a 10.5cm heel. I wanted a style I could wear again, not just for the wedding day.
The handsome groom
The groom wore a Hugo Boss dinner suit, tailored shirt and patent shoes, with a Lanvin bowtie.
Bridesmaids in Grey
I had four bridesmaids, my sister, sister-in-law and two best friends. They wore pale grey long dresses off of one shoulder, they were great as they suited all the girls. Shoes were from Linzi.
Chuppah Inspired by STG
We trawled Instagram and found our inspiration through STG. We loved the covered look with lots of greenery and white flowers.
A Meaningful Ceremony
We wanted a raised chuppah, with seats all around it so more people felt close and involved. Another nice little touch was that our parents bought us an engraved kiddish cup with our names and the wedding date to drink from during the ceremony.
My favourite part of the ceremony was my husband walking towards me and having the badeken on the aisle. We didn’t have our ketubah designed, but our rabbi sorted us out a nice one.
Signed, Sealed, Delivered
The groom walked down the aisle to ‘Meheira’, the bride walked down to ‘Boi’Kallah’.
We entered the ballroom to Stevie Wonder — ‘Signed, Sealed, Delivered’
Our first dance song was John Legend — ‘You & I (Ain’t Nobody)’
For the music for the party we went for classic party songs, which everyone would know.
White and Green Florals
The button holes were a single white rose. We had two different table centres: one was a big bouquet of white roses, green foliage and green amaranthus hanging down; the other table centre was a tree with foliage and green amaranthus hanging down.
Our flowers were done by Miri Moses of Flowers by Miri who was incredible from initial designs to pulling off perfectly what we envisioned.
Photographer
We used a photographer called Benjamin Toms – he photographed a friend’s wedding and we loved the way he captured the day whilst keeping a low profile. Our videographers were AtMotion.
Food
Our caterers were EatMe Events.
Totally Totem
We went for Totem, we have seen them at a couple of events and also used a couple of their singers at prior events. In our opinion no one gets a party going like they do. There was plenty of choice of different types of singers and band arrangements. Their production team is also brilliant.
Flip Flop Favours
We had personalised ‘Fran & Brad’ flip flops made for our guests, for when the party really kicked in and the feet started hurting.
Minimoon in Mykonos
We went to Mykonos for a short break straight after the wedding, as the groom needed to get back to work. We had heard only good things and it was incredible there.
We intend to go on a longer honeymoon in 2019, location TBC.
Advice to couples currently planning their wedding
Get a RACHEL FLAX, she completely took away any stress that we and our parents would have had on the day – her planning was meticulous and everything went completely to plan. Along with Jamie Paskin our toastmaster, we couldn’t have asked for a better team.
Apart from that, just savour every moment and enjoy the day as it goes by so incredibly quickly.
Francesca & Brad’s little white book
Photography – Benjamin Toms
Wedding planner – Rachel Flax {offers 10% discount to all members of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club}
Bride’s dress – Nurit Hen found and fitted at Mirror Mirror {offers an exclusive gift to all members of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club}
Band and production – Totem {offers 10% discount to all members of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club}
Venue – 8 Northumberland
Videography – AtMotion
Bride’s shoes – Gianvito Rossi
Groom’s attire – Hugo Boss and Lanvin
Hair + Makeup – Hair by Slo and Nicolette Bella
Bridesmaids’ shoes and favours – Linzi
Flowers – Flowers by Miri
Catering – EatMe Events
Toastmaster – Jamie Paskin
