There’s not much we like better than hearing from couples that we’ve helped them plan the wedding of their dreams. So naturally we were thrilled to hear from Hannah and Jude that they booked Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor XS Showband on our founder, Karen’s recommendation!
Hannah, soon to be qualifying as a corporate lawyer, and Jude, a sales account manager, even squeezed in one of XS’s trademark wedding flashmobs — at the start of the ceremony, after the guests took their seats, instead of the groom walking down the aisle they found themselves in the midst of a flashmob performing Marvin Gaye’s ‘How Sweet It Is’! We’re so pleased (but not at all surprised) that the couple thought their band, who kept everyone dancing ALL night long, was “incredible beyond words” — some seriously high praise!
And it’s no surprise that a wedding as fabulous as this one was planned to perfection by Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Qube Events and Productions, who, in addition to sorting the gold-themed dà©cor and sourcing appropriate florals to complement the palm house venue the couple report, “took all the stress off” them on the day. Can’t ask for much more than that!
And speaking of that palm house venue — it’s a seriously stunning backdrop, captured to perfection by photographer Rob Clayton and videographer Stefan of YSD Media.
Hannah, who looked radiant in her mermaid fishtail Pronovias, will walk you through the rest, from picking the perfect exotic venue (without leaving home) to selecting flower girls and pageboys from their collective 31(!) nieces and nephews to smashing two glasses – but probably not for the reason you think…
Pssst want to ensure your wedding is as memorable as Hannah & Jude’s? Then make sure you’re signed up to Smashing The Glass’ FREE online event for Jewish and Jew-ish Brides, happening this Monday 21st January – sign up here!
How we met
Hannah, the bride: I went to Manchester University. I grew really close with the Aish campus family, which was Jude’s brother, Benji, and his wife, Shiffy, and their children. I spent alot of time with them over 4 years and had met Jude in passing but that was it.
I lost touch with Benji and Shiffy and then bumped in to Benji in Manchester 3 years later and he said I had to catch up with them. I went to see them the next week which was when they mentioned Jude to me.
Jude got in touch with me a couple of weeks later and that was it. We got engaged the day after our 1 year anniversary and married 9 days after our 2 year anniversary. Jude’s Auf Ruf was actually on our 2 year anniversary.
Palm House
We saw Sefton Park Palm House on someone’s Instagram before getting engaged and both loved it. We went to see the venue a week after we got engaged and booked it straight away without seeing any other venues. We wanted somewhere unusual and exotic and felt that, without going abroad, this was the ideal space to fit that criteria.
A Gold Wedding
We used Qube Events and Productions.
When I (Hannah) first met with Debbie at Qube I didn’t really have an idea of what I wanted. I knew I wanted something “WOW” and that we didn’t need flowers as the venue is full of them. Debbie helped us to choose a gold theme, having gold centrepieces, invitations, menus, benchers, and table plan. I even carried on the theme by having gold wedding shoes.
Jude completely left the planning of the wedding to me and my mum, but I did run most things by him to ensure he was happy and liked what I was choosing.
Folding Invitations
I knew I wanted something different and that I wanted to keep with the gold theme, so had a gold folding invitation with darker gold writing. Everyone said it was very unusual and that was what we wanted. Something different that would be memorable.
The invites were designed and made by Sarah Morris, an invitation designer based in Whitefield, Manchester.
Hair + Makeup
I am extremely lucky to have a sister-in-law who is an excellent makeup artist, Vanessa Serene. A couple of years ago she did my makeup one day and I said to her, when I get married this is the exact makeup look that I want, and sure enough, we kept a picture of that makeup and it was what I had on the day.
She has done my makeup so many times that she knows exactly what I like. I don’t ever need to tell her anything as I totally trust that whatever makeup she will do on me will be stunning.
Vanessa also did my hair and I absolutely loved it. I knew I wanted it half up half down and although I have super straight hair she managed to curl it and kept it super sleek at the front which is exactly what I wanted.
I wouldn’t have trusted anybody else do my hair and makeup for my big day, she made me feel absolutely stunning and I really couldn’t have been happier.
A Pronovias Dress
My dress was from Knutsford Wedding Gallery and the designer was Pronovias. The style was “Raen” which was a mermaid fishtail dress with tattoo effect on the top and back.
I had looked online at every dress store in the Manchester area. I always thought I would have an Israeli designer and had loved and followed Inbal Dror from an early age. However without travelling to London it wasn’t possible to buy. I didn’t want to travel to London as wanted a dress shop that was closer to home to ensure I could have as many fittings as necessary without worrying about time off work.
I found Knutsford Wedding Gallery (“KWG”) online and that was when I fell in love with Pronovias dresses. KWG was the only dress shop I went to and I tried on about 10 Pronovias dresses.
Before going into KWG I said to my mum I don’t want a fishtail dress, I want my dress super plain with a great back. I tried on so many dresses that fit this description, but with each I kept saying something was missing.
Just before I started to get fed up of thinking I wouldn’t find anything the girls at KWG came with Pronovias Raen and insisted I tried it on. I immediately fell in love with it. It was everything I thought I didn’t want but it just fit perfectly (the sample size was the perfect size), it had the train I wanted, the back I wanted, all the detail I loved but never knew I wanted. I knew it was the one as soon as I tried it on and loved it on the day.
Birthday Pearls
I wore Dior Pearl Tribales earrings that my now-husband bought for me for my birthday, which was just 16 days before the wedding. I had seen them online and had wanted to get them for months before.
I wanted something to stand out on my head but all the clips I had seen were either too thin or short and got lost in my blonde hair. I therefore bought 2 of the same hair accessories grips from Debenhams and had them attached as one to go across the back of my head.
My veil was the perfect length to finish just before the fishtail of my dress started and I also got it from KWG.
Jimmy Choos
I wore Jimmy Choo Falcon 100 in gold which I got from Selfridges. I knew I wanted something that was high but comfortable so I could keep them on all night. I did take them off at about 11pm to put some flip flops on, but 2-11pm isn’t so bad!
They were the perfect height and the chunky heel kept them so comfortable. I saw them about 4 months before I bought them but thought I would shop around for something a little less expensive. But everything I saw I compared to them so knew that eventually I would end up with them.
The handsome groom
Jude wore a Diverso bespoke suit made in Italy He wore a Hugo Boss shirt and bow tie and Magnanni shoes, Mulberry cufflinks which I bought him as a surprise (I actually tried to surprise him for his Aufruf with them but he wasn’t wearing a cufflink shirt so it kind of backfired on me, so instead he wore them for the wedding!)
He wore his grandfathers tallit under the chuppah, which he had inherited, which was really special.
We hadn’t seen each other for a week before the wedding and I was shaking uncontrollably on the badeken chair in front of everyone waiting for him to come out. But as soon as I saw him I stopped shaking and just smiled for the rest of the day. I was so happy to see him and he looked so so handsome!
Flower Girls and Pageboys
I had one chief bridesmaid, Jude had one of his brothers as his best man. Flower girls and pageboys were not so easy to decide. Jude has 28 nieces and nephews whilst I have 2 nieces and 1 nephew. We started by saying anybody under 10 would be a flower girl/pageboy, but this still left us with around 15, which we knew was too many. We decided in the end to have my 3 and then 1 from each of Jude’s siblings families which left us with 4 flower girls and 3 pageboys.
Jude’s best man wore a black tie suit from Moss and as I only had one chief bridesmaid I decided to let her choose her own dress so that she was happy in what she would be wearing. Whatever colour she chose, I would then dress the flower girls and pageboys around that.
She chose a powder pink floor length dress from Monsoon. I therefore got a very similar colour dress for the flower girls, also from Monsoon.
The boys were dressed in white shorts from Zara Kids, powder pink loafers from Next, a white shirt from Next and a powder pink waist coat from Next.They looked really summery (the wedding was 27th August) and their outfits looked gorgeous with the summery, flower decor of the Palm House.
A Floral Chuppah
We knew we wanted something floral to go with the backdrop of the Palm House. I wanted white and green flowers so as not to take away from the colours of the plants/flowers growing in the palm house and our chuppah, with the backdrop, looked spectacular thanks to Qube.
Smashing Two Glasses
Our ceremony was extremely special. When everyone took their seats and expected the groom to walk down the aisle, instead we had XS Showband carry out a flashmob of Marvin Gaye’s ‘How Sweet It Is’, which everyone was so surprised about and absolutely loved, singing and dancing along.
Jude is the youngest sibling of eight. His oldest brother, Benji, is a rabbi and he married us which was extremely special, not just for Jude, but also for me because he was the one who had introduced me to Jude.
Not only did we have the bridesmaids and pageboys walk down the aisle but my brother and his wife walked down the aisle with my 2 nieces and nephew as well. This was not planned but was really lovely for them to walk down as a family and it worked perfectly that Vanessa, who had done my makeup, had ironically bought a dress that blended in well with my bridesmaid colours.
We had my uncle and five of Jude’s brothers-in-law come under the chuppah to each make a sheva brocha. It was so nice to involve all the family in the ceremony. We also had one of Jude’s best friends come under the chuppah to make the brocha for the Cohens.
A friend of ours months before had said that he had been approached by the family of a recently passed Holocaust survivor who had asked him whether, if he knew of anyone who was getting married, they would smash a second glass at the end of the ceremony in memory of the Holocaust. Jude therefore smashed two glasses, one in memory of Holocaust survivors, and in particular, in memory of the recently passed survivor whose family had given us the idea of smashing two glasses. This was really special and something that none of our guests had ever experienced.
You and I
Jude walked down the aisle with his parents to Guy from XS Showband singing ‘Lecha Dodi’ to John Legend’s ‘All of Me’ theme tune. Our bridesmaid and pageboys walked down to the same song as Jude.
I walked down the aisle with my parents to ‘Boi Kallah’ to the Hallelujah theme tune from the Gad Elbaz cover. I also walked the 7 circles to this song.
Our first dance was John Legend ‘You and I’.
Lilies and Pearls
Qube has an in-house florist, which made planning flowers super easy.
I knew from the start that I wanted a tear drop bouquet with lilies, so I had that, with some drop orchids and a little greenery. My maid of honour held three calla lilies and the button holes were also calla lilies.
For centrepieces we didn’t have flowers so as to not take away from the flowers in the Palm House. Instead we had very tall vases, inside of which was gold leaf. Then coming out of the vases we had tall gold stems with candles and glass pearls draped from them.
Photography
We had Rob Clayton as our photographer. We had used Rob for our engagement pictures and could not have been happier with how the pictures turned out. With Jude’s family being so big we needed someone who was efficient but could capture all of the special moments from our day, and that is exactly what Rob did. He is patient and professional and captured absolutely everything better than we could have imagined.
Rob recommended us our videographer, Stefan at YSD Media.
Donuts and Carrot Cake
Celia Clyne did our catering and we would not have chosen anyone else. They really are the best in the UK for kosher food. I found my cake design on Pinterest and she made it perfectly for us. It was layers of the most delicious donuts with a carrot cake with parve creme cheese frosting on the top and H and J on top. It was a Pinterest dream and went down extremely well.
All of the catering was delicious. We had quite a different menu with loads of food at the reception as my parents wanted a big big food reception, and we then had duck bon bons for starter, sea bass baked in banana leaf with black rice with vegetables and a soya and garlic sauce on the side for main, followed by creme brulee in a “broken egg” with shortbread “soldiers.” Every since I was young my dad has always made me egg and soldiers at the weekend, and smashed the top of the egg for me, so the dessert we chose was a personal favourite. We also had a cake and chocolate table after and the donuts were there for the taking.
XS Showband
We had XS Showband who were absolutely unbelievable. I actually got their details by contacting Karen from Smashing the Glass and asking for band recommendations.
We had an 11 piece band. There was dancing the entire day and night. They were just incredible beyond words. The atmosphere was amazing, the musicians were beyond belief and the singing was out of this world. People were still dancing when they were leaving and didn’t want the band to ever end. I have had so many compliments on how amazing the band was, and they really were. I couldn’t recommend them enough, they really took our day to another level.
We also had a magic mirror (photo booth but as a mirror instead of a booth) from KRN Events with props. Everyone had so much fun with it and some of the pictures that we got from the mirror are hilarious!
Fans and Flip Flops
We had fans for the women. With it being August and in a glass house, we weren’t sure if it would be too hot so ensured fans were on all of the chairs for if required. We had ivory suede kippot for the men.
White flip flops were put out for the women later in the evening so that nobody could complain that their feet were too sore from their heels to dance, and people did dance all day and night thanks to XS, between meals and after the food.
The Groom Sang Backstreet Boys
The speeches were amazing. Our chairman was my dad’s best friend, and he made a gorgeous very emotional speech to start the day. He was then a fantastic host.
My father, the best man, and Jude made the speeches. Each one was better than anyone could expect and were all filled with love and, a lot of humor!
Seven of Jude’s friends said a sheva brocha after the benching, which was so nice to keep everyone involved. Jude’s brother Benji made hamotzei and did the benching.
When Jude walked up to say his speech his whole family (which is very big!) all sung ‘Hey Jude’. The atmosphere was so gorgeous and it was these impromptu little things that made the day extra special.
Another impromptu but extremely fun part of the night was when XS Showband called Jude and his three brothers up later in the evening to perform Backstreet Boys. This was hilarious with the boys singing and dancing on stage. Two of his brothers even stripped off abit which really had everyone talking – it was amazing, so hilarious and the guests were all jumping and dancing!
Honeymoon in Africa
We got married on the August bank holiday morning and flew on the Wednesday morning. We did a 5-day safari in Tanzania and then spent a week in Zanzibar, staying at the Gold Zanzibar Beach House & Spa.
We planned the trip with Safari and Beach. They could not have been more helpful. They ensured that every detail of our trip was taken care of. We had a private safari with our own guide who knew everything there was to know about the animals and national parks. He stayed with us the whole time during our safari and we got to know him well which added something special and personable to our trip. Safari was unbelievable and better than we had expected, even with our high expectations. We saw the big 5 and every animal possible due to our guide having such a good eye to find the animals. It was a dream of a honeymoon!
Zanzibar and the hotel was paradise. The white beaches and blue water was like out of a movie. It really was a very very special holiday, beyond our expectations. Eating dinner on the beach, jet skiing, and just being on such a beautiful island was very special.
Advice to couples currently planning their wedding
Make sure to get a wedding planner. Qube took care of pretty much everything and we could not have had the day we had without them! I really could not recommend them enough, they took all the stress off us on the wedding day so we did not have to think or worry about anything.
Hannah & Jude’s little white book
Photography – Rob Clayton
Wedding planner and flowers – Qube Events and Productions {offers 10% discount to all members of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club}
Band – XS Showband {offers 10% discount to all members of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club}
Videography – YSD Media
Venue – Sefton Park Palm House
Bride’s dress – Pronovias found and fitted at Knutsford Wedding Gallery
Bride’s accessories – Dior and Debenhams
Bride’s shoes – Jimmy Choo purchased at Selfridges
Groom’s attire – Diverso, Hugo Boss, Magnanni and Mulberry
Bridesmaid, flower girls and page boys – Monsoon, Zara Kids and Next
Hair + Makeup – Vanessa Serene
Catering – Celia Clyne
Invitation – Sarah Morris
Magic mirror – KRN Events
Honeymoon – Safari and Beach and Gold Zanzibar Beach House & Spa
