London couple Elissa, who works in finance, and Jordan, who has his own property development company, always knew they wanted to get married in the bride’s hometown of Manchester, UK.
When it came time to choose their venue, they picked The Midland Hotel , which is not only an iconic Manchester landmark but also the place where both Elissa’s grandmother and great grandmother got married – how special is that? It was the perfect spot for the timeless, elegant wedding of the couple’s dreams.
It also featured the dance floor of the couple’s dreams – in no small part thanks to Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor The White Keys. In Elissa’s words, “They were absolutely unbelievable! We had their 15-piece band and DJ Live, and they kept the dance-floor full all night. The band felt more modern and fresh than so many of the typical bands you see on the wedding circuit; and so many of our friends said how fantastic they were! We worked with Amy and the team to ensure that there was live music from the minute our guests entered the room right until the end. No request was too much to ask, and they worked with our Chazan too to make our ceremony music so beautiful.”
For photography, Elissa and Jordan opted for Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Claudine Hartzel because they loved the candid aesthetic of her photos. In Elissa’s words, “Jordan and I aren’t very posy people and were admittedly nervous about all the photos ahead of the day, but Claudine got so many brilliant action shots that we love.”
Now we’ll turn you over to Elissa…
How We Met
Elissa, the bride: We met during our first year at the University of Birmingham over 10 years ago. I famously sold Jordan a club night ticket to Fab n’ Fresh during Fresher’s Week (I have the Facebook messages to prove it!), but we didn’t get together until we met again several months later and we have been inseparable ever since!
A Manchester Wedding
We got married at The Midland Hotel in Manchester, where I grew up. I adore Manchester and always imagined I’d get married there and spend my wedding morning getting ready at home, which was so special.
Whilst we had originally planned to get married at a Cheshire venue undergoing renovations, when it became clear the hotel wouldn’t be ready in time, we chose the Midland Hotel and it was clearly meant to be. The Midland is iconic in Manchester with such a grandeur to it, and it holds sentimental value for me since both my grandmother and great grandmother got married there. We couldn’t have imagined a more romantic setting for our chuppah, and we loved the convenience of having our guests stay overnight to join us for a debrief at breakfast the next morning!
Timeless Elegance
My vision for the wedding was clear from the outset; I wanted its design to be timeless and elegant with an atmosphere that felt incredibly warm for our guests too. We opted for classic green and white florals with lots of candlelight, and weaved in personal touches throughout, including a personal note for each of our guests with their escort cards and delicious treats in their hotel rooms too, baked by my husband’s talented cousin.
My mother and I planned the wedding ourselves, drawing inspiration from so many gorgeous weddings we’d seen before, including on this blog! We leant on our fabulous vendors to guide our decisions along the way, including our on-the-day coordinator, Elissa Baker, who was absolutely incredible in the lead-up to our wedding and on the day.
Invitation
I have always adored receiving wedding invitations through the post and think they really do set the scene for your guests.
We worked with Invitation London to design our invites, which had the same elegant feel that we hoped our wedding would. We had golden caligraphic fonts for our names and logo, and a beautiful debossed rose design that we carried through to all our event stationery on the day. I still look at it now and adore it!
A Pronovias Dress
Whilst I was very decisive with many things, when it came to my dress, I was the opposite. I went to 12 shops and honestly never quite got the feeling of “the one”, there was just too much choice and comparison everywhere!
I finally made a decision on a Pronovias dress that I bought from Bridal Rogue Gallery. I loved the dress because it was simple yet had a gorgeous, structured shape with princess seams and a sweetheart neckline that made me feel so special! I added buttons down the back of my dress and a detailed lace neckline to match my veil.
My mother finds meaning in most words and loved that the dress’s name was ‘Rea’ because the three letters are my initials and the initials of my grandmothers, Rosalind and Anita; it was nice to feel that they were with me in some way on the day.
Accessories
I wore my grandmother’s necklace on my wedding day.
The handsome groom
My husband’s tux was from William Young in Berkhamstead. He had a navy suede jacket made with our initials and wedding date, and a lining of an aquatic scene since he loves scuba diving – it was so personal and really made me smile!
Bridesmaids
My cousins and closest friends were all part of my wedding party, and it was incredibly special sharing the excitement of my wedding morning with everyone at home! For their dresses, I asked them to wear what made them feel happiest, and I think all the colours look beautiful in our photos!
Ceremony & Chuppah
For our chuppah itself, I chose a large arch of green and white flowers to complement the grandeur of the room that we married in. I have forever been obsessed with flowers and the chuppah was beyond my wildest dreams – the smell of the flora and eucalyptus completely filled the room!
The ceremony itself was beautiful. I am part of a close Sephardic community in Manchester and it was important to me that some of those traditions came through. The badeken took place on the aisle and our Chazan was JJ Hodari, who I grew up listening to sing in our synagogue and has the most phenomenal voice. I know my Rabbi Ellituv so well; he made spoke so personally about Jordan and I and blew the Shofar under the Chuppah since our wedding was the weekend before Rosh Hashana.
After Jordan smashed the glass, the whole room erupted with joy and our aisle became crowded with our friends dancing us out the room. It will forever be my favourite memory of our day!
Our music choice
We had The White Keys perform at our wedding and they were absolutely unbelievable! We had their 15-piece band and DJ Live, and they kept the dance-floor full all night. The band felt more modern and fresh than so many of the typical bands you see on the wedding circuit; and so many of our friends said how fantastic they were!
We worked with Amy and the team to ensure that there was live music from the minute our guests entered the room right until the end. They did a special musical theatre set during dinner which had our guests singing their hearts out on their chairs, and their DJ Live set towards the end of the night had our friends screaming ‘Pump it Up!’ until the lights came on! No request was too much to ask, and they worked with our Chazan too to make our ceremony music so beautiful.
Flowers
We worked with Adi at Verdure Floral Design on flowers. He was so much fun to work with and completely understood my vision and helped me bring it to life!
We chose white roses and calla lillies for the bouquets and button holes, and for the table centres we used a mixtures of those flowers and hydrangeas too. Since the reception room was relatively dark, we brought in lots of candlelight and hired chandeliers to hover over many of the tables as centrepieces too.
Photographer and videographer
We chose Claudine Hartzel because we loved the candid aesthetic of her photos that we’d seen. Jordan and I aren’t very posy people and were admittedly nervous about all the photos ahead of the day, but Claudine got so many brilliant action shots that we love. After the wedding, we worked together to create a beautiful album to keep, and Steve at Tete-a-tete put together the most cherished video for us as well.
Food and cake
Philip Small catered our food and we were so happy with his service and the attentiveness of the staff. For our dessert, we served an apple tarte tatin with a honeycomb ice cream, to wish our guests a Shana Tova ahead of Rosh Hashana.
Jonny Cocktail served our drinks and he is famous in Manchester for the best bars and bartenders that know how to party as much as the guests. We put their bar in the centre of the room and the drinks were flowing with our guests all night long!
Wedding List/Registry
We used The Wedding Shop.
Extra Details
I did a speech after my father to welcome all our guests to the wedding. It was really important to me that our guests heard from myself and Jordan since our guests had traveled to Manchester to celebrate with us, and I wasn’t going to miss an opportunity to speak to a room full of all the people that we love the most!
We also had a production team, Hipswing, at our wedding.
Honeymoon
For our Honeymoon, we flew off to Cape Town to enjoy the wine region, safaried in Botswana and relaxed in Mauritius for a week afterwards. We absolutely love to travel and our trip was the perfect mix of adventure and relaxation, and is definitely one we’ll never forget.
Advice to couples currently planning their wedding
Try to enjoy the planning process because you really will miss it once it’s over, but remember it’s the people and the atmosphere that will make your wedding day so memorable!
…and, don’t book a venue going through renovation, it will never be ready on time!
ELISSA & JORDAN’S LITTLE WHITE BOOK
Photography – Claudine Hartzel {offers 10% discount to all members of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club}
Videography – Tete-a-tete
Venue – The Midland Hotel
Coordinator – Elissa Baker
Bride’s dress – Pronovias dress found at Bridal Rogue Gallery
Groom’s attire – William Young
Flowers – Verdure Floral Design
DJ – The White Keys {offers 10% discount to all members of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club}
Chazan – JJ Hodari
Catering – Philip Small
Drinks – Jonny Cocktail
Invitation – Invitation London
Wedding List/Registry – The Wedding Shop
Rabbi – Rabbi Ellituv
Production – Hipswing
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.
