We love a good Chanukah wedding – and there’s no time more special than the eighth and final night. We’re loving the way Emma, an account director at a medical education communications agency, and Mike, an accountant, made the most of the holiday in their beautiful Jewish wedding.
The pair had the bride’s two grandmothers light the menorah together during their chuppah – how special is that?! Speaking of that chuppah, we’re in love with the green and white floral creation, and we can’t go without mentioning the couple’s gorgeous green and purple ketubah from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Ketubah.com. Also, fabulous chazan and Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Jonny Mosesson sang at the chuppah (and Emma and Mike found him through Smashing The Glass!). Oh, and they used one of our smash glass pouches.
The couple kept their general vibe wintery, with rich burgundy tones and sparkly fairy lights abounding. And to keep things in the Chanukah spirit from start to finish, they even served doughnuts in personalized paper bags for their guests to take home at the end of the night!
Emma looked stunning in her fitted mermaid lace Pronovias dress, which she found at Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Ann Louise Bridal – whose delightful service she can’t stop raving about. We’ll let her fill you in on the rest.
A Family Venue
Emma, the bride: We got married at the West London Synagogue on Upper Berkeley Street. Not only is this a beautiful synagogue, but both Mike’s parents and grandparents got married here so this made it extremely special for us.
The reception and party followed at the Sheraton Park Lane Hotel which has a beautiful art deco style ballroom which we loved from the first time we saw it. Dina the event planner there was an absolute dream to work with, no matter how many questions and requests we had!
Winter Wedding
As we got married in December we wanted to keep a wintery theme. Bridesmaids wore burgundy, which matched the wedding party bow ties and the kippot. We also had fairy lights around the ballroom which added to the wintery feel.
What ‘Smashing The Glass’ Did For Us
We found our fabulous chazan Jonny Mosesson on the Smashing the Glass website. We also used a smash glass pouch. I just love the website for reading about other weddings and seeing their photos.
Rose Gold Invitations
My best friend, Jessica Hofman, is a graphic designer who worked for Kisharon at Equal Creative in Temple Fortune. I had known Jess would design my invitations before I’d even met Mike, and being my best friend she knew exactly what I wanted. We wanted something simple but elegant, and Jess designed us a beautiful rose gold and cream invitation. Jess also designed all our wedding day stationery and so ensured this all matched the rose gold and cream design.
Hair + Makeup
I always knew I would have my hair up for my wedding and I had been recommended Zoe Norris who was absolutely amazing. Zoe created the most perfect style and it stayed put all night. Zoe was also so much more than a hairdresser, she dressed both me and my mum and stayed with us until dinner making sure our hair was touched up for photographs. She was a dream to have with us on the day.
For makeup I had been recommended Carrie Kaye who was wonderful, I wanted a natural look, and to make sure I still looked like myself and Carrie did a fantastic job. Zoe and Carrie also did hair and makeup for my mum and bridesmaids all who looked gorgeous.
A Pronovias Dress
My dress was Pronovias which I found at Ann Louise Bridal in Pinner. Cheryl who owns the shop and works there with her mother Dorothy were so lovely and such a delight. My dress had a lace covered illusion top with a fitted mermaid skirt and lace appliques and I absolutely loved it. We added a sparkly belt which was handmade by Dorothy, and this finished the dress off perfectly.
Accessories
As my dress had quite a bit of lace on it I wanted to keep the veil simple. I had a cathedral length veil with a simple satin edging. For jewellery I wore studded earrings and a bracelet which was a wedding present from my new in-laws. In my hair I went for a diamante and pearl hair vine from Not On The High Street.
Jimmy Choos
I knew I didn’t want a white shoe as I wanted to be able to wear my shoes again after the wedding. I found my dream wedding shoes, a pair of gold glittery Jimmy Choos, which were not only gorgeous but comfortable too.
The handsome groom
Mike chose a Hugo Boss black dinner suit with a Thomas Pink shirt and he looked extremely handsome. He also wore black patent shoes from Kurt Geiger and a black velvet bow tie from Mrs Bow Tie which looked great with with burgundy bow ties the ushers were wearing.
Bridesmaids
I had three bridesmaids, who all all wore burgundy dresses by Sorella Vita from Pure Couture in Beaconsfield. I loved the colour of the dresses and how the sequins looked when they caught the light.
Chuppah
Our chuppah was everything we hoped for; the four poles were completely covered with flowers and greenery, which spread out across the top of the chuppah. It was absolutely beautiful.
Chanukah Wedding
Our wedding took place on the 8th night of Chanukah and so we incorporated the lighting of the Chanukah candles during our Chuppah. My two grandmas lit the Chanukiah together which was extremely special and it looked amazing once it was fully lit.
Ketubah
Our ketubah was from Ketubah.com. We chose a beautiful green and purple ketubah which matched the purple/green glass we chose to smash under the Chuppah.
Our music choice
We had the amazing Jonny Mosesson sing at our chuppah and we found him on Smashing The Glass! We absolutely love his voice and he made our ceremony really special. Jonny was accompanied by the fab Giardino Strings. Mike and the wedding party walked down the aisle to ‘Meheira’, and I walked down the aisle with my dad to ‘Boi Kallah’ to the tune of ‘Hallelujah’.
Flowers
The wonderful Alexandra at Alexandra’s Florist created most beautiful arrangements for the day. We wanted only white flowers with lots of greenery, including eucalyptus for the wintery feel, and Alexandra perfectly created our vision; ensuring that the flowers throughout the day from the bouquets, to the buttons holes to the chuppah and the centerpieces all matched and complemented one another.
The Park Lane Hotel has extremely high ceilings and so we wanted table arrangements that fitted with the room. Alexandra created three different table arrangements of different heights; with my favourite being the incredible flower trees which took my breath away when I saw them for the first time.
Entertainement
For the party we chose the amazing Creation Showband for music and production. My brother had Creation at his wedding the year before and we absolutely loved them then. We wanted our wedding to feel like a real party with everyone on the dance floor all night and we knew Creation would do just that. We also had a surprise top table which became a second stage after dessert, which our guests loved.
We entered the ballroom to ‘We Are Young’ by Fun (we are now Mr and Mrs Young) and our first dance was Jackie Wilson’s ‘The Sweetest Feeling’.
Photographer and videographer
I knew as soon as we were engaged that I wanted Pascal at Reportage Gallery to be our photographer. I’d seen his photos from various friends’ weddings and had always loved the types of shots he takes. Added to this he is such a lovely man and he and his team are a delight to have around all day.
I absolutely love watching wedding trailers, and so having seen most of the videos on AtMotion’s website I knew that they would do a great job and we are absolutely thrilled with the final result.
Doughnuts for Chanukah!
Our caterer was Arieh Wagner and the food was faultless and absolutely delicious. We worked closely with Arieh and Dina to come up with the perfect menu that combined our favourite things. Starter was a crispy duck salad with pomegranate seeds, followed by a main course of beef with fondant potato, glazed carrots and green beans. Dessert was a warm chocolate fondant which melted in the middle perfectly!
As it was the 8th night of Chanukah we couldn’t not have doughnuts! We served these with personalised paper bags for our guests to take for their way home.
Favours
I always love being able to take my shoes off at a wedding once the dancing gets going, however we didn’t really feel that December was flip flop weather. Instead we decided on cozy slippers for anyone who decided they’d had enough of their heels!
Honeymoon
We spent a couple of days in Hampshire straight after the wedding as we knew we’d want some time to relax (and relive the memories!) before going back to work. We then went on our honeymoon in January to India and the Maldives. We wanted somewhere we had never been before and we wanted a mix of sightseeing and relaxing. It was absolutely amazing; India has so much to see and experience and the Maldives really is as beautiful as the photos look!
Advice to couples currently planning their wedding
My biggest piece of advice would be to make sure that on the day itself you just relax and enjoy every single moment. Everyone tells you that it all happens so quickly, and it’s true, the day goes past in a flash so make sure to enjoy every bit. On the day is too late to worry about any details, and if anything does go wrong you probably won’t even notice! Mike and I made sure we took a moment or two to step back and take in the atmosphere. You only have one day, so relax and make sure it’s the best day ever!
Emma & Mike’s little white book
Photography – Reportage Gallery {offers 10% discount to all members of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club}
Videography – AtMotion
Chazan – Jonny Mosesson {offers 10% discount 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}
Venue and Catering – Sheraton Park Lane Hotel
Bride’s dress – Pronovias found and fitted at Ann Louise Bridal
Bride’s shoes – Jimmy Choo
Bride’s accessories – Not On The High Street
Groom’s attire – Hugo Boss, Thomas Pink and Mrs Bow Tie
Bridesmaids – Sorella Vita purchased at Pure Couture
Hair + Makeup – Zoe Norris and Carrie Kaye
Flowers – Alexandra’s Florist
Stationery – Kisharon
String Quartet – Giardino Strings
Band and Production – Creation Showband
Photo mirror – KMS Hire
Toastmaster – David Collins
Smash The Glass Pouch – Smashing The Glass Etsy Shop {or join Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club and get one for free!}
