Today’s couple are lucky to have careers they’re passionate about: Ekaterina is a live events producer, and Richard is a VP of sales working for a travel company. So it was only natural that music and travel played a big role in their fabulous Jewish wedding – as did the pair’s shared love of all things rustic.
They found the perfect spot to combine all the things they love in Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Offley Place in Hertfordshire. It ticked ALL their boxes for a countryside feel and easy access from their home in North West London, and provided the perfect backdrop for their gorgeous rustic florals and birch chuppah. Check it out in the wonderful photos by Steven Porridge ad Julie Kim Photography.
With Ekaterina working in live events, and she and Richard being music lovers, a top-tier band was always going to be a priority. And Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Sensation Band was the absolute perfect fit. From the chuppah to the dinner to the party, “they were incredibly engaging and really delivered a phenomenal performance.” Ekaterina reports that guests kept commenting on the performance and asking the duo where they’d found such an awesome band!
Realizing it’s easy to make a wedding all about the bride, Ekaterina knew she wanted to incorporate Richard’s love for travel into the wedding too – and we’re obsessed with the creative details like “wedding passports” as wedding brochures, a departures board as the table plan, and boarding passes for place cards.
Read on for more from the bride…
How we Met
Ekaterina, the bride: A friend of ours introduced us during lock down and we knew pretty much straight away that this was a soul connection. The truth is, this was actually the second time we met – just a more successful rendez-vous than the first one. After a few romantic walks in the park, I had told him that he “felt like home”, that’s when I knew he was my soulmate as he made me feel whole.
We got engaged in April 2022 and decided to get married before the chagim that year (September 2022), which didn’t leave us much time for preparations! We also bought a house that summer and had some changes at work. A very turbulent year! But it is these bumps that made me even more sure of my choice in partner as we held each other’s hand through it all.
Offley Place
This was a topic of much discussion! We spoke about different formats for the wedding i.e ceremony and reception in a shul, then party elsewhere or ceremony and then lunch with family with an after-party to end the day. This was quite a stressful decision-making process! The only thing we agreed on from the beginning was the fact we wanted a rustic wedding.
When we visited Offley Place, we instantly knew it was the place we wanted to celebrate our special day. We wanted a countryside wedding but didn’t want to travel too far, we live in North West London so it was really easy to get to Offley. We loved the idea of a rustic wedding so made sure to keep the theme throughout the day.
A Rustic Wedding
We love everything rustic (we even made our home, a cottage in Hampstead Garden Suburb, in that style). This was reflected in the floral arrangements as well as the table setup.
We had a lot of wood – birch chuppah and flowers resting on small tree trunks. The birch was also an important element to me personally as I am Russian and these are typical trees found in Russia.
We also used purple / lilac as both the bride and her mother-in-law love that colour. I also made sure to have travel elements throughout the wedding to make sure Rick was in his element (literally)!
We had “wedding passports” as wedding brochures, a departure’s board as our table plan and boarding passes for placenames. A wedding is always mostly about the bride than it ever is about the groom, so I wanted to balance it out by having his personality present in the décor.
Dress
The owner of the Lace and Button, Irina has really unique pieces and that’s exactly what I wanted. She made the experience so nice and comfortable. She really went out of her way to accommodate me, which I am so grateful for. I only tried a few dresses before finding mine. I knew it was the one because when I opened the curtain from the dressing room, my mother-in-law gasped and holding her tears in said “You look beautiful”, so I knew it was “the one”.
Ceremony and Chuppah
It was such a fun and magical day overall, but I have to say that between right before the veiling and the smashing of the glass it’s all a bit of a blur! I remember feeling so overwhelmed with emotions that it felt like an out-of-body experience!
Also having not seen my fiancé for a whole week before the big day the anticipation was blinding the closer we got to seeing each other. I will never forget the feeling of finally seeing him as he entered the bedeken room. He came in, veiled me and then he was gone…(our videographers captured that moment so nicely, it’s actually on our Instagram!
After that, all I remember is feeling like my soul was dragging my body towards my future husband who was patiently waiting for me under the chuppah. I don’t even remember my parents walking me down the aisle, I just remember feeling like I was somehow floating and getting closer and closer to the man I love.
I couldn’t even see our guests both sides of the aisle, as I had tunnel vision and at the end of that tunnel – my best friend waiting for me to join him. Seeing him at the end of that tunnel was what kept me going and was the most comforting sight I had ever seen.
Rick’s experience was obviously very different as the groom goes first and patiently waits under the chuppah. However, we were told by guests that he was transfixed as soon as I walked into the room.
I don’t even remember the music at this point, although we carefully selected the songs. We had the standard traditional Jewish songs but to the music of modern singers; I walked down the aisle to Leonard Cohen’s ‘Halleljuah’ as I’m obsessed with that song and Richard walked down to Elvis Presley’s ‘Can’t help falling in love’, as my father-in-law is a fan of Elvis.
Our Music Choice
We both love music and therefore it was really important to have a good quality band. We hired Sensation Band and they were absolutely incredible. They provided music for the chuppah as well as the dinner and party. They were incredibly engaging and really delivered a phenomenal performance.
Being in the live events industry myself and having worked with celebrity performers, I have high expectations from entertainment! Our guests kept commenting on the performance and asking where we had found the band, they were THAT good.
Our first dance was ‘Ain’t no mountain high enough’. We wanted something upbeat as we are both very extroverted and wanted the song to reflect that. I also had a beautiful father-daughter dance, which was incredibly emotional as the song I chose was a letter written by the famous French singer Charles Aznavour to this daughter literally called ‘A ma fille’ (French. “To my daughter”). In this song, the singer describes the mixed feelings of having to one day give away his daughter… a song so appropriate for a father-daughter dance. I had imagined doing that dance to that exact song when I was a little girl.
My father-in-law’s only regret from the wedding – he didn’t get to dance with the bride. So I owe him a dance! I challenge you to listen to this beautiful song and not drown in tears:
Je sais qu’un jour viendra car la vie le commande
Ce jour que j’appréhende où tu nous quitteras
I know that a day will come when life demands
This day that I apprehend, when you will leave us
Flowers
My mother-in-law and I love purple, so we had a lot of purple and lilac elements throughout the wedding. I also wanted to have very bright colours to reflect our personalities.
Photographer and videographer
I have personally worked with Steven Porridge before on my live events and we also had Julie Kim Photography. Our videographer was Novosad
Honeymoon
The truth is, that year was so exhausting we just needed a getaway! So we did a minimoon in a spa resort in Sardinia as we both love Italy. It’s great weather, amazing food and stunning scenery. We are now planning to go to the Seychelles for a proper honeymoon full of romance and adventure!
Advice to other couples planning their wedding
Make sure to plan ahead and be a guest on the day! On the day of your wedding, don’t think about anything but having fun!!! Soak in everything that is happening and enjoy the ride. We did that and had a blast.
EKATERINA & RICHARD’S LITTLE WHITE BOOK
Photography – Julie Kim Photography and Steven Porridge
Videography – Novosad
Venue – Offley Place
Band – Sensation Band {offers 10% discount to all members of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club}
Bride’s dress – Lace and Button
Flowers – Flowers by Alina
Smash The Glass Pouch – Smashing The Glass Etsy Shop {or join Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club and get one for free!}
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.
