We just love it when our readers work with our amazing Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendors to make the Jewish wedding of their dreams a reality – like Katie, who’s a fundraising manager for an education charity, and Max, an officer in the British army, did in planning their gorgeous outdoor countryside wedding in the beautiful Surrey countryside.
These two knew their top priority was making sure their wedding would be fun for each and every one of their guests – and one of their best decisions was tapping Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Louise Perry to plan the big day. Louise and Natalie brought together the couple’s vision for a relaxed but elegant day focused on connecting with friends and family SO perfectly.
Katie and Max wanted to make sure their ceremony was inclusive too, so they worked with Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Rabbi Paul Glantz to craft a chuppah that made everyone feel involved. Rabbi Glantz made sure to explain what was happening at each stage of the ceremony so guests of all backgrounds could follow along – and he did such a good job that lots of non-Jewish guests commented afterward that they wished they could have had a Jewish wedding ceremony!
We’re also obsessed with the pair’s beautiful nature-inspired ketubah by Rachelle of Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor The Delicate Brush, as well as their birch tree chuppah decorated with white flowers and greenery – don’t miss Brett Harkness’s beautiful photos!
Putting your guests first means making sure you’ve got not only a beautiful ceremony but also a rocking party, and Katie and Max knew Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor The White Keys were just the band to keep their guests on the dancefloor all night long.
There’s so much more to say, but we’ll let the bride – who looked so elegant in Sassi Holford – tell you the rest…
HOW WE MET
Katie, the bride: We met during our first year at Newcastle University in 2009. Neither of us remember the moment that we first met but we know it was during our very first week in Newcastle when me and the girls on my floor ventured to the floor below to meet the boys living below us.
A Countryside Wedding
We got married at High Billinghurst Farm in Surrey. It was the first venue that we saw and we fell in love with it, even on a rainy January winters day. It ticked all of our boxes, a beautiful barn, countryside location, easy for our family and friends who travelled from around the world to get to and enough space for all of our guests. Once we saw it we knew that was the venue we wanted and did not even think about looking anywhere else.
A Fab Planner
The number one thing we wanted our wedding to be was fun for all of our guests, we could not wait to celebrate with all of our friends and family. I am confident that we would not have made it to the wedding day without our unbelievable wedding planner Louise Perry.
The day we met Louise we knew we needed her! She, and the wonderful Natalie, totally brought our vision to life and so much more. The whole day was relaxed but elegant with an all white colour scheme and a pop of blue, just one of Louise’s brilliant ideas, which totally completed the look of the marquee.
INVITATIONS
The invitations were one thing where my husband definitely took the lead as he, and I, think both of our mothers wanted something very classic. The end result was simple and stunning.
A SASSI HOLFORD DRESS
My dress was from Sassi Holford, and it was the last dress I tried on. When I came out of the dressing room my mom burst into tears, which I thought was a pretty good sign that we had found the one.
It was a much more classic dress than I thought I would choose. It was made of textured silk and had a stunning bateaux neckline and a deep v in the back which I just loved, and actually made even deeper. My mom cried every single time I tried on the dress during fittings, and even when I picked it up packed away in a dress bag, so I was confident during the whole process that we had the right dress.
The wonderful team from Sassi Holford also stitched a bit of my mom’s wedding dress into the lining of my dress so that I had part of it with me on the wedding day, as there was no way I was fitting into any part of her dress being about 9 inches taller than her!
JEWELLERY AND HAIR ACCESSORIES
My Mom gave me my ‘something borrowed’, a beautiful and simple diamond bracelet of hers. I wanted very simple jewellery as with such a stunning wedding dress you didn’t really need anything else.
I had a very simple veil from Sassi Holford that went perfectly with the dress. We had to add quite a bit of extra length to the end of the veil with me being so tall, but I thought that the longer the better!
SHOES
Thankfully being six feet tall meant that no skyscraper, uncomfortable heals were needed. I had to make sure I wasn’t taller than the groom! I chose a pair of ivory satin ballet flats that went perfectly with my dress, not that you were able to ever see them from underneath the skirt.
Knowing my love of trainers my parents gave me a pair of white Converse trainers with Mrs Shirley and the date of our wedding on the side to wear later on in the evening, which I sadly forgot to put on but were perfect for the day after the wedding.
HAIR + MAKEUP
I wanted very natural hair and make up, and Tori Harris and her team did an absolutely fantastic job. I also wanted to have my hair up, as how often do you get the chance to have someone create an amazing hairstyle for you! Tori did an amazing job getting ten of us ready, and we were even ready early.
THE HANDSOME GROOM
Max went very traditional and wore morning dress…all of the boys looked so smart standing at the end of the aisle.
BRIDESMAIDS
I had seven bridesmaids who all looked amazing in their dresses, which tied in with the ‘pop of blue’. Their dresses were all the same colour but each of them chose the style that they wanted, as how do you find one dress that looks good on seven different girls! I wanted them all to feel comfortable and love what they were wearing.
CEREMONY AND KETUBAH
We were so lucky that the weather held out and we were able to have the ceremony outside, looking over the beautiful Surrey countryside which was so special. 99% of the people at the wedding had never been to a Jew-ish wedding before, including me and the groom!
Our rabbi was so inclusive of everyone there and explained what was happening at each stage of the ceremony, which made everyone feel really involved. We loved being able to introduce so many people to Jewish wedding traditions, with a lot of people commenting after that they wish they could have had a Jewish wedding ceremony!
We loved that we were able to involve so many people in our wedding ceremony, with seven friends and family each reading out a blessing for our marriage and of course the signing of our beautiful ketubah. It was made by Rachelle from The Delicate Brush and really is a work of art.
CHUPPAH
We wanted our chuppah design to fit in with the barn/countryside vibe of the wedding venue and our florist totally made our vision come to life. The chuppah itself was made from birch trees and decorated with the most stunning display of white flowers and greenery I have ever seen. I don’t think I was fully able to take in how beautiful the chuppah was during the ceremony, but it really did just complete the whole ceremony.
SONGS
I walked up the aisle to Pachelbel’s Canon, we went traditional for that part of the ceremomy! We walked back up the aisle to a song by a duo called Us The Duo, ‘No Matter Where You Are’. My husband discovered this duo and we absolutely love their songs, and the song we walked back up the aisle to was actually their own vows that they sang at their own wedding.
So we thought it was a perfect fit, the song totally sums up what you would want a marriage to be. We also wanted something upbeat to walk back up the aisle to so that we could get the party started.
The first dance the groom had absolutely no input on, that is the one thing about my wedding that I have always known, and luckily (I think) he also liked the song which was ‘This Will Be An Everlasting Love’ by Natalie Cole. I always wanted an upbeat, fun first dance and this song just happened to be my favourite song and I think was perfect for a first dance.
This was the one bit of the wedding that neither of us was particularly looking forward to but the band did such a perfect version of the song, and luckily we weren’t dancing on our own for long as everyone wanted to join in the fun!
FLOWERS
The amazing team from Wildabout did such an incredible job with all of the flowers for the wedding…wherever you looked there were flowers and they were simple and stunning. I wanted all white flowers with lots of greenery for the table centres, and lots of candles. I also wanted low table centres as I hate sitting at a table where there are huge flower arrangements in the middle and you can’t see the person sitting opposite you.
We had three different shaped tables and Wildabout designed a different table centre for each shaped table, with beautiful punch bowls overflowing with flowers, small pots with different types of flowers lining the tables and lots of candles in candlesticks, lanterns, tea light holders. It all looked so amazing and totally what we had both envisioned.
PHOTOGRAPHER
Brett Harkness photographed the day and we were so so happy with our choice. We looked at a few different photographers but what we liked about Brett’s photos is that he captured every single detail of the day, and he was also the most lovely person to have photographing us.
He made us all feel so comfortable and we had a great time taking all of the photos- and our group photos were taken with military timing to make sure we didn’t miss the whole of our drinks reception, which I know we were both very grateful for! I still can’t stop looking through all of the photos, and I have had them for a few months now.
They captured the day so perfectly, and one of my favourites has to be a sunset shot that Brett managed to take without there actually being any sun!
CATERING
Caper and Berry did all of the catering for the day and from the canapes right through to the late night food it was all divine. One of our favourite parts of the planning process was the food tasting and it was all so delicious it was hard to choose. The one bit of advice for the wedding day that I received most often was to make sure I ate the canapes, which was not a problem, as Max and I were given our very own plate of canapes and they made sure that we ate them!
I think going hungry was never going to be a problem at our wedding, after canapes and an amazing three course meal there was a 5 tier cake made of cheese all the way from the cheese shop by my family home in Devon, which sadly by the time I got to was all gone, incredible burgers to keep everyone going whilst dancing and of course the wedding cake.
CAKE
Our cake was made by Melissa from Thirty One Cakes and I couldn’t quite believe how big it was when I first saw it.
The cake was a beautiful 5 tier simple white iced cake decorated with fresh flowers and greenery, which tied in with the rest of the day, and it was delicious. It was not easy choosing our flavours from Melissa’s samples, and everyone in our families had different opinions but in the end we went with two fruity and summery flavours, and thankfully there was some cake leftover for us to keep enjoying!
ENTERTAINMENT
Having great music at the wedding was really important to both of us and we started it all off with a fantastic jazz band during our drinks reception, Kind of Two. We were lucky to have the most fantastic band, The White Keys, and DJ for us and our guests to dance the night away to.
FAVOURS
My Mom came up with the great idea to make everyone ‘Hangover Recovery Kits’ to take home with them from the wedding, and I think that they came in handy as there was definitely no shortage of drinks throughout the day. They had water, diet coke, crisps, brownies and the all important sachet of painkillers in.
DETAILS
One of my favourite drinks is an espresso martini and I absolutely loved the espresso martini bar we had after dinner. A wedding is a long day so I think that they came at just the right time to give everyone a boost after dinner, and got them ready for a night of dancing. To help out the girls in their heels on the dance floor we had a big basket of flip flops which were a huge hit.
HONEYMOON
We are going on a very delayed honeymoon over New Years this year, and actually will be able to celebrate one year since we got engaged whilst we are away. We wanted to go somewhere where we both haven’t been before, and somewhere where we could do some exploring and travelling around so decided on Sri Lanka, with a few days relaxing on a beach in the Maldives at the end.
We used the wonderful Rosie Liddle from 360 Private Travel who knows this area really well so has been able to arrange the most fantastic itinerary for us.
ADVICE TO COUPLES CURRENTLY PLANNING THEIR WEDDING
My biggest bit of advice would be to just enjoy and take in the whole experience and have fun with it. I was in the very fortunate position to have the most amazing wedding planner that I did not stress about a single thing and really was just able to enjoy the whole planning process.
The one bit of advice that my dad was given as soon as I got engaged was GET A PLANNER! We really will be forever grateful to Louise and Natalie for planning the wedding of our dreams, and for giving me the greatest piece of advice on the day of the wedding…how to go to the loo in my wedding dress, which I have since passed on to other brides!
My other bit of advice would be to just take a minute every so often throughout the wedding day just to take it all in. It will go by in a flash so take some time for yourself to let it all sink in.
KATIE & MAX’S LITTLE WHITE BOOK
Photographer: Brett Harkness Photography
Planner : Louise Perry Weddings {offers 10% discount to all members of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club}
Ketubah: The Delicate Brush {offers 10% discount to all members of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club}
Rabbi – Paul Glantz
Band – The White Keys
Venue – High Billinghurst Farm
Marquee – Academy Marquees
Bride’s dress – Sassi Holford
Hair + make up – Tori Harris
Flowers – Wild About
Reception Music – Kind of Two via Alive Network
Caterer – Caper and Berry
Cake – Thirty One Cakes
Stationery – Gee Brothers
Signs – Created by Caroline
Honeymoon – 360 Private Travel
Smash The Glass Pouch – Smashing The Glass Etsy Shop {or join Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club and get one for free!}
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