We don’t know what we love more about today’s gorgeous Jewish wedding, the Wes Anderson-inspired dusty pink color scheme and fun touches (think churro station!), or the meaningful, personal ceremony Claudia, a solicitor, and Marc, a dental therapist and property developer (he featured on an episode of Homes Under the Hammer), put together.
It’s hard to go wrong with a quintessentially Marbella venue like Finca Villa Palma – we’re talking palm trees, ocean vibes, and mountain views galore – but these two really took it to the next level with design touches like luxe blush pink and gold foil invitations from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor EYI LOVE, one of the very best luxury design and print studios in the business. Claudia and Marc can’t stop raving about the unique design and the high quality.
And we love that these two made sure their ceremony was a true reflection of who they are as a couple – for example, instead of Claudia circling Marc seven times as is traditional, each of them circled the other three times, and then they made a final circle together. And Claudia used her grandma’s wedding ring under the chuppah – so special!
Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Bloomfield Photography captured all the details and emotion of this magical day so perfectly – we’re totally obsessed with their incredible photos. And they also connected the couple to their wonderful videographer, Reece Iveson.
Now over to the bride, who looked luminous in her St Patrick dress…
How We Met
Claudia, the bride: Marc and I met while I was living in London and Marc was living in Manchester. We went to a New Year’s Eve party with some mutual friends and things just went from there. We then did long distance for 3 years before I finally moved up to Manchester around 5 years ago!
A Marbella Wedding
We got married in Finca Villa Palma in Marbella. It has the most beautiful road leading up to the venue with lots of palm trees and a water fountain as you reach the top. When we stepped through to the reception area, the panoramic views of the sea and surrounding mountains were breath-taking.
We knew early on that we would want to get married in Marbella. I (Claudia) grew up there from the ages of 13 – 18 and some of my family, including my mum, Luz, still live there. Marc and I love spending time in Spain, so it was an easy decision when we were working out where to get married.
Wes Anderson Vibes
We spent a lot of time on Pinterest trying to get a feel for different ideas and themes. In the end we went with a dusty/blush pink for our colour scheme which we both loved. We’re both big Wes Anderson fans and the pink reminded us of one of our favourite films, the Grand Budapest Hotel.
We didn’t use a wedding planner, so it was a bit of a challenge doing everything ourselves. Thankfully, I speak Spanish and all of our suppliers were so lovely, so that definitely made things easier. Our families also helped out with lots of the ‘wedmin’. Marc’s dad, Stewart, in particular was amazing. He managed the endless spreadsheets, organised all of the bus shuttles to and from the venue, and made all of the arrangements for our ceremony. He became our honorary wedding planner!
What ‘Smashing The Glass’ Did For Us
I avidly follow Smashing The Glass on Instagram and during our wedding preparation, I regularly checked out their posts and gorgeous featured weddings for inspiration. I also downloaded the ultimate Jewish wedding checklist which was super helpful and kept us on track in the lead up to the wedding.
Blush Pink Invitations
We spent quite a lot of time trying to find the perfect invitation design. We used a Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor, EYI LOVE, a luxury design and print studio. We ended up choosing a blush pink invitation with luxe gold foil. We were so happy with them, they were high quality and felt really unique.
A St Patrick Dress
My dress was ‘Laelia’ by St Patrick who are part of the Pronovias group. It was a low waist mermaid dress with a crepe skirt and an embroidered tulle bodice with beaded lace appliques. The dress had off-the-shoulders cap sleeves, and these were the biggest selling point for me. Marc has always loved it whenever I’ve worn anything off the shoulder, so as soon as I tried this dress on I knew that it was the one!
I found my dress during a visit to Marbella. My mum and I went to a beautiful shop called Eva y Santos. It made things so much easier to have the dress already out there and not have to worry about travelling out from the UK with it. Eva y Santos were so flexible and worked around my planned visits for all of the dress fittings.
Diamonds and Pearls
Marc surprised me with a beautiful delicate pearl necklace from Links of London just before we flew to Spain. I wore it with a pair of gorgeous diamond earrings that Marc’s family had bought me for my 30th birthday. I also wore a vintage silver and pearl hairpiece that I’d bought with my mum that went really well with the necklace.
Kurt Geiger Shoes
My shoes were nude, sparkly block heels from Kurt Geiger. I knew I wanted to be comfortable as we would be on grass for most of the day, so I thought a block heel was the safest option! They were really comfy, and I loved how sparkly they were.
Hair + Makeup
I used the incredibly talented Ella Megan. I found her on Instagram and saw that she did weddings in the UK and Marbella. She was absolutely brilliant and made me and the bridesmaids feel really comfortable on the day. She spent ages making sure I was happy with everything and was always on hand in the lead up to the wedding whenever I had any questions or wanted to run any ideas by her.
For my makeup, I went for a bronze smoky eye look. I don’t tend to wear that much make up in my daily life, so I didn’t want anything too heavy. This was perfect as I felt really made up without anything being too exaggerated. For my hair, I went with a half up, half down look. I felt fabulous on the day – thanks Ella!
The handsome groom
Marc wore a navy Paul Smith suit with a bold colourful patterned lining. It was beautifully tailored, and the lining added a bit of a playful surprise, which was just what Marc wanted. He wore it with a Paul Smith dusty pink textured tie. He also wore a new tallit that he had bought with his dad. I was so happy when I saw him under the chuppah – he looked very suave and handsome!
Marc’s best man was his twin brother, Adam, and he had 6 groomsmen (including his older brother Joel, and my brother Ricky). All the groomsmen wore navy suits with tan loafers.
Bridesmaids
I had 2 maids of honour (my best friends from school) and 6 bridesmaids. Sadly, one of my bridesmaids couldn’t come to the wedding as she was heavily pregnant, so there were 5 on the day! They all wore matching ruffle satin maxi dresses from Oasis with gorgeous floaty off the shoulder sleeves and cross over spaghetti straps. The dresses were a dusty light pink.
We also had our nephew, Rafi, and niece, Ruby, as our page boy and flower girl. They really stole the show and looked so adorable!
Chuppah
We went with white fabrics and floral arrangements which included cream vendela roses, sweet avalanche roses, white hydrangeas and eucalyptus. We wanted floral touches that would complement the surrounding greenery, and we were so happy with how it all turned out!
Ceremony
Our wedding was officiated by Rabbi Fabian Sborovsky from Menorah Synagogue in Manchester. Unfortunately, our rabbis, Rabbi Robyn Ashworth Steen and Rabbi Silverman from our shul, Jacksons Row, were unable to fly to Marbella, but we were so delighted that Rabbi Fabian was able to join us. He is originally from Paraguay and speaks fluent Spanish, which felt like a nice and fitting link given where we were getting married.
Rabbi Fabian made our ceremony feel so personal and special. He’s such a warm person and we felt really connected with him. He helped us create a beautiful and meaningful ceremony, and many of our guests told us how much they had enjoyed it. What was a really lovely touch was that he read out letters from Rabbi Robyn and Rabbi Silverman that they had prepared for us. It was a complete surprise and so lovely and emotional hearing their words on our special day.
Instead of circling Marc seven times, we decided to mix things up, so I circled Marc three times, followed by him circling me three times, and then we made one circle together. We felt that this was a fitting way to reflect our values and priorities as we started married life together.
I used my grandma Rene’s wedding ring which was really special and meaningful. Marc’s dad used to be a jeweller and he polished the ring beautifully so that it looked brand new. I was really close to my grandma and although she never got to meet Marc, I’m sure she would have loved him.
Flowers
We used Eventoshop for all our flowers and decorations at the venue. They were amazing and worked so hard to deliver exactly what we wanted.
For my bouquet, I had sweet avalanche roses, white peonies, white astilbe and eucalyptus. For my bridesmaids, they had similar bouquets but with more greenery. For Marc and the groomsmen, they had buttonholes with a sweet avalanche rose.
For our table centrepieces, we had a mix of glass cylinders with different height pillar candles with beautiful sweet pink and white roses and eucalyptus branches on the table. Marc’s mum, Sharon, and I spent ages at home trying to figure out what exactly we wanted for the centrepieces, even buying some plastic flowers and glass jars to mock up what we wanted. We then showed Eventoshop the mock up ideas and together we worked on finding something that worked perfectly.
Photographer
We used the incredible Bloomfield Photography for our wedding photos. They had been highly recommended to us by a friend who had previously been to a wedding in Marbella.
Right from the start of our relationship with Sam, he was so friendly and keen to understand exactly what we wanted/our vision for the day. He gave us loads of really helpful tips and advice in the lead up to the wedding. On the day, Sam and Helen put as completely at ease. They were so professional and knew exactly what they were doing. They captured the day so perfectly and we were completely blown away by the photos – thanks Sam and Helen!
Videographer
We also used an excellent videographer, Reece Iveson. Reece was recommended to us by Bloomfield Photography. On the day of the wedding, Reece was so professional and really unobtrusive. He really complimented Sam and Helen’s work. We were so delighted with the video which was really natural and captured all of our favourite parts of the wedding, including our nephew, Rafi’s amazing dance moves on the dance floor.
Food
All of our catering was done by Alabardero Catering who partner with Finca Villa Palma. Our contact, Marta, was absolutely brilliant and had everything in hand.
Marc and I are real foodies so this was a really important part of the wedding! Marta worked closely with us to prepare the most delicious canapes and menu, which included marinated tuna with soy, lime and ginger, sushi, croquetas (Marc’s favourite!), salmon and avocado tartare, and freshly made breads with local Spanish oils. Everything was beautifully presented and some of the dishes were even personalised with our names. We also had a cocktail station serving lychee martinis and mojitos.
When we first made the decision to get married in Marbella, Marc’s first request was that he wanted to have freshly made churros with chocolate at the wedding. Alabardero were more than happy to accommodate this and they made all the necessary arrangements to have our very own churros station!
Cake
Our wedding cake was made by the very talented Marta Pino Postres. Marta makes the most beautiful cakes and desserts for weddings, as well as for local fine dining restaurants. We went for a ‘semi-desnudo’ (half naked) red velvet 3 tier cake with fresh berries and edible flowers on the top. Marc and I ate red velvet cupcakes on one of our first dates and it’s been our favourite ever since.
We were so thrilled with how all the food turned out and so many of our guests told us how much they had loved all the dishes.
Entertainment
We had a Spanish guitarist, the very talented Jose Ortega, play acoustically during the ceremony. Jose played so beautifully and elegantly. He covered a mix of traditional and modern songs, from the Gypsy Kings to ‘Despacito’, which we thought would be a fun touch and something our guests would recognise.
After dinner, we had the fabulous 5 piece party band, The Revellers, which we booked through Fix the Music. The Revellers play a lot of funk, soul, pop and reggae, and as soon as we watched some of their videos we knew they would be perfect. The leader singer, Oscar Roots, has the most incredible voice.
For our first dance we chose the song ‘So Tired Of Being Alone’ by Al Green. The Revellers had learnt and rehearsed the song in the lead up to the wedding, which was incredible. They were so energetic and played so many fun songs. They had everyone on their feet dancing all night and they really made the celebrations so special!
Favours
We wanted to add a personal touch with the wedding favours. I’m half Colombian and Marc is obsessed with coffee, so we decided to have some personalised mini Colombian coffee bags. We worked with AlessoShop on Etsy to have these made and we were so pleased with the quality of them. We filled them with our favourite Colombian coffee sweets that my grandma had brought over from Colombia. We then added handwritten name tags to each of the coffee bags and we used them as the name cards for each guest at the tables.
We also had white fans for the women and pink suede personalised kippot for the men during the ceremony.
Mix of heritages
I grew up in the UK, South Africa and Spain, and Marc is from Lytham St Annes. We wanted to celebrate our mix of heritages by adding small touches here and there like the Spanish guitarist and our Colombian wedding favours. We also had Blackpool rock sweets for our guests for a bit of a Northern touch!
As we got married abroad, we organised a few events in the lead up to the wedding that really made everything even more special and meant that we got to stretch out the celebrations!
We organised drinks at the rooftop bar of the sleek and sophisticated Amare Beach Hotel Marbella, as well as a Friday night dinner by the beach catered by Alabardero Catering. The day before the wedding, we hosted a ‘white’ pool party (with inflatable glitter swans and flamingos) at our stunning boutique hotel, The Touch Banus. We had exclusively booked the hotel for us to stay there, along with some of our bridesmaids and groomsmen. The Touch Banus’ staff were so attentive and provided a first class experience. They were so attentive on the day of the wedding, making sure all of our preparations went smoothly before we headed to Finca Villa Palma.
By the time of the wedding, most of our guests knew each other really well which was just what we wanted and meant that the wedding day was even more fun!
Speeches
On the wedding day, my dad, Tony’s speech was a real highlight. It was really heartfelt but also hilarious. He made a joke about me being a lawyer and Marc working as a Dental Therapist that culminated in him demanding ‘the tooth, the whole tooth and nothing but the tooth’. He was definitely the hit of the night and had many ‘fans’ wanting to drinking whiskey with him at the bar after his speech.
Adam’s best man speech was also really funny. He told everyone about a time that one of our friends, Reggie, cycled with him from Manchester to Blackpool. Despite spending an entire day together, Reggie had no idea which twin he had been with! It was therefore very fitting that, on the wedding day, many of our guests, including Marc and Adam’s grandparents, went up to Adam and mistook him for Marc! Adam kept joking that he was going to keep all the wedding cards and gifts he was given.
Marc’s speech was also incredibly special. He had been really nervous in the lead up to the wedding, but he completely smashed it. He had clearly spent so much time thinking about what he wanted to say, and I was completely blown away by his lovely words.
Our MC was our close friend, Jonny, who kept the whole night running smoothly with hilarious anecdotes and stories. He was in his element and definitely born for the role – thanks Jonny!
Honeymoon
The day after the wedding, we flew to Rome and then we drove to Tuscany. We spent three nights at the most incredible hotel, Borgo Scopeto Relais, which is surrounded by vineyards and olive groves. There were 2 swimming pools and a spa so we just relaxed in the sun, drank wine and ate loads of delicious food.
We then drove to Florence where Marc had booked a surprise – a full day pasta making course. After a cocktail on a rooftop bar overlooking the city, we set off for Lake Garda. We stayed at Hotel Salo du Parc which was right in front of the lake with its own private pier and dock. It was like something out of a James Bond film. We also stayed a night at Villa Sostaga which was high up in the mountains with the most incredible views of the whole of Lake Garda. We had dinner there on our last night – a delicious, food coma inducing 7 course tasting menu.
We’re planning on going away for 10 weeks next year to Asia as part of an extended honeymoon. We’re currently in the planning stages and very excited!
Advice to couples currently planning their wedding
My biggest piece of advice is to enjoy the day and try not to stress about the little things. Have faith in all the preparation you’ve done leading up to the day and the amazing people that will be around you making sure everything runs smoothly!
I also think that you can’t underestimate a good night’s sleep the night before the wedding, so make sure you have some time to relax and switch off before the big day.
Claudia & Marc’s little white book
Photography – Bloomfield Photography
Invitation – EYI Love {offers 10% discount to all members of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club}
Videography – Reece Iveson
Venue – Finca Villa Palma
Bride’s dress – St Patrick found and fitted at Eva y Santos
Bride’s accessories – Links of London
Bride’s shoes – Kurt Geiger
Groom’s suit – Paul Smith
Bridesmaids – Oasis
Hair and makeup – Ella Megan
Flowers – Eventoshop
Catering – Alabardero Catering
Cake – Marta Pino Postres
Band – The Revellers
Spanish guitarist – Jose Ortega
Favours – AlessoShop on Etsy
Accommodation – Amare Beach Hotel and The Touch Banus
Shuttle buses – B-met.com
Honeymoon – Borgo Scopeto Relais, Hotel Salo du Parc and Villa Sostaga
