Get ready for a truly unforgettable London Jewish wedding! Leanne and Dudi’s celebration at the Royal Lancaster featured a crowd of 400, a fabulous floral chuppah, a gorgeous lace gown by Suzanne Neville, and an epic party with a packed dancefloor and some seriously incredible Israeli dancing – thanks to the couple’s band, Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor The White Keys.
In Leanne’s words, The White Keys were “a fantastic band, really got stuck in with the guests and able to understand the vibe throughout,” and we couldn’t agree more!
Photographer Paul Toeman captured all the joy and energy of the day so beautifully – read on for the full story!
How We Met
Leanne, the bride: We met online on Hinge (dating app) coming out of Covid. Dudi works for his family company M&Sons in construction and I work for a Global Tech event, Data Centre World London.
Our first date was like a business meeting, we are both very work motivated so we discussed a lot about our jobs, our goals and ambitions over a lovely bottle of red (or 2!)
A London Wedding
We got married at the Royal Lancaster in central London, it was the only suitable venue that could sit over 400 people!
Botanical Wonderland
We used White Paper Event, they were beyond our expectations when it came to putting everything together. I must have sent well into the hundreds different inspirations, floral designs to Aron who brought this to life. A very botanical wonderland, sage greens, pinks, white & black colours were used. Of course a touch of elegance wouldn’t go amiss either! Everything I sent to him was just elevated when we stepped into the main hall, it was perfect – any girl’s dream wedding.
Hair + Makeup
Nishma Davda did my make up, she is all round an amazing woman with so much experience. I don’t know much about make up but she made me feel so at ease, had really good conversations, and did my make up so well – I in fact am now using her whenever I have an event coming up! She is brilliant and a beautiful women inside and out!
I was recommended Alan from Alan Beauty Crew Hair who just took one look at my hair and knew exactly what to do. Again like make up, hair is not my forte so I left it up to him we went through different inspirations and he guided me on what look will best suit my face and dress. I would use these two hair and make up artists over and over again every day if I could!
A Suzanne Neville Dress
My dress designer was Suzanne Neville, a princess lace dress (name was Brahms). We worked on recreating it, I took away the lace sleeves and added a removable lace bodice (so it was appropriate for the chuppa) and then would be able to freely dance after.
Accessories
Jewellery was something ‘borrowed’, a pearl necklace given to me from my Auntie and pearl earrings from my mother (both which were given to by my grandmother). And a chopard bracelet given to me from my step dad.
Bridesmaids
I had 5 bridesmaids (2 were Dudi’s sisters), and one maid of honour. I gave them a colour (sage green), a budget on the dress and let their imaginations run wild. I think I was the chillest bride, I really was happy with whatever they were happy with! They all ended up wearing different dresses, and different shades of green which I was very happy with, I think as long as they are comfortable then happy days!
Ceremony & Chuppah
We had two singers who sung the prayer for the IDF, they sung so beautifully, everyone joined them singing, some of our guests who were ex and present IDF soldiers at the wedding also took out their dog tags in respect for their comrades who are on the front line and also for respect to those who have fallen in this war. It’s something I will hold close to my heart forever.
We are yet to design our ketubah! I have something specific in mind which I want to represent our wedding. However, we don’t want to rush into designing it yet until we find the right designer who we feel will match us as a couple.
Our music choice
We used The White Keys at our wedding, they were amazing. A fantastic band, really got stuck in with the guests and was able to understand the vibe throughout! Highly recommend to anyone who is looking for a band!!
Flowers
The beautiful Flowers by Miri Moses can just look at a couple and know what they want. She goes above and beyond, such a wonderful women, she welcomed us into our home, went through different styles for the chuppah, to table designs. So organised, to the point, I couldnt recommend her more. Miri really brought to life the botantical concept to life, even the mechitza was so subtle but worked perfectly.
Photographer and videographer
Our photographer was Paul Toeman, he is very experienced and knows how to quite literally capture the moment. I told him my idea of how I like photos, and what I didnt like, we had a meetings in the lead up to the event, and we felt so comfortable with him. He knows exactly what he is doing, I am definitely going to use him again!
Leor Films was our videographer, we have used him throughout from the L’Chaim to engagement party and now wedding. Again, I can’t fault him, he was fantastic, working with a room of 400 people he really captured the wedding and knew exactly who was who in the family. Not even 24 hours after the wedding he had already compiled a short highlight video of our wedding (which I will add was AMAZING….). Both our photographer and videographer were so professional and efficient, we will definitely be using both Paul and Leor again in the future!
Food
Our food was catered by Eat Me Events. They brought in especially for our wedding ‘stone’ type of plates from France (yes all 400 jheez)! We went around London ordering different types of food and showed Ezri how we wanted the food to presented during the wedding. During the wedding reception we had 3 different food stations along with waiters going around with different food canapes and drinks (no drink was left empty!) We obviously had to have after party food as well, so at 12am more food came out!
Extra Details
OMG, during the first section of the Israeli dancing I was given the ‘parachute’ – where the bride is in the middle of this massive parachute and all the women around her are holding the edge and dancing around her…. this was like one massive fan, it cooled me down completely, highly recommend this if you need to have a low-key break during your Israeli dancing (like me since our Israeli dancing was nearly an hour long…. that’s a lot of dancing in one sitting!!!)
Wedding Registry
I made a website on the knot – very easy and user friendly. It had everything on there! From time, date and location, to wedding party, gift list, transportation – Aron from White Paper sent this out to our guests.
Honeymoon
We are yet to sort out our honeymoon, but we are looking at southeast Asia, or Australia !
Advice to couples currently planning their wedding
Get a wedding planner, the stress will be lifted off your shoulders instantaneously (not being biased but White Paper are fantastic). Prior to starting a family this is going to be the biggest hurdle to overcome when organising a wedding, however you and your partner a team and you should enjoy every minute of it, but, most importantly do not stress on the day!
If you have a UK wedding outside in the summer and it rains on the day…c’est le vie, it rains! You can only control so much on your wedding day so just enjoy the ride throughout because it will be over in a second! I still regularly look back on pictures and our videos from the wedding and my heart just melts. I married my best friend on Lag B’Omer, had the best wedding a girl could ask for, and wouldn’t change a thing.
I would also recommend to do your ‘romantic shoot’ with you and your other half the following day so you don’t feel rushed on your actual wedding day and are happy with the outcome of the photos!
LEANNE & DUDI’S LITTLE WHITE BOOK
Photography – Paul Toeman
Band – The White Keys
Videography – Leor Films
Venue – Royal Lancaster
Planner – White Paper Event
Bride’s dress – Suzanne Neville
Hair + Makeup – Alan Beauty Crew Hair, Nishma Davda
Flowers – Flowers by Miri Moses
Catering – Eat Me Events
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.
