If you’re dreaming of an English countryside wedding, it doesn’t get any better than this! Shayna, who works in ecommerce, and Marc, a trader at a bank, live in the US, but given that Marc is from London a destination wedding in England was a natural choice.
And who wouldn’t want to make things official in the beautiful Cotswolds – especially at a venue as stunning as Cornwell Manor? A venue this gorgeous doesn’t need much in the way of décor – and indeed, Shayna and Marc picked a color palette of pale blue with hints of lavender and neutrals (and lots of greenery, put to excellent use in the pair’s glorious chuppah) to complement the beauty of the English countryside rather than distracting from it. Don’t miss all the exquisite details in the dreamy photos by Abul and video by Jake Burgess!
There’s so much more to say about this very special Jewish wedding, but we’ll hand you over to the bride – who looked so elegant in Vera Wang – for the rest…
How We Met
Shayna, the bride: We met though the dating app The League in Manhattan, NY.
A Cotswolds Wedding
We got married in the Cotswolds, England! Marc is from London and I always wanted a destination wedding so agreeing on England was easy. When we were looking for a venue, I fell in love with the romantic country side. Cornwell Manor was on my short list of venues to visit and I knew right away when I got there that this was our place. I later found out they filmed a scene in The Holiday there, which is one of my favorite movies we watch every holiday season, and it brings us so much joy to remember our special day there.
Theme + Planner
I always joke saying that our wedding was Marc’s grand surprise party because he let me run with all of the planning! His only request was that it wasn’t pink themed or too girly. From there, I picked a blue color palette with some lavender and neutral pops. I wanted to enhance the natural English countryside and not distract from it with too many flowers or decorations. We had a weekend long celebration; Friday night rehearsal Shabbat dinner, Saturday Garden Party, Sunday Wedding, then a Monday farewell pool party!
Each event had a different theme and vibe: the rehearsal was very intimate and moody, my friends now refer to it as “The Beauty and the Beast” dinner, with lots of roses and gold candelabras dining al fresco under twinkle lights with wine and pasta. The Saturday Garden Party was decorated with bright colored flowers, with garden games and laser shooting and a Horse Box cocktail bar! It was unfortunately raining (so English!) so we had to pivot a bit, but everyone had a blast! Lastly our pool party was very laid back with great food and some “Hair of the Dog”. We did have a planner throughout the whole process!
Invitation
We used Sesame Letter Press for our wedding invitation suite, based out of Brooklyn! They came out so beautifully and had so many fun options to mix and match. For all wedding weekend prints and signage we used a UK vendor, Everita from E.G Lettering, who did a great job and made coordinating very easy.
Hair + Makeup
I’m OBSESSED with my hair and makeup artists. They are both so talented and are the kindest women. Charlotte Tillyer was my hair stylist, after my trial she told me to actually come with damp hair on my wedding day so she could achieve big volume with her dyson–and that she did! I’m not sure what magic she worked but my hair stayed so well, even after being thrown around during the Horah! I grew my hair out for a while so I wouldn’t need extensions and Charlotte made my hair look so full with what I have.
Katy Pheiffer was my makeup artist and she is a true artist–as she’s working she tilts her head to admire her work like a painter, its really cool to watch! I’ve truly never felt more beautiful. For the garden party event on Saturday, I had the queen of Hollywood curls, Lauren Gosling, for my hair stylist and Leanne O’Neil for my makeup artist, both incredible as well!
A Vera Wang Dress
I wore a Vera Wang a-line dress! I made a modification to the back strap, I added beading details for a little special pop. This was actually the first dress I tried on! I then tried on about 6 more in all different silhouettes and still came back to it. I had another dress appointment scheduled with a different designer for the afternoon and canceled it!
Accessories
I wore borrowed earrings from my Stepmom that my Dad gave her on their wedding day and my tennis bracelet. I decided to forgo a necklace, I felt like with my super long curled hair with my other accessories, I loved the blank space. I wore a veil with a blusher that had tiny pearls along the entire perimeter from the bridal shop.
Shoes
My shoes were serendipitous. I was in Harrods looking for Amina Muaddi slingbacks with the martini heel since our ceremony was on grass specifically in silver. They didn’t have my size and I was super bummed. My eye was caught by a beautiful shade of light pearly pink and I thought, that would be a bit crazy but I feel like they are so me! I’ve always been a big shoe girl and I absolutely loved my nontraditional choice.
Bridesmaids
I had 5 bridesmaids and my maid of honor. I’m so lucky my best friends can get anything done with ease and solve any problem. I didn’t have my cell phone on me at all the entire 4 days and it was so lovely. They had my planners numbers in their phone and would troubleshoot everything for me with them. They all wore various silhouettes of the same blue satin material from Revelry. The quality was great and they all looked so beautiful in different styles that flattered their different curves.
Ceremony & Chuppah
The pre-ceremony rituals were the most special to me. We had just our families and the bridal party in the manor house with us for everything while all the guests started to arrive outside. It was super special and intimate, our friends who aren’t Jewish have told us this was their favorite part as well and they loved being a part and introduced to these beautiful rituals.
We did the a first look in the private back courtyard and had a moment together before we were joined by everyone for a few prayers and well wishes, then we finished with the badeken.
Our Rabbi from Palm Beach Synagogue flew in for the occasion and lead everything. He was put in touch with the Beth Din of London for witnesses, to have our marriage registered and to ensure our ketubah was kosher. This was our florist’s first chuppah and I think she did a great job! I wanted mainly greenery that was light weight and whimsical feeling to not take too much attention away from us.
Ketubah
I had our ketubah created by an artist on Etsy, Happy Project Shop! I also bought a colored glass stomp that I then sent the broken shards to a different Etsy vendor, Yafit Glass, who created Shabbat candle sticks for us.
Our music choice
We had a string quartet, Strettone Quartet, for the wedding ceremony, The Faithette‘s perform for the wedding party and then a DJ for the afterparty! The Faithette’s are Paloma Faith’s touring band and they were such a blast to have as our band, they even preformed Jewish medley’s in the beginning–it was a wild Horah! Our first dance was to ‘This Will Be’ by Natalie Cole, choreographed by Donna Shelley–our dance lessons were so fun, she is the best! We also had live performers and a DJ, DJ Nym, during the Saturday garden party who were great!
Flowers
We went with a local florist, Wild Bunch Flowers, who grows all of her own flowers! I really wanted all flowers used throughout the weekend to be delicate and unique looking blooms. I wanted them to feel light and airy, interesting to look at up close, but not distracting. I wanted my bouquet to be small and tight with blue and lavender flowers, my bridesmaids the same except in white. I basically did the opposite for the men and had Marc’s button hole white and the groomsmen blue. I love a good color juxtaposition!
Photographer and videographer
My photos and videos are my most treasured possessions, I’m so grateful I was able to splurge and get the exact vendors I wanted. Both Abul our photographer and Jake Burgess our videographer are so talented and were so much fun to shoot with. We were lucky enough to have an engagement shoot with Abul in London, it was a great way to really get to know each other. I can not thank them enough for going above and beyond for us!
Food and cake
We used Ross & Ross for our caterer and Very Vanilla for our cake. Our cake tasting with Daisy was the highlight of our planning, we met her at Soho Farmhouse to design our cake together and taste samples–it was so chic and cozy! Ross & Ross outdid themselves with the most delicious food for our 4 days of various events.
For the afterparty, they had a pizza maker with a coal oven making personal pizzas and passed espresso martini shooters on trays throughout the party. They have the most amazing staff who went above and beyond for myself and our guests. Another notable vendor was Giddy Up cocktail bar who made the amazing cocktails for the garden party. It was unfortunate that we had to do our rain plan and the cool horse box was blocked a bit by the tent, but it was still great!
Honeymoon
We went to Africa! I spoke to several travel agents to see where in Africa to hone in on and was surprised a few of them were really urging us to go to Botswana for a very remote and non-commercial experience and I’m so glad we listened! It was beyond special. We finished the trip at a stunning treehouse river lodge in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe which I also can’t recommend enough!
Advice to couples currently planning their wedding
Make it multiple days if you can and try to be present! You really don’t need your phone, things will go wrong but just delegate and move on!
SHAYNA & MARC’S LITTLE WHITE BOOK
Photography – Abul
Videography – Jake Burgess
Venue – Cornwell Manor
Bride’s dress – Vera Wang
Bride’s shoes – Amina Muaddi
Bridesmaids – Revelry
Hair + Makeup – Charlotte Tillyer, Katy Pheiffer
Saturday Hair + Makeup – Lauren Gosling, Leanne O’Neil
Groom’s attire – Tom Ford
Flowers – Wild Bunch Flowers
Band – The Faithettes
DJ – DJ Nym
String Quartet – Strettone Quartet
Catering – Ross & Ross
Cake – Very Vanilla
Ketubah – Happy Project Shop
Chuppah Glass Shabbat Candlesticks – Yafit Glass
Invitation – Sesame Letter Press
Day of Stationery – E.G Lettering
Cocktail Bar – Giddy Up
Table Styling – The Luxe Collection
First Dance Choreography – Donna Shelley
Lighting and Production – Evenlode Productions
Reception Marquee – Original Marquees
Ceremony Marquee – Joseph Benjamin Marquees
Photobooth – MadHat
Wedding Registry – Zola and Williams Sonoma
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.
