So how are you settling into 2018?! And have you heard the big news about our super exciting ‘Your Wedding Your Way’ online summit on 31st January? It’s going to be EPIC – just like today’s real Jewish wedding that’s breathtakingly beautiful – inside and out.
With a rose-gold and slate grey color scheme, Emma and Liam accented the best features of gorgeous London venue, Rosewood, and complemented the already divine surroundings with fashion-forward geometric shapes.
At just five feet tall, bride Emma had a unique challenge when searching for the perfect wedding dress, but found her saviors in the team at Amanda Wakeley, who worked to create the perfect design for her frame. I think we can all agree that the result was just sensational! Emma added some height with a pair of iconic Valentino rock stud heels – a classic designer wardrobe staple we just ADORE.
We’re also all aquiver for the stunning chuppah, decorated with fresh flowers by Wildabout – what a beauty!
There were so many friends of Smashing The Glass involved in making this day happen, from submitter Aron from Whitepaper Event, who we love, love, LOVE, to THREE incredible Recommended Vendors: The Function Band, who created an out-of-this-world party atmosphere, Food Story and their delicious catering (and thoughtful cold towel idea for the Israeli dancing) and Denee Motion, whose sensitively captured, romantic trailer can be seen below.
A dear friend of the couple, Tom Archer Photography, led a team of photographers capturing every last detail of the day, and Emma and Liam worked together to provide the loving and wonderful writeup below. We’ll leave you in their capable hands now – get ready to fall in love!
How we met
Emma, the bride: We met six years ago, travelling in Australia. We were both looking for flatmates on Gumtree and Liam replied to my advert. As they say, the rest is history!
Finding ‘the one’
We really wanted to find a venue that was very ‘us’. It was important that the place we chose really reflected us as a couple. As soon as we stepped foot into the Rosewood, we both looked at each other and knew it was the one straight away.
Amanda, the events manager at the Rosewood, along with the whole team, were amazing at looking after us throughout the wedding weekend!
A London-chic theme
I was meticulous in ensuring that the whole wedding followed along the same theme and colors, down to the very last detail. We wanted the wedding to be ‘London chic’ – simple but elegant.
As the hotel is so beautiful, we wanted to accentuate its features, so we picked up on the rose gold/copper feel throughout, and mixed it in with a light grey; which was complemented by our white flowers with lots of greenery.
As we had a two-year engagement, we almost had too much time to think and plan, so enlisted the help of Aron Shlagman from Whitepaper Event, who soon became my most contacted person!
I am a big fan of geometric, modern designs, so all our extra touches had a geometric look.
An invitation to hint at the theme
We have always been very fussy about wedding invitations, so this was important for us to get right to give our guests a sneak peek into what the theme of the wedding would be.
We worked with Darren from Invitation London, who helped us to create a very beautiful but simple light grey solid square invite, with embossed, rose gold lettering.
Fabulous, durable hair and makeup
I have always been completely clueless when it comes to doing my own makeup and hair, so I knew that I needed help. Julia used to do my nails when I lived in Glasgow, so when my best friend used her to do our wedding make up at her wedding, I loved it, and knew I had to ask her to do my wedding as well. She was amazing, and gave us all a soft glam look that stayed picture perfect all night.
Sophia has been my hairdresser for a while now, and from looking at her Instagram it was a no brainer to ask her to do my hair. I wanted a very relaxed look that would stay in place through the Israeli dancing. Even through the hours of dancing, there was still not a hair out of place at the end of the night.
Finding the perfect fit
Being 5ft tall, the search for my wedding dress had always filled me with dread. In my head, I had always dreamed of having a full lace, backless, high neck, Kate Middleton-inspired dress, but that dream came crashing down very quickly when I realised I looked like I was wearing my grandma’s wedding dress.
I tried on about 20 dresses in three different boutiques before I decided to go to Amanda Wakeley. I had tried on one of her dresses in a boutique, but wanted to go to the designer to see how they could help. I had tried on a beautiful silk dress with embellished shoulders that led into delicate beading draped over the low cut back, but my issue was that it was cut on the bias.
We spoke with the team in Amanda Wakeley and they could not have been more helpful and accommodating. Gill, the garment technologist managed to take the dress apart and bring it back together again to make the most exquisitely fitting dress I have ever worn.
Keeping accessories simple
As my dress was quite heavily embellished on the shoulders and back, I knew my accessories had to be simple. I knew I wanted something in my hair but I didn’t want to spend a fortune on it. I was lucky to very quickly find a beautiful Butterfly by Matthew Williamson hair piece in Debenhams, which was the first shop I looked in.
My earrings matched my engagement ring, with a halo of diamonds around one bigger stone in the middle, and I wore a very fine tennis bracelet on my wrist. I also wore my mum’s pearl gold ring which picked up the pearls on the back of my dress.
Iconic shoes
Being 5ft tall, with a 6ft tall now husband, heels were a no brainer. I had always been crazy about Valentino Rock Studs, and really wasn’t taken with the usual wedding shoe style.
Liam and I decided to treat ourselves and bought each other’s wedding shoes as presents to each other. I felt amazing in the shoes and loved that they gave my dress a bit of an edge.
I bought Liam a pair of beautiful, patent Church’s that really complemented his tux, and he loved wearing them!
The handsome groom
Liam decided to have a suit hand made. After a bit of looking around, he was introduced to Ian, the director of Cad and the Dandy.
Liam, the groom: The service was second to none. After the first meeting, all the measurements were taken, and the color was picked. It then took about six weeks to complete, with a few fittings on the way.
My suit was a midnight blue, very close to black but when it caught the light had a really tint to it. As mentioned by Emma, she had bought me a pair of Church’s patent shoes. My bow tie was from Thomas Pink and I wore clock mechanism cufflinks, a gift from Emma a few years prior.
Having a suit that really fits is such a great feeling on your wedding day, it would be my recommendation to anyone to really make sure you get the right suit fit.
Bridesmaids in slate grey
I had five bridesmaids who all have very different body shapes and styles, so I was happy to let them wear something they all felt comfortable in. I’m not really into traditional bridesmaid dresses, so I was over the moon when I found these slate grey, cross back, gorgeous Dessy dresses that they all looked amazing in! The dress suited them all so well that they decided to all wear the same dress!
As their bridesmaids’ presents, I also bought them all a stunning pair of Thomas Sabo drop earrings in rose gold, which really worked with their dresses.
A rustic chuppah with a real wow-factor
I wanted a slightly more rustic chuppah but with a WOW factor, as I had seen some amazing versions Leanne from Wildabout had done.
Leanne and her team did the most amazing job, it looked absolutely beautiful and we still have people asking about it now!
A moving Jewish ceremony
We used my late grandpa’s tallit as our chuppah cover to honour his memory. That way we felt that we were still in his company.
As Liam had recently converted to Judaism, we had a lot of non-Jewish people at the wedding, so instead of the usual ceremony guide, we made a ‘Jewish Weddings for Dummies’ book. This outlined who was in the wedding party, what was going on in the ceremony and a small mention to honour all of our grandparents who sadly weren’t there.
I was brought up Orthodox, but when Liam started his conversion, he decided to do it with the Masorti movement at Kol Nefesh in Edgware with Rabbi Joel Levy. With the help of Rabbi Joel, we decided to re-write our ketubah so that we really understood what we were promising each other, and also to make it equal between us both, this is something that is very important to the both of us.
Emotional music choices
Liam was in-charge of the processional song and he chose a piece called Annandale by Phamie Gow. She is a classical singer from Scotland who we were both keen on, as it links in his Scottish heritage and my Scottish roots. It was a really beautiful song that brought out a lot of emotion.
In the name of equality we decided to do three and a half circles each during our ceremony to Leonard Cohen – Hallelujah, followed by Yerushalayim Shel Zahav and Im Eshkachech, all sung by our Rabbi/ Chazen Joel Levy and accompanied by The Function Band.
We made our first entrance into the dinner to Mackelmore – Can’t Hold Us, as we are both huge Macklemore fans, it really got the party started!
Our first dance was to an acoustic version of Kygo – Firestone which turned into the dance remix after the first chorus, so that everyone else could join in the dancing!
Simply stunning flowers
As mentioned before, Wildabout supplied our fabulous flowers! I wanted very simple white flowers with accents of green, but we decided to really channel the geometric vibe in the table decorations.
Leanne was really able to bring my vision to life and created the most stunning table displays! The bridesmaids and I held beautifully simple calla lilies, which were complemented by the ushers’ button holes of a calla lily head.
Liam also had a piece of white heather in his button hole, again to recognise his Scottish roots.
Our fabulous photographer…
Liam grew up with Tom Archer and he is one of the most talented photographers we know. Even before we were engaged, it was a no brainer that we would ask Tom to be our photographer.
As he was also a guest, he brought two other photographers with him to really help capture the whole day. All of them made us feel very at ease and they took the most amazing photos that really captured the atmosphere of the whole day.
…and videographer
Denee Motion were our fantastic videographers. Denis and his team were rally great to work with and they produced the most emotive and stunning trailer. It gives me goosebumps every time I watch it!
Incredible live entertainment
We initially saw The Function Band at a wedding fair and we fell in love with them straight away. We had the 13-piece band and all of our friends were blown away by their enthusiasm and talent – they really were out of this world!
When we met up with Dan, we asked him for a playlist of ‘Kisstory meets Mo-town!’ and he really pulled it out the bag, it was absolutely incredible. Everyone was up dancing the entire night, and the band even learned a Ja-Rule song/rap for us that they played during dinner.
Jam favors
Liam is from Tiptree (The home of Wilkin Tiptree Jam) so we decided it was only natural to have mini, personalised Tiptree Jams for everyone, they were so cute and the jam is amazing!
Advice to couples currently planning their wedding
I know everyone says it, but just make sure you are stepping back every few hours and really taking the whole day in – it goes by so quickly!
Give yourself as much time as possible to plan, it really helps you to have lots of options available to you so that you can make the wedding of your dreams!
Cold towels! We had Food Story as our caterer and they came round with cold towels for everyone after the Israeli dancing and it was the best thing ever!!!!
Emma & Liam’s little white book
Photography – Tom Archer Photography
Videography – Denee Motion
Catering – Food Story
Band – The Function Band
Venue – Rosewood
Wedding planner – Whitepaper Event
Bride’s dress – Amanda Wakeley
Bride’s shoes – Valentino
Accessories – Debenhams
Groom’s attire – Cad and the Dandy, Church’s and Thomas Pink
Bridesmaids – Dessy and Thomas Sabo
Flowers – Wildabout
Invitations – Invitation London
Favours – Tiptree
Absolutely amazing story!
Hello Emma, Mazal tov on your gorgeous wedding! Your chuppa is breathtaking!!! quick question: why was it an issue that the dress was cut on the bias? I am thinking of getting a satin dress and would love to know so as to inform my choice.
Thank you so much in advance, Yael
Hey Yael, thanks so much, it was such an amazing day!!
My problem was that the dress was way to long originally and the cut was at the top of my thighs which is my biggest part so it emphasised it and wasn’t flattering, but the designer managed to pull the whole dress up for me so that it ended a few inches under my belly button and looked amazing ☺️ Hope that helps! X