One of our favorite things here at STG is seeing all the different ways couples bring their backgrounds together in crafting their Jewish weddings… and today we’ve got a great example of exactly that in the Jewish-Irish wedding of Rebecca, who works in property, and Colm, a musician and client services director for a tech company.
The London-based couple opted to marry in Colm’s native Ireland, but they made sure each spouse’s traditions got equal billing, with clever touches like kippot inscribed with both Irish and Hebrew phrases (from STG Brides Club vendor Hebrewear), boxes at each table filled with Yiddish and Irish phrases, an Irish singalong AND a hora – oh, and a beautiful bright ketubah by Micky Caspi, purchased from beloved Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Ketubah.com.
We’re also obsessed with Rebecca’s cool non-traditional bridal style. Her ethereal silver silk gown (and second strappy red number) from Amanda Wakeley just go to show that you don’t have to go white to be a totally gorgeous bride – plus we can’t go without mentioning her awesome starry veil (so on trend for 2019)! Photographer Marianne Chua captured the look splendidly – not to mention all the emotion, action and fun of the big day.
We’ll let Rebecca fill you in on the rest…
How we met
Rebecca, the bride: We met running up and down fields in Central London playing tag rugby. It’s a non-contact version, men and women, and we ended up on the same team. One sunny weekend tournament, I saw him glancing over and suspected he might be interested. We had a friendly chat, made our way to an afterparty together and were pretty much inseparable from there.
An Irish Wedding Weekend
We chose the Millhouse, an old Georgian industrial site in Slane just outside of Dublin. Colm is Irish but we live in London and I was keen to get my lot over to Ireland, particularly those who hadn’t been before. As well as being quirky and really beautifully refurbished, the Millhouse feels like your own house once you take ownership for the day. We felt extremely lucky to be able to host people there.
The same goes for day two in Slane Castle, which is just across the road from the Millhouse and has hosted a huge music festival on its grounds regularly since the 1980s. Following an admin trip a few months before the big day, we popped by the Castle bar for a cup of tea. The place took my breath away and there was very cool music memorabilia everywhere and a whisky distillery on site. We thought we may as well ask if there were any areas that could host our guests for a chilled Sunday gathering without hiring the whole Castle. Jemma, the events manager, was in by chance and opened up the Castle basement room for us, where the festival after-parties took place for legendary acts like Bowie, Queen, the Rolling Stones – and then us! We couldn’t believe our luck.
Jewish/Irish Fusion
Neither of us were fussed about colour schemes, themes etc, but we thought a lot about how to ensure the day had a relaxed, welcoming and happy vibe that brought our two sides together. The Jewish/Irish element came out through things like boxes of Yiddish/Irish phrases on the tables (I-wishes) for guests to have a play with.
We had things like kippot inscribed with Irish and Hebrew boxes of Yiddish and Irish words on the dinner tables, a little Irish singalong in the early hours of the morning and a hora at the beginning of the night. We tried to mix things up as much as possible and both sides were keen to see the traditions of the others’, which was lovely.
We got friends and family involved as much as possible and as well as being absolutely invaluable, their input and support meant the world to us.
Invitation
The invite was designed by an extremely talented friend, Rachel Miller. She knows us really well and it’s infinitely more special than anything we might have ordered.
Hair + Makeup
My amazing friends Poppy and Rachel sorted my hair and face out for me. They did an incredible job and put a lot more care and attention into it than I was prepared to do! I felt like an absolute queen in their care and it was a real gift to spend some dedicated time with them in the run-up to the day.
An Amanda Wakeley Dress
A big shoutout to my boss here, who came up trumps on this (thank you, Anna!). I was after something colourful and sparkly – and in no way white or pastel. She spotted a discounted Amanda Wakeley dress and persuaded me to at least give it a try. It’s silver silk, very floaty and ethereal, and I’d never have picked it out myself.
Once I realised that designer worked for me, I searched out another bargain red strappy number. We had our reception first to let Shabbat go out before the ceremony, and wearing the red dress to that meant I could greet guests and still do the ceremony ‘entrance’ thing in the silver one – so I’m now spoilt with two fabulous dresses to wear again.
The team at Mihaela’s Fashion Shop in Hendon did a great job tweaking the dresses; I highly recommend them if you’re looking for extremely skilled, no-nonsense tailoring in London.
A Starry Veil
I’m a sucker for a bit (a lot) of sparkle and found some amazing mesh material online with silver and gold sequin stars. I didn’t intend to have a veil but… once I had the silver dress, the stars went so well with it that it just made sense. A family friend is a talented tailor and crafted the material into a floor-length veil which felt like gliding around in a blanket of stars!
The Bride Wore Converse
One of the first things I bought, well before the dress: a pair of dark blue sequin Converse. They make me very happy! The groom got himself a great new pair for the day as well.
The handsome groom
We’d gone to pick out Colm’s suit together and I’d seen him in it in the run up to the day but was really looking forward to seeing it again. It’s very dapper! The outfit was from Suit Supply and he had a red tie to match the first dress – although that took a bit of underhand persuasion, since he hadn’t seen the dresses.
A Team Effort
No bridesmaids per se but people pitched in to support us in so many ways. I used the room where I got ready as a bit of a pre-reception gathering space for the ladies, and a large crew of friends and family came and helped, hung out or just popped their heads in. It was such a treat to have that time with everyone. In terms of similar clothing, a load of my friends knew I was wearing sequin Converse and that I love a bit of sparkle, so they sourced their own sparkly trainers. I was chuffed!
Chuppah
We spent a weekend rushing round hardware stores in Ireland collecting everything we needed to make the chuppah. The poles were just basic DIY items and we found material for the canopy in a great shop in Cork, Vibes and Scribes. Our sister-in-law, Maeve Lynch, is an artist and far more handy than either of us – she sewed the sequins into a starry golden canopy which looked great against the brickwork of the Millhouse’s ceremony room.
A Colorful Ketubah
We were lucky enough to have my aunt conduct proceedings and friends and family pitching in with music. Our siblings held up the chuppah, too – it was busy at the front! The ketubah is from Ketubah.com and we went with a lovely bright design by Micky Caspi who we also dealt with when personalising the document.
Our music choice
For the entrance tune my incredible stepsister Maya, a professional pianist, played a keyboard version of the Cranberries ‘Dreams’. We chose it because it sounds great on keyboard and has decent opening bars for a processional (and the Irish link worked well too!).
Mid-ceremony for the signing of the ketubah a group of friends played ‘My Girl’ by the Temptations and they finished the ceremony in style with some good old Elvis ‘Burning Love’ for everyone to boogy their way out of the ceremony room.
Our first dance was the Bryan Ferry Orchestra version of Bryan Ferry’s 80s rock tune, ‘Slave To Love’. It’s a great 1930s-style version that we’ve both loved for years.
DIY Flowers
We made a trip to Sherlock at Living Colours flower wholesaler in Waterford a few days before the wedding. He was great and we picked up a variety of lovely blooms, based mainly on what was in stock that day. Colm’s parents added some foliage from their garden, as well.
The afternoon before the wedding, we tasked family and friends with arranging everything into jam jars that we’d spray-painted gold. These decorated the tables for the meal, and the next day at the Castle. They were pretty simple but we knew we’d done well when we found out that Slane Castle had put them on display after we’d gone.
The mothers of the bride and groom made themselves lovely little corsages from the flowers. I wasn’t too fussed about a bouquet and the groom had a silk handkerchief (made from offcuts of my dress as a surprise) rather than any flowers.
Photography
We weren’t necessarily going to have a photographer but one day we stumbled across the legendary work of Marianne Chua. Her pictures had us in stitches and we thought it would be a real treat to have images from the wedding that made us laugh every day (cheesy but true!). We met up with Marianne and that was that – and we now have some of the most incredible pictures we’ve ever seen.
Marianne was amazing to work with as well. She was calm when we were frantic, very generous with her time and captured some incredible shots, right in the thick of it, without anyone noticing a thing. One of the best decisions we made!
An Irish Cheese Cake!
We had a cake made of Irish cheese from a supermarket in Ireland called SuperValu which went down very, very well – and ended up feeding people for days after!
We also asked a group of friends and relatives to bake for us as wedding presents, which meant we had a great spread laid out for people. It worked really well for dietary requirements and we got to take advantage of some top-notch cookery skills.
Entertainment
The Basie Millers – the best wedding band in the world! The groom happens to be the guitar player… the dance floor was packed all night and they kicked off with a few rounds of Hava Nagila, which was a predictably energetic start. The band did an amazing job tailoring the set for us and the groom even got a few songs off to have a boogy. I had the time of my life on the dance floor!
Not A Favour
I suppose our favours were the ex-Christmas crackers that we used as placenames, but that wasn’t intentional (and I’m not sure I’d count a paper hat as a favour – it was meant more as a bit of fun).
Speech
Colm surprised everyone with his speech: he’d written a ten minute poem that was funny, sweet, thoughtful and completely knocked me for six! I feel really strongly that the bride should speak and had jotted some thoughts down but was so taken aback at his poem, and touched by it, that I was pretty much left speechless! I managed to garble a few things but nothing like what I’d had in mind. Colm had two ‘best people’, his brother and sister, and one of them (Denise, his sister) made a wonderful speech, together with our two dads.
Honeymoon
We took a much needed few days to relax-and-recoup in Monart spa in Wexford, which is a bubble of fluffy towels and dressing gowns and massage treatments. A real treat.
Advice to couples currently planning their wedding
It’s the biggest, best party you’re ever going to have the honour to throw, surrounded (hopefully!) by your favourite people in the world. What a treat! No matter what happened in the run up to the day, it really helped us to remember that.
Rebecca & Colm’s little white book
Photography – Marianne Chua
Ketubah – Ketubah.com {offers 10% discount to all members of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club}
Kippot – Hebrewear {offers 10% discount to all members of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club}
Venues – Millhouse and Slane Castle
Bride’s dress – Amanda Wakeley fitted by Mihaela’s Fashion Shop
Bride’s shoes – Converse
Groom’s attire – Suit Supply
Flowers – Living Colours
Band – The Basie Millers
Pianist – Maya-Leigh Rosenwasser
Cheese cake – SuperValu
Canopy – Vibes and Scribes and Maeve Lynch
Invitation – Rachel Miller
Honeymoon – Monart spa
