Welcome to the glorious winter Jewish wedding of Smashing The Glass Brides Club member Rebecca, an event coordinator, to groom Danny, a plumber.
In addition to an absolutely mouthwatering menu (HOW delicious do Chiko Photography’s incredible captures of the food look?), we love the fact that, in memory of a close friend, they opted not to have any flowers at the wedding, and instead to donate the money they would’ve spent to Chai Cancer Care. Not only is this incredibly moving, the alt décor they came up with – focused on candles and tealights for the tables – looks so good we’d hardly even have noticed the absence of flowers if they bride hadn’t brought it to our attention!
We’re also in love with Rebecca’s perfect wintry glam bridal look, with a dreamy longs-sleeve gown by Anna Georgina and impeccable makeup by Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Susan Yates – who Rebecca praises for taking the time to understand each bride’s preferences AND, crucially, her skin type as well.
Now over to the bride!
Luxurious Surroundings
Rebecca, the bride: We got married at Corinthia, London – working in events I wanted to choose somewhere that a) I haven’t worked at a lot, I didn’t want to associate my wedding with work and b) somewhere totally luxurious. I may work in hotels, but I don’t often stay at them, so I checked in the day before with just my siblings and parents, it was such a treat and we had the best time just the six of us.
Cosy and Sparkly
There wasn’t a theme, the hotel is so exquisite that we just wanted to let it shine. We didn’t have a fancy stage, we left the curtains in the ballroom open and used London as our backdrop. Being a winter wedding we just wanted it to feel cosy and sparkly.
My incredible friend Hannah Routledge was my support in the build up to the big day and was there from 08:00am in the morning right up until the very end. Her knowledge and experience is just inspiring – I couldn’t have done it without her love and support. One of my favourite photos is of Hannah taking my shoes off in the lift straight after our Chuppah. Having worked with her before, I know she would do this for all her brides not just me. She’s the calmest person to have around on what can be a stressful process and day. Couldn’t recommend ‘Hannah the Planner’ enough.
What ‘Smashing The Glass’ Brides Club’ Did For Us
Karen is amazing. As an event planner I didn’t utilise STG Brides Club like a regular member, but Karen’s emotional support was invaluable, she gave me confidence in my decision making.
Invitation
Personally, I love a printed invitation. I think it sets the tone before your big day. We worked with Darren Gale at Invitation London. I tend to see something in my head and struggle to articulate it but sitting with Darren for a few minutes he understood exactly what I wanted. We used three different colours: grey invite, pink envelope and cream reply cards which became our “colour scheme”. Darren also printed our thank you cards, menus, escort and place cards.
Hair + Makeup
Susan Yates is a friend and incredible makeup artist. Susan takes her time to understand your skin type which for me is more important than asking the bride “what look do you want”. Susan has known me for a while now so she knows I like lots of makeup but a natural look. I trust her with my life. Susan also did my sister’s and mum’s makeup. We all have very different looks and Susan really takes her time to understand what each person wants. She doesn’t do anything you don’t ask for, she really is the best. My favourite thing Susan does, is steps back when she is finished and appreciates her work, like a real artist.
I used my regular hairdresser Sophie Sugarman! She understands my hair the best and is fun to have around whilst you are getting ready. I think Sophie is so creative and original and I love her work.
An Anna Georgina Dress
My mum found a gorgeous shop in Kent (don’t be put off, it is only an hours drive from NW London) Dress Dreams. We came across it initially as I knew I loved Israeli designers and they had quite a few ranges. It was the first shop we went to and I immediately fell in love with shop owner Shereen. She made me feel special and listened to in a relaxed environment.
In the same way with my invitations, I had a very specific look in my head and struggled to articulate it. So Shereen put me in my first dress, I could then start explaining what I liked and didn’t like. We moved on to the second, got a little bit closer. Put on the third dress and I knew straight away this was my dress, by Anna Georgina. It came as a two piece, the skirt was perfect but the top wasn’t my style.
Shereen introduced me to her alterations lady Wendy. I had a couple of images of tops that I liked, did my best to describe exactly what I wanted and as I spoke Wendy sketched, like magic there was my top on paper. My sister and I went to Goldhawk Road in Shepherd’s Bush, we had the best time touching all of the different fabrics. We chose a beautiful Indian silk. After a couple of fittings my ‘Dress Dreams’ came true.
Accessories
The veil! I knew I wanted dramatic (probably to represent my personality). I tried on quite a few and loved them all, then my mum suggested asking the designer, Anna Georgina if they could make me a veil to match my skirt. Dress Dreams organised the whole thing and my veil still gives me life.
Shoes
Valentino Rockstud in nude. I wore them for my sisters wedding and I loved them so much I had to wear them again. They didn’t stay on for long though, I wanted to make sure I could dance the entire night so as soon as our Chuppah ended I changed in to a pair of fresh white Nike Air Force 1’s – best decision.
The handsome groom
We had an amazing double breasted velvet blazer made at Moss Bros for Danny. They offer a complete bespoke service and everything is made to measure. He wore a black turtle neck jumper from Paul Smith and I bought him a Gucci belt as a wedding present. To complete the look he wore velvet loafers from Ask the Missus – without socks obvs, he is an Essex boy after all.
Bridesmaids
I didn’t have “bridesmaids” but my two sisters were by my side every second and I had them running around checking on everything, they’re the best bride tribe ever. They both wore similar sparkly dresses but this was more out of coincidence. We had our nieces as flower girls who all wore shades of pink and my second cousin was our page boy, we suited and booted him similar to Danny.
Chuppah
My favourite thing about the chuppah was my parents made it. They aren’t very crafts-y people which makes it even cuter.
Ceremony
The moment we got engaged we knew we wanted Danny’s best friends to hold our chuppah. We wanted to surround ourselves with people we love and love us back. Danny’s friends are like brothers to him and it was really special to have them play an important role in our wedding. My two best friends were our witnesses.
We used the ketubah provided by our rabbi. They are really beautiful.
Our music choice
We found this track on YouTube and loved it straight away. We love anything by Ed Sheeran so it was ‘Perfect’ for us. The whole procession walked down to this one track sung expertly by Refael Mirila. Danny and I love music so we could have chosen hundreds of songs for our opening dance, but we wanted something with a faster tempo. Whenever we listened to this song we could imagine dancing to it at our wedding so we knew it had to be ‘A Good Night’ by John Legend.
Flowers
I absolutely love flowers but I wanted to do something meaningful in memory of a close friend. We decided to not have a single flower at our wedding and instead donate the money we would have spent to Chai Cancer Care. To decorate the tables we bought lots of candles to match the pink and grey “colour scheme” and lots of sparkling tealight holders. It turned out better than I could have ever imagined. We bought Danny’s ushers, best man, brother in laws and our dads metal flower lapel pins. Side note: if anyone wants to buy a load of tealight holders feel free to contact me.
Photographer
Chiko Photography has captured both of my sisters’ weddings and I honestly couldn’t have had anyone else with me on the day. We also had Jo who is equally amazing. They are non-invasive but capture every single moment. Chiko and Jo have become my friends over the years and it was even more special having them around me all day.
I never realised how long photographers spend with you on the day and it can become a bit overwhelming. But Chiko and Jo really listen to you and respect your boundaries. All of our friends have commented on how amazing our photos are and how friendly they were on the day. Chiko is one in a million and I can’t recommend him and his team enough.
Food
I have worked in the catering industry for several years. Danny and I are big foodies and feeding people is one of my greatest pleasures in life, so it was inevitable that food was going to feature highly at our wedding. We had a traditional reception with canapés and cocktails.
As guests were invited to take their seats for dinner we had table snacks already pre-laid. This included chicken parfait, crispy chicken skin, aubergine dip with spiced crisps, mushroom arancini and beef carpaccio.
We had seabass sashimi to start and then our favourite meal – steak and chips. Our favourite restaurant is Entrecote. For those of you who know, their sauce is legendary. I took Dora (my incredible friend and chef) there and she expertly recreated it. The steak was finely sliced and big bowls of chips were served to the table for sharing. We also threw in a red wine jus and chimichurri for good measure.
Dessert was a delicious winter jelly and custard with spiced poached pears. Very fitting for the time of year. And because we hadn’t had enough food, we served late night sausage rolls in cardboard sleeves and cocktail flavoured ice lollies on the dance floor.
Entertainment
We love music. Danny and I literally have a soundtrack to our lives and we wanted to dance all night. I get to work with some amazing bands but it was important to me to have a group that I haven’t worked with several times as I didn’t want it to feel like one of my client’s events.
I’ve had the pleasure of working with The Soul Brothers only a few times and instantly fell in love with them. My music taste is quite particular and don’t like traditional wedding music. They sent me a few set lists and asked me to go back to them with my yes’, no’s and other suggestions. After just one email, they sent me a playlist and I was done. There was not one song I didn’t love and they were beyond exceptional.
They choreograph their entire set and don’t stop from the minute they step on stage. I really like this as it means there is still entertainment for any guests who don’t dance. Having The Soul Brother is like having your own concert, they were everything I wanted and more.
Favours
We had kippot for the men. We used Mimi from Creative Favours. She has the most incredible selection of kippot. Different materials, sizes, colours, patterns – the possibilities are endless. The clips are already attached inside which I think is a lovely touch.
Honeymoon
We went on our honeymoon a week after the wedding. I am so happy we did, I know some couples wait but we were still in our own little bubble. You are on a bit of a come down after your wedding so to have your honeymoon straight after definitely keeps you riding that high.
There were lots of honeymoon ideas but we chose South Africa and Mauritius. I don’t think I could have done a beach holiday for two weeks straight. We travelled to Cape Town for some site seeing and some of the best food I have ever eaten. Then to Franshoek for wine tasting and more food. The highlight of the trip was our Safari – we stayed at Dulini Leadwood Lodge in Kruger and have never experienced luxury like it. We then finished off in Mauritius for a few days in the sun.
The whole honeymoon was booked by Grant from Tailor Made Holidays. Every part of the trip was perfect for us, Grant organised the logistics expertly and his knowledge on the country was incredible.
Advice to couples currently planning their wedding
I have two pieces of advice.
The first is book a toastmaster. Even if you have a friend actually making the announcements, you need someone to move your event along. You’ll always need someone to encourage guests to take their seats, manage timings and liaise between the band, kitchen etc. You may think this is the job of a party planner but I assure you the event will run so much better with a toastmaster. They don’t need to be invasive , they don’t need to wear red coats, they don’t even need to stand on the stage, they can be “the voice of G-d” but they need to be there.
We used Jamie Paskin (JP Toastmaster) and he was perfect. We met with him prior to our wedding and told him exactly what we like and don’t like, but all the little detail that we needed someone to think about on the day. Because of Jamie, our event was on time throughout the entire night and as a result we had maximum party time.
The second is much harder to appreciate when you are caught up in the planning but DO NOT STRESS. It is the biggest waste of energy and time. It is easier said than done, but you have to trust the people you have instructed for your special day. Think of your profession and imagine someone without any prior knowledge in this industry stressing over something you are working on, what would you say to them? Your caterer, planner, band, photographer etc. work on events week in week out. They are the professionals. Trust them.
Rebecca & Danny’s little white book
Photography – Chiko Photography {offers 2 parents albums (size 15×21) to all members of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club}
Makeup – Susan Yates {offers 10% discount to all members of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club}
Wedding planner – Hannah Routledge
Venue – Corinthia Hotel
Bride’s dress – Anna Georgina found and fitted at Dress Dreams
Bride’s shoes – Valentino and Nike
Groom’s attire – Moss Bros , Paul Smith , Gucci and Ask the Missus
Hair – The Mane Style
Band – The Soul Brothers
Singer – Refael Mirila
Stationery – Invitation London
Toast Master – Jamie Paskin
Honeymoon – Dulini Leadwood Lodge booked by Tailor Made Holidays
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