Cool chuppah alert! London couple Tamara, who works in marketing, and Reuben, a broker, opted to skip out on flowers (partly to avoid aggravating the bride’s hay fever), and did they ever find the perfect way to craft a standout chuppah, no blooms required.
Letting their venue, the stunning St Pancras Renaissance Hotel, set the tone, Tamara and Reuben opted for a simple, elegant Perspex chuppah, covered with Reuben’s grandfather’s tallit. It was the absolute perfect complement to the Art Deco-style ballroom where the wedding took place – as was the couple’s choice of black linen and Perspex candelabras for the tables at the reception.
Music was a top priority for Tamara and Reuben, and they found the perfect fit in the amazing Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Sensation Band, who handled both production and live music throughout the night, with Guy Barzily who blew everyone away with his chuppah singing and simcha set. The duo wanted a mix of 80s, 90s, and soul for the dancing sets, and Sensation delivered that and so much more.
The couple’s photographer, the incredibly talented David Pullum, captured everything flawlessly – and Tamara and Reuben report that he was an absolute dream to work with throughout the day.
Now over to Tamara, who looked so chicly elegant in her Elbeth Gillis dress…
How We Met
Tamara, the bride: We had mutual friends and our paths had crossed in our teenage years but we “officially” met on JSwipe nearly 8 years ago.
A London Wedding
We got married at the St Pancras Renaissance Hotel, in their beautiful ballroom where we hosted both the chuppah and the dinner and dancing. We knew we wanted to get married in London, at a venue with personality and an authentic feel to it. We actually spent 8 months looking for our perfect location, and had a list of 65 venues! We fell in love with the Renaissance because of its beautiful architecture, art deco- style ballroom, and the fact that it was incredibly central, and easy to get to for guests both in London and Southend.
Theme + Coordinator
We chose to get married in early March as we knew we didn’t want a summer wedding. We always said we didn’t want flowers or intricate decor (partly because I suffer really badly from hay fever!) and that we wanted to lean into the personality of the venue, and it’s character would dictate our theme. We wanted a wedding that was modern, elegant and sophisticated, that was ultimately a celebration of our love and a chance for everyone to be on the dance floor all night!
We had an amazing coordinator on the day, Jessica Jackson, who totally understood all the elements that were at play and handled everything so smoothly. We also had the incredible Simon Green as toastmaster who kept the day running as smoothly as possible!
Hair + Makeup
My hair and make up team were Kate Silver and Gaby Goldring, and I couldn’t praise them enough. Kate first did my makeup when I was a bridesmaid 3 years ago, I wasn’t even engaged at the time and I knew she was the one I wanted on my wedding day. I booked her before we had decided on a venue!
Gaby was absolutely incredible too – I had two hairstyles, tying my hair up when removing my sleeves after the chuppah, and I felt so beautiful and the best version of myself. I couldn’t have been more happy with the result.
An Elbeth Gillis Dress
My dress was from Elbeth Gillis, found at Angelica Bridal in Islington. I used to work in Angel and would walk past Angelica every day on the way home, and would always wonder whether I would consider shopping there when I was looking for my dress. Elbeth’s dresses are stunning; classic, modern and timeliness, which was exactly what I wanted.
I knew I wanted to add removable sleeves for the chuppah to keep modesty, and at my fitting my consultant called Elbeth herself (in South Africa) who immediately said she could create sleeves in the style I wanted. That’s when I knew it was the one! It was altered by Exclusive Alterations who were absolutely fantastic, and even created a custom veil for me that exactly matched my vision.
Ceremony & Chuppah
We didn’t have flowers, and we knew we wanted a chuppah that wasn’t overly decorated. We always felt that a chuppah should resemble the home that we were going to build in our marriage, and for us our home was to be simple, but open and welcoming to anyone. That’s how we decided on a completely Perspex chuppah, with Reuben’s grandpa’s tallis as the roof.
Flowers by Alina created our chuppah and even had acrylic chuppah tops couriered down from Woking the week before the wedding to make our vision come true! For the reception, we opted for all black linen with Perspex candelabras to decorate the tables, creating beautiful reflections of light across them and the glassware.
Our music choice
Music was incredibly important to us, particularly to Reuben (and to my dad!). We had the amazing Sensation Band who did our production and had live music throughout the night, plus the incredible Guy Barzily who blew everyone away with his chuppah singing and simcha set. We wanted a mix of 80s, 90s, and soul for the dancing sets and Sensation delivered that and so much more.
The Electric Latin music that they did in the final set blew our minds and people are still talking about it! They also did the most beautiful rendition of our first dance, Best Part by Daniel Caesar and H.E.R – still hoping that they will release it as an EP so that we can have their version in our lives forever.
Flowers
As we said, we didn’t have any flowers at our wedding. I chose to have silk flower bouquet that I put together myself, but I knew I wanted to do something special for the men and particularly for Reuben. I hand wrote each of them a letter, which I wanted to make into flower shapes and each of them to wear as a paper flower boutonnières, so that they could wear my words when walking down the aisle and at the chuppah.
I looked for months to find what I was looking for, and in the end found Deb at TheCraftsAndCompany on Etsy who was incredibly helpful and really made my vision come to life, and hopefully all the men will keep it as a momento of the day for the rest of their lives (even if Reuben’s did get crushed during Israeli dancing!)
Photographer and videographer
Our photographer was the incredibly talented David Pullum and our videographer was Lewis at Lightbulb Films. We had both seen David’s work before and loved how he seemed to be part of the most intimate moments without getting in the way or stopping any guests from seeing/enjoying the day.
We were both quite nervous as we aren’t the most photogenic people, but his photography was absolutely flawless and not only that, he and Lewis – as well as their additional photographers and videographers – were an absolute dream to work with, kept us both so at ease throughout the day, and we couldn’t imagine our day without them.
Food
Our caterers were the brilliant Itzik Catering, who were amazing! We had a hot food station during the reception filled with hot dogs, burgers and sausages, and the main course chicken pargiot was some of the best and most tender chicken that our guests had ever had!
Extra Details
Reuben has 6 nieces and nephews, and my cousins also have young children, and all ten of them walked down the aisle at our chuppah. We wanted to surprise them with a treat because of how special they are to us, so we reached out to the fabulous Elise at The Sweet Creations who created kosher marshmallow bouquets for all the children. They absolutely loved it and – paired with the digital drawing tablet placed on their seats – kept them distracted and quiet during the chuppah.
My dad also gave the most memorable welcome speech. I am a huge McFly fan, and my dad and I go to so many of their concerts. My incredible dad rewrote the words to Tom Fletcher’s wedding speech, in an ode to me, Reuben, our families, and the life we were going to make together. It was absolutely unbelievable and will be a moment we and our guests will never forget.
Advice to couples currently planning their wedding
Our advice would be to not get overwhelmed by the long list of things you have to get done – make lists (or spreadsheets if you’re like us!) and slowly tick them off in your own time. Also, don’t go for a supplier or a theme just because you think you should; you’ll always find what you want, or someone that can help you bring your vision to life, so don’t settle if it’s not perfect for you!
TAMARA & REUBEN’S LITTLE WHITE BOOK
Photography – David Pullum
Videography – Lightbulb Films
Band – Sensation Band {offers 10% discount to all members of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club}
Venue – St Pancras Renaissance Hotel
Coordinator – Jessica Jackson
Bride’s dress – Elbeth Gillis, found at Angelica Bridal
Bridal alterations – Exclusive Alterations
Hair + Makeup – Kate Silver, Gaby Goldring
Chuppah – Flowers by Alina
Catering – Itzik Catering
Toastmaster – Simon Green
Chazan – Guy Barzily
Silk flowers – TheCraftsAndCompany
Marshmallow bouquets – The Sweet Creations
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.
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