How excited are we to be featuring the beautiful Jewish wedding of Smashing The Glass Brides Club member Yasmin, a nutritional therapist, and Andy, a tradesman?! These two had the quintessential English countryside wedding, with all the rustic touches you could hope for, and we are here for it.
The couple’s idyllic venue, Quendon Hall, is located in an actual deer park – doesn’t get much more perfect than that! We’re in love with all the glorious green space, and how perfect is that effortlessly rustic floral ketubah?
We’re also super touched to hear Yasmin’s kind words about her experience as a member of our Smashing The Glass Brides Club. In her own words:
Whenever I posted a question, Karen would reply promptly and always supply lots of options and ideas for me. I found our videographer, Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Denee Motion through Brides Club, and also ordered our kippot from Hebrewear – using our Brides Club 10% discount ”
And speaking of Denee Motion – don’t miss their exquisite wedding trailer. It’s truly swoonoworthy! We’re also loving the photos from Picture Your Wedding.
Now over to Yasmin, who looked positively dreamy in her floral Ida Torez gown…
How we Met
Yasmin, the bride: We met through my brother, who was friends with Andy and we have been together for about 8 years.
A Countryside Wedding
We got married at Quendon Hall in Essex, which is located on a deer park. As soon as we saw the venue for the first time I knew it would be where we would get married – I just had the feeling. We both really liked the idea of getting married in a very green space and for the function to be in a marquee rather than a banqueting hall, so it was perfect. It felt like our own little village.
Rustic Vibes
Our wedding was quite rustic, to match the venue. I love to dance, so I wanted maximum dancing time! Therefore, we decided to go for dessert canapes during dancing rather than a seated dessert.
What ‘Smashing The Glass Brides Club’ Did For Us
What I loved most about Brides Club was the advice and help I gained form other brides and Karen. Whenever I posted a question, Karen would reply promptly and always supply lots of options and ideas for me. I found our videographer, Denee Motion through Brides club, and also ordered our kippot from Hebrewear.
Hair + Makeup
As soon as we got engaged, I knew who I wanted for my makeup. I went to primary school with Gemma Peace and have followed her makeup accounts on Instagram for the past few years and LOVE her style. I don’t wear tonnes of makeup day to day, so Gemma did a more natural soft glam makeup for me and made me feel amazing.
Gemma also did my hair styling and I went for a half up half down curly style, requesting that it was not too neat! I have naturally curly hair so wanted a more natural look. It was so lovely to have Gemma there with us on the wedding day as we were childhood friends!
An Ida Torez Dress
My dress was from Dress Dreams Boutique in Seven Oaks, and it was an Ida Torez gown (part of the Pollardi Fashion Group). It was very floral, with a low V neckline and an A line skirt that was very detailed and like nothing I had ever seen before. I was so close to buying a more fitted fishtail gown with a very detailed and open back, but something just wasn’t right with it.
Towards the end of an appointment at Dress Dreams I spotted my dress and tried it on and instantly fell in love! It was my wild card dress. What made the decision for me instantly was how I felt in the dress, and imagining my parents walking me down the isle in it.
Accessories
My little white hair clips were made by one of my bridesmaids, Elana, from the flowers that were on my dress! We got them from some of the skirt fabric when the hem was altered. They were perfect and just what I wanted.
Shoes
My shoes were from Dune bridal range and were white satin stiletto heels with a jewelled ribbon round the ankle. The ankle strap gave me extra support and a little bit of sparkle. What I loved most about the shoes was a little blue diamante on the sole of the heel, which was my something blue! I managed to make it through the whole day and night until 1am in them – so I can say they were very comfortable!
The handsome groom
My handsome groom, Andy, wore a navy tailor made 3-piece suit by Roderick Charles, with a light blue lining. Being the character he is, he instantly made me laugh as I first saw him standing under the chuppa by doing a little dance to distract me from crying!
Bridesmaids
I had 9 beautiful bridesmaids, my sister as maid of honour, my 2 sisters in law and six of my best friends. They all wore mismatched dresses in the same pallet of colours as I wanted everyone to feel comfortable and confident in what they were wearing! My only requirements were that the dresses were long and in the nude/champagne/beige family of colours.
The dresses were bought one by one over the course of the year, and I was so happy with how the dresses all went together and the fact that the girls were all unique; wearing something they chose.
Ceremony
We had Eli Tamir as our chazan who has an incredible, powerful and moving voice. When we heard him sing for the first time we were blown away and loved his voice. He sang out ‘sheva brachot’ and all songs under the chuppa. Rabbi Dani Smolowitz was our rabbi, which was really special as he has known both of us for many years through our high school.
I couldn’t really choose a favourite moment of the ceremony as to be honest it feels like a blur and went so quickly, but walking back down the aisle with my husband was very surreal and a moment I will remember forever.
Chuppah
I saw a chuppa about a year before our wedding that was exactly what I wanted for ours. So we created a similar design with Miri Moses from Flowers by Miri and it was everything I had dreamed of and more. It was full of greenery, and only white/cream flowers. My favourite part was all the twigs that we had coming out on the top of the chuppa. Again, my requirements were for it to not look too neat!
Our music choice
One of our favourite playlists to listen to at home is the Smooth Jazz Saxophone Band, so obviously we had to have it played at the wedding. We had it playing during the reception and dinner too. Our first dance was ‘Amazed’ by Lonestar – it was a song we both chose about 2 weeks before the wedding and I love the words and thought it was so fitting for us. After our first dance we played ‘So Amazing’ by Luther Vandross which was my parents first dance song at their wedding.
I walked down to ‘Boi Bshalom’ and performed the 7 circles to ‘T’fillat Kallah’ – this song is really meaningful and I love it so I wanted to have both during the ceremony. The rest of the family and bridal party walked down to ‘Mehera Hashem’ which was Andy’s favourite.
Flowers
Miri Moses from Flowers by Miri was absolutely amazing and created above and beyond my visions. I went to her asking for big tress for the table centres, and that is exactly what she did. They were very tall, so rustic and were perfect.
The lower table centres were a tree trunk filled with greenery, flowers and twigs. The bouquets were the same and very much green and unstructured with a very rustic feel. I love eucalyptus so this was incorporated into my bouquet.
Photographer and videographer
We had Tom Webb from Picture Your Wedding as our photographer which we decided after he photographed our engagement party. Andy had known Tom for years through previously working in the events industry, so it was a no brainer. Tom is really fun and made us feel really comfortable.
We had the Denee Motion team video the day and they were also great and really friendly – they captured all the special moments without us even knowing they were there.
Food and cake
We had Celia Clyne for the catering and loved her and her style from the day we met her. Celia and her team love creating fun and unique menus so she was the perfect fit for us.
Our starter was a pâté dish where the pâté was served in a sardine tin, and all of our dessert canapes had an element of surprise.
We had mini doughnut burgers which looked like burgers but the bun was made from doughnut, the burger from brownie, mango for cheese and kiwi for lettuce. We also had apple and cinnamon spring rolls, chocolate mousse in plant pots and a lemon posset served in a white egg shell!
Another personal touch was our names stamped on the lemon/orange peels used to garnish the drinks. We used Liquid Chefs for our bar company, and they came up with this idea of the stamp. We had so many comments about how great the cocktails were.
We picked some they reflected us as people. Andy loves whisky so we included a whisky sour and I love elderflower and botanicals when it comes to gin, so we chose a cocktail called ‘Naughty Spa Day’ which was gin with elderflower, cucumber ribbon and prosecco.
Entertainment
We had Eran Barnea, our DJ, fly over from Israel for our wedding. Andy’s sister got married in Israel a few years before which is where we first saw him and we fell in love with him and the whole energy and atmosphere he was able to create. We decided to be a bit different and go with him as out DJ rather than a band and everyone LOVED him.
The peak of the night for us was when we were up on the stage with Eran and every single guest was dancing with their glow sticks – the energy was crazy and something we will truly remember forever.
Advice to couples currently planning their wedding
A piece of advice I was given by a friend was so really look around during the chuppa and aisle walk and take it all in. I did this and was so thankful for the advice. It is amazing to see everyone there who has come to see you get married – so make sure you have some time to digest it all.
It really helped me that Andy has an event planning background, as he was able to deal with a lot of that side of things – so what I would say is ask people for help if they have experience in planning or running events – if you are not having a wedding planner.
Andy was truly amazing throughout the whole process and ensured me that everything was under control from a production/sounding/lighting point of you – and I was a great success! We used Main Event Productions for our lighting and staging. They were great and very reasonably priced compared to other quotes we got.
YASMIN & ANDY’S LITTLE WHITE BOOK
Photography – Picture your Wedding
Videography – Denee Motion {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}
Venue – Quendon Hall
Bride’s dress – Ida Torez found and fitted at Dress Dreams Boutique
Bride’s shoes – Dune
Groom’s attire – Roderick Charles
Hair + Makeup – Gemma Peace
Flowers – Flowers by Miri
DJ – Eran Barnea
Catering – Celia Clyne, Liquid Chefs
Lighting and staging – Main Event Productions
Rabbi – Rabbi Dani Smolowitz
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.
What excellent photos. I love the emotions and the energy in them!! Thanks for sharing!