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Chitter Chatter with Kat Williams, the brains behind Rock n Roll Bride, one of the biggest wedding blogs in the world

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Image: Shell de Mar

With the latest addition to our family there’ll be a few subtle changes to the schedule of the blog for the coming weeks while I’m adjusting to life with our new baby.

I’ll still be posting the very coolest real Jewish weddings every week, but there’ll also be a brand new feature running where I interview all sorts of inspirational women in the wedding industry whom I greatly admire. These women successfully combine running their own business with married life and in a lot of cases, raising a young family.

The series is called Chitter Chatter and the twist is is they have to answer my questions in just 140 characters or less….

Today I’m chitter chattering to one of the world’s most influential wedding bloggers, Kat Williams of the almighty Rock N Roll Bride. Back in 2007 Kat saw a niche for alternative wedding inspiration and ran with it! Kat now works on the blog, and the ever growing Rock n Roll Bride brand, full-time alongside her husband Gareth, and is also one of the headmistresses at The Blogcademy, a two-day blogging workshop that she co-founded and runs with prolific US bloggers Gala Darling and Shauna Haider.

What was your first job?

Sales assistant in Holland and Barrett.

Tell me more about your career before launching Rock N Roll Bride

I was a shopping TV producer for Bid TV (RIP!)

How do you cope with running two growing businesses: Rock N Roll Bride and The Blogcademy?

Its a lot of work, BUT I LOVE IT. Genuinely. It doesn’t feel like I ever have to ‘cope’ with it because I just love doing it all so much.

What inspires you to keep growing and developing both your businesses ?

I’m fiercely competitive! Ha!

What obstacles have you overcome along the way?

The usual – people letting you down, long hours, trolls, lack of social life… It’s all worth it though.

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Image: Madeline Kate Photography
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Ciao bella! Super stylish Italian weddings with the Italian Wedding Company

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Weddings-in-Italy-2Is there any place more instantly connected with romance than Italy? The land of enchanting lakes, rolling green vine-covered hills and azure-blue sea. It’s certainly a country of contrasts, from its cosmopolitan historic cities, up to the majestic snow-topped Alps and back down to stunning heat-seared coastlines… with, of course, peerless cuisine and wines to make them the envy of the world.

I’ve blogged my fair share of Jewish Italian weddings on Smashing The Glass already, and in a couple of weeks time there’s another gem coming that was planned by the  Italian Wedding Company  – I can’t wait for you to see it! The Italian Wedding Company are really something special.  I snapped them up as  Smashing Suppliers, and today  I want to tell you a little bit more about  why I’m so fond of them.

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Yana & Archita | Jewish-Hindu-Indian-Russian multicultural lesbian wedding at Trust, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

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Now this wedding is not just special, stylish or merely a good day out – it’s a totally spectacular cocktail of uber-chic modernism, elegant traditionalism, multi-cultural funkiness and fun, all blended and shaken to perfection.

For any of you who are wondering how to mix two completely different backgrounds into one smooth and stylish day — get ready for some serious pinning action.

Yana and Archita seamlessly melded their loves, tastes and cultures together to create a unique day at Trust — a neoclassical styled art and event space gallery in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

An art event in itself, our two gorgeous brides amalgamated a colourful and awesome blend of Russian, Jewish, Hindu and Indian traditions against the ridiculously gorgeous, all white, architectural splendour of a soaring 10,000 square foot, turn of the century building.  Simple.  Ahem.

What could have been contrived or clunky – trying to shoe horn different traditions and styles together — is instead thoughtful and elegant.

But the simplicity really lies in their motivation — to unite two families into one, representing both cultures.  Even more, what underlined and defined the wedding was FUN. They wanted a huge, huge party and they got it, right down to the last few bars of Bohemian Rhapsody.

I’m still grinning from ear to ear at the image of the couple being raised high on chairs by friends and family, old and young — all partying together with the help of some homemade “traditional” vodka — to the Black Eyed Peas’ I Got a Feeling!

Even their choice of traditional wedding dresses had a twist… Archita wore a sari, whilst Yana wore a white wedding gown but with a sash around her waist made from the same material as Archita’s sari — a beautiful and subtle symbol to truly demonstrate the bond between the two.

All of the fantastic photography is by Michael and Melissa at M2 Photography. Now over to our beautiful brides…

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How we met

Yana & Archita, the Brides: We met in undergrad at Penn at the largest party of the year called “Spring Fling”. To this day we debate about who made the first move. Chita’s friends were having a small party in a dorm room, and Yana crashed it. It was only three weeks before summer break began, so this was supposed to be just a fling… but we fell in love before the summer.

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Win a romantic night for two in London’s breathtaking St. Pancras Renaissance Hotel

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Call me a romantic (or a bit geeky… either will do) but I’ve always had a fascination with that wonderful golden age of railways: the enchantment of travel, tearful goodbyes, joyful reunions… and the awe-inspiring gothic architecture that just blows you away.

And encapsulating all of this is the devastatingly impressive St. Pancras Renaissance Hotel. I attended a beautiful Jewish wedding there, not long after its refurbishment (a dizzying £150 million was spent on the makeover!) — and was bowled over by its seductive mix of grandeur and contemporary chic.

Getting married here is nothing like your traditional hotel wedding. For a start, you can see the Eurostar from the bar (and I always get a shiver of excitement when I think of that thrilling connection to Parisian adventure). Fancy Paris straight after the nuptials? Just pop out, and hop on…

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Lea & Douglas | ‘Costiera chic’ super luxe Jewish wedding at Belmond Hotel Caruso , Ravello, Amalfi Coast, Italy

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Romance, art, al fresco disco — and a party that ends up in the infinity pool – today we’re off to one of our eternal favourite Jewish wedding destinations, the Amalfi Coast.

I  have a lot of a soft spot for this dreamy coastline (yes, I  honeymooned there!) and quite frankly it just keeps on giving and giving.

Lea and Douglas chose the refined, polished, ancient town of Ravello for their day, sitting high in the hills above the dizzying landscape of Amalfi. Stunning, stunning, stunning!

It was so beautiful they rustled up a famous contemporary artist and relative —  Jonas Wood  — to capture this magical setting and help them create the most impressive and frame worthy invite (and order of service) ever!

An artistic vein ran throughout this Ravello wedding, with a nod to France — where they met — and a rousing chorus of  Empire State of Mind  for Big Apple born Douglas.

Even though they planned the wedding from afar, amazingly, Lea and Douglas didn’t use  a wedding planner, they simply brought their own exquisite taste and personal touches to make the day unique.

I love that they struck such a fine balance between the natural — check out the gorgeous chuppah of green and white flowers — and the ultra glam – those  Valentino  powder pink heels and that silhouette enhancing, hand stitched, sequinned, wedding gown for a start. Pure Costiera Chic!

Gianni di Natale  sums up the day beautifully in these glorious, awe inspiring shots, together with his exquisite wedding film  at the end of the post.

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A luxury hotel venue that was once an 11th century palace, overlooking the Amalfi Coast

Lea, the Bride: We got married at the Belmond Hotel Caruso in Ravello  on the Amalfi Coast  for the wonderful scenery (the deep blue sea, the mountains) and the beauty of the village. Ravello is a romantic and very special poetic place. It is also still very authentic by its people (even with the numerous weddings celebrated there all year round) and the food is delicious.

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