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The Wedding Blog Awards: A Thank You

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Wedding-Blog-Awards
Image by Rifle Paper Co

On  Friday night I donned  a cocktail  dress and heels and trotted down to the Savoy for the glitz and glamour of the  Wedding Blog Awards, taking  Mr STG with me! I was super excited to mingle with the country’s top bloggers and wedding industry  crà¨me de la crà¨me for the 2014 Awards organised by  the fabulous  Wedding magazine.

Mr STG and I had been invited as Smashing The Glass had been nominated in two categories: Best Real Weddings and Best Newcomer thanks, (in a very big way) to your voting support.

I was so thrilled to be in the running, and of course I would loved to have won a gong, but being shortlisted in two  categories in my first year of blogging, alongside the  greats such as Love My Dress, Rock n Roll Bride and Bridal Musings  is no small feat for a 16 month old blog, so I’m still exceedingly  proud!

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Me (on the right!) and the gorgeous Raj from Secret Wedding Blog. Thank you to Raj for this photo!
Social-Media-Lounge
The Wedding Blog Award social media lounge (Image by Wedding Magazine)

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12 online wedding resources every Bride-To-Be should know about

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12-online-wedding-resources
Last Sunday, myself and Charley from London Bride were interviewed ‘On The Sofa’ at Brides The Show about how to find everything you need online when it comes to planning your wedding.

We loved every minute of our talk and were delighted to be speaking to a packed floor with brides scribbling our tips away in their notebooks, so I thought I’d recap the main points we made so that everyone can benefit from the content.

1. WEDDING BLOGS

We’re lucky enough to be living in a wedding planning world that is packed full of hundreds and thousands of inspiring wedding blogs. Each one caters to a niche with everything from geeky weddings to tattooed brides to of course Jewish weddings and everything in between. Unlike wedding magazines, blogs are free to read so the bloggers who run them don’t need to worry about appealing to the masses or shifting however many copies. It’s the bloggers’ unbiased, unedited opinions and being digital, blogs are also very fast-moving, immediate and very regularly updated.

2. USING BLOGS TO SOURCE SUPPLIERS

The heart and soul of many wedding blogs, including Smashing The Glass, are the real weddings. Each wedding is hand-picked by the blogger with the intention of inspiring you with the fabulously creative ideas of the bride and groom. The wonderful thing is that all the suppliers that contributed to that wedding are listed at the bottom of the feature, with links to their websites, so it’s a great way to directly find suppliers that catch your eye.

And if you’re after a specific type of supplier, many blogs have their recommended vendors section which is a great place to start your search if you resonate with a particular blog.

3. DIY TUTORIALS

Many wedding blogs post step-by-step DIY tutorials that are great for the craft-loving or money-saving bride. Particular favourites for DIY’s are Love My Dress and Bespoke Bride, and don’t forget YouTube for video tutorials too… did you know that Martha Stewart has her own wedding DIY YouTube channel?

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Charley and I speaking ‘On The Sofa’ about how to plan your wedding online, at Brides The Show

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The Badeken – Jewish Wedding Traditions Explained #4

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Badeken
All imagery by Blake Ezra Photography. This is part 4 of the 9-part Jewish Wedding Traditions Explained series.

The Badeken is one of my very favourite traditions of a Jewish wedding, both emotionally and photographically.

This is the ceremony where the groom veils the bride, the term comes from the Yiddush word ‘to cover’. It’s often the most emotional moment of a Jewish wedding, where the bride and groom see each other for the first time a few minutes before the main ceremony begins under the chuppah. Often a couple will have time apart before their wedding, the more religious the couple, the longer the amount of time apart, so this moment where their eyes meet for the first time on their wedding day is so special, and such an honour for us to photograph. Even without the religious significance of the badeken, many couples of all different faiths nowadays choose to do a ‘first look’ on their wedding day; it’s a special thing to do.

Usually only very close family and friends are involved in this process, as the wedding guests are seated for the chuppah and excitedly await the procession down the aisle. However, sometimes the couple choose to open the badeken to all their guests, allowing everyone to share in this electric moment where the groom is brought into the room to see his beautiful bride, often accompanied by his groomsmen and friends singing and clapping, as the atmosphere reaches fever pitch.

Badeken
Badeken
Smashing The Glass Jewish Weddings Explained - Bedeken.
Bedeken
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Alana & Michael | Jewish wedding at Bevis Marks Synagogue and The Shangri-La At The Shard, London’s highest wedding venue

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Wedding at Shangri La The ShardWedding at Shangri La The Shard
Who is in the mood for an ultra glamorous wedding set against the jaw-dropping backdrop of London’s iconic Shard? Well you’re in luck because I have exactly that on the blog for you this afternoon.

I’m such a huge fan of London, my home city, and all its iconic landmarks, so I’m very excited to be blogging Smashing The Glass reader, Alana’s, wedding to Michael, that took place at the capital’s highest wedding venue (at 125 metres above sea level), The Shangri-La Hotel, At The Shard.

The hotel occupies floors 34 to 52 of Renzo Piano’s 1016ft tall building on the banks of the River Thames, and this was the first wedding ever to take place at the newly-opened hotel, in August of this year.

And it gets even better. Alana and Michael’s candle-lit ceremony took place just over the river at the breathtakingly beautiful Bevis Marks Synagogue, which is also a record-holder. It’s the oldest synagogue in Great Britain (it was built in 1701) and it is also the only synagogue in Europe which has held regular services continuously for over 300 years.

The images come from Smashing Supplier, Blake Ezra Photography who are lucky (and talented) enough to shoot some absolutely incredible weddings. I know you’re all going to love this one…

Jewish wedding at Bevis Marks Synagogue and The Shangri-La At The Shard London

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Maya & Danny | Outdoor DIY Garden Jewish Wedding at Cedar Bend Events, near Austin, Texas, USA

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DIY garden wedding
This morning’s w-day is the union of teenage sweethearts Maya and Danny, and the wedding report is written entirely by the dashing groom! This sweet pair have been together since they were bright-eyed and bushy-tailed (they met when they were 15 years old) and they had their wedding desserts catered by the same ice cream parlour as they had their first date at. Isn’t that adorable?

They had such a fun, authentic wedding. I love the hand-crafted details, the purple touches (a nod to Maya’s purple hair?), the vibrant blooms, the Harry Potter favours, and the outdoor relaxed vibe.

Plus, any wedding that includes a family performance of “Sunrise, Sunset” from Fiddler on the Roof gets a big thumbs up from me!

Their entire day really is beautiful. Enjoy all of the wonderful images taken by the rather talented Cory Ryan, and when you get to the end of the post, tell me how much do you love that very last picture?

Outdoor DIY Garden Jewish Wedding at Cedar Bend Events, Austin, TexasOutdoor DIY Garden Jewish Wedding at Cedar Bend Events, Austin, Texas
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