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Amanda & Brian | Romantic elegance Jewish wedding at the Rosewood London

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Rosewood-London-wedding
I hope you are ready for elegance and sophistication this Monday afternoon folks. Amanda  and Brian’s  gorgeous wedding has more than a touch of class about it and I’m delighted to be blogging  the first ever wedding to have taken place at the the coolest new hotel kid  on the block, the  Rosewood London  in High Holborn.

And as for the photography well….I don’t know how on earth Amanda  and Brian  ever chose what to put in their album, I was in raptures over the shots of the stationery and the rings before I even got to the delicious details and all important ceremony and party shots.

There’s a bride and groom that positively exude the whole happy-ever-after. There’s an  utterly mesmerising chuppah. There’s laughter and crazy dancing  and guests having the time of their lives. There are stunning portrait shots. It’s essentially a whole LOT of city chic glamour  people, all courtesy of the genius that is  David Pullum.

Oh and then there’s THE dress.
It’s breathtaking.

Just before I hand over to Amanda for her wedding report,  I must just add  that I was  thrilled  to hear that she  was inspired to make a bride’s speech after reading an article in the Times, in which I was quoted,  that talks about how the modern day bride is finally breaking her silence. I certainly feel that when you put your heart and soul into the planning, you do want to express yourself and say something… Amanda, being a rocking STG bride, has more to say on the  subject (and so much more!) in her heartfelt and  detailed write-up below.
Romantic elegance Jewish wedding at the Rosewood Hotel Covent Garden London_0037 Romantic elegance Jewish wedding at the Rosewood Hotel Covent Garden London

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Dana & Stuart | Autumn city rustic Jewish wedding at the spectacular Angel Orensanz Foundation, Lower East Side, New York City

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Autumn city rustic Jewish wedding at the spectacular Angel Orensanz Foundation, Lower East Side, New York City
Dana and Stuart’s wedding has Autumn completely wrapped up. Long farm tables with flowers and candles, orange and cream colours with pops of russet inspired by Dana’s amazing auburn hair, and a total sense of joy, warmth and tenderness thoughout.

Our bride is so very elegant but at the same time clearly having the time of her life… That smile – it’s so infectious! And what’s one of my favourite moments? When Dana swaps her jewelled Manolo Blahniks for white low top Converse when the former falls off during the Hora – so down to earth! I also love the little creative details like classic movies of their favourite Hollywood icons playing in the background during the cocktail hour.

Oh… and have you ever heard of ‘Dudesmaids’?! Dana had two – see them posing with the girls above?!

All the fantastic photography is by the one and only Karen Wise.
Autumn city rustic Jewish wedding at the spectacular Angel Orensanz Foundation, Lower East Side, New York CityAutumn city rustic Jewish wedding at the spectacular Angel Orensanz Foundation, Lower East Side, New York City 013Autumn city rustic Jewish wedding at the spectacular Angel Orensanz Foundation, Lower East Side, New York CityAutumn city rustic Jewish wedding at the spectacular Angel Orensanz Foundation, Lower East Side, New York City

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I’d love you to nominate Smashing The Glass in the 2014 Wedding Blog Awards!

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Smashing The Glass Wedding Blog Awards
Yes that’s me up there, holding up a Wedding Blog Award, montaged over Halle Berry winning an Oscar. I was going to montage myself over Gwynnie with  her Oscar  and make a joke about teary speeches, but her flat chest and pale skin were  never going to  match my features, so Halle will do nicely. I’ve always wanted a Bond girl’s body so that’s one wish already come true!

But I digress… the wish I’m really after  is to win the Best Newcomer category in Wedding magazine’s highly regarded Wedding Blog Awards.  I’ve been working hard on Smashing The Glass for exactly a year now and I started it just after my wedding  when I realised  that there wasn’t any one place that brought together creative ideas for out-of-the-ordinary Jewish (and Jew-ish!) W-days. It  became — and still is — the UK’s only Jewish wedding blog, and the only blog worldwide focussing on original and unusual Jewish ‘I-Do’s’.

I’m super  proud of the blog, and the reaction and overwhelming support I’ve received in this  first year, and I’m so addicted to working on it that I wasn’t even able to keep away in the early days after I’d  given birth to my baby daughter, Sacha  late last year. Everyone would tell me “rest when the baby rests” but as I snuck into the bedroom, the laptop would come out from under the bed… I just couldn’t keep away from my other baby —  my e-baby!

Now my darling daughter is 7 months old and I am able to spend much more time on the blog. So much so, that  in a couple of weeks time I am relaunching the site with a rebrand and  lots of new features including  a greatly enhanced Smashing Suppliers section. I can’t wait!

But the  heart and soul of SmashingTheGlass.com are the Real Jewish Weddings. It’s hard to pick a favourite but I have a very soft spot for this  outrageously cool London Jewish wedding, this gorgeously-designed music themed wedding, this Wedstock-themed wedding featuring a bride who made her entire dress out of paper; this breathtaking ‘HinJew’ wedding at the Mandarin Oriental where the bride and groom intertwined their Indian and Jewish heritages incredibly beautifully; the New Years Eve fancy dress wedding held in an Arthouse cinema; the ’surprise’ brunch wedding for just 20 guests with the ceremony held on a street corner… I could go on and on! The common thread throughout these, and all STG  weddings, is that they are as unique as the couples that planned them.

I also regularly post wedding planning articles  and have  blogged  about everything from what are the best chuppah entrance songs, to tips for getting great wedding photography to how to incorporate ‘Jewish’ into a non-Jewish or interfaith wedding, and of course lots more. I love helping my readers plan their weddings whether it be through the real weddings,  inspiration and ideas that I publish or the advice that I write, and if you enjoy reading STG I would be so honoured and thrilled to have your nomination. VOTE HERE  or click on  the logo button below. (The ‘Best Wedding Blog Newcomer’ category is second from the bottom.)

Thank you. I’d be so very delighted to genuinely  hold that  award up high after Thursday 26th June when nominations close!

Vote SmashingTheGlass

Tali & Dan | ‘Gin in teacups’ 1920’s Jewish Wedding at Heatherden Hall, Pinewood Studios, Buckinghamshire, UK

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1920s-wedding
Blake Ezra, one of our  Smashing Suppliers,  always captures bucket loads of love and emotion in his wonderful  photography, and this is most definitely true of Tali  and Dan’s  big day which I’m beyond excited  to be featuring on the blog  today.

This  stylish  pair were married at Heatherden Hall at the legendary  Pinewood Studios, just outside London, and this has  got to be one of the most iconic  wedding venues  to have yet graced the pages of STG. Pinewood has been home  to many productions over the years from huge blockbuster films to television shows, commercials and pop promos but  is most famous  as the home of the Carry On, Superman, James Bond and Harry Potter film series. What a  perfect  venue for film buffs!

Despite the fantastically cool  venue, this wedding is all about the people  —  you can see joy in every singe image, and  Blake Ezra tells me that, “there was a massive emphasis on friends throughout the day with their big crowd of amazing mates getting involved in all aspects of the ceremony, music and general entertainment.”

You can really see the fun factor complete with comedy DJs, barber shop routines, drum circles, dancing, a fire show (and a very moving ceremony) in the wedding film  by the uber-talented Charlotte Armitage right at the end of the post.

Tali’s  bridal style  is to die for…  I am expecting plenty of pinterest  action for her vintage dress  which incidentally  was made entirely out of  sustainable and  ecological fabrics.

And lastly I must mention that Dan, who is a journalist, recorded a message to Tali from Boris Johnson as part of his speech (see 10:38 in the film at the bottom of the post). I’m a big Boris fan  — that’s immense!

So come and have a look at this gorgeous  ‘I Do’ jointly narrated by  the bride and groom.
Jewish Wedding Heatherden Hall, Pinewood Studios Buckinghamshire Jewish Wedding Heatherden Hall, Pinewood Studios BuckinghamshireJewish Wedding Heatherden Hall, Pinewood Studios Buckinghamshire
VENUE
Tali, the Bride, and Dan, the Groom: Tali and I chose to get married at Pinewood Studios  in Gerard’s Cross. We wanted a ‘London’ wedding so it was accessible for elderly family and all our friends,  and Pinewood had indoor and outdoor space, was very cool, and they allowed  us to do whatever we wanted.

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