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The legal requirements of a Jewish wedding ceremony in the UK

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legal-requirements-of-a-Jewish-wedding-ceremony

Granted  it’s  not the most exciting of topics, but one that definitely needs addressing, so thank you, Emily, for highlighting it! I asked  Emily  to provide me with an exact list of questions that she wanted answering and  then called upon the expertise of STG regular, the wonderful Rabbi Paul Glantz  to  shed light on the the legal requirements of a Jewish wedding ceremony in England, and the UK.

For any American readers, or brides holding  a  destination Jewish wedding in the USA, a post detailing  the legal requirements of a Jewish wedding in the USA will be up on the blog in he coming weeks  too.

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Deborah & Hernan’s  Jewish wedding in a farmhouse.  See the full wedding here :: Image by York Place Studios

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“My best Jewish wedding photo” by Jonas Seaman

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A new weekly Sunday series where  I ask some of the world’s best wedding photographers to pick out their favourite shot from their Jewish wedding portfolio. This week it’s the turn of Jonas Seaman.

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‘Portrait Walk’ by  Jonas Seaman

I love this photo from Misti & Asaf’s wedding in Los Angeles, California. There was so much about this wedding that made it special. First off, it was a backyard wedding which right off the bat I love. I love the more intimate ceremonies. The fact that everyone is there for something special, but the atmosphere is more relaxed. People feel more “at home” because they are! Also, Misty and Asaf’s style is right up my alley. From the Eames rocking chair in their living room to the ruby slippers Misti wore with her wedding gown, their wedding was just begging to be photographed. And, their personalities and friendship from our first meeting together pretty much stole my heart.

This photo was taken just after sunset. I took them from their reception for a quick portrait walk around their neighborhood. Just as we had lost all our available light, I though it might be cool to get this silhouette among the power lines. I was shooting with a long lens which meant I was laying down on the pavement about half a block away from them to take this shot. The thing is, the street was moderately busy at that moment. We had to wait for cars to go by, and then when there was a reprieve, we jumped into the middle of the street for the shot. Misti and Asaf were so excited with the music of their reception making a dull bass thump in the distance. They started dancing there in the street. I snapped this one quickly before the next car came to clear us out.

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How to embrace being pregnant on your wedding day

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SmashingTheGlass.com’s founder, Karen Cinnamon, 13 weeks pregnant on her wedding day by  Earthy Photography

Karen Cinnamon, STG’s founder, was pregnant on her wedding day and looked absolutely stunning. If you too will be pregnant on your day, you need not fret. Read on about why you should embrace your little miracle, and some words of advice to ensure that your pregnancy only adds to the magnificence of your day..

The tiny second line on the stick you just peed on is the greatest thing you’ve ever seen. At this point you may or may not know it, but you have been blessed. What is happening inside you is so much bigger than any wedding, so much more beautiful than your dream dress, so much more precious than the ring on your finger. Like Woody Allen said, “if you want to make G-d  laugh, tell him your plans.” I am here to tell you that when G-d  tells you your plans — via a tiny plastic stick — it’s no laughing matter.

My most important piece of advice is not to let old-fashioned, subjective values ruin your excitement. The modern bride lives in a world where premarital sex is commonplace, and having children before marriage no longer carries the same stigma it once did. While religious considerations are valid, what is most important are the values you and your fiancà© share. This day is about the two of you, after all.

When women fall pregnant (before their wedding or after) some wait until the end of the first trimester to spread the news. Others wait till after the nuchal translucency test,  or the 12 week  scan. Regardless, it’s hard not to gush. Especially when you are at your hen  party and the number of toasts  or I-made-this-drink-just-for-you’s is endless.

Tell someone

You need a friend, a wing-woman,  at the hen  party and the wedding, to swoop in and replace your drink with a glass of cranberry juice. My sister-in-law was mine. She’d always make sure I was holding a colourful drink so that I was simply unable to take another. At the wedding, when she saw me holding a shot, she “accidentally” danced her way over, smashing the shot glass across the room. (Good save, but that shot glass was filled with water).

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Images: pregnant celebrity brides (left) Aleisha Keys, and (right) Lily Allen

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“My best Jewish wedding photo” by Paul Rogers

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A new weekly Sunday series where  I ask some of the world’s best wedding photographers to pick out their favourite shot from their Jewish wedding portfolio. This week it’s the turn of Paul Rogers.

Jewish-Wedding-Photography
‘Overjoyed’  by Paul Rogers

This is Hannah just an hour or so after marrying Simon in Harpenden last year. It was one of the best weddings I’ve ever photographed.

It could have been the perfect setting (a marquee tent in Hannah’s parents gorgeous gardens), or the fabulous music. Or maybe the incredibly thoughtful details or the delicious wedding breakfast. Nope, that’s not why this was such a great wedding to be part of. It’s always down to the people. And Hannah and Simon are two of the warmest, loving and most generous people I’ve had the pleasure to meet. They were having the time of their lives (as they should!) and Hannah didn’t stop grinning all day.

You could almost touch the energy in the marquee as the newly-weds arrived after the ceremony, and this moment during the Hora has captured some of that energy and love. It’s always a tricky thing to photograph – too far back and you lose the sense of being right in the middle of the dancing. Too close and there’s the danger of getting whacked in the face by an enthusiastic guest! But with Robert Capa’s famous words ringing in my ears “If your photographs aren’t good enough, you’re not close enough”, I’m right in there, where the action is.

I love this picture because it does what I think photography is all about. It’s captured a slice of time, when Hannah is overjoyed at her wedding day. Zoom right in, and you may notice that it’s not perfectly pin sharp. She’s moving, I’m dancing (really!) and the light in the marquee isn’t that great, so a little movement is understandable. But that’s irrelevant when the moment captured is so wonderful.

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How to find your ideal wedding venue

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Finding a wedding venue is, I’m guessing,  right at the top  of your to-do list (as well as finding a  phenomenal dress of course!)  Aleisha McCormack,  author of the wedding planning guide Smart Wedding, and host of the Save The Date wedding podcast, is here  to tell you how to find and secure your ideal wedding venue  in a stress-free, easy-peasy and super-productive  way.

The ‘Perfect’ Wedding Venue doesn’t exist…

Your idea of a ‘perfect’ wedding venue (if there is such a thing) is, most likely, vastly different to mine. I’d say besides deciding that the person that you are marrying is ‘the one’, your wedding venue is the biggest choice that you will make when it comes to wedding planning… a big decision in which many smaller decisions rely and revolve around…so no pressure then!

Thanks to the magic of the interwebs, some fabulous new specialty apps and lateral thinking, the search for the venue that fits you is super easy.

Oval Space
Image: Oval Space wedding venue, London

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