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A VIP Open Day invitation to RSA House, the spectacular central London wedding venue, on 22nd November 2014

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Image by David Pullum Photography

Offering an array of magical  spaces behind its beautiful  Georgian facade, RSA House is definitely one of Central London’s best-kept wedding venue secrets. So I’m exceptionally excited to be letting the cat out of the bag to bring  you news of an exclusive VIP open day  that RSA House are holding on Saturday 22nd November 2014, from  11.00am to  3.00pm

You’ll be able to see the venue  at it’s most breathtaking  and see it  dressed up exquisitely for  a wedding  as  Elise, the venue’s wonderful wedding co-ordinator, shows you round the magnificent  spaces.

You’ll also have plenty of  personal attention and opportunities  to discuss your individual  requirements, to  really get  a feel for what your wedding day will  be like, whilst feasting on  delicious canapà©s, chilled Prosecco and other tasty  delicacies from award-winning  caterers Harbour & Jones.

For those of you not familiar with RSA House, it has a capacity of up to 140 seated and 220 standing, and is located close to Trafalgar Square, just  behind The Strand. It’s a beautiful example of a John Adam designed Georgian mansion, and it’s soaked in history, being  the intellectual and social home of some of the greatest thinkers and social activists of the past 250 years, including Prince Albert, Alexander Graham Bell, Karl Marx, and many more.

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Clockwise from top left:  Kari Bellamy Photography.  Allister Freeman Photography, David Pullum Photography,  Martin Beddall
RSA House Wedding Venue
Images top to bottom:  Allister Freeman Photography, Nick Rose Photography

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Breaking The Glass – Jewish Wedding Traditions Explained #7

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All imagery by Blake Ezra Photography. This is part 7 of the 9-part Jewish Wedding Traditions Explained series.

This is it, the time has come. With so much preparation carried out for this very moment, the ring placed upon the finger, every guest in the room hurriedly preparing their iPhones to take a shot, and clearing their vocal chords to shout “Mazal Tov”, it’s time to break the glass!

Such is the synonymy between Jewish weddings and smashing a glass, that we hear the most uber-cool Jewish wedding blog has been named after this very tradition. This site wasn’t named ‘Dancing the Hora’ or ‘Eating the Canapes’, but Smashing The Glass, as this is THE moment of the Jewish wedding. We hear time and time again from members of our Brides Club community that smashing the glass is one of the most memorable traditions of the whole beautiful day.

The glass, usually wrapped up in a cloth or napkin, is placed on the floor in front of the groom. However before it is smashed, it’s traditional at most Jewish weddings for the Rabbi or Chazan (Cantor) to sing a Hebrew song called Im Eshkakech Yerushalayim, or in English… ‘If I forget you, Jerusalem’. This commemorates the falling of Jerusalem and destruction of the two Jewish temples that once stood there.

It’s said that whenever Jewish people experience immense joy, they should also remember the less joyous times in their ancestry. With celebration comes commemoration. So once the less beautiful times have been remembered, the time comes for the groom to break the glass. Why is this done? Great question.

There are many reasons that Jewish grooms break a glass at the end of their ceremony, sealing the marriage to their Bride. The first being, in keeping with the song that had just been sung, to commemorate the destruction faced by Jewish people over the past two thousand years, a nod to the suffering that had come before. After all, if you can remember the dark times even on the brightest of days, you’ll never allow them to be forgotten.

Breaking The Glass Jewish Wedding
Breaking The Glass Jewish Wedding
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The Seven Blessings (Sheva Brachot) – Jewish Wedding Traditions Explained #6

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All imagery by Blake Ezra Photography. This is part 6 of the 9-part Jewish Wedding Traditions Explained series.

In the last five weeks on Smashing The Glass we’ve made it through from waking up on the morning of the wedding to standing under the chuppah. One key part of the ceremony are The Seven Blessings, or as they’re known in Hebrew the Sheva Brachot.

Seven blessings are said (or sung) over a cup of wine, which the couple then drink from, giving them these blessings for the rest of their life together. Sometimes the Rabbi, or Chazan, will sing these blessings to the couple under the chuppah.

If you’re planning a wedding, an incredible way to make your service more personal and interactive, whilst also honouring those who are most important in your relationship, whether that’s a grandparent or the person who set you up on your first date, is to invite seven people each to give a blessing. Each one will come up to the chuppah, one-by-one, hold the cup of wine and say or sing their piece.

One other really beautiful touch is to invite those people bestowing the blessings upon the couple to also write their own blessing, something personal which can be read out after the official blessing in whatever language is understood by most guests, which may or may not be Hebrew or Aramaic!

The Seven Blessings Sheva Brachot Jewish Wedding
The Seven Blessings Sheva Brachot Jewish Wedding
The Seven Blessings Sheva Brachot Jewish Wedding
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The Chuppah – Jewish Wedding Traditions Explained #5

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Chuppah
All imagery by Blake Ezra Photography. This is part 5 of the 9-part Jewish Wedding Traditions Explained series.

The word ‘chuppah’ is used in two ways. Firstly, it’s the Hebrew name of the canopy under which Jewish couples get married. Secondly, it’s also colloquially used as another word for ‘ceremony’. So if someone asks you “When’s the chuppah?” don’t assume they’ve lost all grasp of how to put a sentence together, they’re not asking when the canopy is, but when the ceremony starts.

So what is a chuppah? Why do Jewish couples get married underneath one? What do they do when they get there?

The chuppah, like many elements of a Jewish wedding, is beautifully symbolic. It symbolises the home that the couple will build together in their married life, and is open on all sides like the biblical tent of Abraham and Sarah, signifying that everyone is welcome and that everyone will be treated hospitably.

For readers of this blog, who may be planning their own Jewish wedding, the chuppah is also one of the great opportunities to personalise your ceremony. It can range from a massively decadent, custom-designed piece of floral artistry, to four friends holding poles, upon which sits a custom made quilt or Jewish prayer shawl, called a Tallit.

Chuppah, for Smashing The Glass Jewish Weddings Explained. Chuppah, for Smashing The Glass Jewish Weddings Explained.Chuppah, for Smashing The Glass Jewish Weddings Explained.Continue ReadingContinue Reading

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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