Personal Posts Archives - Page 3 of 4 - Smashing the Glass

Chitter Chatter with Charlotte O’Shea, Blog Queen and founder of Rock My Wedding

23/04/2015 by Karen

Image: Anna Clarke Photography

With the upcoming addition to our family (our due date is Saturday, same as the Duchess of Cambridge’s no less!) there’ll be a few subtle changes to the schedule of the blog for the coming weeks while I’m adjusting to life as a mama of two.

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 a doyenne… a ‘queen bee’ wedding bloggess, and superstar creative mama. It’s the one and only Charlotte O’Shea, founder and MD of Rock My Wedding, the phenomenally successful UK wedding blog that launched in 2009. A few years later, the ‘Rock My’ empire grew when Charlotte launched the hugely popular Rock My Style, a lifestyle blog for women covering beauty, fashion, travel, food, interiors and family.

Charlotte lives in the West Midlands with her husband James, and their one year old daughter, Mabel Rose.

What was your first job?

My first job was in retail with House Of Fraser – I was a Morgan Girl! Think lycra boob tubes and chain mail crop tops (actually don’t – tragic doesn’t even cover it.)

Tell me more about your career before launching Rock My Wedding and Rock My Style

I was an Account Manager for a small yet very successful technology and web design company, I learnt a hell of a lot about everything to do with running a business and then some.

How do you cope with running two growing businesses: Rock My Wedding and Rock My Style?

I employ a very VERY talented bunch of folks. And endeavour to be as organised as feasibly possible. Oh and biscuits – essential brain fuel.

What inspires you to keep growing and developing your businesses?

My dedicated team and our loyal stylish readers are a constant inspiration, as is my daughter Mabel. No two days are the same – the diversity of what we do generates constant creativity.

Image: Little Beanies
Continue Reading

The 10 most romantic restaurants in the world that I’ve been lucky enough to dine at

13/02/2015 by Karen

I’ll be honest, I’m a soppy romantic, but as much as I love Valentine’s Day (even though of course it’s a commercial gimmick), the whole manufactured element really isn’t my thing. Although I do take great pleasure in buying creative gifts and making little homemade surprises for Mr STG on Vally Day (and this year we are celebrating with a cheese fondue at home!) as a concept, it doesn’t sit comfortably with me to promote on the blog.

Personally, I prefer my love and romance year-round, expressed in small ways daily, and surprising ways unexpectedly. But that’s just me, and I knew I couldn’t get away with ignoring Valentine’s Day, of all things, on a wedding blog. So I’ve decided to tell you about the top 10 most romantic restaurants in the world that I’ve had the pleasure of dining at together with Mr STG, but do note, that not one of these dinner dates fell on Valentine’s Day!

I’m afraid I don’t have pictures of myself and Mr STG eating at all of these restaurants as we were most probably too busy enjoying the experience…but I’ve posted the ones that we did take!

The restaurants are listed in the chronological order that Mr STG and I dined at them.

I’d love to hear your recommendations too – tell me, what’s the most romantic restaurant in the world that you’ve ever dined at?

1. Meeru Island restaurant, The Maldives

Mr STG and I took our first ever holiday together in The Maldives in December 2011. Meeru combines everything that the Maldives is famous for; gorgeous sun, expansive sparkling seas, an unbelievably relaxing vibe, and white sandy beaches. Needless to say we had a thoroughly good time, and felt on top of the world spending every evening sitting right by the water, dining on the freshest fish, seafood, and steak. What we loved most about this restaurant was it’s casualness – Mr STG dined barefoot every evening! Whereas I could dress up or down according to how I felt. We had a truly magical time at Meeru, and have the most amazing memories of our time there.

Top: Mr STG and I just before dinner one night :: Bottom: A typical scene at Meeru

Juggling motherhood with running a business from home

18/12/2014 by Karen

My life–both work and personal–has changed so much in the past couple of years with the appearance of my darling daughter, Sacha, now 13 months old, and the birth of the fast-growing Smashing The Glass, just 18 short months ago. I’ve had to strive for a gold medal in multi-tasking whilst also trying to instil some semblance of balance in my life. And when you work from home, your productivity in all areas is both accelerated and impeded.

I define myself as a: Wife, Mother, Daughter, Career-Woman, Blogger, Designer, and Adorer of Wonderful People In My Life. With each of those identities comes responsibilities and duties, but most importantly I’m also blessed to say that they come with a hell of a lot of fun and fulfilment! At the grand old age of 39 (yes I turned the big 40-minus-one a couple of months ago), and with the birth of Sacha, I feel like I’ve designed a life where I revel in every minute and am surrounded by, and immersed in, people and projects I love.

In all honesty I’m exhausted most of the time but I also feel extremely privileged to have such a satisfying career and home life. I know that my daughter will only be little for so long, and I am lucky to get to spend the extra time with her that I do. I have part-time child-care but I’m running a full-time business so it’s a constant juggle and shifting of priorities. I’m often working around the clock, in the evenings once Sacha is in bed, on weekends whilst she’s napping, and pretty much anytime I’m waiting, walking or watching TV thanks to my multitude of Apple gadgets.

Smashing The Glass features in this week’s Jewish Chronicle

22/08/2014 by Karen

jewish-chronicle-smashing-the-glass
I’m in the diary section of the Jewish Chronicle today – such a sweet piece! Thank you to the lovely folk at The JC for writing about me.

If you’ve found Smashing The Glass via this article well hello there! You can read all about why I started the blog here, and see my own Jewish wedding (at London’s Wallace Collection) here. In fact, the heart and soul of SmashingTheGlass.com are the real Jewish weddings so I think that’s a great place to start.

Click here and you’ll find all the UK Jewish weddings that I’ve blogged about with everything from this outrageously cool London Jewish wedding, to this breathtaking ‘HinJew’ wedding at the Mandarin Oriental where the bride and groom intertwined their Indian and Jewish heritages incredibly beautifully, to this New Years Eve fancy dress wedding held in an Arthouse cinema, to this South London Jewish wedding that was held in a chapel(!),and this Wedstock-themed wedding featuring a bride who made her entire dress out of paper. You can bet your bottom dollar that I’ve blogged about every Jewish wedding in between too.

Chelm & Jake’s super cool London Jewish wedding by Blake Ezra Photography

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, inspiration for chuppah ideas, and lots more.

And if you’re still on the hunt for that perfect photographer, DJ, chazan, or venue, my Smashing Suppliers section is a great place to start. It’s my handpicked selection of the most stylish brands and services the wedding industry has to offer, and you’ll not only be able to click through to the suppliers own websites to see what they say about themselves, you’ll be able to see a lot of their work first hand in the real Jewish weddings section and read the opinion of couples that have actually used them.

I love helping my readers plan their weddings but the best part is when couples email me their own photographs after their wedding and tell me that Smashing The Glass helped them have the wedding they truly wanted!

By the way if you’re reading this and you’re already married, be sure to send me a submission. It’s my readers who ultimately make my blog a must-read and I can’t wait to hear from you!

My home workspace

08/07/2014 by Karen

When the mega-talented Jewish wedding photographer in London Rahul Khona got in touch with me to shoot up a photography storm, I was really into the idea of capturing some images of my work / home space, as well as a few portraits.

I adore blogging and running a business from my home in Kentish Town, but inevitably, the boundaries between work, motherhood, marriage and ‘me’ time are a continuous blur. It’s something I’m used to though, as prior to setting up Smashing The Glass, I was running a freelance design business for 12 years, and working from home for about 50% of my projects.

My work space reflects my design background – there are Apple products everywhere, Pop Art influences, art books, sketch pads, pens and pencils, and a sense of clean aesthetics (that makes me sound really w*nky, doesn’t it?!).