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A Cultural-Fusion Chinese-Jewish (Chewish) Wedding with a Vera Wang Bride at Kew Gardens, London, UK

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There’s something so special about Jew-ish weddings. Each one symbolises not only a relatively rare coming together of cultures, but a totally unique interpretation of what that combination looks like in practice. We have yet to see two Jew-ish weddings that are the same – there’s no blueprint and the couple has total license to imprint their own ideas, personalities and elements of their relationship into the proceedings. 

Jackie and Jon’s Chinese-Jewish (Chewish) wedding was a delightful cultural fusion, taking the most meaningful, colourful and exciting traditions from both the bride and the groom’s respective backgrounds and merging them into one heartfelt super-celebration. 

Bride, Jackie, stole the show in her red-carpet worthy gown from Vera Wang‘s White Collection, which is an impressive feat in a botanical paradise venue like Kew Gardens. 

All the details, including a full stationery suite, created by the talented bride herself, were captured with nothing less than expert skill by the phenomenal York Place Studios. A family business, York Place Studio is a cherished Smashing Supplier and responsible for not only the images in today’s post, but also the divinely emotional wedding video at the bottom of this post (SO worth a watch). 

The Smashing family was out in full force at Jackie and Jon’s big day. Sensational Smashing Supplier, Shir, one of the UK’s most sought-after klezmer wedding bands, also made a much-acclaimed appearance, before Creation Show Band also performed a roof-raising set. We have it on good authority that Anna Phoebe’s back-bending dancefloor electric violin solo was also an unmissable experience!

We’ll pass you on to Jackie now who has written up all the exceptionally borrow-able and emotional details of her and Jon’s big day. Enjoy! 

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How we met

Jackie, the bride: Jon is a management consultant and I’m a designer. We were introduced on a netball court in New York City, when we both lived there six years ago. While I had been there for seven years, Jon was on a work/study program with 300 other Brits for a year. The week Jon left for England for good, coincidentally, my work sent me to London. We then spent a phenomenal amount of money flying across the Atlantic to visit each other for the following eight months, before Jon persuaded me to move over to London.

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A music and art-filled Jewish wedding with Monique Lhullier and Jenny Packham gowns at the Great Synagogue and Four Seasons Hotel in Florence, Italy

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Spring has sprung and we’re delighted to share our first real Jewish wedding of April – and what a way to kick off the month! Today’s cultured couple, Tara and Ben, decided to get married in one of the great art history capitals of the world, Florence, Italy.

Not only that, but their ceremony was held at the stunning and world-renowned Great Synagogue in the heart of the city and their reception at the prestigious Four Seasons Hotel. For Tara, who has a degree in History of Art, this was the definition of a dream destination wedding.

The couple’s music-filled Jewish ceremony included sensational Smashing Supplier, chazan Simon Cohen, who the couple flew in especially so that they could enjoy his beautiful voice.  

Bride Tara looked every bit the classically beautiful bride in not one but TWO incredible dresses. First in her elegant Monique Lhullier gown, which she wore for the ceremony and then in her Jenny Packham party dress.

The laid-back, loving atmosphere of the day, including the epic fireworks display the couple arranged to surprise their guests, was captured by the brilliant David Bastianoni, whose wonderful work has been featured many times before on the pages of STG.

We’ll pass you on to beautiful bride Tara for the lowdown on her and Ben’s beautiful day!

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An art history lover’s dream venue

Tara, the bride: It’s hard to describe the magic of walking down a little side street, turning a corner, to be suddenly faced with the Duomo faà§ade and one the grandest synagogues in the world. So much beauty in one city and, for us, it was the perfect place to get married.

The Four Seasons had it all — The hotel is made up of a 15th-century Palazzo della Gherardesca and an ex 16th-century convent called Il Conventino, set within acres of beautiful gardens in the heart of the city.

I have a degree in History of Art and we are both lovers of classical music. Having visited Florence a number of times, it was always on our wish list. So where else to marry but at a music-filled ceremony at the Great Synagogue in the heart of the City of Florence?

Afterwards, just five minutes away, we were strolling among our 170 guests in 12 acres of stunning gardens at the Four Seasons Hotel, the former Palazzo Scala Della Gherardesca dating from the time of Lorenzo il Magnifico.

The green avenues, lined with Renaissance sculptures with fabulous views of the Duomo and the Chianti hills, were the perfect backdrop for what we wanted – an elegant outdoor reception followed by a casual dinner under the stars and fun night of partying.

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A relaxed, fun atmosphere

We wanted a traditional wedding done in a more casual and carefree way. Elegant but fun was the message of the weekend. All our guests were in holiday mode, so were relaxed. We didn’t use a wedding planner, but the staff at the Four Seasons were fantastic with helping us plan the day.

Music was a constant theme throughout the wedding, and we felt strongly about creating an informal and casual atmosphere during the dinner in the gardens. To do this, we created a Spotify playlist of our favourite songs to be played during the dinner.

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A Super-Luxe Champagne Gold and Ivory Jew-ish Wedding at St Ermin’s, London, UK

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All that glitters… is, in fact, gold, but only at this very special super-luxe Jew-ish wedding.

Nina and Matt’s wedding took place at top London hotel St Ermin’s and was, simply put, chic beyond words. The couple’s champagne gold and ivory colour scheme perfectly complemented the breathtaking venue with its high ceilings and opulent chandeliers.

Every detail was captured by exceptional photographer, Nadine Van Biljon, including the epic moment the bride and groom were showered with colour-coordinated champagne gold confetti — every glitter lover’s dream, and that moment when BOTH the bride and groom smashed the glass – we simply adore this! Nina told us:

Both of us broke a glass to say goodbye to the past and hello to a future together. We will be bringing the two glasses together to make one as an ornament.”

We love all of the little stories that paint a picture of the perfect day, from the wonderful tale about Anthropologie customer service that makes us want to drop everything and head to the nearest store, to the best man singing his speech.

We also love the beautiful ways in which Nina honoured her late grandmother, showing that the ones we love never truly leave us.

Over to Nina with the full story about her and Matt’s decadent and dreamy wedding day.

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How we met

Nina, the bride: We met on Plenty of Fish! Though if you ask Matt, he would say Vegas! We knew very quickly that we were perfect for each other.

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Finally finding the perfect venue: St Ermin’s in London

After dragging Matt around 18 venue visits across London, we knew that we wanted something different, somewhere no one had been or expected. We finally found that at St Ermin’s Hotel in Westminster. It’s a true hidden gem of London. The staff were incredibly friendly, the history is amazing and we instantly felt comfortable and knew it was special. We love going back there now and it holds a very special place in our hearts.

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A chic Israeli wedding with a Tali & Marianna gown at The Q, Galil Yam, Israel

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In true Israeli style, Liron and Rotem’s elegant outdoor wedding was all about family. For beautiful bride, Rotem, the only thing that truly mattered was having her loved ones around her as she married the man of her dreams.

With such a breathtaking venue, not much embellishment was needed. The wedding was tastefully understated, with a real focus on creating an amazing atmosphere, fabulous food and partying late into the night.

Glamourous Rotem looked every bit the red-carpet siren in her stunning Tali & Marianna gown, which was custom made for her by the Tel Aviv designer.

We love the story of the special video that Rotem’s father made for the happy couple — simply adorable and totally worth looking out for.

All of the joy, tears and laughter were captured by Smashing Supplier Dror Einav with whom Rotem and Liron had a special rapport.

We’ll pass you over to Rotem now for all the details on her and Liron’s big day. Take it away, Rotem!

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How we met

Rotem, the bride: We met when we both were in the Israeli navy. We were a group of friends from the base that hung out together a lot of nights and one night he called me to come visit him on his ship. I came as a friend and didn’t really think about him like that, but the rest is history: I just fell in love.
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A Traditional Jewish New York Wedding with Some Sex and a Lot of City

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Happy Valentine’s Day, STG gang! We have a very, very special real wedding to share with you today. It’s such a doozy, that we’ve been sitting on it and waiting for the right moment to publish since 2003. How’s that for restraint?

Charlotte and Harry met under rather unusual circumstances and couldn’t have been more different from one another. But, as the old saying goes, opposites attract, and Charlotte soon found that she had met her one true love in Harry.

Bride Charlotte is a hopeless romantic at heart, and so her wedding was, of course, the definition of tradition. Every detail was planned to perfection by wedding planner and very shouty man, Anthony, who brought Charlotte’s vision to life.

Even though we’re not the New York Times (sorry, Charlotte), we’ve done our very best to do this post justice, so we’ll quit while we’re ahead and hand over to Charlotte to tell us all about her big day.

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How we met

Harry was my divorce lawyer from my first marriage to my ex-husband, Trey who… let’s just say… didn’t last long. Harry and I hit a few stumbles at first: for example, the fact that I wasn’t Jewish and Harry’s profuse sweating. But, in the end, I converted to Judaism and we always keep the the thermostat at 64.4 degrees. Fairytales do exist, people!

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A New York synagogue wedding

We decided on a traditional synagogue wedding in our hometown of New York. As the space was already so spectacular, we just had a simple white, fabric chuppah under the bimah with some elegant arrangements of lilies.

I wanted to do everything according to Jewish tradition. I wanted to smash the glass, sign the Ketubah and dance the Hora, even if it involved getting thrown around on a chair in a most unladylike way.

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