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A Romantic Jewish Wedding Bringing the Outside Inside, at The Grove, Hertfordshire, UK

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Every marriage faces its tests, but for Jenna and Nick, their dedication to one another was tested very early on in the relationship, when Jenna faced medical and family hardships – and Nick proved to be her rock, and a total keeper.

One conversion later, and Nick, now a fully fledged member of the tribe, and Jenna, said “I do” in front of their nearest and dearest. His moving wedding speech can be heard in the special stills video below by much-loved Recommended Vendor, Adams Photography, who also shot the wedding in full. Tissues at the ready, guys….

We love the romantic story about how these two chose their dream venue – going on atmosphere and instinct, which proved to be a magical moment in itself. 

To mirror the venue’s ethos of ‘bringing the outside inside’, Nick and Jenna did exactly that, creating a bloom-filled dà©cor scheme, with an abundance of delicate gypsophila, soft pink roses and a stunning tree-inspired table plan.

We’ll leave you in Jenna’s capable hands for the full recap, including a fortuitous find at David’s Bridal – clearly this big day was totally meant to be!

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How we met

Jenna, the bride: Long-ish story! We met on Plenty of Fish! I basically was unsure, at first, about dating a non-Jewish guy, so I kept Nick a secret until I was sure it was something serious.

A week after Nick and I started talking, I was working on a film in Newcastle, and I slipped on some ice and really hurt my back. I flew back to London (barely able to walk) and went to see a specialist, who told me if I didn’t have surgery the next day, I could be paralysed. The following day I had surgery, and four days later my grandmother passed away.

I was left alone in my hospital bed in London, and Nick was a rock to me during that time. He was so supportive (be it over the phone) and we really got to know each other inside out. I understand it was not the most conventional way of dating, but once I was back on my feet, we met up and it felt like we had known each other for years. It just felt so right.

Six months later, I introduced him to the family. A few months after that, Nick came to me and asked me how I would feel if he was to convert to Judaism. I was really surprised by his question, but also felt a lot of admiration towards him. It was very important to Nick that when we were to have children that we are all on the same page and part of a family unit. Nick spent 18 months converting to Judaism, he learnt Hebrew, he had a circumcision (now that is commitment!) and after all of that lengthy process, Nick is now a proud Jew and I am, of course, very proud of him!

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An intimate traditional-meets-modern orthodox Jewish wedding with a Monique Lhuillier bride at The Fort Garry Hotel, Winnipeg, Canada

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Wrap up warm, everybody, today’s real wedding comes to you from the deepest of winter in Winnipeg, Canada, submitted by beautiful bride, Lindsay. 

With limited Jewish community resources, David, a doctor (a Jewish doctor – living the dream) and dance choreographer, Lindsay, were determined to plan their perfect modern orthodox day, and through the powers of persuasion, imagination and determination, that’s exactly what they did.

David and Lindsay proved that it’s not about what denomination of Judaism you follow, nor how observant you are – at the end of the day, our shared community and spirit is what matters.

The theme was clean, elegant and white with an abundance of flowers and candles (I mean, look at that chuppah – and the seven-tier ruffled cake. Divine!). It was a small, intimate day with just 75 guests and a heartwarming focus on the importance of family. The chic big day was captured by photographer and a close friend of the bride, Kristen Sawatzky.

Lindsay looked simply divine in her Monique Lhuillier, with its adorable, quirky bow detail and sheer veil covering her during the chuppah ceremony. 

Over to Lindsay for the rest of the details – take it away, Lindsay! 

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How we met

Lindsay, the bride: How we met was the greatest shidduch, in my opinion. Three separate active Jewish families in the Winnipeg community strived to set up the Jewish doctor from Montreal with a successful professional dance choreographer, Winnipeg born and raised. They all thought we would be the perfect match.

After several phone calls and emails, we finally met on a blind date at Starbucks! That was five and a half years ago. Soul mates we truly are, it was completely beshert. Our lives changed for the better and we can’t imagine our lives without each other.
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A Creative Indoor Forest Jewish Wedding with a Ritva Westenius Bride at One Embankment, London, UK

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Oh Genna and Seth, where to start? What a wonderfully cool and creative wedding these two had! 

But we have to start somewhere, so what better place than with the venue design? This included effectively transporting a magical woodland into an urban, London venue – the beautiful One Embankment. You genuinely have to look hard to realise that the chuppah did not, in fact, take place in an enchanted forest. We are also seriously into those stairs leading to the chuppah – what an entrance!

The wedding was submitted by illustrious kosher caterer, Food Story, for whom Genna and Seth had nothing but glowing praise, and, being very familiar with their work, we have to agree! 

Genna looked every bit the breathtaking bride in her astoundingly gorgeous Ritva Westenius gown, which was made just for her (and wow, it really shows), and STG Vendor Sensation Band entertained the crowd with a spectacular live music soundtrack, working very closely alongside the bride and groom in the run-up to their Big Day (that’s an STG Vendor for you!)

Genna and Seth did not see or speak to each other for a whole week before the wedding, and, literally surrounded by friends and family at the chuppah, were totally overwhelmed with emotion and excitement. We think this is an absolutely wonderful idea for those who possess the self control, and it clearly made the moment even more special and electric for them. 

You can check out all the details below, including all the images by Earthy Photography, the moving, vintage-inspired movie by videographer, Mariage a la Mode, and beautiful words by the gorgeous bride, Genna.

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How we met 

Genna, the bride: I wouldn’t call this a romantic fairytale story… Seth and I have know each other for 15 years. We had a first kiss when we were just 14, then again aged 16, where I totally and utterly fell for Seth but the feeling wasn’t quite mutual.

Eight years then passed without speaking or bumping into each other, until we met again at a friend’s party. After an awkward conversation, and a lot of drinks, we set another time to go on a date, and the rest was history.

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A glamorous Big Apple Jewish wedding with a chuppah overlooking the NYC skyline at Tribeca Rooftop, New York, USA

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Hold on to your kippot, everybody (and if you’re not wearing a kippah, just brace yourself) because we are telling you now, it does not get much more awesome than a chuppah overlooking the iconic New York skyline! No, seriously, look at it. What would you give to teleport into that sensational and stunning scene at the legendary Tribeca Rooftop? Actually, you almost can, by watching Tweed Video‘s cinematic story of the day below. 

Alyssa and Jesse’s Big Apple big day was the dictionary definition of sophisticated. We can throw so many other adjectives its way: glamorous, contemporary, heartfelt, chic… it was genuinely packed with more good things than the thesaurus can handle.

Alyssa, a management consultant, and Jesse, a lawyer, opted for a black-tie theme, accented with gorgeous metallics (those bridesmaid dresses!!), and leafy, luscious floral arrangements. The theme was brought together with spectacular results by our dear STG Vendor, wedding planner Josà© Rolà³n Events. In a wedding packed with STG Vendors, Paper Source also made a notable appearance.  

Every detail was caught on camera by phenomenal photographer, Christian Gideon Photography.

There are so many amazing ideas packed into this very special wedding, from the heartstring-tugging wording of the gorgeous ketubah (so much inspiration there), designed by our incredible STG Recommended Vendor, Ink with Intent, to the meditation during the ceremony. From Alyssa’s amazing Austin Scarlett dress to doughnuts for favors (yes. please.).

That’s quite enough gushing from us – over to the wonderfully articulate Alyssa for all the big-day gossip!

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Start spreading the news…

Alyssa, the bride: We were married at Tribeca Rooftop in NYC. We choose the venue because it had the capacity for the number of guests we planned to invite, flexibility to accommodate guests on the roof and indoors, capability to provide great food to a large group of people with on-site kitchen and chef, and an amazing view of the NYC skyline from the roof and inside with big windows all around.

The venue also had an amazing experienced staff, in particular Tracey and Ryan, who were always available to answer any questions.

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Bringing the countryside to the city – a rustic Jewish wedding with a Phillipa Lepley bride at St Pancras Hotel, London, UK

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If it’s impractical to have a countryside wedding, there’s one clear solution: bring the countryside to the city – and that’s exactly what rustic-loving couple, Miranda and Gabriel, decided to do. 

Their beautiful wedding incorporated elements of farmhouse chic, including doodled dress codes (what a fantastic idea) a multitude of painstakingly collected jam jars, and loose, tumbling floral arrangements – oh, and a Chuppah (designed by the amazing Blue Sky Flowers)  to stop you in your tracks. Have you ever seen such a thing of beauty? We are in LOVE! 

All of this was lovingly captured by our beloved Recommended Vendor, Ria Mishaal, whose work has graced the pages of STG many times before. 

In fact, it was one of her past real weddings, Claudia & Ed, who inspired much of the cast of Miranda and Gabriel’s big day. Miranda actually attended that wedding as a guest, and when she later saw the feature on STG, she knew that she couldn’t go wrong by contacting a few of their vendors!

Miranda and Gabriel ended up using Claudia and Ed’s photographer, planner AND florist, and were delighted with their choices.

There’s so much more to talk about, including the bride’s beautiful Philippa Lepley gown, the couple’s egalitarian ceremony and speeches and the simplification of bridesmaid politics, so we’ll hand over to Miranda to tell you all about it! 

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How we met

Miranda, the bride: I’m a teacher and Gabriel is a doctor. We met through a fix up – his brother and my sister were friends from university, and my sister passed on my number to Gabriel at a dinner party.

Then, after an awkward phone call, and some unsuccessful attempts at Facebook stalking on my part, we went on a completely blind date (all I had to go on was my sister’s description – “he is extremely tall with large hair”) to the extremely romantic (!) Cottons Rum Shack in Chalk Farm. We met at eight and stayed out until 2am, talking and laughing – it just went from there!

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