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Jodie & Joel | Woodland-style rustic Jewish wedding at Luton Hoo, Hertfordshire, UK

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Happy 1st of the month  everyone! I hope that 2016 has been kind to you so far and that your wedding planning is going brilliantly.  If you haven’t booked  your wedding photographer yet, you might want  to enter our win your wedding photography competition with Claudine Hartzel, the brilliantly  talented camerawoman behind today’s gorgeous  Jewish wedding. Have a read of what the bride had to say about working with Claudine, further down the page — you’ll see that  if you’re the lucky couple to win this competition you’ll be starting the celebrations early!

So onto this beauty of a W Day. Although set just outside London, Jodie and Joel wanted to create a woodland-style wedding amongst  the lush gardens, lakes and waterfalls  of the beautiful  Luton Hoo  in Hertfordshire.  Initially Jodie, who runs her own mobile juicing business, wanted to get married in the middle of a forest so this setting was a perfect compromise. The table centres by  Platinum Raspberry  are particularly exceptional, and really bring the woodland theme to life.

This is a truly  inclusive wedding with family and friends involved every step of the way, from Jodie’s  step-brother singing a prayer under the chuppah (to the Indiana Jones theme tune no less), to  one of Jodie’s  oldest friends singing  Ellie Goulding’s  How Long Will I Love You   for the couple’s  first dance. Jodie’s  mum had secretly arranged  this as a surprise along with a few other  touches    – how thoughtful  is that?

Jodie has  some brilliant advice for all of you at the end of the post — I particularly love ‘Remember to say prayers for everyone you love as you circle  your groom —  it makes the ceremony that much more meaningful’.

Not only do we have the lovely images from Claudine Hartzel, but we also have the film from  Bloomsbury Films, which includes a heart warming speech from Jodie’s mum.  Without further ado, I give you Jodie and Joel.

Woodland-style rustic Jewish wedding at Luton Hoo
how we met

Jodie, the Bride:  Joel was one of my martial arts instructors. I later found him on Facebook, gave him my number, and the rest is history!

We got married in the grounds of beautiful  Luton Hoo  in Hertfordshire, just outside London. We just fell in love with the gardens — there was a lake and a waterfall and it was surrounded by trees and greenery. Initially I wanted to get married in the middle of a forest so this was a perfect compromise.

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An Anglo-American Enzoani bride for an English country garden Jewish wedding at Northbrook Park, Farnham, Surrey UK

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One of the best ‘how we met’ stories ever to have graced these pages is about to unfold before your very eyes. I’ll let the bride, Danielle, regale the full tale, but essentially the bride and groom’s parents were friends before these two were even born and their mothers fell pregnant at the same time. Born just six days apart, the bride and groom essentially knew each other from birth and what makes this Jewish wedding so very special is that so many of the guests had known both the bride and groom since the day they were born and had seen them grow up together — and apart (Danielle and her family moved to Florida when she was six) — and then together again!

No surprise then that this wonderful wedding is all about celebrating family with a closeness and an intimacy that I’m sure was felt intensely by every guest. So many wonderful touches, but one of my favourite is Danielle and Adam’s chuppah idea:

As the chuppah symbolises the four walls of a Jewish home, we wanted our family and friends to help us build this ‘home’. We asked all the ladies to pick out a rose and place it within the chuppah and hopefully while they did so they also made a wish for us and our marriage.”

I’m also very much liking Danielle’s Enzoani dress and those wonderful mismatched bridesmaids complete with baby’s breath flower crowns  — the perfect accompaniment to that scenic backdrop of blue skies and the Great British countryside.

Everything about this beautifully designed wedding at the gorgeous Northbrook Park is like viewing canned happiness and fun! From the personalised ushers’ pants(!) to the abundance of floral prettiness provided by Fairynuff Flowers to the Marryaoke and the “family style” Mediterranean cuisine by Eat Me. It all made for a rustic, relaxed feel of a family Shabbat dinner with people chatting and sharing food as if they had known each other for years! Oh wait, many of the guests did!

Enjoy this one peeps — the day was photographed perfectly by Cotton Candy — a duo of fun, fabulous women who did a brilliant job of capturing all the love and details.

English Country Garden Jewish Wedding Northbrook ParkEnglish Country Garden Jewish Wedding Northbrook Park
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‘Old Hollywood’ destination Jewish wedding at The Great Synagogue of Florence and Villa Di Maiano, Florence, Italy

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Olivia and Jacob  are one seriously hot couple  —  I mean just  look at  David Bastianoni‘s gorgeous  images of them both… And it gets even better. They chose a wedding theme of  50’s / Old Hollywood glamour meets The Godfather. Off the scale, right?!

Both  Londoners,  (they met 7 years ago at Nottingham University) the bride and groom opted  to marry in Florence, as that’s where Jacob proposed to Olivia. They chose the  breathtaking  Great Synagogue of Florence followed by a magnificent party at  Villa Di Maiano,  and their big day is every bit as glamorous and romantic as you’d expect. There’s an  immense  chuppah made from gypsophila, pretty blush  pink roses  and candles, beautifully ornate calligraphic decor, a classic convertible  wedding car, a mille-feuille wedding cake constructed in front of the guests, a phenomenal firework display… I could go on and on  and on!

As you’d expect, our bride and groom look impeccable stylish too — Olivia  in a beautifully cut bespoke  Suzanne Neville gown (based on a design that her and her  mother created), and Jacob  in a bespoke suit by  Cad and the Dandy. It’s a super chic  wedding, full of  panache, and lots and lots of heart.

Not only do we have the insane  images by STG fave,  David Bastianoni,  but we also have the 8mm film by  Marriage à  la Mode.Jewish wedding Florence
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Julie & Abe | Outdoor Jewish wedding, with a vintage botanical theme, at Vineyards at Chappel Lodge, Austin, Texas, USA

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I’m not sure if you know that when I graduated from university back in 1999, I embarked on a career as a graphic designer, having studied graphic arts & design at university. I’ve always had an enthusiasm for great design, and those were the days before digital so it was ALL about interesting paper stocks and beautiful print techniques. I’ve never lost that passion for creativity  (if anything it’s been amplified since starting my design company in 2002 which I ran until Smashing The Glass became my full-time business) and that’s why I so appreciate today’s wedding with its exquisite creative streak and attention to detail.

The craft and care for everything at this wedding is so apparent and I’ve been lapping it all up! I’m blown away by the stationery for starters – it’s magnificent. Luigi Maldonado, the art director at the creative studio in Austin where Julie works, designed the entire suite as a gift to Julie and Abe and it’s beyond beautiful.

And their wedding is a totally outdoor affair! They had their chuppah under an elegant oak tree, and their reception within a unique open-air ‘dinner tent’. It was essentially a tent structure without the tent itself and was decorated with festoon lighting so that guests could dine and party under the moonlight. Er… WOW.

Julie and Abe managed to mix tradition and creativity together effortlessly. Taking inspiration from vintage botanical sketches and illustrations of cacti and succulents, their colour palette ended up taking on a lot of white and greens, and cacti became a foundational element across floral designs, and decor.

Before I hand over to Julie let me just say that I know you’re going to go pin crazy with all the wonderful images by The Nichols. Enjoy!

Outdoor Jewish Wedding
how we met

Julie, the Bride: Abe and I knew each other growing up, and at one time in our teen-aged years, we lived about two blocks away from one another. I left for college in LA, he went to Israel and then to New York and back. Years later, after I had returned to Austin, we ran into each other while he was in town visiting. After that, we started seeing one another on his trips home and kept in touch long-distance. He eventually moved back to Austin full time and we got married a few years later.

Outdoor Jewish Wedding
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A lavish destination Jewish wedding at Vizcaya Museum & Gardens, Miami, Florida, USA

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Oh. My. Word. What a magical chuppah that is. Not only do the intertwined branches topped with hydrangeas, roses, and orchids look thoroughly mesmerising, but the candles within the glass spheres create such a romantic, fairytale feel too.

And there’s a meaning to it all as well… Because three of the bride and groom’s grandparents sadly passed away, they honoured them by hanging not one but three tallits (prayer shawls) within the chuppah structure. I absolutely love it when couples incorporate personal details into their chuppah and this is such a beautiful and symbolic idea.

Lemor and Adam married at the super luxe Vizcaya Museum & Gardens in Miami, Florida, and their big day is every bit as enchanting and classy as you’d expect. From Lemor’s dress of dreams (a vision of sophisticated yet delicate Lazaro  frills embellished with crystals and finished off with a cathedral length veil) to her shimmery Jimmy Choo‘s, to her glamorous ombre bridesmaids, and the seamless melding of Ashkenazi, Sephardi, Persian, Israeli, and American traditions throughout the day. Enjoy all the wonderful details and get ready to swoon!

Lemor and Adam — thank you for having such an à¼ber stylish  wedding and thank you Maloman Studios for capturing it so wonderfully and submitting it to Smashing The Glass.

Vizcaya Museum & Gardens wedding
how we met

Lemor, the Bride: We met at a charity fundraiser for Israel that I serve on the board for. I walked up to a friend to say hello and he was talking to Adam, who he then introduced me to. We saw each other the next night at another event for the charity, and the rest is history!
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