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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 French lavender-themed Jewish wedding at Mas de Garguier, Marseilles, France

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Lovely lavender, beautiful southern French rural countryside and a rustic-chic aesthetic define today’s delightful real wedding – Gladys and Jonathan are, amazingly, our first STG French-born Jewish couple to tie the knot in France, and boy, was it worth the wait! 

The day was full of beautifully personalized details – the portable chuppah with its adorable lanterns, the lawn games for guests, the country-chic floral arrangements, totally a treat for the eye. Gladys managed to secure her dream photographer, Rà©mi from Une Vie en Provence, to capture all of the pretty!

We adore the rustic aesthetic, but also all the heart and soul that Gladys and Jonathan poured into making their day just perfect and so ‘them’. We also think Gladys’s advice at the end of the post is absolute gold dust – so do keep reading until the end!

Over to Gladys for the big-day lowdown!  

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How we met

Gladys, the bride: Jonathan and I met at work in 20th September 2012. I worked in a PR agency and he was working for one of our clients. I met him during our annual open-doors event: I saw him and told to my colleagues that he was exactly my type of man!

Of course one of them couldn’t help to go and repeat to him what I said (like we were in high school!) He came and spoke to me, but nothing else happened.

A few weeks later, he added me on LinkedIn, then we realised we had several mutual friends on Facebook as we went to the same synagogue, and we started to talk more often.

It was a very busy period at work for both of us so we didn’t have time to see each other, and we also had the weeks of holiday season. After few weeks of speaking on the phone for an hour every evening, sharing dozens of texts messages each day, we started to date on January 5th 2013! We shared so much during the previous weeks that it was obvious. Our respective parents already knew about each other, we were just waiting to start our story.

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A magical Israeli-Australian forest Jewish wedding at Tsel Hadumim, Ben Shemen forest, Israel

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People – prepare yourselves: there is an abundance of pretty in this real wedding, and even we’re struggling to handle it – and we do this all the time!

We’re always in awe of Israeli weddings – the natural beauty of the place never fails to make for a stunning backdrop, and Israeli venues just know how to do magic like nobody else. Abigail and Roei’s last-minute celebration looked anything but hasty, in fact, it was absolutely packed with Israeli charm.

The day was captured by our oft-featured and much-loved STG Recommended Vendor, Herschel Gutman, who did an incredible job of translating the heart and thought that went into each choice into stunning, timeless images.

Gorgeous Abigail’s Australian-cool vibe brought an added factor of effortless chic, and her choice of dress, a unique, lacy number by Israeli designer, Adi Groman, was just perfect – a bohemian fairytale. 

We adore the significance of the path to the chuppah, which was lined with the Shiv’at HaMinim (the Seven Species from the Bible), making the journey to the ceremony even more poignant. 

On the wedding morning, Roei had a minor medical emergency – and not everything ran smoothly. But, once these two lovebirds locked eyes at the chuppah, none of that mattered. We can all learn from that. 

Over to Abigail for the full story on her and Roei’s stunning wedding day:

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How we met

Abigail, the bride: in March 2014 I arrived in Santa Teresa, Costa Rica – my last stop after a year of travelling, which included four months in Israel. Roei, who’s Israeli, was there on a surfing trip. We met on the beach and spent a week travelling together (I now know that he had already decided I’d one day be his wife!). I then returned to Australia with the intention of moving to Tel Aviv later in the year to study.

We messaged each other sporadically for six weeks, until Roei finally asked if he could Skype me. From that first conversation, we both pretty much knew. We spent four months Skyping every single day, often for five to six hours at a time (yes, we were both extremely sleep deprived, but we didn’t care!).

At the two-month mark, we decided to meet halfway in Thailand to make sure that we weren’t completely crazy prior to my arrival in Israel. The meeting at the airport was one of the best moments of my life, which I think is now only on par with Roei’s proposal on ‘Roy’s Peak’ in New Zealand and our wedding day.

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A Rosh Hashanah-themed Jewish wedding with a Suzanne Neville bride at Braxted Park, Essex, UK

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Anyone else have goosebumps? Scroll down. How about now? The sensation you’re experiencing is a result of extreme wedding prettiness combined with the unparalleled artistic prowess of much-loved STG Recommended Vendor and photographer extraordinaire, Blake Ezra. 

In fact, Tash & Jason’s magical secret garden-inspired wedding was a total STG Recommended Vendor-fest, with an appearance from fabulous makeup artist Philippa Louise. The couple also won their photo booth with Mega Booth in a Smashing the Glass competition. 

Now that we’re done blowing our own horn, let’s talk about the wedding horn (shofar) which was also blown (yes, smooth segue, we know). The wedding was Rosh Hashanah themed, with beautiful fresh fruits incorporated into the wildflower floral arrangements, honey pot and honey cake recipe favours and the blowing of the shofar during the ceremony. 

Gorgeous bride, Tash, is an art director and, as such, was delighted to be let loose on a wedding theme – and boy, does it show. Tash’s expert eye and attention to detail created a cohesive, overwhelmingly beautiful (and delightfully purple) theme that looks outstanding in photographs. And that wildflower-adorned Chuppah – a masterpiece! Bravo, Tash! If you fall in love with the images below and simply can’t get enough, check out her Instagram! 

We also adore Tash’s customised Suzanne Neville gown, with little embellishments to bring in her own personality and tastes. 

Tash and Jason’s Badeken and ceremony were full of heart and meaning, especially as the couple hadn’t seen or spoken to each other in a whole week! What willpower! We also adore the couple’s joint words of wisdom at the end of this post – so much fantastic advice. 

We’ll let Tash take over now to tell you all about how her and Jason’s big day came together. Tash – the stage is yours! 

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How we met

Tash, the bride: Despite having huge amounts of friends in common, and probably attending the same parties during our university days, we didnt meet until after uni, at a mutual friend’s birthday party, where else but Camden?

We were in a Blues Bar and got chatting. The instant Jason heard that I love to bake, and did gluten-free cupcakes (he was GF at the time) the match was made, and we set our first date after partying the night away! Our relationship hasn’t really changed. I still bake for him, and our worlds pretty much centre around food, family and friends.

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A cactus-themed Jewish wedding at Tubac Golf Resort, Arizona, USA

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Chag sameach! Tonight is the first night of Passover. I’m doing Seder night tonight at my in-laws. What are you guys up to? I’d love to hear all about your plans.

Today’s real wedding is our very own utterly fabulous STG blogging bride, Dara, the first of our wonderful USA crop to get married! The couple tied the knot at Tubac Golf Resort, giving their wedding a fun-filled ‘back to summer camp’ atmosphere. 

Despite being in a desert environment in Arizona, Dara and Alex’s wedding still evoked a romantic, wintry vibe, thanks to chic Dara’s clever choice of colour scheme. 

We have all the love for gorgeous Dara’s stunning dress (and we adore her story – it’s a fantastic lesson in how you should always try something you wouldn’t have though to try). We’re also major fans of the cactus stationery and succulent favours! 

All of the magical moments and delightful details were captured by photographer Lori O’Toole, including the particularly mouth-watering naked cake. Save us a slice?

Over to Dara for the rest of her big-day tale. If you like what you see here, check out her Instagram at @daraboxer and leave her some love in the comments box!

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How we met

Dara, the bride: Alex and I are a match.com success story! After a few emails back and forth, we met up for a first date, which was nothing short of fun, hilarious and wonderful. I knew very early on that I had found my husband.

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