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An Outdoor Jewish Wedding in the Bride’s Parents’ Garden, in Northamptonshire, UK

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We have a HUGE treat on the blog today – not only was Susannah and Simon’s absolutely gorgeous backyard wedding shot by one of our phenomenal Recommended Vendors, the inimitable John Nassari, but beautiful bride, Susannah, is one of our founder, Karen’s, oldest childhood friends — they first met at school back in 1987 (yes we know that’s a VERY long time ago!). So, it’s safe to say, we have a lot of personal investment in this gorgeous big day, and for good reason – read on!

Susannah’s parents hosted the celebration, which took place in a field of golden buttercups, under a simple, portable chuppah, covered in twigs and wildflowers. The atmosphere was so fantastic and festive, that even the sheep were having a great time!

A hybrid of classic country garden chic and boho beautiful blooms, the big day was the absolute envy of all summer weddings.

And, speaking of envy, can we just talk about what an absolute vision Susannah looked in her breathtaking strapless gown? It could not have flattered her more, what a perfect choice for an already stunning woman. 

We adore the heart and soul of the family’s involvement, the joy that is conveyed so clearly and perfectly through the photos – oh, and we’d quite like a slice of that divine buttercream cake if there’s any going! 

We’ll let Susannah take over now for the full story – we hope you love it as much as we did!

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How we met 

Susannah, the bride: We met in a yoga class (I run a yoga studio)! Simon turned up one day and then kept coming back!

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A Nicole Miller Bride for a rustic, outdoor Jewish wedding at Shady Lane​ Farm, Maine, USA

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Wellies on – it’s time for a good, old-fashioned farm wedding. Sophie and Henry’s rustic big day was everything you’d want and more – rustic, natural and simply gorgeous.

New York couple Sophia, a social worker, and Henry, a non-profit professional at a human rights NGO, met at college, on Sophia’s birthday, ten years ago. As it turned out that a boyfriend is for life, not just for birthdays, and, a decade on, the pair made it official!

The couple tied the knot at Shady Lane Farm, a childhood haunt of bride, Sophia. The wedding was adorned with beautiful, laid-back wildflower bouquets, the most woven stunning birch sapling chuppah, with a lovely story behind it and bridesmaids in blush. In fact, the entire wedding was handmade, with friends and family pitching in, in an all-hands-on-deck effort to make everything as beautiful as it turned out to be.

The love and personal details were perfectly reflected in the pictures by A.Fogarty Photography

Stunning Sophia wore a divine lace Nicole Miller dress, with beautifully braided hair – a vision of boho chic. 

Over to Sophia for the full story behind her and Henry’s perfect Jewish farm wedding!

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How we met

Sophia, the bride: We met in college, when we were introduced by two of our closest friends, on Sophia’s birthday! This was ten years ago in March.

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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 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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