Smashing the Glass | Jewish Wedding Blog

Inspired Jewish Weddings

12 non-typical designer wedding dresses featuring Lanvin, Temperley, Herve Leger, Roland Mouret, Matthew Williamson & more

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Net A Porter Wedding
[image: Grazia Daily]

If you’re looking for an  “un-typical” wedding dress  and don’t want to  limit yourself to the dresses that designers designate as wedding apparel you’re going to love  Net A Porter’s Wedding Dress Gallery.

The clever peeps at NAP  have examined countless collections and selected super-cool white dresses that could work just as well for walking down the aisle as for glamming up for a Saturday night. So not only do you pull off an ‘un-typical’ look for your wedding day, you also get to wear your  dress again!

I also love the idea of trying on dresses in the  comfort of your own home and making a whole night of it with your mum / sister / girlfriends / champagne / dark chocolate / tea!  Order as much as your credit card will allow and try on all the dresses where you feel your most comfortable.

Below are my favourites but you can ogle the entire  collection here.

TEMPERLEY LONDON  Romily embellished silk-blend chiffon gown: £3200
Temperley London’s  silk-blend chiffon  gown is decorated with floral appliquà©s  and  crystal  and  bead  embellishments.
Temperley London Wedding Dress

MARCHESA  Chantilly lace and satin gown: £5660
Marchesa’s  ivory  gown echoes modern romance –  Chantilly lace  andtulle  are beautifully draped over a full  satin  skirt, trailing to an elegant train.
Marchesa Wedding Dress

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My interview with top UK Wedding Bridal Hair Stylist, Ondine Cowley

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Ondine Cowley wedding hair 6 Whenever I receive an  email from a bride-to-be asking me if I can recommend a hair stylist for her  wedding day,  I always have just one answer: the wonderful Ondine Cowley, who offers a full suite of wedding day hair styling services all stamped with her trademark artistic  British  flair.

She’s styled the hair of  Kate Beckinsale, Courtney Love, Kevin Spacey, Jenson Button,  Royals and BAFTA  award winners, and  I’m delighted to be interviewing her today as part of my Wedding Smashers series.

Ondine tells us about how she worked her way up at  Nicky Clarke  from apprentice to Style Director, lets us in on 2014’s essential bridal hair trends and shares some valuable snippets of business advice.
Ondine Cowley wedding hair 20
So Ondine, what’s the ‘Ondine Cowley’ story? How did you get into hair styling, and what’s happened between then and now?

I’ve always known what I’ve wanted to do since the age of 11. I  used to spend my weekends watching a particular hairdresser style hair near to where I  lived and I was totally fascinated by the transformations.

I got a weekend job when I  was 13 at Toni & Guy and one day  my father said to me “Ondine, if you really want to take this seriously you need to train at the best salon”. He was right of course  so once I’d completed  my GCSE’s  I applied for a position as an apprentice at Nicky Clarke  and  14 years later I’m still there! I trained for 3 ½ years and have  worked my way up to Style Director where I specialise in wedding hair.

I realised quite early on that i had a passion for ‘hair-ups’ and weddings. Nicky himself is incredible at sculpting hair as was a stylist called Jo who is no longer with us. I learnt my artistic skills from them both.
Ondine Cowley wedding hair 6

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Lauren & Gabe | Super Luxe City Chic Jewish Wedding at The Waldorf, Aldwych, London

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london-wedding
Honestly folks I LOVE the  vibrancy and spirit of this  wedding. Lauren is the most beautiful bride and Gabe is one heck of a dashing groom.  David Pullum, their immense photographer, has a brilliant knack for capturing emotions and this set of images is certainly testament to that. Despite the fantastically glamorous venue, this wedding is all about the people… you can see the joy and energy in every single photo… and  the epic dancing at the end. I’m telling you,  those guests have ALL the moves!

David, the photographer says, “Gabe is one of those people that makes you feel like you have known him for ages, even though you have only just met  —  he is infectious, and a lovely person to be around. Lauren is beautiful, a model who also played the DJ in the Robbie Williams video Rock DJ. The two of them make a wonderful couple.”

“The ceremony was attended by family and friends, actors, models, footballers and more cricketers than you could throw a stick at  —  it was a truly fantastic day, with the most riotous Israeli dancing I have witnessed. To see the rabbi dancing in between Freddie Flintoff and Kevin Pieterson was hilarious.”

VENUE
Lauren, the Bride: We chose The  Waldorf on the Aldwych. We walked in and it just was so beautiful!
Super Luxe City Chic Jewish Wedding at The Waldorf, Aldwych,London Super Luxe City Chic Jewish Wedding at The Waldorf, Aldwych,London 54 Super Luxe City Chic Jewish Wedding at The Waldorf, Aldwych,London Super Luxe City Chic Jewish Wedding at The Waldorf, Aldwych,London
MY BRIDAL STYLE
My dress was from a designer called Lusan Mandangous… I saw the back of the dress online and fell in love with it.  I borrowed my jewellery from my best friend so it was ‘something borrowed’.  In terms of shoes, I went with skyscrapers – 4 inches heels to be precise! My husband Gabe is 6 ft 4 inches and I love a heel!

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Anika & Dan | Jewish / Hindu multi-cultural wedding at the Mandarin Oriental  London

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Jewish-Hindu-Wedding
Er….. WOW!

That’s pretty much all I said for 5 minutes when Anika  and Dan’s Jewish/Hindu (or HinJew) fusion wedding hit my inbox. These two  certainly know how to throw a party. And throw a party they did — more specifically a big day that embraced a vibrant union  of culture, tradition and romance, all  beautifully captured by  Aneta Mak.

I’m particularly impressed with the way that  Anika  and Dan intertwined two  religions and both Indian and Jewish heritage into the ceremony. It’s  a tricky issue  for many interfaith couples  but these two did it with authenticity and heaps of style and panache.

I almost don’t know where to begin telling their epic wedding story, but luckily for me Anika, the bride  explains it a lot better than I ever could.
HinJew Wedding Jewish Hindu multi cultural wedding at the Mandarin Oriental London 3
Anika, the bride:  I think most couples want their wedding to be a true reflection of themselves. Dan and I were no different in this respect, we wanted our wedding to showcase our passion for food and how we love to throw a good party, whilst also reflecting both our Indian and Jewish heritages.
The Mandarin Oriental enabled us to do just this. They were super accommodating on the food front, creating a menu that was non-offensive to Jews and Hindus that was also distinctly fusion, and the ball room is stunning and was the perfect place for us party hard after the day’s festivities. It ticked all our  boxes.
Jewish Hindu multi cultural wedding at the Mandarin Oriental London 6 Jewish Hindu multi cultural wedding at the Mandarin Oriental London 6

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Abby & Elliot | DIY mid-century woodland Jewish wedding, Sequoia Lodge, Oakland, CA

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Woodland wedding “Take the time to make the ceremony really meaningful; go beyond the template to something that truly represents your spiritual and personal beliefs.”

That’s the brilliant advice from today’s couple who built in a lot of personal elements, unique to their lives and relationship to create a truly meaningful and memorable, pure and sacred wedding ceremony.
DIY Woodland wedding
Elliot is a rabbi and Abby is a writer with musical background and together they worked in a lot of spiritual, literary, and musical touches. Their whole W-day was a truly handcrafted affair and the creative couple beavered away on several projects to create their charming mid-century woodland wedding… the exquisite home-made jam favours that doubled up as table numbers, the fifties-style dress, the handmade wedding programs, the challah and cake, the privacy tent (more on that later). Almost every detail was created by Abby, Elliot, or one of their talented family and friends. There was even an appointed ‘decor captain’ so that their woodland theme permeated effortlessly throughout!

Both Abby and Elliot report on their wedding and they have a gorgeous set of images from Miki Vargas  that truly capture the emotions and spirit of their day.
DIY Woodland wedding 3 DIY Woodland wedding

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