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Inspired Jewish Weddings

“My best Jewish wedding photo” by Jonas Seaman

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A new weekly Sunday series where  I ask some of the world’s best wedding photographers to pick out their favourite shot from their Jewish wedding portfolio. This week it’s the turn of Jonas Seaman.

Jonas-Seaman

‘Portrait Walk’ by  Jonas Seaman

I love this photo from Misti & Asaf’s wedding in Los Angeles, California. There was so much about this wedding that made it special. First off, it was a backyard wedding which right off the bat I love. I love the more intimate ceremonies. The fact that everyone is there for something special, but the atmosphere is more relaxed. People feel more “at home” because they are! Also, Misty and Asaf’s style is right up my alley. From the Eames rocking chair in their living room to the ruby slippers Misti wore with her wedding gown, their wedding was just begging to be photographed. And, their personalities and friendship from our first meeting together pretty much stole my heart.

This photo was taken just after sunset. I took them from their reception for a quick portrait walk around their neighborhood. Just as we had lost all our available light, I though it might be cool to get this silhouette among the power lines. I was shooting with a long lens which meant I was laying down on the pavement about half a block away from them to take this shot. The thing is, the street was moderately busy at that moment. We had to wait for cars to go by, and then when there was a reprieve, we jumped into the middle of the street for the shot. Misti and Asaf were so excited with the music of their reception making a dull bass thump in the distance. They started dancing there in the street. I snapped this one quickly before the next car came to clear us out.

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Chitter Chatter with Rose Murphy, Owner and Creative Director at Rose & Ruby Paper Co.

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Rose-Murphy
Chitter Chatter  is a  series I’m running all about  inspirational women in the wedding industry whom  I greatly admire. These women successfully combine  running their own business with married life and, in a lot of cases, raising a young family.  The ‘Chitter Chatter’  twist is is they have to answer my questions  in just 140 characters or less….

Today I have the absolute pleasure of chitter chattering  to the beautiful Rose Murphy, owner and creative director at Rose & Ruby Paper Co,  the  award winning luxury British design studio. Rose creates  exquisite  stationery  for weddings and beyond, and she  also specialises in working with fellow creative entrepreneurs on branding their businesses and making everything beautiful. I first met Rose, and discovered her beautiful work, at Paperfest,  a London festival that celebrates creative, independent entrepreneurs.

Rose lives in Devon with her husband Brendan and dog Willa, and they’ve  just moved into a beautiful Victorian house which they’re  currently renovating to create their dream home.

What was  your first job?

Head of Design for a start up fashion company when I was 17. I was completely thrown right in at the deep end and the learning curve was invaluable.

Tell me more about your career before launching  Rose and Ruby

I worked as a fashion designer for various different companies, and then I set up my own company freelancing.

What made you start Rose and Ruby?

It was time for a change from fashion and I realised after designing wedding stationery as a little side project that working with brides was a lot lovelier than the relentless and stringent deadlines and often quite “challenging” characters in the fashion industry!

Rose & Ruby
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How to embrace being pregnant on your wedding day

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pregnant-bride
SmashingTheGlass.com’s founder, Karen Cinnamon, 13 weeks pregnant on her wedding day by  Earthy Photography

Karen Cinnamon, STG’s founder, was pregnant on her wedding day and looked absolutely stunning. If you too will be pregnant on your day, you need not fret. Read on about why you should embrace your little miracle, and some words of advice to ensure that your pregnancy only adds to the magnificence of your day..

The tiny second line on the stick you just peed on is the greatest thing you’ve ever seen. At this point you may or may not know it, but you have been blessed. What is happening inside you is so much bigger than any wedding, so much more beautiful than your dream dress, so much more precious than the ring on your finger. Like Woody Allen said, “if you want to make G-d  laugh, tell him your plans.” I am here to tell you that when G-d  tells you your plans — via a tiny plastic stick — it’s no laughing matter.

My most important piece of advice is not to let old-fashioned, subjective values ruin your excitement. The modern bride lives in a world where premarital sex is commonplace, and having children before marriage no longer carries the same stigma it once did. While religious considerations are valid, what is most important are the values you and your fiancà© share. This day is about the two of you, after all.

When women fall pregnant (before their wedding or after) some wait until the end of the first trimester to spread the news. Others wait till after the nuchal translucency test,  or the 12 week  scan. Regardless, it’s hard not to gush. Especially when you are at your hen  party and the number of toasts  or I-made-this-drink-just-for-you’s is endless.

Tell someone

You need a friend, a wing-woman,  at the hen  party and the wedding, to swoop in and replace your drink with a glass of cranberry juice. My sister-in-law was mine. She’d always make sure I was holding a colourful drink so that I was simply unable to take another. At the wedding, when she saw me holding a shot, she “accidentally” danced her way over, smashing the shot glass across the room. (Good save, but that shot glass was filled with water).

celebrity-pregnant-brides
Images: pregnant celebrity brides (left) Aleisha Keys, and (right) Lily Allen

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Yael & Or | An astronomical party for an Israeli wedding at Tel Yah, Tel Yitzhak, Israel

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Israeli-wedding
Sometimes you just know when two people are made for each other and this is most definitely the case with Yael and Or.  Together since high school, this fabulous couple decided to celebrate the start of their married life –   the first step in building their own Jewish home –  not far from the small town in Israel where they both grew up and where their families still live. Theirs is a totally sweet, and totally stylish tale.

You can’t get much better than a wedding by night in Israel.  It’s hot, fun, life-affirming and just good for the soul and oh my how beautifully this is captured by Chrisman  Studios.

Yael and Or had been crazy about these photographers for a long time and made damn sure that they had them snap up some of the most impactful wedding photographs I’ve ever seen.

I mean really, some of these images are just ridiculously beautiful — and characterful.   The shots of the swimming pool in particular look like they belong in a Taschen coffee table book.   They’re almost theatrical in their vivacity and vibrancy — which perfectly sums up an Israeli wedding. And that final shot… the  bride sure knows how to party like a rock star. Amen to that!

My other stand out love of Yael and Or’s wedding is their unique ceremony.   After cocktail hour, all 300 guests stood, yes stood, in front of  the chuppah — which just so happened to be on stage —   singing along to the Jewish prayers and songs, creating a completely engaged and loved-up atmosphere.  Perfect.

And before I hand over to the bride, it would be churlish of me not to mention  that apart from Or, there is in fact another  “the one” in Yael’s life — and that is her wedding dress.   Theirs was also a match made in heaven and one that was also approved by the whole family… even the groom!

Israeli wedding
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“My best Jewish wedding photo” by Paul Rogers

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A new weekly Sunday series where  I ask some of the world’s best wedding photographers to pick out their favourite shot from their Jewish wedding portfolio. This week it’s the turn of Paul Rogers.

Jewish-Wedding-Photography
‘Overjoyed’  by Paul Rogers

This is Hannah just an hour or so after marrying Simon in Harpenden last year. It was one of the best weddings I’ve ever photographed.

It could have been the perfect setting (a marquee tent in Hannah’s parents gorgeous gardens), or the fabulous music. Or maybe the incredibly thoughtful details or the delicious wedding breakfast. Nope, that’s not why this was such a great wedding to be part of. It’s always down to the people. And Hannah and Simon are two of the warmest, loving and most generous people I’ve had the pleasure to meet. They were having the time of their lives (as they should!) and Hannah didn’t stop grinning all day.

You could almost touch the energy in the marquee as the newly-weds arrived after the ceremony, and this moment during the Hora has captured some of that energy and love. It’s always a tricky thing to photograph – too far back and you lose the sense of being right in the middle of the dancing. Too close and there’s the danger of getting whacked in the face by an enthusiastic guest! But with Robert Capa’s famous words ringing in my ears “If your photographs aren’t good enough, you’re not close enough”, I’m right in there, where the action is.

I love this picture because it does what I think photography is all about. It’s captured a slice of time, when Hannah is overjoyed at her wedding day. Zoom right in, and you may notice that it’s not perfectly pin sharp. She’s moving, I’m dancing (really!) and the light in the marquee isn’t that great, so a little movement is understandable. But that’s irrelevant when the moment captured is so wonderful.

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