Smashing the Glass | Jewish Wedding Blog

Inspired Jewish Weddings

Chitter Chatter with Emma Taylor, owner of Paperless Wedding

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Paperless-Wedding
Chitter Chatter  is a  series 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’m chitter chattering  to  Emma Taylor, wife, mother and owner of Paperless Wedding, her  online wedding stationery business. She  took maternity leave in 2012 and never went  back, instead dedicating her  time to raising her  children and growing Paperless Wedding. She lives in East London with her husband, 2 year old daughter, and 11 week old son.

What was your first job?

I worked as a hairdresser’s assistant on a Saturday. Washing hair, sweeping floors making tea. Oh the glamour!

Tell me more about your career before launching  Paperless Wedding

I was Head of Broadcast for a company that delivered TV Ads digitally to TV stations. Now I deliver email invites to guests….

What made you start  Paperless Wedding?

When we got married we created our own website and emailed invites with RSVP through the site. People loved it, so here we are!

What inspires you to keep growing and developing your business?

We offer something different, we promote British designers, we give couples the freedom to create, and I love weddings!

What obstacles have you overcome along the way?

Getting used to working alone, lack of funding, balancing motherhood and working from home and never having enough time!

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Rebecca & Daniel | An ‘Autumn in New York’ themed Jewish wedding with Mexican influences, and the bride in a jumpsuit, at Palm Door, Austin, Texas, USA

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Autumn-in-New-York-wedding
… And the bride wore a jumpsuit! Oh yes. I’m so excited to feature a bride wearing such an iconic, sassy, fashion statement. Move over Solange Knowles!

And why not? Rebecca wasn’t having a trad day — after all it was her second wedding to Daniel (more on that later) — and she decided she wanted to wear what she felt most spectacular in. And that was an elegant Alice & Olivia white, wide leg, cut out at the back jumpsuit with beautiful lines and the required bridal magic to make a big entrance.

In the imitable words of Rebecca “I realised that since this is my wedding … I could wear whatever I wanted”. You go girl! This is such a great reminder to all brides out there planning your day — try not to get bogged down in the “should’s” — it is after all your day!

The courage of this couple’s conviction rings strongly throughout. Undaunted by the fact that they couldn’t have the dream Central Park wedding, Rebecca and Daniel simply picked up the idea and brought the New York wedding to Austin, Texas. Complete with a Big Apple in the Fall theme. Check out those flowers, and the autumnal foliage winding round the chuppah!

Unsurprisingly the invitations came with a very creative and modern twist – which is completely STG. They both designed and customised Paperless Post save the date cards and invitations, splicing old photo booth pictures together — gorgeously personal and fun – and emailed them to their guests.. A great tip for saving money as well as adding a classy, individual touch.

There was one family tradition however that they certainly kept up with – Friday night dinner at the Tex Mex. The night before the wedding Rabbi Robbi lead them all in the Tex Mex Shabbat prayers over tortilla chips and margaritas. Upstaged only by Daniel’s uber romantic proposal.

Elissa R Photography captures the day …

Jewish wedding AustinJewish wedding Austin
An ‘Autumn in New York’ themed wedding in Austin, Texas

Rebecca, the Bride: We got married at the Palm Door on Sabine, an event space in downtown Austin. There was no real significance to the space, and since we live in New York we decided to have our wedding there based entirely on the recommendation of my parents who had seen a concert there during SXSW. It ended up being the perfect space though, with a homey but refined feel that really fit in with the entire character of the wedding.

Our general theme was “Autumn in New York.” We live in New York, and it had been a dream of mine in high school to get married in Central Park in the fall. Coming back to Austin for a November wedding, we decided to bring the New York Autumn back to Texas with us. The colour scheme was Autumn colours. We worked with Emily Leach of Bird Dog Wedding
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How much does wedding photography cost – and other such quandaries

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how-much-does-wedding-photography-cost
Image: John Nassari

After several requests from readers for such a piece, I asked the wonderful Anna MacDougall from Bride & Glory to educate us all about indicative pricing for each aspect of your wedding to give you an idea of what to expect budget-wise whilst you’re in the planning stages. I know it ranges hugely but for example, many new brides-to-be have no idea if a professional photographer costs £50 or £5000! 

Anna has put together this really helpful (and very readable!) post on pricing and why services/products cost what they do. She covers every aspect from photography to videography to the ceremony, the venue, catering, transport, wedding cake, hair + make up and more. Over to the lovely Anna…

And today, my Ducks, I shall talk to you about all things wedding budgeting — albeit not in my usual capacity of stressing the importance of setting, prioritising and (mostly) sticking to a budget. Instead, I’m venturing into the rather treacle-y and controversial terrain of trying to provide guide prices for some of the most common wedding suppliers you’ll be ticking off as you move through your wedding to-do list.

The reason why this is such a tricksy and much debated topic is the fact that it is the proverbial example of the ‘how long is a piece of string’ question. You’ll probably have seen a plethora of price guides in wedding magazines and, at the risk of alienating all editors collectively now, you’ll find that a lot of us wedding suppliers aren’t the biggest fans of their breakdowns. Not always but pretty often, they paint an unrealistic picture of average costs to expect, which leaves both you and the supplier feeling frustrated.

I honestly believe that there is no such thing as a representative ‘average cost’. Last year, I worked with one couple who spent £12,000 on their wedding day and another who spent £97,000. They both had the same main elements: ceremony, venue, catering, photographer, hair & make-up artists, florist, cake, DJ, transport — they were just very different in style and cost. Do you see why an average price is about as hard to find as a unicorn?

So rather than average costs, I’ll look at realistic starting points for professional services, and there’s a reason why I emphasise the word professional (and twice, no less).

How much does wedding photography cost
Image: Babb Photo taken from Missy & Yoni’s wedding

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Chitter Chatter with Louise Beukes, wedding stylist and blogger

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Louise-Beukes
Image: Anneli Marinovich

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’m chitter chattering  to  Louise Beukes, founder and editor of  B.LOVED, a place where she indulges and shares her passions for weddings, interiors, fashion, travel, family and beauty. Super talented Louise also creates trend-led editorial shoots for  Louise Beukes Styling. This women certainly knows her ‘pretty’!

What was your first job?

My very first job was an assistant in a garden centre — I’ve no idea why this appealed, I’m the least green fingered person you know!

Tell me more about your career before launching b.loved

I worked as a commercial designer in London for 10 years, designing high quality offices for some of the world’s biggest (and smallest!) brands.

What made you start  b.loved  ?

I fell in love with being inspired, so decided to do a little inspiring of my own!

What inspires you to keep growing and developing your business?

I think it’s innate in every business owner — the desire to do and be better drives me on.

What obstacles have you overcome along the way?

Leaving my day job was the biggest psychological barrier, it takes a while to get used to not having a regular income!

Louise Beukes
Images:  CKB Photography

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Rachel & Nikki | Jewish lesbian wedding with a nature-inspired theme, at Temple Emanuel in Kensington, Maryland, USA

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Jewish-lesbian-wedding
Rachel and Nikki put together a Jewish wedding full of warmth and love with a very personal vibe. Their day was all about sharing, loving and being together, and they designed their entire ceremony so that every part of it was intentional and meaningful.  It was based on a traditional Jewish wedding ceremony, with adaptations for their progressive values and the fact that they were two women.

One element I particularly love is that their processional to the chuppah was led by Nikki’s and Rachel’s 97-year-old and 87-year-old (respectively) grandmothers walking hand in hand down the aisle. Apparently there wasn’t a dry eye in the room from that moment on.

Sustainability was also central theme of their big day. For the centrepieces they chose bamboo, orchids, bonsai trees and succulents planted in driftwood. Guests were able to take these home with them and Nikki and Rachel said how wonderful it has since been to visit family and friends after the wedding and see the plants in people’s homes.

Rachel and Nikki are here to tell you more about their special day, along with images from Michael Temchine.

Temple Emanuel wedding
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