Smashing the Glass | Jewish Wedding Blog

Inspired Jewish Weddings

Looking for a truly unique London wedding venue? RSA House may just be ‘the one’

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Image by Allister Freeman Photography

Finding a venue  for a  London wedding can be a complete minefield. There are so many  generic venues  out there that will ‘do the job’, but if you’re looking for something  truly awe-inspiring, versatile and sophisticated, then I would enthusiastically  recommend  RSA House.

RSA House  offers a huge  assortment  of breathtaking  spaces for an unforgettable wedding celebration in the heart of the capital. From the chuppah ceremony to the reception, to a post-wedding brunch, they create truly special customised events that rival all other London  wedding venues.

Your venue will set  the tone for your entire wedding, so it’s important to find a place that you love, and fits your style. As one of London’s  most exciting  wedding venues, RSA House  would love to show you around  on Saturday 17th January 2015 on a personal tour at their exclusive VIP Open Day, so that you can see for yourself what makes their venue so exceptional.

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Clockwise from top left: Martin Beddall, Allister Freeman,  Allister Freeman,  David Pullum,  Allister Freeman,  Allister Freeman, Julie Kim, Jessica Alexander,  Allister Freeman, Richard Ford, Allister Freeman, Julie Kim

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Renata & Jonathan | A Monique Lhuillier bride for a 3-day French Riviera Jewish wedding at Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild, Cap Ferrat, South of France

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Weddings by the sea are my absolute favourite, so I’m a little bit obsessed with today’s gorgeous French Riviera Jewish wedding coming to you from the à¼ber-glamorous Cap Ferrat — a quite breathtaking part of the world that I was fortunate enough to visit last summer.

When STG regular, Polly Alexandre revealed the sneak peak to me, I just knew that Renata and Jonathan’s three day wedding extravaganza would be seriously fun to blog. This gorgeous destination wedding has more than a touch of class about it and I thought it would make for the perfect pick-me-up in the first week of January. Thoroughly elegant and sophisticated, the flowers in particular are unbelievably dreamy, with lots of beautiful pink and white peonies, roses and hydrangea. I’m also loving the sweetheart table, the macaroon pyramid, the suite of ‘magnificent garden’ themed stationery (complete with flower seed sachets!), and the jaw-dropping ceremony backdrop.

It’s quite the fashion fest too. I love the classiness of an outdoor black tie wedding, and Jonathan’s Tom Ford tuxedo is an absolute showstopper. Renata chose a Monique Lhuillier gown paired with Manolo Blahnik shoes, and then changed into a bespoke Femmes Fatales dress by Ella Tatarinova for the evening. I told you it was a fashion frenzy!

I’ve got the wedding film for you from Allora Visuals at the end of the post, as well as all the breathtaking imagery by the supremely talented Polly Alexandre. Take it away Polly and Renata…

French Riviera Jewish wedding at Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild, Cap Ferrat, South of France
How we met

In the words of Polly Alexandre, their photographer, Renata and Johnny’s love story involves two jetskis, two cities, one sea urchin, 40 spikes and a hospital.

Polly Alexandre, “This may seem like an unusual story and it’s definitely one of the most original I have heard for sure, but like all good fairytales it has a happy ending. The couple met on a group holiday in Kenya where Johnny persuaded Renata to come out on a jetski ride with him. However Johnny *may or may not* have gone a little bit fast and consequently Renata was thrown from the jetski into the shallow waters. She stepped on the seabed to catch her footing and “ouch!” immediately trod on a sea urchin that immediately shed over 40 spikes into her foot. So it was off to hospital to have them removed.”

“Feeling slightly responsible for her fate, Johnny arranged to take Renata for dinner in London a few weeks later, by way of apology. Except that this was a little more than an apology as rumour has it Johnny actually booked several restaurants for this rather special date…… finally opting for dinner at Daphne’s. The connection was immediate and soon blossomed into a beautiful romance. Despite living in different countries, the couple took it in turns to fly to each other for the weekend so they could be reunited each week.”

French Riviera Jewish wedding at Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild, Cap Ferrat, South of France

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Jessica & David | Outdoor, rustic, relaxed Jewish wedding, full of handmade and DIY details, at The Bivouac, Swinton Park, North Yorkshire, UK

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I was so thrilled when  the talented  wedding dress designer, Sally Lacock, alerted me to Jessica & David’s unbelievably beautiful and creative  Jewish wedding. I’m almost at a loss as to  where to start when talking about it — I’m like a New Year’s Eve Catherine Wheel spinning off in a hundred and one different directions wanting to tell you about each and every one of the exquisite details that make up their Yorkshire Dales wedding (and it’s actually the first time I’ve featured a wedding from this corner  of England  (NB. Please submit more from this region!)

We’ve got floral crowns, a  highly personalised ceremony, a patchwork  chuppah made by  all the couple’s  friends and family,  sewn together by the groom’s mum, and decorated with Yorkshire wild flowers, fantastic  music choices, the smiliest bride I’ve ever seen,  a “Balkanistic” boogie dance band,  beautiful wild blooms, a  jukebox filled with 100 of the couple’s favourite songs that guests played between sets and throughout the weekend, tipis, personal touches, and not surprisingly,  it looks as if everyone had an absolute hoot judging from the beams on all the guests  faces.  Every picture is  wonderfully happy and fun-filled  and smiley and exactly what a wedding should be.

Bride Jessica’s  report is a joy to read, and Alex Brenner‘s images will make you feel all warm inside and put a lovely big smile on your face. Without further ado I give you one of  Smashing The Glass’s  most immense weddings yet. Jessica and David, I take my hat off to you…

Outdoor, rustic, relaxed Jewish wedding, full of handmade and DIY details, at The Bivouac, Swinton Park, North Yorkshire, UK
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Jazz up your new year with Totem, the ultimate live Jewish wedding entertainment

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Happy New Year everybody! Here’s a post to liven up your celebrations in 2015 and beyond, and it comes with lots of goodies (a free evening of live music, and a very special offer for all brides and grooms) so listen up!

Joyous dancing at Jewish weddings is a tradition as old as Jewish weddings themselves, and is certainly one of the things I love most about a W-Day. In fact, when Mr STG and I were planning our wedding, music was way up there with the most important elements of our day. We spent hours crafting the perfect playlist, and would have loved to have had live music at our party, but sadly it just wasn’t within our budget. Who wouldn’t be thrilled by a live music set rocking, jiving, or jazzing up your wedding party? And what if the live music was guaranteed to energise your guests all night long with a fusion of the visual and acoustic brilliance of a live band with the flexibility and modern feel of a DJ?

Well, I might have just uncovered the answer to all your musical prayers with one of the best Jewish wedding bands around — Totem. They’re experts at reading the crowd and building energy on the dance floor by mixing and blending a diverse set of genres to appeal to your taste and guest make-up, meaning everyone from the Best Man to Grandma has an absolutely amazing time!

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See and hear Totem live in central London on 22nd January

You can read all the testimonials in the world, but in my mind it’s still vital to ‘try before you buy’, and see a wedding band perform live to find out if they’re the right fit for you. Well those talented Totem-ites are putting on a cracking showcase on Thursday 22nd January from 8-10.30pm, in central London, at the Landmark Hotel in Marylebone (as a matter of fact, just a stone’s throw away from Smashing The Glass HQ).

What a brilliant way to kick off the New Year! There’s no way that I’m missing out on this. Myself and Mr STG will be attending so do come over and say hi (I’ll be the one throwing out the crazy dance shapes). I’m so looking forward to meeting you!

To confirm your attendance to the free showcase, simply click on the image below and fill out the form, or email showcase@totem-tribe.co.uk, or call 020 8207 4794.

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Smashing New Year!

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2015 gold
Happy New Year’s Eve everyone!  I  wanted to take the opportunity  to  wish you all an incredible  year  ahead. I’ve been privileged enough to have had an  ‘annus mirabilis’ getting to know you all  and  I am so excited for what I have lined up for you over the coming  12 months. Let’s just say that  if you thought Smashing The Glass  was good in 2014 just wait until you see what  wedding wonders  I’ve got in store for you in  2015!

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the love, support, comments, content and interactions  from all over the world over the  past twelve months.  I’m so thrilled  that we share in the joint inspiration of Smashing The Glass.

See you on the other side…

Love K A R E N  x x x