Today on the blog we’re introducing our latest gorgeous crop of 2020 / 2021 Real Jewish Brides! Please give a warm welcome to Charlotte, who will be marrying Adam on 25th April 2021 at Swynford Manor in Newmarket, UK.
THREE FACTS: (1) Adam proposed to Charlotte on holiday in Cyprus (2) Charlotte and Adam met at work in London (3) Charlotte is a member of STG Brides Club!
How we met
Adam, the groom to be, and I met in October 2014 when I was working in London. Things had been a little chaotic and my manager at the time recruited an advisor to come and provide support to the company on a temporary basis. One day my manager came to me and said, “I bought you a present”. Me being me (who loves a present!) got incredibly excited only to find out it was a person, the advisor.
Filled with utter disappointment I wasn’t bought a present I met this man, Adam. Aim of the day was to get to know the business so; he rolled up his sleeves and helped me work. While I was handling various issues Adam questioned me on my plans for the weekend, telling me he had to travel back to Southampton ready for a blind date. Later I would find out this was his poor effort to determine if I was single.
While I continued to work he found a post-it note, wrote his number on it, gave it to me and left! Adam effectively being my boss made me unsure so after many coffee dates and waffles with best friend Natalie (and bridesmaid to be!) I text him on January 14th 2015!
The dating game
After the 14th January we spoke every day for 2 weeks until we had our first date. On our first ‘official’ date we saw Jo Brand and went out for pancakes. Not really knowing each other all that well Adam suggested we get some champagne, I of course, said yes! To this day Adam tells me he was being sarcastic when he asked, whoops!
The start of a new relationship and it was long distance, me living in North London and him living in Southampton. Just over 2 weeks after our first date on a Valentine’s Day in Southampton Adam and I booked a holiday! A holiday we would go on 2 weeks later. Needless to say my mum was not very impressed with me but, I was sure, I knew, something about this man was different to anyone else and I knew he was the man for me.
The Proposal
Since our friends moved to Cyprus (one of them is the manager that introduced us) we have started taking an annual trip each September to a gorgeous apartment by the sea and 2019 was no different. On our first day in Cyprus everything was just as I would have expected it to be, it wasn’t until later that day when Adam started acting a little strangely, he was a little less talkative, a little more smiley, I didn’t think anything of it and put it down to the fact he was in holiday mode.
We had an amazing day and that night as I dressed for dinner he told me to change in something ‘prettier’, again, a little odd, but I ignored it. Adam and I don’t drink much so his suggestion of drinks before dinner was unusual but, we were on holiday, why not! We had dinner at a gorgeous outdoor local restaurant with a trellis ceiling covered in leaves and flowers, it was beautiful.
Dinner was followed by a long walk along the beach with ice cream. Having walked nearly a mile Adam asked me to join him in a hole someone had dug on the beach and there, in a hole, on the beach in Cyprus Adam asked me to marry him.
I couldn’t have asked for anything more special or more perfect.
Looking back I probably should have been a little suspicious as he was more nervous at the airport than ever before and even said yes to champagne with breakfast! (And this time it wasn’t sarcasm!)
The Wedding Planning Commences
Prior to the engagement, my dad has long said that I know what I want for my wedding and all I needed was a groom. My dad, as he would say, is always right.
I leapt straight in to wedding planning and couldn’t wait to get started! Adam on the other hand was much more relaxed. Adam isn’t Jewish and hadn’t been to many weddings before so he wasn’t sure about things he did or didn’t want at the wedding. What we were sure of is that our wedding would be an interfaith wedding of sorts.
Our main ceremony will be a civil ceremony followed by elements of Jewish wedding traditions. Adam and I are so relaxed and have our childish moments and that’s what we want from our wedding. We hope our wedding will be an elegant, minimalistic, relaxed day full or joy and laughter and, weather permitting, lawn games in the gardens of the venue!
Our wedding is roughly 150 people for the day so we needed a venue to only fit our numbers but in the right part of the UK. My family lives in and around London and Adam’s towards Sheffield and Yorkshire. I had very particular ideas about where I could see myself getting married and trying to find somewhere that matched what was in my head was not an easy task. Driving up to the venue Adam and I knew this was the place we wanted to get married.
Our venue Swynford Manor ticked all of my boxes, ticked the few boxes Adam had and ticked boxes we didn’t even know we had. Just 44 days after Adam popped the question our date, registrar and venue were booked!
Vendors Booked so Far
The app, Bridebook, quickly became my wedding planner, an app to share with Adam and my parents so that we could all plan and share in the enjoyment together. Adam and I both have very busy jobs and we both do a lot of travelling around during the week so I knew in the very early stages of wedding planning I knew I wanted to get planning and take my time so there was no stress and no worry.
When we first saw my parents after returning from Cyprus we stayed up for hours coming up with ideas and suggestions and within a week of the proposal the colour scheme for the engagement party and the wedding was decided. Things started to come together really quickly!
After trolling through Instagram, wedding fairs and interviewing vendors we chose our photographer(s). For us, it was important to have photographs that are natural, in the moment shots and not a series of family portraits and we found just that in Darren and Rosy at Point and Click Photography.
Darren and Rosy are a husband and wife photography duo and they had the perfect vibe from the moment we met them and they complete understood what we wanted from the day. To make it better, they had also done weddings at Swynford before. We (mainly me) cannot wait for our engagement shoot in June!
Our venue sent us a list of recommend suppliers and after having looked at them and a recommendation from a friend we chose a florist. My mum and I had been sharing wedding inspiration with each other via Instagram for some time and we both pictured the same thing for mine and Adam’s wedding.
Flowers not being Adam’s point of interest and my mum went ahead with planning what flowers we were imagining. Stacey at Designer Flowers Essex was amazing, she listened to everything I wanted and made some beautiful recommendations for the flowers, I cannot wait to see what she puts together!
Videography was something Adam and I knew we wanted but was not that high on the list of ‘must haves’. Our Videographer is a man Adam works with. He was the photographer at our engagement party and is new to wedding videography. He was recommended to us by a colleague of Adam’s and can do everything we want and well within our budget which for this vendor we were struggling to do!
Despite it only being 6 months since Adam proposed and a year (or so) until the wedding, I also have my dress! The dress is…perfect. As much as I would love to gush about my dress, Adam will read this so best kept a secret. My dress is from Davids Bridal in Watford and Paulina was absolutely fantastic.
With a year to go we have done loads and we are both calm and relaxed about the whole day! We’ve even got name places sorted! We are totally on a roll and enjoying our engagement!
What marriage means to us
Our relationship is full of laughter and joking and our relaxed and happy attitude towards each other live makes our relationship special. Having already lived together for 3 and half years and going through health issues and job losses we know the support we can provide each other and the patience and love it takes build a solid foundation to build our lives on.
Marriage to us is the next step in our relationship. Our love and our lives will not change simply because we are husband and wife however; I believe that our wedding and our marriage is the start of the beginning of Adam and me creating our own family.
Click here to read all Charlotte’s planning posts to date
Charlotte & Adam’s Wedding Vendors booked so far:
Photography – Point and Click Photography
Wedding venue – Swynford Manor
Flowers – Designer Flowers Essex
Dress – Davids Bridal
If you’re a Jewish or Jew-ish bride-to-be, join Smashing The Glass’ Brides Club for step-by-step guides, handpicked wedding vendor discounts, Jewish wedding action plans, a free smash glass pouch, Jewish wedding checklists and templates, and SO much more!
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