Orli will be marrying Ben on 30th May 2021 at St Pancras Renaissance Hotel, London, UK. Click here to read all Orli’s planning posts to date.
THREE FACTS: (1) Orli and Ben met on Jswipe. (2) Although their venue, the St Pancras Renaissance Hotel, couldn’t be more quintessentially London, Orli and Ben are going for a countryside feel. (3) Orli is a member of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club!
2020 the year of our wedding. At least that was what we had thought…
Looking back to the beginning of the year, I had imagined exactly how the year was going to pan out. I knew when I had to do each task with wedding planning and how every aspect of our wedding would look. Never could I have imagined that it would not be going ahead due to a pandemic.
Everyone kept saying to us was that it would be fine, it was totally unprecedented, there was nothing we could do but wait, and have we’d have nothing to worry about because September would be absolutely fine. So, that’s exactly what we did. We patiently waited and then we waited a little longer. The more we waited the more we realised the importance of what we wanted out of our wedding and how we wanted to be surrounded by the people closest to us and not having any restrictions on who we could hug.
After a number of incredibly hard conversations, Ben and I decided it was time to postpone. We were not going to be able to have the wedding that we had imagined and dreamt for so it was decided that we would postpone until 2021. The hardest thing in deciding to postpone was actually losing the date… 6th September is a date that I hold very close to my heart. It’s the date that two of my cousins got married on and their children are our flower girls and page boys. To me this date meant everything.
From the moment we made the decision, we felt like a weight had been lifted off of our shoulders and we could just enjoy our life now albeit still in lockdown. We could just enjoy being engaged! Something that is so often overlooked because you can easily get caught up in wedding planning. We didn’t have to think about wedding planning and more to the point we didn’t have to worry about it. We didn’t have to think about what we could and couldn’t have and how many people we could have there. Yet, as the original date gets closer, I’m feeling more emotional and attached to it although I know it my heart it is the right decision.
Since making this decision I have allowed myself to reflect on the silver linings that we have had since lockdown and there really have been some highlights. I started teaching yoga classes on Zoom from March and have taught around 40 classes since this which has been an amazing opportunity to further my yoga teacher training. We got Saffie on the 2nd May, just one day shy of a year since we got engaged and she has kept us both smiling throughout.
There have only been a couple of sleepless nights at the beginning which is good. The most important and valuable positive is that Ben and I have had the chance to spend more time together, firstly becoming co-workers working at opposite ends of the table and now spending evenings together walking along Hampstead Heath or in Notting Hill. Instead of going out for dinner a few nights a week with friends we have been cooking and spending evenings together that has only brought us closer.
So, whilst I reflect back to the beginning of the year being the planner that I am, it was all organised from January to October. It certainly hasn’t been the year that I ever could have planned yet there have been a number of highlights and silver linings. I have recently been thinking about when everything goes back to normal the areas of my life I would like to change. I have become more grateful and have started appreciating the smaller things…take the first time I was able to go out for a coffee to my favourite local coffee shop Dark Habit which was something I took for granted. I challenge you to reflect back on your last few months and notice what you are grateful for.
Catch you at my next post.
Orli is also teaching a weekly yoga session for our Brides Club members. Click here to join.
Click here to read all Orli’ planning posts to date.
Orli & Ben’s Wedding Vendors booked so far:
Venue – St Pancras Renaissance Hotel
Flowers – Blue Sky Flowers {offers 10% discount to all members of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club}
Band – The Function Band
Bride’s dress – found and fitted at The Wedding Gallery {appointment fee waived (normally £30) to all members of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club}
Caterer – Philip Small
Photographer – Promise
Videographer – AT Motion
Chazan — Eitan Freilich
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!
Guided by the world’s number 1 Jewish wedding expert, Karen Cinnamon, Brides Club is the private community for brides that removes wedstress and indecision and gives you what you need to plan with confidence. Join our Brides Club here.
