• About
  • Find a Vendor
  • Submit
  • Advertise
  • Brides Club
  • Your Jewish Life
  • Contact

Smashing the Glass | Jewish Wedding Blog

Inspired Jewish Weddings

  • Real Jewish Weddings
    • City Chic
    • Fashion Forward
    • Outdoor
    • Destination
      • Israel
      • Italy
      • Spain
      • France
      • Beach Weddings
    • Super Luxe
    • Budget
    • DIY
    • Same Sex
    • Covid Weddings
  • Jew-ish Weddings
    • Real Jew-ish Weddings
    • Jewish-Catholic Weddings
    • Jewish-Chinese Weddings
    • Jewish-Christian Weddings
    • Jewish-Greek Weddings
    • Jewish-Hindu Weddings
    • Jewish-Humanist Weddings
    • Jewish-Irish Weddings
    • Jewish Japanese Weddings
    • Jewish-Muslim Weddings
    • Same Sex Jew-ish Weddings
  • Inspiration + Guidance
    • Engaged? Start Here
    • Ceremony
      • Chuppah ideas
      • Jewish ceremony music
      • Jewish wedding ceremony 101
      • Jewish ceremony traditions
      • Ketubah Ideas
      • Jewish wedding legalities
      • Jew-ish ceremony ideas
    • Reception
      • Music
      • Speeches
      • Entertainment
      • Venues
    • Food & Drink
      • Kosher catering
      • Wedding cakes
      • Drinks
    • Decor
      • Decorations
      • Favours
      • Floristry
      • Guestbooks
      • Stationery
    • Style
      • Brides dresses
      • Shoes & accessories
      • Grooms
      • Bridesmaids
    • Advice
      • Converting to Judaism
      • Real blogging brides
      • Dear Karen…
    • Honeymoons
    • STG Live
    • Five Minutes With
    • Wedding Must-Haves
    • Wedding Consultancy
  • Jewish Brides Club
  • Find a Wedding Vendor
Home > Sarah & Ben | Vintage Tea Party Jewish Wedding at London Zoo

Sarah & Ben | Vintage Tea Party Jewish Wedding at London Zoo

20/08/2013 by Karen

LONDON ZOO WEDDING
Now this is a wedding that I seriously would have LOVED to have attended. It’s so different, so creative and incredible fun. I mean what could be better than a vintage tea party at London Zoo culminating in an outdoor Jewish dancing session and big party (not forgetting a drunken guest attempting to climb into the gorilla enclosure!)?

Just scroll down and you’ll see the bride arriving in a flower-bedecked Karma Kab,  the groom arriving by canal boat,  a seriously jaw-dropping vintage styled bride, a hand-drawn animal-themed ketubah, stunning photography by  Steve Poole  and David Klein  that captures some of the most amazing Jewish dancing energy I’ve ever seen, and on top of everything this report is a little bit special as not only do we hear from Sarah, the bride, there is also a bit of commentary thrown in now and again from our groom, Ben. A Smashing The Glass first! The idea for holding their wedding at such an unusual venue was triggered by Ben proposing to  Sarah in the Penguin Pool building…. aaaah, I’ll let Ben take over from here:

IMAGERY BY STEVE POOLE UNLESS OTHERWISE CREDITED

LONDON ZOO WEDDING SP 14 LONDON ZOO WEDDING SP 15
WHY WE CHOSE LONDON ZOO
Ben, the Groom: I proposed to Sarah at London Zoo  as when she was a child she wrote to Jim’ll Fix It to ask him to let her into to the zoo’s penguin pool building. She loved the architecture as a little girl – that space age type of feel – and she was a bit besotted with the building. When I proposed to her I organised with the zoo to take her round and then led her into the Penguin Pool building and proposed to her in there.

We also knew that we didn’t want a party in a hotel or ballroom, and we ideally loved the idea of getting married somewhere outdoors, but finding an outdoor London venue that could hold 250 guests for both the chuppah and the party on the same site, and that could also incorporate a kosher caterer didn’t leave us with many choices. Luckily London Zoo ticked all the boxes and we chose it as our wedding ceremony and party venue.
WEDDING PREPARATIONS
LONDON ZOO WEDDING SP 10 LONDON ZOO WEDDING SP 8
THEME
Sarah, the Bride:  We knew that we wanted to have a summer fete / vintage tea party feel and that really worked in the  beautiful garden terrace where we held the chuppah and Jewish dancing. We were fortunate enough to have an amazing, sunny day and the space couldn’t have worked out better for us.

KARMA KABS + CANAL BOATS
I got ready at the York & Albany and drove down with my mum in a magnificent Karma Kab which was great fun! Ben had his Tish on a barge and arrived with all his friends down Regents Canal in a fabulous barge from  Floating Boater!
LONDON ZOO WEDDING CANAL BARGE
LONDON ZOO WEDDING CANAL BARGE 2 LONDON ZOO WEDDING CANAL BARGE 3 LONDON ZOO WEDDING CANAL BARGE 4 LONDON ZOO WEDDING SP 12 LONDON ZOO WEDDING SP 17
VINTAGE BRIDAL STYLE
Sarah:  I found my dress at  Elizabeth Avey‘s wonderful shop in Tufnell Park, North London. She collects and sells really fabulous vintage wedding dresses and  has an amazing collection. I was expecting to go to a few different places but Elizabeth’s shop was the first one I tried and I found the dress that I wanted immediately!

As far as accessories are concerned I went to a vintage wedding fair in Chiswick and I got   a few bits and pieces there, most importantly, a shrug to cover my shoulders under the chuppah.

I bought my shoes from  Rachel Simpson. I did a lot of googling on who makes vintage looking shoes and I found Rachel’s designs and was delighted with them.
LONDON ZOO WEDDING LONDON ZOO WEDDING
CHUPPAH + CEREMONY
Ben:  With the sun shining, everything went to plan for our ceremony on the lawn and we were able to hold it all outdoors.  The chuppah itself belongs to our shul and was created in the name of my my grandparents.

My mum, my auntie, Sarah and a few others decorated it with ribbons and flowers and it looked great. I actually took some of the cuttings away with me after and the hydrangeas that were holding it down are just starting to flower in the garden.

The rabbi who married us, Rabbi Laitner, he is an old friend of mine from school so that was very meaningful and personal, and my brother in law, and my very old friend, Levi Levin, sung us in. Levi was the ‘Lev’ of Gilev but he’s doing his own thing now. His singing and music is simply breathtaking and was definitely one of the highlights of the day.
LONDON ZOO WEDDING BRIDESMAIDS
WEDDING LONDON ZOO LONDON ZOO WEDDING LONDON ZOO WEDDING SP 7 LONDON ZOO WEDDING LONDON ZOO WEDDING LONDON ZOO WEDDING LITTLE BOY 2 LONDON ZOO WEDDING LITTLE BOY LONDON ZOO WEDDING CHUPPAH LONDON ZOO WEDDING LONDON ZOO WEDDING SP 24
KETUBAH
Sarah:  Ben’s cousin who lives in New York is an artist and she designed a wonderful hand-illustrated ketubah. Very early on when   we were dating I told Ben that everyone has a spiritual animal which is the animal that they most resemble in mannerisms and behaviour. Ben thinks that he’s an elephant because he’s very tall and they’re gentle and spiritual creatures, but I think that he’s a polar bear because I think he looks like one! The ketubah is designed with a picture of the penguin pool where Ben proposed and as well as elephants and polar bears, there are also beautifully drawn squirrels because my spiritual animal is a squirrel!
LONDON ZOO WEDDING KETUBAH
LONDON ZOO WEDDING KETUBAH
TEA PARTY + DANCING
Sarah:  After the ceremony  we went to have a few pictures taken, and  It was lovely for our guests to wonder around the zoo and enjoy  the animals! Some of our photos were on the merry-go-round and a lot of our guests got onto it with us which was fun.

After that   we came back to the garden terrace for the Jewish / Israeli dancing with Shir, a fabulous klezmer band, and I have to say – that was my favourite part of the wedding. To be outdoors for that was very special. Funnily enough, because that part of the zoo is quite public, we had an audience of people staring at us looking very bemused too!
LONDON ZOO WEDDING SP 30 LONDON ZOO WEDDING SP 6 LONDON ZOO WEDDING MERRY GO ROUND LONDON ZOO WEDDING MERRY GO ROUND CHAMPAGNE GLASSES WEDDING
As it started to get dark,  the tea party on the lawn    which culminated in the Jewish dancing ended, and we continued the party with an amazing DJ (Dig It Sound System) inside the function hall in the grounds of London Zoo alongside a buffet dinner.

When you hold a function at London Zoo, you have to go indoors once it starts to get dark as the animals need to get some sleep!  Our caterers were great – I would recommend them 110%. We dealt with Aviva Elias from Saffron and she was outstanding from start to finish.

Ben:  One of our party-loving and by now, drunken, friends tried to jump into the gorilla enclosure at the end of the wedding. The zoo weren’t impressed… We begged them to give us the CCTV footage but they haven’t released it so far!
LONDON ZOO WEDDING SP 35 LONDON ZOO WEDDING SP 36 LONDON ZOO WEDDING SP 37 LONDON ZOO WEDDING SP 38 LONDON ZOO WEDDING SP 43 LONDON ZOO WEDDING SP 45 LONDON ZOO WEDDING SP 5 JEWISH DANCING JEWISH DANCING JEWISH DANCING JEWISH DANCING JEWISH DANCING JEWISH DANCING JEWISH DANCING JEWISH DANCING JEWISH DANCING JEWISH DANCING JEWISH DANCING JEWISH DANCING JEWISH DANCING JEWISH DANCING
THOUGHTS ON LONDON ZOO AS A WEDDING VENUE
Ben: As much as we loved the zoo as a venue they unfortunately proved quite difficult to deal with on various points throughout the day. In particular they struggled to accommodate the kosher caterer. I think a lot of the problems would have been avoided if we had done everything according to the way that they usually do it – but then the point of the wedding was that we wanted to do things our way.

AN ALTERNATIVE IDEA FOR A GUESTBOOK
Sarah: Instead of a guest book I got a massive piece of white card with a space in the middle cut out for a future wedding photo, and got all our guests to sign it in different colour markers.  With books you rarely look at them again, but with this, I thought we could hang it up on the wall and enjoy it on a daily basis.
LONDON ZOO WEDDING SP 28
ADVICE TO OTHER BRIDES
Sarah:  You can plan to the ‘nth’ degree but the day will end up in the shape that it does, and once the day arrives you just have to let go and enjoy it to the max.

Ben:  It was lovely to have people we knew and loved doing stuff with us on our wedding day ie. Levi singing us in to the ceremony, my cousin designing the ketubah, the rabbi being a very old friend of mine, as was the DJ. It made everything incredibly personal and meaningful.
LONDON ZOO WEDDING SP 29
SARAH + BEN’S LITTLE WHITE BOOK
Venue — London Zoo
Photography —  Steve Poole  and  David Klein
Bride’s dress — Elizabeth Avey
Bride’s shoes — Rachel Simpson
Bride’s accessories — Vintage Wedding Fair
Chazan / singer —  Levi Levin
Klezmer Band — Shir
DJ —  Dig It Sound System
Catering — Saffron
Transport — Karma Kabs /  The Floating Boater

Aren’t these some of the most beautiful wedding pictures you’ve ever seen? I especially love the ones of them under the chuppah, and the energy emanating from that Jewish dancing! And I am totally wowed by Sarah’s vintage bridal style  and her bold red lips – what a beauty. I really love this wedding for its creativity, its style and its joyous intimacy – a truly ‘smashing’ smashing the glass wedding – thank you to Ben and Sarah for sharing your special day, and I wish you both a very happy One Year Anniversary for next week!

Share this post:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)

Filed Under: Jewish Vintage Weddings, Real Jewish Weddings, Jewish City Chic Weddings, Jewish Garden Weddings Tagged With: Jewish Wedding, London Wedding, Rachel Simpson, wedding, unusual wedding venue, David Klein photography, York & Albany, Elizabeth Avey Vintage Wedding Dress, Shir, Karma Kabs, London Zoo Wedding Venue, Rachel Simpson shoes, Shir Klezmer Band, Steve Poole photography, Neutrals, UK

You might also like...

  • Sara & John | Incredible ‘Granny Chic’ vintage Jewish wedding, Kidbrooke Park, SussexSara & John | Incredible ‘Granny Chic’ vintage Jewish wedding, Kidbrooke Park, Sussex
  • Rachel & David | Garden Party Jewish Wedding at Home in LondonRachel & David | Garden Party Jewish Wedding at Home in London
  • Lee & Gary | Show-Stopping Jewish Wedding at The Criterion, LondonLee & Gary | Show-Stopping Jewish Wedding at The Criterion, London
  • A Jewish-French-Greek-British Animal-Filled Wedding at London Zoo, London, UKA Jewish-French-Greek-British Animal-Filled Wedding at London Zoo, London, UK
  • Sarah & Nick | Uber cool and intimate ‘Red’  Jewish wedding at Forman’s Smoked Salmon Fish Factory, Olympic Park, London, UKSarah & Nick | Uber cool and intimate ‘Red’ Jewish wedding at Forman’s Smoked Salmon Fish Factory, Olympic Park, London, UK
  • Amanda & Brian | Romantic elegance Jewish wedding at the Rosewood LondonAmanda & Brian | Romantic elegance Jewish wedding at the Rosewood London

About Karen

Loves great design, cityscapes, berry cocktails, and the word “yes”. Founder and editor of Smashing The Glass. Follow me @SmashingTheGlass

Comments

  1. Sara - Darling Lovely Life editor says

    28/04/2014 at 12:04 pm

    Karen you won’t believe this. One week after our wedding, life was pretty stressful as things were getting into full swing caring for my dad. John and I decided to have one last fun, carefree day out and went to the zoo with my mum and her boyfriend. As we were leaving, we spotted a Jewish wedding happening. At the time I was a wedding blogger and so I stopped to have a sneaky peek. That’s when I saw Shir setting up to play, who had played at our wedding the week before. I thought “what are the odds of walking into a Shir wedding the week after our own?” I’ll never forget that I phoned my dad and he was so excited to hear that as he was a big Shir fan. It’s a really fond memory, one of the first in my married life and one of the last really positive memories with my dad before he became more unwell. I’m absolutely gobsmacked to see this wedding on your beautiful blog as I was one of the crowds standing around gawping – but I was gawping at the massive coincidence and the beautiful wedding. Thank you for bringing this bizarre story full circle for me!

    • Karen - Smashing The Glass says

      28/04/2014 at 2:45 pm

      Wow Sara what an incredible story. It really warms my heart – thank you so much for telling me. The power of klezmer music and blogging!!

    • Sarah says

      28/04/2014 at 4:15 pm

      Hi Sara,
      How lovely to find out that our wedding had this fantastic ripple effect and touched your life, and your dad’s, so very movingly.
      Thank you for sharing the story. We will treasure it.
      Sarah
      x

Jewish Weddings by Country

Vendors We Love

Weddings by Colour


Jewish Wedding Gift List


Awesome Jewish Gifts

Vendors We Love

Get posts directly into your inbox

Enter your email address below and get the latest posts delivered straight to your inbox.

Mr And Mrs Smith Honeymoons
Kate Spade UK Limited
Monica Vinader
Biscuiteers Baking Company
Liberty London

Today’s Top Posts

  • A Birenzweig Bride for a Rooftop Jewish Wedding in Pink and Orange at the Four Seasons Midtown, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
    A Birenzweig Bride for a Rooftop Jewish Wedding in Pink and Orange at the Four Seasons Midtown, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
  • Dates in 2023, 2024 and 2025 to avoid for a Jewish wedding plus a 12 Month Wedding Planning Monthly Checklist
    Dates in 2023, 2024 and 2025 to avoid for a Jewish wedding plus a 12 Month Wedding Planning Monthly Checklist
  • A guide to the Jewish Wedding Ceremony and Order of Service under the chuppah
    A guide to the Jewish Wedding Ceremony and Order of Service under the chuppah
  • Chuppah ideas
    Chuppah ideas
  • Breaking The Glass – Jewish Wedding Traditions Explained #7
    Breaking The Glass – Jewish Wedding Traditions Explained #7

Subscribe by Email

Enter your email address below and get the latest posts delivered straight to your inbox.

Connect

Instagram
TikTok
Facebook
Pinterest
YouTube
Twitter
Advertise
Mailing List
Email Karen

Receive Smashing The Glass posts via Email

Enter your email address below and get the latest posts delivered straight to your inbox.

closeClick Here To Get The Ultimate Jewish Wedding Checklist

All content © Smashing The Glass 2023