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Real Blogging Brides: Jennifer: Our Trad(ish)ional Egalitarian Jewish Wedding

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Jennifer will be marrying Charlie on 5th August 2018 at Dartmouth House in Mayfair, London, UK. Click here to read all Jennifer’s planning posts to date.

THREE FACTS: (1) Jennifer and Charlie first met when they were just 17 years old! (2) They are planning an intimate elegant black tie trad(ish)ional Jewish wedding incorporating plenty of personal touches, their sense of humour, and love of all things rose gold (3) Jennifer is a wedding photographer herself so is planning her wedding as an industry insider!


An egalitarian wedding

I have always had a very strong sense of my Jewish identity. I grew up as a member of Belsize Square Synagogue (editor’s note: see the wedding published yesterday at Belsize Square Synagogue, here). I sang in the choir, taught in the Cheder and really understood what it was to be part of a community.

Belsize Square is an independent Synagogue, with a modern, egalitarian approach to Judaism, which is important for Charlie and I to reflect at our wedding. Charlie joined at the beginning of this year and has also fallen in love with the unique character of the Synagogue.

There is no “right” or “wrong” way to have a Jewish wedding, and this is something I love about our religion, it can be interpreted whilst respecting tradition. For us, having an egalitarian wedding is paramount.

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A Kenneth Winston Bride for a Musical Jewish Wedding with DIY Touches at Belsize Square Synagogue and the Liberal Club, London, UK

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We all know how overwhelming wedding planning can be. There are so many choices to be made, from color schemes to venues to symbolism and more — and so many vendors to choose from. Of course a wedding planner can be a huge help in sorting through everything that’s out there and focusing your vision, but what if you want to do a lot of the planning yourself?

Today’s couple, Bekka, a lecturer in international relations, and Benjamin, a musician and lecturer in music went for a wedding consultancy session with Smashing the Glass’s own Karen to help and advise with their Jewish wedding.

She directed them toward many of their fantastic vendors, from Smashing the Glass Recommended Vendor Once Upon A Paper, who provided the couple’s beautiful watercolor guest book, to Adams Photography, who captured all the emotion and excitement so exquisitely, to Smashing the Glass Recommended Vendor Prezola registry, which Bekka and Benjamin loved for its wonderful selection of gifts from different stores in the UK, as well as cash funds, Judaica, and charities, to The Wedding Gallery, the world’s first wedding department store, for the groom’s outfit.

All this freed up their time and energy to focus on the many DIY elements the pair incorporated into their wedding.

Bekka and Benjamin designed their invitations themselves and built their own chuppah, but music is where the pair really put their own stamp on the day. For one thing, their ceremony venue, Belsize Square Synagogue, was chosen because Benjamin is the congregation’s music director. So it was only natural that he arranged and composed pieces to be performed during the ceremony, performed by Benjamin’s quartet, bOYbershop, and three (!) choirs that he conducts.

We’ll leave it to Bekka, who looked beautiful in her ivory lace Kenneth Winston dress, to fill you in on the rest…

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Jewish wedding Belsize Square Synagogue and Liberal Club London UK_0036 Jewish wedding Belsize Square Synagogue and Liberal Club London UK_0036
A Venue with History

Bekka, the bride, and Benjamin, the groom: We got married at Belsize Square Synagogue. We chose it as Benjamin has worked there as musical director for 12 years.

The evening was at the Liberal Club (1 Whitehall Place). Bekka found the venue online. The venue had a small personal connection as Benjamin’s grandfather was a member of the Liberal Party, and Bekka’s father is fascinated with William Gladstone.

Mainly, however, we just loved the venue when we saw it. We also loved the idea of a dusky double decker bus ride through London from the synagogue (particularly for our international guests).

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A Limor Rosen Bride for a Playful DIY Jewish Wedding at Ikea and Alma, Even Yehuda, Israel

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We’ve got two words for you: Ikea. Wedding.

Okay, maybe we’re exaggerating just a tad. Today’s couple didn’t literally hold their Jewish wedding inside the Swedish furniture giant. They did that at Alma, a beautiful venue set amidst a lush garden (where they held their fab outdoor chuppah, natch).

But bride Carmel, a computer science student, and groom Etai, an education and political science student, did do their photos amidst the Billy bookshelves and Malm beds. They went for Ikea Israel due to its abundant A/C on an unexpectedly hot day, but the photos Flea Studio shot there turned out just wonderfully — such an unexpected and cool (in all senses!) location, and we love that this pair wasn’t afraid to have fun with their wedding pics.

The Ikea photoshoot wasn’t Carmel and Etai’s only cool idea. This wedding is chock full of heartfelt DIY touches, our favorite being their DIY patchwork chuppah canopy, assembled from squares inscribed with messages, quotations, and drawings by their family and friends.  

Oh, and did we mention that this duo has a super touching how we met story? We’ll leave it to Carmel, who looked so stunning in her off-shoulder Limor Rosen gown, to fill you in on the rest…

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How we met

Carmel, the bride: We first met in the army, and we were good friends but not a couple. We served together on the same base, when we came home only once every two weeks. After a year in the Israeli army I transferred to another base and a month after that Etai discovered that he was sick with leukemia.

Since I was in a closer base I had a chance to visit him a lot, and during this time I saw him every night, took care of him, and tried to make him happy. We fell in love at the hospital, and after a few month Etai got a bone marrow transplant, which luckily was successful. After he beat the cancer it was clear to us that we were in love and we decided to be a couple. 7 years later we got married <3

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A Mark Lesley Bride for a Relaxed Countryside Jewish Wedding at Braxted Park, Essex, UK

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How many weddings have you been to that have featured a surprise ukulele performance… by the bride?! None, you say? Same here. But Amanda and Adam’s laid-back, ultra-personal day, which included just that, makes us wish we could’ve been there to see it!

We admit we were predisposed to adore this Jewish wedding, since the bride is none other than STG Blogging Bride Amanda, but take a peek at Steven Carter-Hewson’s fantastic photos and Filmmakers of London’s beautiful video of the day and we bet you’ll agree with us that this looks like one fun wedding.

It’s not just the ukulele performance (which even the groom didn’t know about beforehand!) that makes Amanda and Adam’s day stand out, though. Planned entirely by the couple (with a little help from our Facebook community for Jewish and Jew-ish brides and grooms — thanks for the shout-out, Amanda!), keeping things personal and involving friends and family were top goals throughout. And we love some of the touching ways this pair pulled that off — by inviting different guests to give each sheva bracha during the ceremony and having family members hold the poles of their chuppah.

The couple held their ceremony in Braxted Park’s gorgeous orangery and their reception in a marquee looking out on the lovely grounds. The couple wanted to complement their surroundings rather than overwhelm them with dà©cor and not knowing much about flowers, Amanda wanted to make sure she found a florist who could take charge. Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Emma Sousa of Urban Flower Farmer was exactly that. Her subtle arrangements focusing on delicate greenery and occasional bursts of soft color, with candles and hurricane jars added to the tabletops for a little extra glam.

Now over to the bride, who looked so elegant in her champagne-colored Mark Lesley dress…


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Jewish wedding Braxted Park Essex UK_0001 Jewish wedding Braxted Park Essex UK_0033
How we met

Amanda, the bride: I work in advertising as an account director and Adam works in financial services. We met on holiday in Israel back in June of 2014, so we’re coming up to 4 years together.

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Real Blogging Brides – Alyssa: All About Our Jewish-Interfaith Wedding

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Alyssa will be marrying Colin on July 20th 2018 at Latitude 41 in Mystic, CT, under a chuppah right on the water… Click here to read all Alyssa’s planning posts to date.

THREE FACTS: (1) Alyssa first met Colin when she was just 13 years old! (2) They are planning a Jew-ish wedding where they hope to highlight the religious traditions most important to them as an interfaith couple (3) They envision their wedding to have a nautical theme with a relaxed summer atmosphere, great seafood, a fire pit complete with a s’mores station (oh yes!), and lots of drinking and dancing with their nearest and dearest.

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After the initial blissful moments of our engagement I was immediately asked the question, “So will it be a Jewish ceremony?”

Having been with Colin for the past 11 years it wasn’t the first time I had thought about what our wedding would look like. I had fantasized about what dress I might choose and what color scheme I would pick, but I had never really delved deep into the religious aspect of the wedding. Colin and I have such a mutual respect for one another and our religions that I always told myself we would make it work. But after becoming officially engaged there was no more skirting around the matter.

Religion or No Religion

As I shared in my first post, part of what drew me to Colin is his genuine ability to connect with so many different types of people. As a result, he has become sort of the male version of Katherine Heigl in 27 dresses.

Of the many weddings he has been in, and we’ve attended as guests, we have seen a wide variety of religious ceremonies. When it came to deciding on our own ceremony, my initial instinct was to go the secular route. I have many friends who have had beautiful weddings done by the Justice of the Peace, and I thought a secular ceremony might be the easiest way to accommodate both of our families.

However, a couple months after Colin proposed we had an intimate engagement party where a simple comment changed my mind. In the midst of all the congratulations, one of Colin’s family members said to me, “I have pictured him standing under the chuppah since he was a little boy.” In that moment, difficult route or not, I knew we personally needed to include religious traditions into our ceremony.

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