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Home > Amanda Adam

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

27/06/2018 by Karen Cinnamon

Jewish wedding Braxted Park Essex UK_0001
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…


Jewish wedding Braxted Park Essex UK_0033 Jewish wedding Braxted Park Essex UK_0033

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 Jewish Brides – Amanda: My Final Week of Wedding Planning!

20/03/2018 by Smashing The Glass

Amanda will be marrying Adam on 25th March 2018 in a Jewish wedding at Braxted Park, UK.

THREE FACTS: (1) Amanda & Adam met outside in a bar in Tel Aviv (2) Adam has a ridiculous sense of humor (as described by Amanda!) and we love him all the more for it (3) Amanda & Adam’s wedding is 100% focused on all the people and things that mean the most to them. You can click here to read all Amanda’s planning posts to date.


So here we are. My final post and the last week in my wedding planning journey. For those of you wondering, I most certainly did not follow all of the advice in my previous post and as a result, we’ve experienced a fairly stressful two weeks, culminating in a bout of flu in the Yaffe-Parker household at the end of last week!

I have no doubt that some of the virus can be attributed to the two and a half day stag do that Adam endured in Budapest, but I’m fairly certain this was more than man-flu! Fingers crossed that the terrible cough I’ve been listening to for the last 10 days disappears before the ceremony!

Jewish-Wedding-Villa-Padierna-Marbella-Spain_0015 Image by David Pullum (STG’s Recommended Vendor) from Salena and Stefan‘s Jewish wedding in Spain

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Real Jewish Brides – Amanda: How To Deal With The Stress Of Wedding Planning

20/02/2018 by Karen Cinnamon

Amanda will be marrying Adam on 25th March 2018 in a Jewish wedding at Braxted Park, UK.

THREE FACTS: (1) Amanda & Adam met outside in a bar in Tel Aviv (2) Adam has a ridiculous sense of humor (as described by Amanda!) and we love him all the more for it (3) Amanda & Adam’s wedding is 100% focused on all the people and things that mean the most to them. You can click here to read all Amanda’s planning posts to date.




The stress of planning a wedding is no secret. According to Zola in the US, 71% of couples said that wedding planning is more stressful than moving house or finding a job. In fact, according to the same survey, a whopping 86% of engaged couples experience at least three stress-induced symptoms including heightened anxiety, difficulty sleeping, short temper and headaches.

Reading this, I can definitely relate. Although I consider myself fairly laid back both generally and while wedding planning, I have found myself struggling when the pressure has become too much. For me, these moments fall into 3 key categories:

  1. Price-Shock
  2. Blame Game
  3. Will it be all right on the night?

Your pressure points might be different, but are likely to overlap somewhere. So here I offer my advice on matters of wedding stress and how to overcome it.


Image by Niv Shimshon (STG Vendor) from Asha and Matt’s Jewish wedding

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Real Jewish Brides – Amanda: My Top Ten Wedding Tips After One Year Of Planning

16/01/2018 by Smashing The Glass

Amanda will be marrying Adam on 25th March 2018 in a Jewish wedding at Braxted Park, UK.

THREE FACTS: (1) Amanda & Adam met outside in a bar in Tel Aviv (2) Adam has a ridiculous sense of humor (as described by Amanda!) and we love him all the more for it (3) Amanda & Adam’s wedding is 100% focused on all the people and things that mean the most to them. You can click here to read all Amanda’s planning posts to date.


365 days later…

Well, here we are. At the time of writing, it’s been 365 days since Adam and I got engaged. And what a year it’s been! Aside from celebrating our engagement and planning a wedding, we’ve had a crazy kind of year. We’ve celebrated eight weddings and received invitations to seven more. We’ve moved house five times (yep, that’s right), have travelled the country visiting the new homes and babies of our friends and celebrating milestone birthdays with our family and friends.

Jewish-Wedding-Pearson-Air-Museum-Portland-Oregon_0004
Image by Stark Photography from Brooke and Boaz’s Jewish Wedding

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Real Jewish Brides – Amanda: choosing my florist… and special gifts

28/11/2017 by Smashing The Glass

Amanda will be marrying Adam on 25th March 2018 in a Jewish wedding at Braxted Park, UK.

THREE FACTS: (1) Amanda & Adam met outside in a bar in Tel Aviv (2) Adam has a ridiculous sense of humor (as described by Amanda!) and we love him all the more for it (3) Amanda & Adam’s wedding is 100% focused on all the people and things that mean the most to them. You can click here to read all Amanda’s planning posts to date.


All I Know About Flowers

My knowledge of flowers is extremely limited and can be reduced to the following statements:

  • Flowers have healing powers, which, when combined with a glass of wine can instantly better a terrible day at work
  • They give a room character and make it feel like home
  • Supermarket flowers can sometimes surprise you and last for AGES, unless you happen to buy them during the week leading up to Valentine’s Day
  • In place of a vase, wine bottles, port decanters and other containers work just as well
  • Flowers are a great gift for any kind of celebration

I don’t know about you, but that’s where my knowledge pretty much ends. So when it finally came to talking about flowers for the wedding, I was a bit stumped. I love flowers, but thinking about them at scale, for a wedding seemed like a bit of a minefield.

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