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A Jewish Wedding in Pink at The Vale Resort, Pontyclun, Wales, UK

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Jess and Louis, The Vale Resort, Pontyclun, UK

We’re so excited to be publishing our first-ever Jewish wedding in Wales today! Though Jess, a primary school teacher, and Louis, a tax advisor, now live in London, Jess hails from the small but mighty Welsh Jewish community, and it was important to her to get married back home in South Wales.

They chose The Vale Resort in Pontyclun as the venue for their summery wedding weekend in pink, filled with tons of gorgeous blooms in all shades of the tone, and we can’t get enough of it. Neither could Jess – she loved planning her big day so much that she’s since launched a small business, The Wedding Desk, where she support couples who are planning their own wedding so that they can feel prepared and ready to hand over to their suppliers / on-the-day coordinator on the day!

Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Claudine Hartzel captured the day so beautifully – in Jess’s words, “She was just like having a best friend and supporter with us every step of the way. From our engagement shoot, we instantly felt at ease and comfortable in front of the camera and knew we were in for an absolute treat after receiving our engagement shoot photos. On the wedding day itself, Claudine and her team were everywhere but never in the way – she made sure every second was captured and her photos really show the emotion and positive energy of our special day.”

We also love that, in addition to their general wedding registry with The Wedding Shop, Jess and Louis also set up a Judaica registry with Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Contemporary Judaica – such a smart way to make sure you’ll be gifted Judaica you’ll be proud to display in your home!

Now over to Jess…

Jess and Louis, The Vale Resort, Pontyclun, UK Jess and Louis, The Vale Resort, Pontyclun, UK Jess and Louis, The Vale Resort, Pontyclun, UK Jess and Louis, The Vale Resort, Pontyclun, UK

How We Met

Jess, the bride: Jess is from Cardiff and Louis is from Manchester but we both moved to London after university. We met during Covid on Hinge but after a couple of dates, we realised that both our families share very close family friends – turns out we were both at a lot of simchas together when we were younger and there’s lots of photos of us! We were also on an Israel trip together during uni but had no idea!

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A Zavana Bride for a Romantic Winter Jewish Wedding at Offley Place, Hitchin, UK

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Jonny & Sophie, Offley place, London, UK

We’ve got a really special Jewish wedding to share with you today! Sophie, a media agency manager, and Jonny, a private chef, had the most beautiful romantic winter wedding at Offley Place just outside London, filled with all the best things in life: food, music, and – of course – family and community.

Given that Jonny’s a chef, the food needed to be top-notch – and he even created the menu himself! And we love that Sophie decided to have a “L-ish” (ladies’ tish) pre-chuppah. In hjer words, “The boys get a drink with their friends before they walk down the aisle, I thought why not do the same with my girls too! It was so lovely to have some of my closest friends around me before I got married, highly recommend getting your hype girlies together to have a little moment and drink before.” How fun is that?

And then there’s the music: Sophie and Jonny wanted the best of the best, and they found it in  Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor The White Keys. In Sophie’s words, “their energy, talent, and incredible vocals created the most electric atmosphere.” Rounding things out were the couple’s incredible chazzan, Serge and super-talented Josh Nesbitt on the keys, who brought the ceremony to another level.

Photographer Marcus Curry captured the most wonderful images of the day, as did videographer Ayla from Reel All About It – who also created the most beautiful reels for Sophie and Jonny the very next day!

Jonny & Sophie, Offley place, London, UK Jonny & Sophie, Offley place, London, UK Jonny & Sophie, Offley place, London, UK

How We Met

Sophie, the bride: The short, not so romantic story, is Hinge! The new version of a matchmaking.

The long story is, we have always known of each other, living in the bubble, we had gone to the same school at some point and the same clubs as children.

As Jonny is slightly older than myself, he used to volunteer looking after and run sessions for younger children at a Jewish youth club called Chigwell Maccabi, ‘Chigs’ for short. My younger sister happened to be a part of this age group Jonny helped. She remembers him as the boy who used to make people laugh and run around in a monkey onesie, he remembers her as being loud and trying to keep her away from the boys.

At this very same club, Jonny’s family donated an award for volunteers each year. After his Grandpa got too old to present it himself, his dad Bradley would present the ‘Mervish award’ to those who had volunteered. My sister was the winner of this award and there has been a picture of my sister, Jonny’s dad and sister up on our wall years before we met!

I say she got the shield, but I got the trophy.

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