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An Enzoani Bride for an Elegant Jewish Wedding at Warren Weir at Luton Hoo, UK

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There’s not much that makes us happier than seeing a couple pull off the Jewish wedding of their dreams thanks to the work of some of our very favorite Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendors. So as you can imagine, the wedding of Smashing The Glass Brides Club member Natasha, a marketing manager, to Simon, a recruitment consultant, is giving us ALL the feels.

Natasha reports that she loved her time in Brides Club – in her words, “it was so great to know there was a group of other brides going through similar things that you could confide in, get advice from or just get support where needed” – and she also found two of her wonderful vendors through the group! Natasha and Simon’s toastmaster, Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Jango, is a firm favorite among Brides Club members, and true to form he kept everything running smoothly on the big day. And a recommendation via Brides Club led Natasha to Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Ann Louise Bridal, where she found her gorgeous Enzoani dress and veil! Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Alexandra’s Florist was responsible for the incredible floral chuppah, featuring an elegant mix of white hydrangeas, white roses, and greenery.

We’re also obsessed with the fact that Natasha and Simon opted to open their ceremony with a flashmob by the amazingly talented Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor XS Showband! What a fun surprise for the guests – and indeed, Natasha reports that people are still talking about it to this day!  

This is truly a special wedding – be sure not to miss the emotion-packed photos by Chiko and trailer from AtMotion!

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How we met

Natasha, the bride: We were set up by Simon’s sister. I became friends with her through some mutual friends and she always said that she wanted to set us up. Simon was living in Manchester at the time and one day we arranged to go on a blind date at Dim T in Hampstead. As the say, the rest is history…

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An Oscar de la Renta Bride for a Super Luxe Italian Garden-Themed Jewish Wedding at The Dorchester, Park Lane, London, UK

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There’s only one appropriate word to describe Sophie and James’s Italian-style Jewish wedding day: bellissimo!

Yes, if you breathe in deeply, you can almost smell the stunning Italian-inspired herb garden this creative couple reconstructed in their London venue, you can almost taste the limoncello, the bombe desserts, the gelato station… sorry we drifted away for a minute! I think we can all agree that wedding planners, Banana Split, know a thing or two about creating an incredible, immersive experience.

Sophie and James had their ceremony (conducted by none other than THE Chief Rabbi Emeritus, Lord Jonathan Sacks) at the place their relationship began, Norrice Lea Synagogue, under an ah-maaaazing olive-tree chuppah.

The party really got started at super-luxe venue, The Dorchester, which was transformed into an Italian heaven, with ludicrously wonderful floral arrangements by Wild at Heart. Seriously, a recipe for divine decor.

Let’s take a second to swoon over beautiful bride Sophie’s stunner of an Oscar de la Renta gown, altered especially to fit her vision – and what a vision she looked! 

There’s so much to love about today’s big day, from a singing groom to a rapping dad (YES!) but we don’t want our writeup to be longer than Sophie’s! So we’ll take a minute to appreciate the absolute photography GENIUS that is our Recommended Vendor and Smashing The Glass regular, Blake Ezra Photography. We have been lucky enough to feature Blake on many, many occasions, and he has knocked it out of the park yet again with today’s sublime spread of images.

Videographer AtMotion provided the beautiful wedding film below – and if groom James’s speech doesn’t make you well up, then we don’t know what will! Enjoy, and remember, Pin your gorgeous hearts out! 

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How we met

Sophie, the bride: We actually grew up around the corner from each other, but being a few school years apart, our paths never crossed. Our fathers trained as accountants together, and both our mothers went to the same hairdressers and regularly chatted.

Our fathers share a best friend, Wayne, who approached James in shul during the Kol Nidrei service and told him that he had just had an epiphany — that he had the perfect match in mind. He told James he should take me out on a date, and the rest is history.
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Real Jewish Brides – Charlotte: Picking our Wedding Vendors

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Charlotte will be marrying James on 26th August 2018 at The Brewery, in London, UK. Click here to read all Charlotte’s planning posts to date.

THREE FACTS: (1) James proposed to Charlotte in Florence…. on her parent’s 36th wedding anniversary (aaaah – we love that!)  (2) They are planning a Jewish urban-rustic wedding in East London (3) They have already decided on their wedding hashtags — it’s #dropitlikeitshart !


The venue is booked, now begins the search for vendors. Having been to many weddings over the past few years you get to know what you like and just isn’t your style or taste. Do your research and look at reviews, I found that vendors Instagram feeds are really useful and really show what they can do in abundance. ­

Make sure you go to each vendor with a clear idea of what you want and have your questions ready. This is your wedding and the one day in your life where you get to celebrate your marriage. Make sure you stick to what is right for you both. I’m very fortunate that James has the same vision as me for our big day, and that I have very open minded parents as well.

Tony Page Kosher Caterers
Image: Robert Shack from Georgia & Sam’s Jewish Wedding (Catering by Tony Page)
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Real Jewish Brides – Charlotte: The Advantages of a Two Year Engagement

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Charlotte will be marrying James on 26th August 2018 at The Brewery, in London, UK.

THREE FACTS: (1) James proposed to Charlotte in Florence…. on her parent’s 36th wedding anniversary (aaaah – we love that!)  (2) They are planning a Jewish urban-rustic wedding in East London (3) They have already decided on their wedding hashtags — it’s #dropitlikeitshart !


Planning a wedding with over two years to go, most people have questioned are we mad? Why not get married within the next year? I could not recommend more having a longer engagement, the date we have picked and the ease of not having to stress was important to us. We wanted to enjoy all of the planning. James is luckily relaxed and we have agreed on a lot of the same details and he is quite accepting of the ideas I have brought to the table.

Next was to speak to my parents about the initial plans. We had dreamt of getting married in Tuscany, it is where we got engaged and therefore is sentimental to us. We had sat down with my parents in June of 2016 ready to play a video of this incredible venue we had found, a castle in the Tuscan countryside overlooking Florence. We initially thought that having our idea accepted would be a sure thing, we had done our research and we were passionate about it. Unfortunately our pitch did not go to plan and we had it shut down. We were obviously thinking of the smaller picture, and not about how do we get our family there! Back to the drawing board…

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Image: John Lewis
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Four Designer Wedding Dresses for a Jew-ish, Chinese destination wedding at Castello Di Casole in Chianti Tuscany Italy

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What’s better than one gorgeous wedding dress? FOUR gorgeous wedding dresses, that’s what! That’s just one of the many wow-factor details of Cher and Tim’s Jew-ish wedding set in the Tuscan Hills of Italy, planned to perfection by Katy Cresner.

The dreamy Tuscan destination played host to a beautiful fusion of cultures, with Tim’s Jewish background and traditions meeting Cher’s Chinese customs. A Chinese tea ceremony followed by a Chuppah is about as delightfully diverse as it gets, with the inclusion of a traditional red dress for the tea ceremony, in which bride Cher looked simply divine.

We love the soft pastel color palette, juxtaposed against the natural backdrop of rolling Tuscan countryside – a mesmerizing, fairytale aesthetic. 

As it was a destination wedding, the couple turned it into an opportunity to provide a luxury resort weekend for their guests, looking after them with multiple events over the weekend. It looked, in a word, lush. We are VERY envious! 

The big day, of course, had several bridal outfit, hair and makeup changes, each stunning in its own right. The bride wore gowns by Zuhair Murad, Monique Lhuillier and Valentino respectively, as well as heels by both Jimmy Choo and Christian Louboutin.

All of the day’s details were captured beautifully by fabulous photographer, Chiko, supreme wedding videographer, AT Motion, and the write up is by lovely bride, Cher. 

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Jewish Wedding Castello Di Casole Chianti Tuscany Italy_0002

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Jewish Wedding Castello Di Casole Chianti Tuscany Italy_0002

Jewish Wedding Castello Di Casole Chianti Tuscany Italy_0002
How we met

Cher, the bride: We first met at Tim’s friend’s engagement party. He was playing pool for money when I started to mess with the game by lying on the pool table and disrupting the game. Although he went on to lose the game, and his money, it was the start of something special…
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