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A Jewish-Indian Wedding with an ‘East Meets West’ theme at Sopwell House, St Albans, UK

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Jewish-Indian wedding, Sopwell House, UK_0047
What happens when you blend two beautiful, family-oriented cultures? The Jewish-Indian wedding of the year, that’s what! 

Sharon and Simon took their favorite elements from their respective upbringings and brought them together for a gorgeous cultural fusion, celebrating their globetrotting history as a couple, and culminating in an epic party, led by our sensational Recommended Vendor, The Function Band. Check out their incredible dance floor-filling mashup in the video below!

Catering a Jewish-Indian wedding, of course, meant enough food to feed a small army – with a delicious ‘East meets West’ catering theme. We’re getting hungry just thinking about it.

Beautiful bride, Sharon, looked absolutely sublime in her traditional Indian dress, adjusted to incorporated western colors, adorned with antique-inspired accessories, against the picturesque backdrop of her blush pink, navy blue and ivory color scheme. 

The inclusion of family was very important to the happy couple, with thoughtful groom Simon and his family performing a surprise Bollywood dance for his bride.

All of the action was captured by photographer, Ed Godden, and was written up below by Sharon herself. We’ll pass you over to her now for the full story! 

Jewish-Indian wedding, Sopwell House, UK_0047 Jewish-Indian wedding, Sopwell House, UK_0047Jewish-Indian wedding, Sopwell House, UK_0047 Jewish-Indian wedding, Sopwell House, UK_0047
An ‘East meets West’ theme

Sharon, the bride: We got married at Sopwell House in Hertfordshire. We wanted a venue that could accommodate 200 guests, and Sopwell House was perfect for us, as they are very experienced with dealing with big weddings and have different options of venue rooms, as well as beautiful gardens.

We also had in mind that we wanted the day to bring elements of both of cultures together. We had an idea that we would like to have an ‘east meets west’ theme for the food, and Sopwell House were amazing in creating a bespoke menu that added Indian elements to the dishes.

As we wanted the ceremony and reception to be held in one place, we were conscious that we didn’t want our guests to be confined indoors for the entire day. Sopwell House, as a venue, brings the perfect balance of luxury hotel with a country feel. The gardens were perfect for the drinks reception, and there were lots of great choice for the backdrop of our photos.
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A Jewish Destination Wedding with a Surprise Flashmob at Beit Andromeda, Jaffa, Israel

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There is no better introduction to Israel than a good Israeli wedding – and that’s exactly how Molly and David lured their friends and family out to the Holy Land! 

Their Mediterranean-themed big day combined the laid-back Israeli attitude with some of the more formal elements of an American wedding, and perfectly married the two cultures. So much so, that they managed to source peonies for Molly’s bouquet – in December – in Israel! 

As you all know, at STG, we LOVE a twist on tradition, and we adore gorgeous bride Molly’s choice to have her own Tisch, a great way to get pumped up and energetic before the ceremony. 

And STG Recommended Vendor Caliente rocked the party to perfection with their live music entertainment with everything from Jewish music to Latin Jazz to Israeli pop – we love these guys — they are SO good!

Of course, it wouldn’t be a Jewish wedding without a few surprises, and thoughtful groom, David, surprised his lovely bride with a flashmob, getting friends and family involved to honor her favorite musical! Superb! 

The sensational spread of pictures was taken by none other than our wonderful STG Recommended Vendor and top Israeli photographer, Idan Milman, for whom the couple had nothing but gushing praise. 

Bride Molly loves the lost art of letter writing, and that shines through in every word of her articulate and moving writeup below. We’re you’ll enjoy reading it as much as we did! 

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Jewish-destination-wedding-Beit-Andromeda-Israel

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Jewish-destination-wedding-Beit-Andromeda-Israel
How we met

Molly, the bride: I had been working as a fundraiser and program planner at Boston’s Jewish Federation for years before David got a job there, also as a fundraiser.

When he came in for an interview, a friend said, “Oh Molly, your type just walked in the door!” We became fast friends especially when the office cubicle rearrangement put our desks right across from one another — our coworkers assumed we were dating long before we were.

In the years since, we’ve taken family to Israel, started new jobs, built a life in Tel Aviv and are now moving back to Boston for the next few years to get second degrees.

A few years ago, before I convinced my then 82-year-old grandfather to come to Israel (getting my cousins on a Birthright trip at the same time was key), he had said to me, “Molly I’ll only come to Israel if you get married there!” A few years later, challenge accepted!

David and I had both spent time living in Israel before we met and when David found a job here that he loved, he convinced me to move here too. We got engaged in Israel and, even though we’re both from the same suburb outside of Boston, we knew we wanted to get married in Tel Aviv.

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A Literary London-themed Jewish Wedding at Bevis Marks Synagogue and The Anthologist, London, UK

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Jewish Wedding Bevis Marks London UK
Today’s real wedding is a very special one, because Carla and Alex won their incredible wedding photography through a competition on Smashing The Glass with none other than our fabulous Recommended Vendor, Claudine Hartzel.

Alex and Carla faced mishap after mishap when planning their wedding, including their original venue cancelling just 100 days before the big day. But, in a perfect example of how to cope with anything life throws at you, they soldiered on, creating the stunning London literary-themed Jewish wedding you see below.

We love beautiful bride Carla’s attitude, from her que sera approach to things going wrong, to her gorgeous Sottero and Midgley gown with hidden pockets (!) and her bride’s speech. 

We’d also quite like to tuck into the divine-looking not-a-cheesecake cheese cake. Yes please!

The couple paid homage to their hometown, London, with lots of adorable little touches, such as riding between the venues on a classic London bus, and creating a London-themed postcard guest book, complete with a red postbox, created by the bride’s dad.

We’ll hand you over to Carla for the full story on her and Alex’s literary love fest! We’re sure you’ll enjoy it as much as we did. 

Jewish Wedding Bevis Marks London UK

Jewish Wedding Bevis Marks London UK

Jewish Wedding Bevis Marks London UK

Jewish Wedding Bevis Marks London UK

Jewish Wedding Bevis Marks London UK
How we met

Carla, the bride: We met at University. I was the only fresher to join the Jewish Society that year after signing up at the bunfight stall Alex was managing. 
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An Elegant Jew-ish Winter Wedding at Bendooley Estate, New South Wales, Australia

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At Smashing The Glass, we love nothing more than taking you around the world, to celebrate the very best of Jewish and Jew-ish weddings, and today’s winter-elegance-themed beauty comes to you all the way from apparently not-so-sunny Australia.

Stacey and Michael met at another wedding, and the rest is history – the power of love, guys! They planned their entire Jew-ish winter wedding themselves, with countless DIY projects, and the constant involvement and presence of friends and family. 

As a result, everything about the day perfectly represented the couple, from the eclectic bottles they had collected, to their personalized origami fortune tellers; from bridesmaids in Stacey’s favorite shade of blue to the couple running through an AFL banner to start the hora.

If it looks like beautiful bride Stacey’s dress was made just for her, it’s because it was. Her glamorous Erin Clare gown came with personal attention from the designer herself, and a bespoke matching veil – and I think we can all agree that Stacey looked an absolute vision in both. 

All of the heartfelt moments and details were captured by photographer, Milton Gan, and Stacey’s writeup below gives a fabulous insight into the divine day in all its glory. Over to Stacey!

Jewish Wedding Bendooley Estate New South Wales Australia Jewish Wedding Bendooley Estate New South Wales Australia 

Jewish Wedding Bendooley Estate New South Wales Australia

Jewish Wedding Bendooley Estate New South Wales Australia

How we met

Stacey, the bride: We met at a wedding in Melbourne. An old school friend of mine was marrying Michael’s cousin. Michael’s sister had planned to set him up with another old school friend at the wedding, but when she introduced them the match was not meant to be, and Michael and I ended up chatting for the most of the night.

At the very end of the wedding, I saw Michael striding over to me out of the corner of my eye, and I was overcome with butterflies. He asked for my number and a date once we were both back in Sydney and the rest, as they say, is history.

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An Afternoon Tea Jewish Wedding With a Bespoke Beaded Gown at The Pillar, London, UK

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It’s always very plain to see when a couple is creative by nature, and never fails to make for an aesthetically gorgeous wedding. 

Makeup artist, Amy, and presenter, Adam’s wedding was, in addition to making a lifelong commitment to one another, about two things: making friends and family feel loved and looked after, and making everything around them beautiful.

Both objectives were achieved and then some! This was particularly evident in the advice to couples at the end of this post – words of wisdom that showed a deep consideration for others.

The ceremony was totally tailored to Adam and Amy, with music being the most important and prominent element – we got the chills reading about it!

Armed with the perfect color palette of pastel-pretty flowers, two-tone fabrics and metallic gold accents, the couple created a clean, chic wedding wonderland, complete with an absolute stunner of a five-tier cake.

Beautiful bride Amy went bespoke with her beaded, two-tone gown, and played an instrumental role in the design, along with Elizabeth Todd, literally bringing her dream dress to life. 

Photographer, Paul Toeman, captured the details and emotion of the day with the glorious spread of pictures below, and Amy wrote the incredibly eloquent account of all the action. Take it away, Amy!

 

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Jewish Wedding Pillar Hotel London UK_0016

A venue with history

Amy, the bride: We booked The Pillar Hotel, a kosher venue in Hendon, north-west London for 30th June 2016. We needed a venue that was close to my parents’ home in North London, as my father has final stages Parkinson’s disease.

We could have booked any top London hotel, but we couldn’t see the point in making an experience about love without the people we love being there, so a small hotel in Hendon it was!

Ironically, this particular venue used to be a convent, and so it was no ordinary hotel. The room we chose to have our ceremony in, was in fact the room where the nuns used to pray, and so the walls of exposed brickwork, arches and ornate windows were all steeped in history, spirituality, prayer and love.
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