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

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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…


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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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A Carol Hannah Bride for an International Jewish Wedding at The Lighthouse at Chelsea Piers, New York, New York, USA

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You don’t get much more cosmopolitan than today’s couple. Hayley, from New York, and Emmanuel, from Paris, met while living in London, and chose to hold their Jewish wedding (well, one of them…) in the bride’s super-cool hometown, whilst including so many gorgeous creative details!

Their wedding at The Lighthouse at Chelsea Piers celebrated their international backgrounds through details like bilingual French-English invitations and a custom designed map displaying all of the places both Hayley and Emmanuel have lived, and that have been important in their relationship.

We love this idea for an ultra-personal touch, and Smartup Visuals came up with the most fun design — you’ve got to see Corey Torpie’s photos of it!

You know how we said in the intro that one of the duo’s weddings took place in NYC? Well, that’s because these two had already gotten legally married in a civil wedding in France, the groom’s home country, which let them let loose and enjoy the celebration and religious ceremony at wedding part 2.

With guests from all over the world, making sure everyone felt included was paramount. One lovely way Hayley and Emmanuel made all of their guests feel part of the day was by having a group reading of the Seven Blessings. They found some modern interpretations of the Seven Blessings they liked, printed out copies for all the guests, and asked everyone to join in during the ceremony — isn’t that beautiful?

Hayley, who looked stunning in her modern, almost sculptural Carol Hannah gown, will fill you in on the rest…

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How we met

Hayley, the bride: Emmanuel and I met a few years ago when we were both living in London. Ironically, I had lived in Paris – where Emmanuel is from – for a few years before moving to London, and Emmanuel had lived in New York (my hometown) before moving to London. We had lived in the exact same places but at different times, so we connected right away.

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A Theia Bride for an Intimate Rooftop Destination Jewish Wedding at Sugar, Miami, Florida, USA

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Jewish Wedding at Sugar on the rooftop of the East Hotel Miami FL USA_0057
Wow – that chuppah! The colors! The smiles! Looking at the fab photos of today’s colorful, laid-back wedding, you’d never guess what a bumpy wedding planning ride Dana, a product manager,, and Alex, who works in corporate strategy, had!

After a venue mishap forced the San Francisco-based couple to cancel their original wedding plans — for a large, traditional event — Dana and Alex decided to take a step back and rethink what really mattered to them on their day. Their “wedding planning reboot” inspired them to start from scratch and create an ultra-personal day reflecting their personalities and values.

Oh, and just three weeks before the wedding, Dana broke her elbow snowboarding — not that you’d be able to tell from how gorgeous she looked in her delicate petal-covered Theia dress.

The silver lining of all this drama was that it made Dana and Alex focus on what really mattered to them — which meant that their fun-filled, close-knit brunch (yes, brunch!) wedding at Sugar on the rooftop of the East Hotel in downtown Miami turned out to be such a wonderful reflection of their personalities. You can really feel the joy shining through Andrea Harborne and Diana Hogan’s vibrant photos of the day.

We love how the duo incorporated their values into the day was by authoring their own ketubah text. Dana reports that writing their own marriage contract was a great way to stay grounded during wedding planning, and what a special memento of this phase of their relationship. It doesn’t hurt that the finished product is stunning, with a lovely modern floral design courtesy of much-loved STG Recommended Vendor Ink With Intent.

And we can’t get enough of the couple’s DIY handheld chuppah. Constructed by Dana’s family (with a gorgeous, colorful tablecloth standing in as the canopy, which Dana and Alex can continue using in their home!) and held up by friends during the ceremony, it added an ultra-meaningful touch to the day. Now over to the bride…

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How we met

Dana, the bride: We met around 6 years ago when we were both working at the same company in Manhattan, and we moved out to San Francisco together 3 years ago.

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A Paloma Blanca Bride for a Beachside Destination Jewish-Scottish Wedding at Al Hayam, Caesarea, Israel

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Destination Jewish wedding Al Hayam, Caesarea, Israel
Today’s destination Jewish wedding is serious #chuppahgoals. UK couple Natasha, who is a head of sales, and Adam, an investment banker, opted for a destination wedding at gorgeous Al Hayam in Caesarea, Israel.

The pair wanted a statement chuppah, but at the same time didn’t want anything to overshadow the jaw-dropping ocean view from their venue — take a look through their photos by STG Fave Ronen Boidek and you’ll see why!

What they ended up with hits just the right balance between luxe and simple: four narrow poles covered in greenery and white and cream flowers, all under a canopy of delicate lace. It’s just so elegant, yet exquisitely delicate at the same time.

Bride Natasha said she wanted flowers on her chuppah (not only because, well, why would you not?) but also because of all the beautiful things they represent: “life, a new start, and all things alive and living” — all the right notes to hit at the start of your marriage.

Though Natasha and Adam went for an elegant classic style, they did bring some quirky touches to their day. Our favorite: a Scottish whisky bar, in honor of the groom’s Scottish origins, with different types of whisky for guests to sample. Oh yeah, and there was also a bagpiper in attendance too!

Speaking of music, these two picked our latest and greatest STG Recommended Vendor, Teta Band to set their wedding atmosphere on fire! Teta played live all night, from jazz to pop to Israeli to even French, Portuguese, and Motown live music all night, and in Natasha’s words, “phenomenal doesn’t even describe it… Teta had the guests all up on their feet all night long!”

Beautiful Natasha, looking absolutely radiant in her ivory lace gown from Paloma Blanca, will fill you in on all the rest of the juicy details… Happy Fri-yay!

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Destination Jewish wedding Al Hayam, Caesarea, Israel

Destination Jewish wedding Al Hayam, Caesarea, Israel

Destination Jewish wedding Al Hayam, Caesarea, Israel_0071
A Venue with an Ocean View

Natasha, the bride: We got married at Al Hayam, Caesarea, Israel. We picked this venue due to the open nature of the venue, yet somehow it felt like there was a sense of intimacy. The gorgeous view overlooking the ocean was the winner for us!

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A Stephanie Allin Bride for an Ultra-Personal Country House Jewish Wedding at Parklands Quendon Hall, Essex, UK

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We absolutely LOVE today’s bride, Tash, who is an avid Smashing The Glass reader, and looked so elegant in her Stephanie Allin gown (with “the best twirling skirt ever!”).

She made some amazing vendor choices (choosing three STG Recommended Vendors all found on the pages of Smashing The Glass) and she had so many beautiful creative ideas. We particularly love the couple’s extra-meaningful chuppah design inspired by a previous wedding on Smashing The Glass, where the guests helped decorate the canopy with flowers (so gorge).

Their fab florist, the amazing Emma from STG Recommended Vendor Urban Flower Farmer, designed a simple birch pole chuppah laden with greenery and arranged flowers in buckets by the entrance to the ceremony, with a sign asking the guests to add them to the chuppah.

And that’s just one of the beautiful ways Tash and Ian personalized their ceremony while embracing Jewish tradition — you’ve got to read about their ultra-meaningful badeken. Photographer Andy Tyler and videographer Rideout Films did a wonderful job capturing all the emotion of the day.

The pair had a large wedding (230 guests!) with LOTS of children, and to make things easier for the parents in the crowd they hired another fabulous STG Recommended Vendor Safe and Sound Childcare to provide a creche, which kept all the little ones entertained and allowed the adults to enjoy the party.

Tash and Ian knew they wanted a band that could handle some serious Israeli dancing. Turning to Smashing The Glass for ideas, they found STG Recommended Vendor XS Showband. The couple report that the band created a fab atmosphere and kept their guests dancing all evening — and, most important of all, they ably handled not one but two rounds of Israeli dancing! Speaking of which, be sure to check out Tash’s top tips for Israeli dancing in her writeup…

Jewish wedding Parklands Quendon Hall UK_0049 Jewish wedding Parklands Quendon Hall UK_0049 Jewish wedding Parklands Quendon Hall UK_0049
How we met

Tash, the bride: We met online – if you’d told me 5 years ago that I’d end up marrying someone I met online I would have thought you were mad, but here we are!

We met through Mysinglefriend, which is the site where your friends write your profile, which means you get slightly more interesting descriptions than the classic “I like eating out with friends and country walks.”

But it turns out it doesn’t actually mean you get more truthful profiles, as Ian’s friends Jo and Stu wrote lots of things that I’ve subsequently discovered were complete lies – like the suggestion that Ian is not a football obsessive!

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