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A Monique Lhuillier Bride for a Country House Jewish Wedding at Braxted Park, Essex, UK

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This UK Jewish wedding’s got it all: stunning countryside setting, gorgeous gown, delectable food, exquisite stationery, and, of course, an epic floral chuppah.

Talia and Isaac found the perfect canvas for their wedding dreams in Essex’s Braxted Park, a country house venue nestled among magical gardens and picture-perfect pavilions. Given the verdant surroundings, the pair opted for a simple green and white theme, complementing the natural beauty – captured so perfectly in Beccy Goddard’s photography.

Talia and Isaac’s lovely stationery, designed by Talia’s sister-in-law Alissia from Studio Alissia, kept with the theme – and Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Big Day Designs printed the invitations and on-the-day stationery to perfection.

Of course no Jewish wedding is complete without delicious food, and Talia and Isaac got the best of the best with Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Dvash. In Talia’s words, “Everything was perfect. From the drinks table when guests arrived, to the canapes and stations at the drinks reception to the main meal and after party food! The feedback from our guests was incredible – everything was so beyond delicious, and Dvash’s staff provided an excellent service.”

There’s so much more to say about this very special wedding –for instance,  we were so thrilled to hear that Talia and Isaac opted to use Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Prezola for their wedding gift list – but we’ll turn you over to Talia for the rest…

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How we Met

Talia, the bride: We met on my first day of university at UCL! Isaac had already been there for a year. We were friends for a while whilst we were there at UCL, and 2 years later started dating (Science Library we owe it all to you!)Continue ReadingContinue Reading

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

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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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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: choosing my florist… and special gifts

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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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Real Jewish Brides – Amanda: My New Perspective

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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.


Eight weddings in 15 months…

It most certainly is wedding season in the Yaffe-Parker household. In the 15 months between our engagement and our wedding, Adam and I will have attended no fewer than 8 weddings and, one manic week in September. We actually attended 3 weddings in 3 different cities, across 2 different countries.

So it really is fortunate that we love attending weddings. There’s something about celebrating the marriage of close friends through song, dance and food that never gets old. In fact, I’d bet that if you watched the highlights of any weddings we’ve been to, you’ll see Adam and I throwing shapes like madmen.

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Image: Adam Van Bunnens

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Real Jewish Brides: Introducing Amanda + Adam… how they met to the present day

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Today on the blog we’re introducing our 4th gorgeous bride from our crop of 2017 and 2018 Real Jewish Brides! Please give a warm welcome to Amanda who will be marrying Adam on 25th March 2018 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.

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How We Met

Both Adam and I will tell you that we weren’t attracted to each-other when we met outside a bar in Tel Aviv. In fact, we spent the entire evening trying to set our friends up. This led to hours of drunken giggling together as we discussed how excellent our matchmaking skills were. (Needless to say, they had no interest in each other). At 3am we were still high-fiving and I really felt like I had made a new friend.

A few days later, his friends were hosting a BBQ and he asked us to come along. A bottle of wine later and I was starting to wonder if this tall blonde man could be somebody I might like to see at home in London.

I was drawn to Adam’s ridiculous sense of humour and whilst he never managed to convince me that his job included ‘picking up penguins who have fallen over’, his silliness and laid back nature are still my favourite things about him now, almost 3 years later.

Our First Date

Our first official date was carefully planned by Adam at St Catherine’s docks in London, at the height of summer. But my favourite story from our early days took place just 4 days after we’d met.

We were back in London and Adam showed up to the local pub quiz where I’d told him my friends and I were regulars. He stuck out like a sore thumb in his suit and tie, but soon broke the ice with my friends by offering them all a pad of paper and a pen that he’d brought with him, ‘just in case’.

I think it’s fair to say that when he handed me the jar of pickles he’d bought on the way, my heart melted a little bit. Forget chocolates and roses, pickles are the way to my heart!

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