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Karen & Jeremy | London Jewish Wedding at the Wallace Collection Art Gallery, London, UK

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Wallace Collection Wedding
As the founder of Smashing The Glass it’s only right that I share my own wedding day, and all the creative ideas that were behind it, with you.

I love so many of the centuries-old Jewish traditions such as the hora, the beautiful songs, the chuppah, the smashing of the glass etc. but what my now-husband and I very much didn’t want was a party that followed the typical London Jewish-wedding-by-numbers formula… ie. fancy hotel, too many guests, the same kosher caterer that everyone uses, the same band etc…..

Wallace Collection Wedding London Wallace Collection Wedding London
VENUE

I had always dreamt of an outdoor summer wedding and that’s one of the reasons why I love Israeli weddings – the chuppah under the stars, the all-night party vibe, the abundance of food and having the ceremony and party all in one venue. But when it came to organising our wedding it meant the world to us to have Jeremy’s 97 year old grandmother there and as she is unable to travel, a wedding abroad with guaranteed summer weather was out of the question.

London, our home city, was our next choice and the criteria for a venue was to have a feel of being in the outdoors without worrying about the unpredictable British weather spoiling the party, and a stylish, intimate venue, preferably with an arty slant to reflect our creative sides. Wallace Collection Wedding London
The Wallace Collection, once a family home, and now a stunning art collection, in the heart of the West End was our perfect choice. The stunning Courtyard flooded with natural light and dotted with trees and sculptures felt utterly al fresco, yet protected us from the elements with a phenomenal glass roof. Breathtaking and intimate at the same time, it ticked all the right boxes.

We wanted to have both the chuppah ceremony and the dinner dancing in the Courtyard to really feel as if the majority of the wedding was outdoors. We also loved the idea of the changing daylight from the hopefully sunny (and it was!) afternoon to the starry night sky. In between the ceremony and dinner our guests were able to look around all the artwork on the first floor of the house where all the galleries were open to our guests to meander round as they chatted, imbibed and grazed on Zafferano‘s (our chosen caterers) delicious canapà©s.

In terms of getting ready and spending our first night as a married couple, we stayed at the gorgeous Home House in Portman Square just a few minutes walk from the Wallace Collection.

Wallace_Collection_wedding1 Wallace Collection Wedding London Wallace Collection Wedding London 0188

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Sandra & Re’em | Israeli Wedding at Bamboo Village Beach, Netanya, Israel

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Israeli beach wedding
This is a gorgeous joy-filled Israeli wedding, set in a dream-like beach setting that as well as being phenomenally stylish, oozes a cool-factor and an almost Ibiza-like feel-good atmosphere. Get ready for some serious beach wedding eye candy!

Sandra had the awesome idea of giving wedding-branded flip-flops for her guests to wear once the dance party got in full swing. Genius and a great keepsake too!

A little bit about this à¼ber-cool couple: Sandra hails from Belgium, Re’em from Israel and they met whilst they both were living in London (where they still live) through mutual friends. Israel Wedding Beach BEACH_WEDDING1
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Israel Wedding Beach Table
THE VENUE + THEME
Sandra, the Bride:  I had always wanted to get married on the beach and I am really connected to Israel, and with my husband being Israeli it was the perfect place to celebrate!   We decided on decided on  Bamboo Village beach, in Poleg near Netanya, a beautiful coastal setting that was neither too big nor too small. It felt intimate enough, yet buzzy enough for what we were after. Obviously the theme of our wedding was the beach and we used sand and aqua green colours with white and touches of silver. We also added light balls on the sand, which made the path to the water glowing.

We had a venue designer and told her we wanted a simple beach design. I collected photos of styles I liked to make a mood board and she interpreted my ideas brilliantly. Everything from the chuppah to the seating to the lighting to the different zones (chill-out / party / bar) were designed by her beautifully with my creative lead.

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A Vera Wang Bride for a Jewish Wedding at Kensington Roof Gardens, London, UK

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london-garden-wedding
This is a beautifully fresh and intimate summer wedding, set on a magical garden rooftop  in the heart of London, that oozes style and elegance. It’s also the magical wedding of my brother, André, and my amazing sister-in-law, Lee Ann, so it has a very special place in my heart… (and if you look closely you can spot me in red Vivienne Westwood in the big group picture at the end!)

But back to the wedding – I loved Lee Ann’s idea of taking the shade of her apple green sash on her dress and using the fresh green colour throughout all kinds of details on her day.

And how did these two meet? Well it’s verrrry romantic: Lee Ann, a Floridian, and André, a born-and-bred Londoner, married after a whirlwind long-distance romance. They met on a 5-day Caribbean cruise in September 2006, were engaged 6 months later, and were married, less than a year to the day they met, in August 2007.

KensingtonRoofGardens
The Venue

Lee Ann, the Bride: Kensington Roof Gardens was our perfect venue. Towering above central London, the stunning gardens, complete with house flamingoes, seemed like the 8th wonder of the world! We wanted somewhere central as there were quite a few foreign guests in town for only a few days, but equally we wanted a beautiful, garden setting. Nothing could have been more perfect, and to top it all, Claire Vidler and her events term were superb to deal with throughout.

The magic ingredient, of which we have only the Gods to thank, was being blessed with glorious sunshine on the day.

THE DRESS WHICH LEAD TO THE THEME

My dress was by Vera Wang. I wanted something different and loved the ivory colour teamed with an apple green sash- perfect for our summer garden setting! In fact, the colour of the apple green sash set the theme of the wedding throughout, and the same shade was used on the invitation design, and all sorts of details from the sashes on the backs of the chairs to the flowers to the ribbons on the cake to the ketubah illustrations.
Kensington Roof Gardens Jewish Wedding

Kensington Roof Gardens Jewish Wedding

Kensington Roof Gardens Jewish Wedding
THE CHUPPAH + FLOWERS

We used a wonderful florist called Rebecca Fiest. I loved the idea of small arrangements all of one colour, and Rebecca interpreted my ideas sensitively and brilliantly. She also did such a beautiful job with the chuppah. I knew I wanted it to be constructed from bamboo poles with fresh spring flowers, and it couldn’t have turned out more beautifully.

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