Smashing the Glass | Jewish Wedding Blog

Inspired Jewish Weddings

Home > Claudine Hartzel Photography

A Jewish Wedding in Pink at The Vale Resort, Pontyclun, Wales, UK

by Leave a Comment

Jess and Louis, The Vale Resort, Pontyclun, UK

We’re so excited to be publishing our first-ever Jewish wedding in Wales today! Though Jess, a primary school teacher, and Louis, a tax advisor, now live in London, Jess hails from the small but mighty Welsh Jewish community, and it was important to her to get married back home in South Wales.

They chose The Vale Resort in Pontyclun as the venue for their summery wedding weekend in pink, filled with tons of gorgeous blooms in all shades of the tone, and we can’t get enough of it. Neither could Jess – she loved planning her big day so much that she’s since launched a small business, The Wedding Desk, where she support couples who are planning their own wedding so that they can feel prepared and ready to hand over to their suppliers / on-the-day coordinator on the day!

Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Claudine Hartzel captured the day so beautifully – in Jess’s words, “She was just like having a best friend and supporter with us every step of the way. From our engagement shoot, we instantly felt at ease and comfortable in front of the camera and knew we were in for an absolute treat after receiving our engagement shoot photos. On the wedding day itself, Claudine and her team were everywhere but never in the way – she made sure every second was captured and her photos really show the emotion and positive energy of our special day.”

We also love that, in addition to their general wedding registry with The Wedding Shop, Jess and Louis also set up a Judaica registry with Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Contemporary Judaica – such a smart way to make sure you’ll be gifted Judaica you’ll be proud to display in your home!

Now over to Jess…

Jess and Louis, The Vale Resort, Pontyclun, UK Jess and Louis, The Vale Resort, Pontyclun, UK Jess and Louis, The Vale Resort, Pontyclun, UK Jess and Louis, The Vale Resort, Pontyclun, UK

How We Met

Jess, the bride: Jess is from Cardiff and Louis is from Manchester but we both moved to London after university. We met during Covid on Hinge but after a couple of dates, we realised that both our families share very close family friends – turns out we were both at a lot of simchas together when we were younger and there’s lots of photos of us! We were also on an Israel trip together during uni but had no idea!

Continue ReadingContinue Reading

A Jewish Wedding Filled with Good Ruach, Good Vibes, and Good People at The Langham, London, UK

by Leave a Comment

Gabi and Harry, The Langham, London, UK

We adore a London Jewish wedding – and Gabi and Harry’s at Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor The Langham is really something special.

The bride, who works in sustainability for an insurance company, and the groom, an associate engineer, knew The Langham was the one as soon as they visited. They fell in love with not only the gorgeous ballroom but the whole vibe, which really encapsulates all the elegance and glamour of London.  

Gabi and Harry’s vision for the day was “good ruach, good vibes and being with all our favourite people,” and you can see that they absolutely pulled it off. Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Claudine Hartzel took the most beautiful photos and made Gabi and Harry feel so comfortable on the day – in Gabi’s words, “It was more like having a friend in the room taking pictures of us. She was also EVERYWHERE and captured also the right moments, but also was somehow never in the way!”

The couple’s videographer, Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Michael Pearl Films captured all the energy of the day so perfectly – and Gabi and Harry report that nearly two years on, they still can’t get enough of their wedding video and watch it frequently!

We also love that, in addition to their general wedding gift list, the duo opted to set up a We Judaica registry with Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Contemporary Judaica – such a smart idea!

Now over to Gabi…

Gabi and Harry, The Langham, London, UK Gabi and Harry, The Langham, London, UK Gabi and Harry, The Langham, London, UK Gabi and Harry, The Langham, London, UK

How We Met

Gabi, the bride: Harry and I met when we were 15 years old at a Jewish Youth Group (JLGB) on a Winter Camp. We became good friends and also went on Israel Tour together when we were 16. At 17 we started dating and the rest is history! Gabi went off to uni and Harry did an apprenticeship so we navigated a long-distance relationship for a few years. In 2021, we moved in together and then engaged in 2023. We got married in 2024 and then last year (2025) we moved across the world together to Sydney.

Gabi and Harry, The Langham, London, UK Gabi and Harry, The Langham, London, UK Gabi and Harry, The Langham, London, UK Gabi and Harry, The Langham, London, UK

Venue

We got married at The Langham, London. Well for starters, if you have ever been to the Langham, it smells INCREDIBLE (which was reason enough for us to want to get married there!). Joking aside, Gabi had been there for afternoon tea previously and when she got engaged, her mum had suggested it as a possible venue – mums tend to know best with these things! We went for a visit and absolutely fell in love with the ballroom but also just the general vibe. Growing up and living in central London, it really matched exactly the feel we wanted for our wedding. It meant I could arrive in a white taxi to our wedding – very London!

Gabi and Harry, The Langham, London, UK Gabi and Harry, The Langham, London, UK Gabi and Harry, The Langham, London, UK

Theme

Our colour scheme was ‘cinnamon rose’ – Gabi had always wanted a pink wedding, but this colour worked for both of us. We didn’t have a planner, and absolutely loved all the DIY and planning that we had to do ourselves – it really was a nice change from our day jobs. Unlike lots of people, we desperately miss when we were wedding planning because we truly had the most fun. We loved spending evenings and weekends tying bows and testing our Canva skills. We had a day of coordinator – Dalain – who was incredible.

One thing that was special about our wedding was that we had a LOT of guests travel from overseas (Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Israel and the US). We estimate over 50% of our guests had to travel and we wanted to make sure our guests knew how grateful we were. For every guests’ name place at the tables, we wrote them a personalised poem. Although this seems to have become a bit of a trend now, at the time it was truly unique and our guests loved it.

Ultimately the style/vibe for our wedding was good ruach, good vibes and being with all our favourite people. That was truly what mattered most.

Gabi and Harry, The Langham, London, UK Gabi and Harry, The Langham, London, UK Gabi and Harry, The Langham, London, UK

Invitation/Stationery

We used Bliss and Bone to have online invitations. For our save the dates, we designed magnets ourselves which looked like a Photobooth strip. It was super fun and we loved that our guests had us up on their fridge in the lead up to the wedding.

Gabi and Harry, The Langham, London, UK Gabi and Harry, The Langham, London, UK Gabi and Harry, The Langham, London, UK Gabi and Harry, The Langham, London, UK

Hair + Makeup

Hair: Gaby Goldring. I had seen lots of Gaby’s work at other weddings and knew I wanted her for mine. When I first enquired she wasn’t actually free, but then her plans changed – I reckon it was fate!

Makeup: Glow by Caitlin and J.Swales Makeup & Hair – Caitlin and Jess were both recommendations and they were both AMAZING. My makeup (plus my mum and bridesmaids makeup) all lasted PERFECTLY, not an eyelash out of place at the end of the night despite some very very sweaty Israeli dancing. I THINK I was the first jewish wedding they had both done, but they both nailed it. I felt amazing and it was thanks to them.

Gabi and Harry, The Langham, London, UK Gabi and Harry, The Langham, London, UK Gabi and Harry, The Langham, London, UK

Dress

My dress was from Digio Bridal in Singapore. My parents live in Sydney so we had tried to find a dress there initially – no luck! We then went on a family holiday to Singapore (as I made my way back to London) and thought we may as well look at dresses, just for fun. I never expected that I would find THE dress there. It was truly the only dress I put on where I felt like a bride. I knew immediately. I loved how I looked sitting down as well – knowing that would be how Harry saw me for the first time at the Bedekken. I also secretly loved knowing that it is super unlikely that anyone else (at least in the Jewish wedding world) will have the same dress as me – that felt pretty cool. The dress was so different from what I had envisaged myself in before trying on dresses, but I felt like a real life princess.

Gabi and Harry, The Langham, London, UK Gabi and Harry, The Langham, London, UK Gabi and Harry, The Langham, London, UK Gabi and Harry, The Langham, London, UK

Shoes

My shoes were from Bared. A Sydney brand known for comfy and supportive, yet glamours shoes. They absolutely fit that description.

Gabi and Harry, The Langham, London, UK Gabi and Harry, The Langham, London, UK Gabi and Harry, The Langham, London, UK Gabi and Harry, The Langham, London, UK

Bridesmaids

I had 4 amazing bridesmaids who all wore cinnamon rose coloured dresses! I ended up getting their dresses from Coast, on the Debenhams website. We had a big day trying them all on, with options from Azazie, Pretty Lavish and Asos too, but we settled on the Coast one which they all felt the best in – they all looked incredible.

Gabi and Harry, The Langham, London, UK Gabi and Harry, The Langham, London, UK Gabi and Harry, The Langham, London, UK Gabi and Harry, The Langham, London, UK

Ceremony & Chuppah

Our Chuppah was super special because Harry’s cousin is Rabbi Luis Herszaft (HGSS), so we were married by family which was amazing. We are also very close with Luis and his wife Jodie, so it was so lovely to be married by someone who actually know us. Luis also surprised us by singing the Sheva Brachot under the Chuppah to the tune of some of our favourite songs. Our Chuppah was truly magical, I couldn’t have asked for it to be more perfect. We had a really emotional ceremony, but then the second the glass was smashed, it was full-fledged party. Our bridal party joined us to dance under the chuppah before we made our way back down the aisle.

Flowers by Alina helped us design our chuppah. We knew what we wanted colours wise (cinnamon rose, light pinks and white), but she was so helpful at showing us all the options. I loved how our chuppah perfectly matched our kippot.

Gabi and Harry, The Langham, London, UK Gabi and Harry, The Langham, London, UK Gabi and Harry, The Langham, London, UK Gabi and Harry, The Langham, London, UK

Ketubah

Just the standard United Synagogue one, but we love it and how it has a picture of a chuppah on it. It hangs in our bedroom now and makes us smile.

Gabi and Harry, The Langham, London, UK Gabi and Harry, The Langham, London, UK Gabi and Harry, The Langham, London, UK Gabi and Harry, The Langham, London, UK

Our music choice

Our first dance was to ‘Can I have this dance’, from High School Musical 3 – a childhood dream for Gabi. At the chuppah we had the classic songs ‘Boee Beshalom’ and ‘Mehoirah’ and then ‘Eishet Chayil’, all sung by Creation. We then had Creation Events for the whole evening who were FANTASTIC – most of the comments we got after the wedding were about how amazing the band were.

Gabi and Harry, The Langham, London, UK Gabi and Harry, The Langham, London, UK Gabi and Harry, The Langham, London, UK Gabi and Harry, The Langham, London, UK

Flowers

Flowers by Alina did an amazing job. I knew I wanted the bridesmaids bouquets to be pink and white, and then mine mostly white. The button holes were all white. Down the chuppah aisle, we had plinths which we then reused for the table centres. We also reused the Chuppah flowers themselves for the to table flowers – Alina was great at telling us about some of these hacks. Some of our chuppah flowers were actually fake to try save a bit of money – but Alina did such an amazing job you would truly never know. I wanted everything to look really grand and felt that the flowers fit perfectly.

Gabi and Harry, The Langham, London, UK Gabi and Harry, The Langham, London, UK Gabi and Harry, The Langham, London, UK Gabi and Harry, The Langham, London, UK

Photographer and videographer

Photographer: Claudine Hartzel. She was INCREDIBLE. My best friend (who was also my bridesmaid) is a photographer and had recommenced Claudine and it was the best recommendation ever. Claudine made us both feel so comfortable from the moment we met. It was more like having a friend in the room taking pictures of us. She was also EVERYWHERE and captured also the right moments, but also was somehow never in the way! Truly in awe of her and we love our wedding pictures so much.

Videographer: Michael Pearl Films – who was also incredible! Claudine recommenced him handily! He made us laugh so many times and also feel so comfortable. He honestly captured the day perfectly. It’s been 2 years and we still watching our wedding video frequently – that tells you everything you need to know! Some people say you don’t need a videographer, but I regularly say this was the best decision we made.

Photo QR Codes: Best Ever Pics – we had QR codes for all of our guests to scan and then upload all the pictures they had taken on their phones. It was the best idea we had and we got SO many uploads (pictures and videos). It was amazing to look at all this content whilst we waited for the content from Claudine and Michael (which took a bit longer). This was available instantly. It was so much easier than chasing people to send their pictures or even trying to make group chat. With Best Ever Pics, guests didn’t need an app or a login to upload anything, which made it al super easy and user friendly too. There are also a few moments that were only captured on phone pictures, so we were grateful for that. Some of our guests even interviewed the staff working and went into the kitchens then uploaded the content so we could see – it was hilarious. Best Ever Pics was an amazing service too – super affordable and worked seamlessly. I could not recommend more.

Gabi and Harry, The Langham, London, UK Gabi and Harry, The Langham, London, UK Gabi and Harry, The Langham, London, UK Gabi and Harry, The Langham, London, UK

Food and cake

Our caterer was Eat Me Events and the food – and drinks!! – were delicious.

Gabi and Harry, The Langham, London, UK Gabi and Harry, The Langham, London, UK Gabi and Harry, The Langham, London, UK Gabi and Harry, The Langham, London, UK

Wedding List/Registry

We had two registries – one with David Jones (Australian John Lewis) and another with Contemporary Judaica.

Gabi and Harry, The Langham, London, UK Gabi and Harry, The Langham, London, UK Gabi and Harry, The Langham, London, UK

Extra Details

I mentioned it briefly above but the best thing we did was put the QR codes from Best Ever Pics in our guest favours. We had little bags with sugared almonds (pink of course) and put the QR code in there with a short description so people would take it home. I also made sure that I mentioned it in my speech. We were blown away by the number of pictures and videos that were uploaded. Waking up the day after our wedding to see all the content was magical. There was so much we hadn’t seen from the day and seeing it through our guests’ eyes felt really special. It also filled a void whilst waiting for our professional pictures. I think our guests also enjoyed seeing everyone else’s pictures. Best Ever Pics had an option where you can either keep the gallery private for only the host to see or have it public for all your guests – we opted for the latter! It definitely helped with a lot of ‘post-wedding’ Instagram posts!

Gabi and Harry, The Langham, London, UK Gabi and Harry, The Langham, London, UK Gabi and Harry, The Langham, London, UK

Honeymoon

We went to Barbados for a week after the wedding and had an awesome time!

Gabi and Harry, The Langham, London, UK Gabi and Harry, The Langham, London, UK Gabi and Harry, The Langham, London, UK

Advice to couples currently planning their wedding

Just be in every single moment. Without wanting to sound depressing, your wedding day is the only day in your whole life that you will have all your favourite people in one place – besides your funeral, which you don’t get to go to! Enjoy that and don’t take it for granted. On our wedding day, despite all the hours of planning we had put in, not one single thing mattered EXCEPT that we got married. That was all we cared about – the day would be a success if we ended it married. I think because we knew that was what mattered most, everything else went seamlessly and perfectly. The day exceeded all expectations because we were relaxed and just wanted to have fun. My nature (Gabi) is to be quite an anxious person, but I have never felt more at peace than I did on our wedding day – even my bridal party couldn’t believe it. I knew I was marrying the right man and everything would be amazing. It helped that every person in the room at our wedding was important and special to us, we weren’t worried about slip-ups/embarrassing moments or anything going wrong, because we knew the whole room just wanted the best for us. I know we are lucky to have been in that position.

Gabi and Harry, The Langham, London, UK

GABI & HARRY’S LITTLE WHITE BOOK

Photography – Claudine Hartzel
Videography – Michael Pearl Films 
Venue – The Langham London
Bride’s dress – Digio Bridal
Bride’s shoes – Bared
Bridesmaids – Coast found at Debenhams
Hair – Gaby Goldring
Makeup – Glow by Caitlin and J.Swales Makeup & Hair 
Flowers – Flowers by Alina 
Band – Creation Events
Catering – Eat Me Events 
Stationery/Invitation – Bliss and Bone
Rabbi – Rabbi Luis Herszaft (HGSS)
Wedding List/Registry – David Jones and Contemporary Judaica
QR code – Best Ever Pics 

If you’re a Jewish or Jew-ish bride-to-be, you’ll want to join Smashing The Glass’ Brides Club. Guided by the world’s number 1 Jewish wedding expert, Karen Cinnamon, Brides Club is the private community for Jewish and Jew-ish brides that removes wedstress and indecision and gives you what you need to plan with confidence during these uncertain times. Join our Brides Club here.

 

An Ultra-Personal Chanukah Jewish Wedding Micklefield Hall, Hertfordshire, UK

by

Ella and Aaron, Micklefield Hall, Rickmansworth, United Kingdom

We love a Chanukah wedding, and Ella and Aaron’s is one of the best we’ve seen! Their vision for their winter Jewish wedding was “twinkly winter wonderland with lots of doughnuts, latkes and joy,” and they worked with the most talented team – including a number of beloved Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendors – to bring it to life.

Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Uptown Events planned the day to perfection, recommending vendors – including the couple’s stunning venue, Micklefield Hall, after their original location fell through – and making sure everything ran smoothly on the day. They also guided Ella and Aaron to choose a DJ Live act when it came to entertainment – and Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor The Twentysomethings ended up being “such a hit that they’ve since become the unofficial band for our whole group, with two other couples booking them since!”

Ella and Aaron made all the stationery themselves (with their small business It IS Personal) – including the most adorable dreidel-shaped reserved seating signs and matchbox place cards in honor of Chanukah. Also perfectly on theme? The duo’s wedding menu, which included latkes, a full salt beef bar, and savoury pulled beef doughnuts (in addition to the sweet kind). Don’t miss all the fabulous details in the exquisite photos by Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Claudine Hartzel, who captured all the emotion and joy of the day so beautifully.

Another Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor, Carmel Designs, painted the couple’s wonderful custom ketubah, merging their vision for a design in keeping with their rustic wedding vibes, incorporating the Tree of Life and reflecting Ella and Aaron’s love of animals.

Read on for the full story in Ella’s own words…

 

Ella and Aaron, Micklefield Hall, Rickmansworth, United Kingdom Ella and Aaron, Micklefield Hall, Rickmansworth, United Kingdom Ella and Aaron, Micklefield Hall, Rickmansworth, United Kingdom Ella and Aaron, Micklefield Hall, Rickmansworth, United Kingdom

How We Met

Ella, the bride: We met the way so many modern couples do these days – on good old Hinge! We first met in June 2022, when Aaron was finishing his teacher training year, and Ella was working at her local synagogue. Aaron is now Pastoral and Wellbeing Manager at his old Jewish secondary school, and Ella works as Children and Family Educator at the synagogue we’ve joined together, while training to be a therapist. Our professions are an example of how well our values align – something we were both aware of when we met, and is one of the many reasons we instantly clicked and fell for each other so quickly! Not even a month into dating, we’d booked our first holiday to Israel together for Chanukah that year.

Continue ReadingContinue Reading

A Pronovias Bride for a Timelessly Elegant Jewish Wedding at the Midland Hotel, Manchester, UK

by

Elissa and Jordan, The Midland Hotel, Manchester, UK

London couple Elissa, who works in finance, and Jordan, who has his own property development company, always knew they wanted to get married in the bride’s hometown of Manchester, UK.

When it came time to choose their venue, they picked The Midland Hotel , which is not only an iconic Manchester landmark but also the place where both Elissa’s grandmother and great grandmother got married – how special is that? It was the perfect spot for the timeless, elegant wedding of the couple’s dreams.

It also featured the dance floor of the couple’s dreams – in no small part thanks to Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor The White Keys. In Elissa’s words, “They were absolutely unbelievable! We had their 15-piece band and DJ Live, and they kept the dance-floor full all night. The band felt more modern and fresh than so many of the typical bands you see on the wedding circuit; and so many of our friends said how fantastic they were! We worked with Amy and the team to ensure that there was live music from the minute our guests entered the room right until the end. No request was too much to ask, and they worked with our Chazan too to make our ceremony music so beautiful.”

For photography, Elissa and Jordan opted for Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Claudine Hartzel because they loved the candid aesthetic of her photos. In Elissa’s words, “Jordan and I aren’t very posy people and were admittedly nervous about all the photos ahead of the day, but Claudine got so many brilliant action shots that we love.”

Now we’ll turn you over to Elissa…

Elissa and Jordan, The Midland Hotel, Manchester, UK Elissa and Jordan, The Midland Hotel, Manchester, UKElissa and Jordan, The Midland Hotel, Manchester, UKElissa and Jordan, The Midland Hotel, Manchester, UK

How We Met

Elissa, the bride: We met during our first year at the University of Birmingham over 10 years ago. I famously sold Jordan a club night ticket to Fab n’ Fresh during Fresher’s Week (I have the Facebook messages to prove it!), but we didn’t get together until we met again several months later and we have been inseparable ever since!

Continue ReadingContinue Reading

Breaking the Mold: How Jewish Wedding Photography Has Gone from Classic to Cutting-Edge

by

This is a guest post by award-winning wedding photographer Claudine Hartzel. Based in London, Claudine has photographed tons of gorgeous Smashing The Glass weddings over the years, and the fact that she’s Jewish herself means she’s got special insight into all the things that make a Jewish wedding so special. With 15 years’ experience capturing Jewish weddings, no one’s got a better read of how Jewish wedding photography has evolved in recent years – and that’s exactly what she’s chatting about with us today. 

Focus on Authenticity and Emotion

Then: Jewish wedding photography used to emphasize formal group portraits and documentary-style images, capturing every table and guest. The lighting was often poor, and the images could feel stiff, lacking the warmth and personality of the event itself.

Now: There’s a major shift towards candid, authentic storytelling. Today’s couples want their wedding captured as a true love story – complete with raw, emotional moments that could easily grace the pages of a high-end magazine or Instagram feed. While family and group photos are still important, the focus has shifted to the in-between moments, where emotions are at their purest. These real, fleeting connections between family members and guests are often the most treasured memories. I will also bring a second photographer to capture the rooms shots, back shots and reception so I’m not taken away from the main events.

Blending Tradition with Modernity

Then: Jewish wedding photography was often highly traditional, focusing on ceremonial moments like capturing every part of the hora, and ensuring formal group shots were meticulously documented. The emphasis was on structure rather than creativity.

Now: Couples want to honour tradition while still expressing their personalities. Formal photographs are still expected, but they are fewer, more relaxed, and feel natural. When I capture moments in between the formals, it adds an expressive, authentic touch. Couples can opt to take their formal portraits before the ceremony rather than after, more in line with the Israeli style, allowing them to be fully present at their reception. Timings can be adjusted to suit their vision, not taking them away from the day. The goal is to document real emotions in a way that feels timeless, avoiding overly stylized or dated trends. And of course, a beautifully composed formal portrait always stands the test of time.

Finding the Right Balance

Then: Parents often took the reins in planning the wedding, booking vendors and managing the timeline, which sometimes left the couple with little say in their own day.

Now: The best weddings happen when couples and parents collaborate. Today’s couples take an active role in shaping their celebration, but they still involve their families in meaningful ways, whether by seeking input on traditions or guest lists. As a photographer, I facilitate this harmony by ensuring everyone’s on the same page when it comes to the timeline and key moments. Clear communication is key, and I always meet with both the couple and their parents to iron out the details—whether it’s when to capture the first look or when to help the bride into her dress. The result is a celebration that’s true to both the couple and their families.

Continue ReadingContinue Reading