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An Elbeth Gillis Bride for a Modern and Sophisticated Jewish Wedding at the St Pancras Renaissance Hotel, London, UK

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Cool chuppah alert! London couple Tamara, who works in marketing, and Reuben, a broker, opted to skip out on flowers (partly to avoid aggravating the bride’s hay fever), and did they ever find the perfect way to craft a standout chuppah, no blooms required.

Letting their venue, the stunning St Pancras Renaissance Hotel, set the tone, Tamara and Reuben opted for a simple, elegant Perspex chuppah, covered with Reuben’s grandfather’s tallit. It was the absolute perfect complement to the Art Deco-style ballroom where the wedding took place – as was the couple’s choice of black linen and Perspex candelabras for the tables at the reception.

Music was a top priority for Tamara and Reuben, and they found the perfect fit in the amazing Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Sensation Band, who handled both production and live music throughout the night, with Guy Barzily who blew everyone away with his chuppah singing and simcha set. The duo wanted a mix of 80s, 90s, and soul for the dancing sets, and Sensation delivered that and so much more.

The couple’s photographer, the incredibly talented David Pullum, captured everything flawlessly – and Tamara and Reuben report that he was an absolute dream to work with throughout the day.

Now over to Tamara, who looked so chicly elegant in her Elbeth Gillis dress…

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How We Met

Tamara, the bride: We had mutual friends and our paths had crossed in our teenage years but we “officially” met on JSwipe nearly 8 years ago.Continue ReadingContinue Reading

A Maggie Sottero Bride for an Autumnal Rustic Jewish Wedding with a Joint Speech at The Brewery, London, UK

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We love an autumnal Jewish wedding – and Londoners Rebz and Ben had one of the very best! Rebz, a senior product designer, and Ben, a freelance video editor, love their home city and didn’t want to wed anywhere else. And they found the absolute perfect venue in Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor The Brewery, right in the heart of the City.

The Brewery ticked all the couple’s boxes – it accommodated their 200-person guest list, was easy for everyone to get to, and fit Rebz and Ben’s brief for a cool industrial aesthetic. And the property’s history was perfectly suited to Ben’s love of beer, as a bonus!

The pair let their wedding date dictate the décor, with autumnal burnt oranges, leafy greens, dark reds, and natural hessians for an urban rustic vibe. David Pullum Photography captured all the detail and emotion of the day exquisitely, and Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Michael Pearl Films crafted the duo’s ultra-moving wedding video.

One thing we love is that Rebz and Ben opted to do a joint speech! In Rebz’s words,  “Ben was not keen on doing a speech on his own, he hates public speaking and I’ve never understood why it’s always just the men that get to share stories. I absolutely loved doing a speech together and without blowing my own trumpet, I’ve had lots of people mention to me how much they loved it too.” What a fab idea!

We’ll let the bride take it from here…

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How We Met

Rebecca, the bride: We met on JSwipeContinue ReadingContinue Reading

A Millanova Bride for an Elegant Jewish Wedding in White at Merrydale Manor, Cheshire, UK

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Today’s UK Jewish wedding at Cheshire’s Merrydale Manor is a true feast for the eyes… Felicity and Jacob knew they wanted their wedding to be elegant from the get-go, and did it ever deliver!

As a style-conscious bride, finding the perfect dress was important to Felicity – and in the search for The One, she went to 15 bridal shops before finding the gown of her dreams at Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor The Wedding Club in London: an off-the-shoulder satin number in ivory by Millanova. With a heart-shaped neckline, draped bodice, and open back with lace-up closure – not to mention a long train – it more than fit the bill. Don’t miss it in the fabulous photos by David Pullum Photography.

Felicity and Jacob weren’t all about the aesthetics, though – they also wanted to make sure their wedding felt like a party, and they turned to Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor The White Keys to bring the atmosphere. The couple went for a 14-piece band, and they couldn’t have been more thrilled with their decision. They knew they wanted something a little different than the standard Jewish wedding band, and as soon as they saw The White Keys’ Ibiza heritage set they knew they’d found their match!

We’ll let Felicity take it from here…

 

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How We Met

Felicity, the bride: Me and Jakey were childhood sweethearts. We have been together for 15 years since 2008 and finally tied the knot in October 2023. We met in school and have been soul mates ever since <3 he is my number one!

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A Rosa Clara Bride for a Laidback Hampstead-Meets-Haifa Jewish Wedding at Home in London, UK

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We love it when a couple does their Jewish wedding, their way – and that describes Natasha and Coren’s wedding to a T! Opting to wed at the bride’s family home in Hampstead, London, these two did away with the usual formal seated dinner in favor of a chill evening party featuring comfy sofas, open fires, and big sharing tables for people to sit at between the dancing. Don’t miss the super cool setup in the photos by David Pullum!

In Natasha’s words, structuring their wedding this way “gave a relaxed, organic, authentic energy to the evening, people could move around and speak to who they wanted” – and it was such a hit their friends are now asking to borrow the idea! This is such a great reminder that your wedding can be whatever you want it to be – you don’t need to do things that don’t feel authentic to the two of you, just because they’re “the done thing.”

We also love that Natasha and Coren worked with a number of fabulous Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendors to make their wedding the smashing success it was. Their planner, Joe of #STGvendor Goodnight Events, perfectly understood the couple’s style and vision, and helped them manage family dynamics and competing priorities throughout the planning process. #STGvendor Dvash handled catering, serving up Ottolenghi-style sharing dishes so utterly delicious that “people were shocked it was kosher!” And #STGvendor Denee Motion was responsible for Natasha and Coren’s exquisite videography.

There’s so much more to say about this beautiful Jewish wedding, but we’ll leave it to Natasha – who looked radiant in Rosa Clara – to fill you in on the rest…


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How we Met

Natasha, the bride: In 2017, I was living in Edinburgh after having recently graduated there. Coming home to London one September I wanted to meet someone Jewish so switched on J-Swipe. Coren and I started chatting and arranged to meet when I was next in London. So, that December, Coren asked if I wanted to meet him for a drink on Christmas Eve. Politely declining, because I’d already planned to go to a party at KOKO that night, I told him, I’d be happy to meet him on Boxing Day instead.

Christmas eve rolled around and in the middle of KOKO, we locked eyes 2 metres away from each other on the dance floor. A couple of seconds later, he came up to me and said “Hey Natasha, we’re meant to be going on a date in two days, but why don’t we start now?” And that was it! We still met on Boxing Day, which turned out to be our second date.Continue ReadingContinue Reading

A Rosa Clara Bride for an Elegant Ballroom Jewish Wedding at the Kimpton Fitzroy London, UK

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Chloe & Mike, Kimpton Fitzroy London, London, UK

There’s nothing like that feeling when a couple teams up with some of our very favorite Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendors to craft an absolutely jawdroppingly stellar Jewish wedding – which is exactly what our Brides Club member Chloe, a senior internal account manager for an IT reseller, and Mike, who works as a group management accountant for a pharmaceutical company, did!

First off, these two opted to make it official at one of our most beloved London venues, Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Kimpton Fitzroy London in Russell Square. After taking one look at the hotel’s exquisite ballroom, they knew it was the spot for them – and scrolling through their beautiful photos by David Pullum Photography, can you blame them?!

Kimpton Fitzroy London is known not only for its dreamy interiors but also for its top-notch customer service, and indeed Chloe and Mike can’t stop raving about how amazing the events team was through the planning process – which included not one but two COVID postponements!

We’re delighted to report that the couple found a whole bunch of their other vendors through Brides Club – including fabulous videographer Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Denee Motion and swoonworthy florist Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Alexandra’s Florist. Speaking of Alexandra’s Florist – she’s the one responsible for the pair’s lush floral ketubah in shades of green and white, and how perfect is it?!

Chloe and Mike also opted to work with Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Adam Nathan Catering, Kimpton Fitzroy London’s kosher-style catering partner, who was “a dream to work with” – and whose food is still getting rave reviews from guests!

Finally, Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Toastmaster Jango “took care of absolutely everything on the day,” – so much so that one of Chloe’s top recs to engaged couples is to book yourselves a toastmaster of your own!

There’s so much more to be said about this wonderful day, but we’ll let Chloe – who looked positively ravishing in Rosa Clara – fill you in on the rest…

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How We Met

Chloe, the bride: Mike and I met all the way back in 2014 on a well-known dating app…(Tinder!). I had just graduated university and wasn’t looking for anything too serious, but when we met we just clicked. We are two totally different people! He’s very relaxed and chilled, and I’m the other end of the spectrum but somehow it works wonderfully!

We did long (ish) distance for over 4 years, with Mike living in Essex and me in Hertfordshire. The first few years were tough, with us only seeing each other twice a month. In 2018, Mike made the move to Hertfordshire where he rented a room in a house (on the same road as my parents) which made it so much easier from then on. It was that same year Mike came to me with the idea that he wanted to convert to Judaism, something that we had previously discussed but I never pressured him into. Having already had Jewish ancestry on his father’s side, it was something he was passionate about and wanted to realign his roots. After 18 months of conversion classes and shul on Saturday mornings, Mike converted at Radlett Reform Synagogue . It meant so much more to us standing under the chuppah on our wedding day, knowing that all his hard-work and dedication led us to that special moment, and I will forever cherish that.

We now live together in our house in Borehamwood, with our gorgeous rescue dog Rose! Continue ReadingContinue Reading