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A David’s Bride for a Colorful Jewish Wedding with Handmade Touches at Maiden’s Barn, Chelmsford, UK

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We’re so thrilled to be featuring the beautiful Jewish wedding of our beloved Brides Club member Sophie today! Sophie married Josh in a colorful, exuberant barn wedding with some wonderful handmade touches – and lots of inspo from her fellow Brides Club members!

In Sophie’s own words, “Brides Club was totally invaluable to me! The introduction videos about where to start and guides such as ‘Questions to ask your Venue’ were excellent resources… It’s also been lovely connecting with other brides and making new friends around the world!”

Brides Club even inspired one of Sophie’s very coolest DIY touches: hand-crocheting ALL of her wedding kippot! Inspired by another member of the group, Sophie lovingly handcrafted kippot in fuchsia, orange, yellow and lilac to hand out on the day – which also became lovely keepsakes for guests to take home with them!

Sophie and Josh also found their chuppah supplier, Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor The Happy Chuppah People, through Brides Club. They opted to rent the large Finchley chuppah, and didn’t it look just perfect in their rustic barn venue? Don’t miss it in Amanda Ward’s wonderful photos!

The pair also opted to work with another beloved Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor, Toastmaster Jango, and they call booking him “one of the best decisions we made.” Jango “made us feel at ease from the first conversation and told us how he’d look after us as if it was his own children’s wedding” – and it goes without saying that he kept the day running smoothly so the bride and groom could enjoy their wedding stress-free.

Sophie and Josh added so many other fun touches to their big day – we love that they had a sweet cart in honor of Josh owning a real-life sweetshop, and how cute is it that instead of a guest book the couple asked their guests to fill in ‘Tips for the Newlyweds’ cards?! – but we’ll leave it to the bride, who looked beautiful in her David’s Bridal gown, the rest…

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How we Met

Sophie, the bride: We met on J-Swipe at the end of June 2017 when Josh was working as a sports journalist and I was working for a gift experience company. As he told everyone during his wedding speech, he was sitting on the toilet when he first saw me and decided to swipe right!

We went on our first date on 1st July 2017 and decided to meet at dinosaur crazy golf in North London. This turned out to be a great first date as it was relaxed and fun without any awkward silences! After I beat him, we decided we wanted to continue getting to know each other and drove to a pub for drinks which then turned into dinner!

We played “Who Jew you know” and surprisingly we had no mutual friends! However, after a few dates my mum was questioning me about my new mystery man and it turns out she used to work with his dad!

A few months after we met, Josh had a career change and now owns an old-fashioned sweet shop in a shopping centre and I work as an assistant to an account manager.Continue ReadingContinue Reading

A Suzanne Neville Bride for an Elegant Winter Jewish Micro Wedding with a Wild Backstory at Down Hall Hotel & Spa, Essex, UK

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By now we’ve heard lots of incredible pandemic wedding stories, but we’re pretty sure Brides Club member Rafaela, and Dan’s takes the (wedding) cake. These two had originally planned a big black-tie wedding at another venue for April 2020 – until COVID got in the way. They initially deciding to postpone for a year, but with Dan’s dad being terminally ill and his health declining, Rafaela and Dan ended up pushing their date forward by three months – and planning their intimate December 2020 wedding with just two weeks’ notice!

You might think that’s enough drama for one wedding – but it doesn’t stop there! With just 48 hours to go, the couple’s original venue had to cancel on them due to changes to the UK’s regional tiering system. Several frantic phone calls later, Rafaela and Dan secured a new venue, Down Hall Hotel & Spa, located in an area with lighter COVID restrictions, just 24 hours before the chuppah!

It was a tight turnaround, but the hotel’s incredible staff and the couple’s vendor team made it happen – you’d never know from Joab Smith’s absolutely stunning photos that it all happened at the very last minute!

There were a few hiccups along the way – not the least of which being that on the morning of her wedding, Rafaela was left without a hair stylist and makeup artist! Luckily, as a member of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club, Rafaela was able to muster Brides Club’s collective resources to secure the perfect last-minute booking. And as Rafaela transitioned her wedding from spring to winter, a fellow Brides Club member lent out her bridal fur shawl to keep Rafaela warm and in style during the outside photos – how incredible is that?! Don’t miss the ultra-emotional trailer from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Denee Motion, who is so beloved by our Brides Club members – and for very good reason!

Speaking of which… if you’re feeling in need of a little guidance as you navigate your big day, reserve your spot for Smashing The Glass’s virtual Jewish Wedding Planning Party today! There’ll be partying, presents, and music, plus our founder Karen Cinnamon will be on hand to help you figure out everything from making the most of your budget to dealing with challenging family dynamics and beyond  – and to answer any and every question you might have.

There’s so much more we could say about this unbelievable wedding – like, how amazing is Rafaela and Dan’s chuppah? And how exquisite does Rafaela look in her Suzanne Neville gown?! – but we’ll let the bride take it from here…

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How we Met

Rafaela, the bride: I am from Brazil and moved to the UK around 15 years ago, where we met! We have been together around 4 years and despite having grown up in different parts of the world, we are both very similar and have many mutual interests! Dan proposed from a helicopter in the summer of 2018 and we were wedding planning ever since! Continue ReadingContinue Reading