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A Rosa Clará Bride for a Wedding Planner’s Traditional Jewish Wedding with a Twist at The Langham, London, UK

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We always love seeing what choices Jewish wedding pros make when it comes to planning their own big day – so naturally we’re thrilled to be featuring the wedding of Lara, the wedding planner behind Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Uptown Events! She and Grant, a data analyst, had the most fabulous London Jewish wedding at Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor The Langham, one of the city’s most iconic venues.

Having worked on so many incredible weddings, Lara had lots of time to think about what she’d want to do for her own – which was honoring tradition while bringing in some original twists. One of these twists was the color scheme: rather than leaning into classic white, Lara opted for a palette focused on soft pinks with touches of green – and was it ever gorgeous! We’re especially enamored with Lara and Grant’s stunner of a floral chuppah – don’t miss it in the incredible photos by Katie Rogers!

We also love the fun culinary touches the dessert-loving couple brought to their wedding menu. Instead of a wedding cake, they opted for a giant tiramisu – and there was also a crumble bar, where guests could mix and match between different fruit bases and crumble toppings. How good does that sound?! And if that wasn’t enough, they had not one but two roaming desserts: a chocolate mousse trolley and a doughnut belt!

There are so many more fun details – everything from the way the couple included their beloved dog in the day via an AI cartoon image they used on custom matchboxes to the Picante tower the tequila-loving duo dreamed up instead of the classic Champagne version – but we’ll leave it to Lara, who looked so elegant in her beautiful lace gown by Rosa Clará, to tell you the rest…

How We Met

Lara, the bride: We met at secondary school when we were 18!

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A Jane Hill Bride for an Ultra-Personal Foodies’ Jewish Wedding at Braxted Park, Witham, UK

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Saydee and Eldar, Braxted Park Estate, Witham, UK

This Jewish wedding has it all – tons of personal touches, gorgeous countryside setting, great food, and an epic party. Londoners Saydee, a senior food buyer, and Eldar, a director at an advertising agency, worked with their planner Sophie Amor to craft the most magical celebration at picturesque Braxted Park, with so many fabulous details it’s hard to know where to start.

We could go with the couple’s stunning chuppah, inspired by the enormous oak tree on the grounds that formed the focal point of the outdoor ceremony – Saydee and Eldar wanted it to feel as though it was growing into the landscape, and did they ever! (Don’t miss it in the natural, documentary-style photos by Susie and Harley of  Barker Evans.)

Or the chuppah explanation cards the couple created to guide guests unfamiliar with Jewish weddings through the ceremony – hand-drawn by the bride’s mother!

And then there’s the food. Eldar’s family is behind beloved London restaurant group Delamina, so exceptional wedding eats were a must. Working with kosher caterer Dvash, the couple put together a menu with food inspired by Eldar’s mother’s cooking, featuring Middle Eastern-inspired dishes like short rib Delamina-style, slow-cooked with dates, pul-biber chilies, Jerusalem artichoke three ways, and roasted okra.”

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

Saydee and Eldar, Braxted Park Estate, Witham, UK Saydee and Eldar, Braxted Park Estate, Witham, UK Saydee and Eldar, Braxted Park Estate, Witham, UK Saydee and Eldar, Braxted Park Estate, Witham, UK

How We Met

Saydee, the bride: Introduced by a mutual friend but had crossed paths once that year and Eldar grew up on the road Saydee went to school!

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A Zavana Bride for a Romantic Winter Jewish Wedding at Offley Place, Hitchin, UK

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Jonny & Sophie, Offley place, London, UK

We’ve got a really special Jewish wedding to share with you today! Sophie, a media agency manager, and Jonny, a private chef, had the most beautiful romantic winter wedding at Offley Place just outside London, filled with all the best things in life: food, music, and – of course – family and community.

Given that Jonny’s a chef, the food needed to be top-notch – and he even created the menu himself! And we love that Sophie decided to have a “L-ish” (ladies’ tish) pre-chuppah. In hjer words, “The boys get a drink with their friends before they walk down the aisle, I thought why not do the same with my girls too! It was so lovely to have some of my closest friends around me before I got married, highly recommend getting your hype girlies together to have a little moment and drink before.” How fun is that?

And then there’s the music: Sophie and Jonny wanted the best of the best, and they found it in  Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor The White Keys. In Sophie’s words, “their energy, talent, and incredible vocals created the most electric atmosphere.” Rounding things out were the couple’s incredible chazzan, Serge and super-talented Josh Nesbitt on the keys, who brought the ceremony to another level.

Photographer Marcus Curry captured the most wonderful images of the day, as did videographer Ayla from Reel All About It – who also created the most beautiful reels for Sophie and Jonny the very next day!

Jonny & Sophie, Offley place, London, UK Jonny & Sophie, Offley place, London, UK Jonny & Sophie, Offley place, London, UK

How We Met

Sophie, the bride: The short, not so romantic story, is Hinge! The new version of a matchmaking.

The long story is, we have always known of each other, living in the bubble, we had gone to the same school at some point and the same clubs as children.

As Jonny is slightly older than myself, he used to volunteer looking after and run sessions for younger children at a Jewish youth club called Chigwell Maccabi, ‘Chigs’ for short. My younger sister happened to be a part of this age group Jonny helped. She remembers him as the boy who used to make people laugh and run around in a monkey onesie, he remembers her as being loud and trying to keep her away from the boys.

At this very same club, Jonny’s family donated an award for volunteers each year. After his Grandpa got too old to present it himself, his dad Bradley would present the ‘Mervish award’ to those who had volunteered. My sister was the winner of this award and there has been a picture of my sister, Jonny’s dad and sister up on our wall years before we met!

I say she got the shield, but I got the trophy.

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An Emma Beaumont Bride for a Lebanese-Jewish Wedding with a Fantastic Floral Chuppah at Easthampstead Park Hotel, Wokingham, UK

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Tatiana and Daniel, Easthampstead Park Hotel, Wokingham, UK

Gorgeous chuppah alert! Londoners Tatiana and Dan, who both work in tech, had one of the most absolutely exquisite floral chuppahs we’ve seen – and we see a lot!

Given that Tatiana’s family owns Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Easthampstead Park Hotel in Wokingham, it was a natural choice for their wedding weekend. The stunning Victorian country house venue an hour outside London provided the perfect spot for all of their events, from the Lebanese-themed Friday night dinner to the main Jewish ceremony and reception on Saturday to the Sunday brunch – and since they fully took over the hotel for the weekend, all of their guests were able to stay together and get to know one another.

Planning a three-day affair is no easy feat, and Tatiana and Dan turned to Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Sophie Amor to help make their wedding dreams come true. In Tatiana’s words, “Sophie was so incredible, and her patience was unwavering – she made us feel like ours was the only wedding she was working on for nine months! I really couldn’t recommend her more – she was so organised, understood me & Dan inside and out and just made our weekend completely stress free.”

Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Sensation Band made sure the dance floor was packed all night long – and also arranged for the incredible electric violinists who played as guests made their way to the dinner marquee!

The couple’s photographer, Pippa Mackenzie, captured the day so beautifully, and their videographer, Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Denee Motion, filmed the celebration in his trademark cinematic style – and Tatiana and Dan appreciated his calming presence on the day.

There’s so much more to say about this very special wedding – but we’ll turn you over to the bride, who looked simply ravishing in her bespoke Emma Beaumont gown, for the rest…

Tatiana and Daniel, Easthampstead Park Hotel, Wokingham, UK Tatiana and Daniel, Easthampstead Park Hotel, Wokingham, UK Tatiana and Daniel, Easthampstead Park Hotel, Wokingham, UK Tatiana and Daniel, Easthampstead Park Hotel, Wokingham, UK

How We Met

Tatiana, the bride: We were introduced between the second and third lockdowns in London, and have slightly varying accounts of what happened! For me, I was chatting with a few different guys, two of which were already named Dan (Dan 1 and Dan 2). When I met my friend Saacha for lunch, she cut in and said, “OMG, I have Dan 3 for you!” and passed Dan my number. However, for Dan, he was feeling a bit worn out with dating after a not-so-great date, so he only reached out a week later. We met and saw each other for the first time at The Marylebone Pub were we had our first date, and hit it off right away (helped by many tequila shots and lots of laughter).Continue ReadingContinue Reading