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Yana & Archita | Jewish-Hindu-Indian-Russian multicultural lesbian wedding at Trust, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

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Now this wedding is not just special, stylish or merely a good day out – it’s a totally spectacular cocktail of uber-chic modernism, elegant traditionalism, multi-cultural funkiness and fun, all blended and shaken to perfection.

For any of you who are wondering how to mix two completely different backgrounds into one smooth and stylish day — get ready for some serious pinning action.

Yana and Archita seamlessly melded their loves, tastes and cultures together to create a unique day at Trust — a neoclassical styled art and event space gallery in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

An art event in itself, our two gorgeous brides amalgamated a colourful and awesome blend of Russian, Jewish, Hindu and Indian traditions against the ridiculously gorgeous, all white, architectural splendour of a soaring 10,000 square foot, turn of the century building.  Simple.  Ahem.

What could have been contrived or clunky – trying to shoe horn different traditions and styles together — is instead thoughtful and elegant.

But the simplicity really lies in their motivation — to unite two families into one, representing both cultures.  Even more, what underlined and defined the wedding was FUN. They wanted a huge, huge party and they got it, right down to the last few bars of Bohemian Rhapsody.

I’m still grinning from ear to ear at the image of the couple being raised high on chairs by friends and family, old and young — all partying together with the help of some homemade “traditional” vodka — to the Black Eyed Peas’ I Got a Feeling!

Even their choice of traditional wedding dresses had a twist… Archita wore a sari, whilst Yana wore a white wedding gown but with a sash around her waist made from the same material as Archita’s sari — a beautiful and subtle symbol to truly demonstrate the bond between the two.

All of the fantastic photography is by Michael and Melissa at M2 Photography. Now over to our beautiful brides…

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How we met

Yana & Archita, the Brides: We met in undergrad at Penn at the largest party of the year called “Spring Fling”. To this day we debate about who made the first move. Chita’s friends were having a small party in a dorm room, and Yana crashed it. It was only three weeks before summer break began, so this was supposed to be just a fling… but we fell in love before the summer.

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Meredith & Shoshana | True love + oodles of creativity: Lesbian Jew-ish Wedding at Notley Abbey, Oxfordshire, UK

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One of the  reasons I’m in love with my job as editor and curator of Smashing The Glass is that weddings are the ultimate fusion of creativity, traditions and of course true love – three things that I adore  – and this divine wedding has all three in buckets.

When  an email  from Danny and Julie  of Minty Slippers  popped in with a link to Meredith and Shoshana’s incredible wedding film, below, I had a massive ‘this is why I cherish  my job’ moment. It’s so very moving, and their devoted love for each other is so apparent — I literally  whooped, hollered and clapped my hands with glee in anticipation of  blogging Danny and Julie’s fabulous work, and Meredith and Shoshana’s love story.

It’s a tale of long-distance desire  with the pair  first meeting  in 2011 when Shoshana, from London, was studying at the New York Film Academy and Meredith was working at a Manhattan advertising agency.

Shoshana eventually returned to London after her studies, and being thrown suddenly into a long distance relationship, they  decided to make videos to remind them  of the fun they  shared  together.  Their videos are super creative and fun and will fill you in a little more on  their love story.

But on to the wedding itself.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen brides who smiles as much as Meredith and Shoshana  did on their big day; honestly their infectious grins are enough to make even the most miserable, rainy Mondays seem like Happy Hour in  the Caribbean.

They  were married at Notley Abbey in Oxfordshire, a beautiful venue that was once the home of Sir Laurence Olivier. There is a Stephanie Allin  AND a J.Crew  gown, both as beautiful as each other. There is a singing harpist, an  immense  naked cake, outdoor games and stunning florals  . There are  hand-painted favours by Shoshana (who is an illustrator by trade) of each guest’s name painted and presented on miniature easels. There  are some fantastic ideas for a really meaningful wedding ceremony.

But most of all? Most of all there is L.O.V.E

The beautiful moments on  film below were captured by Minty Slippers, whilst  the immense photography is courtesy of  Mark Cachia.


The venue

Meredith and Shoshana, the Brides: We chose  Notley Abbey in Oxfordshire, for its tree-lined entrance, the castle like turrets, the beautiful gardens and the stunning contemporary mix with 13th century architecture — need we say more, it was perfect!

Lesbian Jew-ish Wedding at Notley Abbey, Oxfordshire, UK
‘Global travel meets art’

Our wedding theme would be best described as  ‘global travel meets art’   – that’s what we arrived at in the end! We didn’t have a colour scheme but we definitely thought about colour throughout the process. We didn’t use a wedding planner, we had too much fun planning it ourselves!

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