John Lewis Archives - Smashing the Glass

A Stella York Bride for a Family-Centered Jewish Wedding at The Waldorf Hilton Aldwych, London, UK

15/05/2019 by Karen Cinnamon

We are totally and completely in awe of Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Claudine Hartzel’s exquisite photos from today’s gorgeous Jewish wedding. The way she captures the emotion, the details, and of course the Israeli dancing (there are some seriously unmissable action shots below!) – Claudine’s work never fails to bowl us over.

Another thing that consistently gives us the warm and fuzzies? When a couple prioritizes incorporating family into their big day. Danni, who works as a fundraiser for a Jewish charity, and Sam, an accountant, did just that, from having their parents help out with the planning to including as many family members as possible in their procession to the chuppah.

Both the bride and groom’s fathers drive black cabs in London, and in honour of their dads the pair opted to incorporate black cabs as a motif – love how they included a little black cab on their invitations!

And we love that Danni opted to pair her Stella York dress with her mum’s veil – which, with a few alterations, fit seamlessly into her bridal style. We’ll let her take things from here…

How we met

Danni, the bride: Before getting married we had been together for six and a half years. We met while at university, Sam came up to Leeds to surprise my housemate (and bridesmaid) and we got chatting… a few months later we met again and started going out. We’ve been together ever since.

A Gemy Maalouf Bride for a City Chic Jewish Wedding at Plaisterers’ Hall, One London Wall, London, UK

26/11/2018 by Karen Cinnamon

It’s no secret that it gets us pretty excited to hear how couples have used Smashing The Glass to help them plan their own Jewish (or Jew-ish weddings). So you can only imagine the warm and fuzzies it gave us to read these lovely words from today’s beautiful bride (and member of Smashing The Glass’ Brides Club!) Aimee:

“We really wouldn’t have known where to start planning our wedding without Karen and Smashing The Glass. We used lots of STG Recommended Vendors and they were all incredible!”

Aww, we think you’re incredible too, Aimee! She and Ross planned the most fantastic day, and we’re so touched to have been a part of it. From the bride’s totally exquisite lace Gemy Maalouf gown from much beloved STG Recommended Vendor Mirror Mirror London — it’s really unlike any other we’ve seen — to the lovely flowers (including succulents — how cool!) from STG Recommended Vendor The Country Flower Company to the elegant wedding stationery, complete with personalized wax seal, from STG Recommended Vendor Dimitria Jordan.

We’re always excited when a wedding with STG Recommended Vendor XS Showband crosses our path, and today’s is no exception. We’re delighted (but not surprised) to hear that they were incredibly helpful to Aimee and Ross throughout the planning, and we LOVE that the couple had one of the band members sing the prayers during their ceremony.

Even more STG-sourced vendors captured the day in all its glory: STG Recommended Vendor David Morgan took the coolest photos — we can’t get enough of his modern style — and STG Recommended Vendor Denee Motion’s wedding trailer is pure cinematic splendor, as always!

Okay, now we’ll hand you over to our new BFF Aimee…

How we met

Aimee, the bride: We first met on the same family holiday. We were both on the same cruise with our families and were introduced. However, I was quite shy and we didn’t talk too much!

Once back it turned out that I was joining Ross’ sixth form and we ended up in many of the same classes. In our second year we started dating and have been together ever since. 9 years later Ross proposed in our flat and here we are 11 months later… MARRIED!

A Stella York Bride for a Winter Wonderland Jewish Wedding at Warren Weir, Luton Hoo, UK

18/07/2018 by Karen Cinnamon

Don’t mind us, we’re busy picking our jaws up off the floor after seeing today’s stunning Jewish wedding portraits in the snow. Almost enough to make you rethink that summer wedding, are we right?!

When Mel, a project manager, and Mitch, who works in IT, first chose Chiko Photography, they were drawn to a photo of his with a couple under an umbrella in the snow. Who would’ve thought they’d get to recreate it themselves?!

This is also a special wedding for us because bride Mel was one of our blogging brides but not only that, Mel was also a founding member of our Club for Jewish Brides, and as such, she and Mitch were the very first couple to ever use our own-brand (and super gorgeous!) smash glass pouch for breaking the glass under their chuppah!

We loved following Mel’s wedding planning journey, and we’re so glad to hear that the feeling was mutual. Mel found several of her amazing wedding vendors through Smashing the Glass, from their incredible videographer, STG Recommended Vendor Denee Motion,to another much loved STG Recommended Vendor XS Showband, best known as pioneers of the wedding flash mob!

XS Showband provided entertainment throughout the day, but we can’t take our eyes off Denee Motion’s fantastic video of Mel and Mitch’s very own musical wedding flash mob, just before their ceremony started. They wanted a special surprise for their guests, something to make sure their day really stood out, and we think this more than did the trick. You’ve got to check it out for yourself!

Do also take a moment to read through Mel’s fabulous account of her planning and prep, there are some really useful tips and a generous helping of super advice at the end. Over to Mel now (and by the way we think she looks SO elegant in her lace fishtail gown by Stella York. . .

How we met

Mel, the bride: We met on JDate in 2013. After chatting for a while we met for a drink. Our second date was an eight-hour lunch! I thought if someone can keep me engrossed in constant conversation for that long without getting bored then I am on to a winner.

A Mori Lee Bride for a City Chic Jewish Wedding at St. Pancras Renaissance, London, UK

09/07/2018 by Karen Cinnamon

Okay, how much do we love Natasha and Tal’s wisteria chuppah?! SO romantic, and yet somehow also understated, since the couple kept everything else about the structure super simple. What a great reminder that you don’t necessarily have to go all out and do something super dramatic and involved to have a beautiful, memorable chuppah at your Jewish wedding.

There’s so much more that was beautiful and memorable about this day, too — you’ve got to check out Smashing the Glass Recommended Vendor David Pullum’s photos of all the action. But if you just see one, make sure it’s the pic where Natasha’s being tossed six feet in the air (!) on a tablecloth – scroll a bit, and you won’t miss it. It’s pretty dramatic, and we’re not even a little surprised that guests are still talking about it.

From that photo alone, you can probably guess that Natasha and Tal had a pretty rockin’ party. That was partly thanks to Smashing the Glass Recommended Vendor The Function Band, who the couple describe as “truly show-stopping.” They made sure the dance floor was packed all night, and guests are still remarking on their fantastic performance.

Now we’ll turn you over to Natasha, who looked stunning in her Mori Lee dress…

A London Venue

Natasha, the bride: We got married at St Pancras Renaissance. We were struggling to find a venue that we agreed on. We walked up to the front of the venue and were instantly wowed. We walked around imaging the photographs and knew it was going to be the one.

A Stephanie Allin Bride for an Ultra-Personal Country House Jewish Wedding at Parklands Quendon Hall, Essex, UK

21/05/2018 by Karen Cinnamon

We absolutely LOVE today’s bride, Tash, who is an avid Smashing The Glass reader, and looked so elegant in her Stephanie Allin gown (with “the best twirling skirt ever!”).

She made some amazing vendor choices (choosing three STG Recommended Vendors all found on the pages of Smashing The Glass) and she had so many beautiful creative ideas. We particularly love the couple’s extra-meaningful chuppah design inspired by a previous wedding on Smashing The Glass, where the guests helped decorate the canopy with flowers (so gorge).

Their fab florist, the amazing Emma from STG Recommended Vendor Urban Flower Farmer, designed a simple birch pole chuppah laden with greenery and arranged flowers in buckets by the entrance to the ceremony, with a sign asking the guests to add them to the chuppah.

And that’s just one of the beautiful ways Tash and Ian personalized their ceremony while embracing Jewish tradition — you’ve got to read about their ultra-meaningful badeken. Photographer Andy Tyler and videographer Rideout Films did a wonderful job capturing all the emotion of the day.

The pair had a large wedding (230 guests!) with LOTS of children, and to make things easier for the parents in the crowd they hired another fabulous STG Recommended Vendor Safe and Sound Childcare to provide a creche, which kept all the little ones entertained and allowed the adults to enjoy the party.

Tash and Ian knew they wanted a band that could handle some serious Israeli dancing. Turning to Smashing The Glass for ideas, they found STG Recommended Vendor XS Showband. The couple report that the band created a fab atmosphere and kept their guests dancing all evening — and, most important of all, they ably handled not one but two rounds of Israeli dancing! Speaking of which, be sure to check out Tash’s top tips for Israeli dancing in her writeup…

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How we met

Tash, the bride: We met online – if you’d told me 5 years ago that I’d end up marrying someone I met online I would have thought you were mad, but here we are!

We met through Mysinglefriend, which is the site where your friends write your profile, which means you get slightly more interesting descriptions than the classic “I like eating out with friends and country walks.”

But it turns out it doesn’t actually mean you get more truthful profiles, as Ian’s friends Jo and Stu wrote lots of things that I’ve subsequently discovered were complete lies – like the suggestion that Ian is not a football obsessive!