London Sunday wedding Archives - Smashing the Glass

Anna & Jon | City chic Jewish wedding full of personal touches, at St Pancras Renaissance Hotel, King’s Cross, London, UK

08/06/2015 by Karen

Anna and Jon’s inspired Jewish wedding at London’s St Pancras Renaissance Hotel is super special, but before I tell you all about it I quickly want to remind you that you only have until Thursday night to enter STG’s amazing competition to win a luxurious overnight stay for two at this ravishing venue.

The prize includes champagne and strawberries, dinner for two, butler service, an in-room bath ritual, a history tour of this magnificent building, as well as breakfast the following morning, so don’t delay… enter the competition right here!

Now, back to Anna and Jon.

Nineteen years after the Spice Girls belted out Wannabe on the iconic staircase of the St Pancras hotel, Anna and Jon put their own quirky stamp on this treasured central London landmark.

Theirs really was a STG type of wedding — creative, brimming with personality and totally idiosyncratic.

Not many weddings include a running theme of monkeys and robots — yes, really — or have a 10.30pm fried chicken break to fuel their guests. And most couples would have to end the night when they reach the music curfew set by the venue, but not Anna and Jon, who simply, but brilliantly just switched to a silent disco. Inspired.

Their big day was infused with the bride and groom’s personality and charm and this was most evident with the Jewish ceremony itself which they personalised in such a thoughtful way through their choice of song and readings. And I think this is the first time I’ve seen both the bride and groom smash the glass simultaneously. So good they did it twice! (take a look at James & Lianne Photography‘s fab shot)

They also managed another individual twist when it came to the budget — they saved money on the bride and bridesmaid’s outfits, of all people.

As Anna’s dress was so exquisite, she bought a very uncomplicated head veil online, for a third of the price it would have normally cost in a wedding boutique and she saved on simple high street accessories. Meanwhile the bridesmaids’ dresses were bought in the January sales.

And every single one of them looked impeccable.

I’ll let Anna fill you in on the rest and please do read to the end for her “how we met” story!

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Amanda & Brian | Romantic elegance Jewish wedding at the Rosewood London

23/06/2014 by Karen

I hope you are ready for elegance and sophistication this Monday afternoon folks. Amanda and Brian’s gorgeous wedding has more than a touch of class about it and I’m delighted to be blogging the first ever wedding to have taken place at the the coolest new hotel kid on the block, the Rosewood London in High Holborn.

And as for the photography well….I don’t know how on earth Amanda and Brian ever chose what to put in their album, I was in raptures over the shots of the stationery and the rings before I even got to the delicious details and all important ceremony and party shots.

There’s a bride and groom that positively exude the whole happy-ever-after. There’s an utterly mesmerising chuppah. There’s laughter and crazy dancing and guests having the time of their lives. There are stunning portrait shots. It’s essentially a whole LOT of city chic glamour people, all courtesy of the genius that is David Pullum.

Oh and then there’s THE dress.
It’s breathtaking.

Just before I hand over to Amanda for her wedding report, I must just add that I was thrilled to hear that she was inspired to make a bride’s speech after reading an article in the Times, in which I was quoted, that talks about how the modern day bride is finally breaking her silence. I certainly feel that when you put your heart and soul into the planning, you do want to express yourself and say something… Amanda, being a rocking STG bride, has more to say on the subject (and so much more!) in her heartfelt and detailed write-up below.

Chelm & Jake | Uber cool Jewish Wedding at the Doodle Bar + Testbed1, Battersea, London

06/03/2014 by Karen

I promise that what you’re about to see is truly epic. This folks is how to do a super cool, super fun, superfly wedding.

There are so many things that I love about this W-day that I’d be here until midnight listing them all, but I’ll just mention Los Desterrados playing ‘The Final Countdown‘ in the synagogue; pornstar martinis and chilli martinis as the cocktails of choice in the reception; an after-party stretching until sunrise, a Jenny Packham bride with her Vivienne Westwood groom… and I’ll stop now. You just need to see it.

And as fabulous as this wedding is, some of my favourite elements are the way in which Chelm and Jake personalised their Jewish ceremony — in particular what they did with their Sheva Brachot, and also their spin on the traditional circling of the groom.

They chose the Doodle Bar in Battersea (don’t you think it’s one of the best venue websites you’ve ever seen?) for their reception. It’s housed in an old dairy in Battersea, on the banks of the Thames and the adjoining space, Testbed1, where the party continued, is normally used as an arts venue. It’s an incredible warehouse space that Chelm and Jake and their very creative friends decorated with real pizazz and flair. I’ll let Jake continue with all the details – yes it’s our cooler-than-a polar-bear’s-toenails groom reporting the wedding today! He’s a real character – we need more groom wedding reports!

The photography is phenomenal and it’s by our newest Smashing Supplier and STG favourite, Blake Ezra Photography.

VENUE

Jake, the groom: Friends of ours own Doodle Bar in Battersea and I’d visited the place several months previously and thought it was very cool – a bit of East London in Battersea! I asked my friend if there was any chance that it would make a workable wedding venue, and to my delight, he said yes – they’d already done a lot of parties there.

Philippa & Andrew | Romantic City Chic Jewish Wedding at the Mandarin Oriental, London

20/12/2013 by Karen

Philippa and Andrew’s big day is the epitome of romantic elegance. The exquisite colour scheme of purples, greys, golds and pastels pervades everything in their wedding; it’s present in Philippa’s luscious bouquet (that frankly looks good enough to eat) and their beautiful dessert table too… right down to the invitations, menus and lighting.

And how gorgeous is our bride, Philippa? Doesn’t her Audrey Hepburn / 50s inspired Stephanie Allin dress look immense? And I am swooning over her awesome Lulu Guinness ‘lips’ bag (her lovely husband actually surprised her with it on the day… so cute)

Anyway I won’t delay you any further; go on check out Philippa and Andrew’s splendid day for yourselves: ogle over the gorgeous imagery by Mark Seymour and, at the end of the post, the wonderfully atmospheric film by The Dreamcatchers.

A BALLROOM VENUE WITH BEAUTIFUL PARK VIEWS
A countryside wedding was our original plan, however this was proving difficult because at the time we had 200 guests to invite. We didn’t want to go to a beautiful countryside manor and have to use a marquee — what’s the point of going to a stunning location to be put in a marquee and have to spend thousands dressing it? So we decided that interior was key and the Mandarin Oriental was the perfect answer. We had the best of both worlds, a beautiful ballroom with Hyde Park literally on your door step.

THEME + STYLE
We went for a ‘romantic and elegant’ theme. Being a makeup artist I love to mood board so this was always going to be a fun task . The colour scheme and the style of the wedding was so important. Purple was the chosen dominant colour used throughout the wedding on the invitations, menus, flowers, ties etc) with greys, golds and different coloured pastels to compliment. The ballroom was dripping in gold and had lots of huge mirrors inside and so the romantic mood was enhanced with soft purple and pink lighting. Candelabras were placed on every other table with a small floral display on top & pastel coloured scattered petals on the mirrored base. The alternate tables had a low flower display with tea lights and scattered petals so not to block anyone’s view. Purple was used throughout the flowers in different shades to enhance and compliment the mood.

Joanna & David | Amazing Jewish Wedding at the London Transport Museum

19/12/2013 by Karen

This morning I have the ideal antidote to the stormy weather and the general sub zero antics that appear to be going on outside. Steve from Newlywed Films recently contacted me to share one of his favourite wedding films from 2013 and it’s perfect for brightening up a particularly inclement day such as today.

There are so many details that I love about this wedding, from the groom’s theatrical top hat and the bride’s Vivienne Westwood-esque dress (especially that bustle) to the fact that their reception took place in the London Transport Museum – how fun and fabulous is that?! Their guests chatted and ate on the different buses throughout the museum and as Joanna, the bride, says, “The London Transport Museum had never held a wedding reception before which meant it was a really fun and creative process for us and felt very unique and special.”

Beforehand they held their ceremony in David’s old school, UCS in Hampstead, and it featured an absolutely beautiful chuppah with the most vibrant coloured flowers and talit.

Anyway, enough from me, check out the wedding film for a sun-in-your-heart Thursday feeling.

Joanna, the bride: We don’t have an exciting/romantic backstory in terms of using the London Transport Museum as our wedding venue – we just came across it when we were venue searching and then nothing else seemed to compare!

We didn’t want a sit down meal but we also wanted our guests to be occupied the whole time so a museum space with fun exhibits seemed perfect, especially as we knew that there would be kids at the reception. It turns out that it was the adults who probably enjoyed it the most though! Also, the transport museum had never held a wedding reception before which meant it was a really fun and creative process for us and felt very unique and special.