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An Essense of Australia Bride for an Interfaith Jewish Wedding at Trinity Buoy Wharf, London, UK

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How was your first night of Hannukah last night? We’re so excited for the Festival of Lights and together with all our STG Brides Club and Smashing Life members, we lit our Chanukiahs together inside our Facebook group last night and it was magical!

Not yet a member of Smashing The Glass’ Brides Club? You can join here – we’d love to have you inside our community (and of course also help save your time, your money and  your sanity on your way to creating your day your way).

Speaking of Brides Club members, we are totally in love with today’s real Jew-ish wedding of Brides Club member, Bethany, an assistant merchandiser, to Gavin, a project coordinator.

They held their wedding at Trinity Buoy Wharf, a stunning warehouse venue in London, And with the city skyline as the dramatic backdrop to their big day, what a celebration it was!

We love the way the interfaith couple – Gavin is Jewish, while Bethany was brought up Christian – followed their civil ceremony with a personalized religious blessing they crafted alongside their rabbi to reflect their shared values and beliefs. We’re also obsessed with Voyteck’s emotional-packed documentary-style photography, which captures the essence of the day so perfectly.

And with top-notch ‘sharing style’ catering from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Adam Nathan – who the bride praises for going above and beyond in his willingness to run with any idea, no matter how out there (not to mention his delicious food, which guests are still raving about) – served alongside beer and damson gin the couple made themselves (!), we’re experiencing serious FOMO that we didn’t get to attend ourselves. (Also, how perfect is it that Bethany and Gavin named their beer“How Amaze is this Porter” to tie in with their wedding hashtag, #howamazewedding?)

Now over to the bride, who looked beautiful in Essense of Australia…

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A London Wedding

Bethany, the bride: We got married at Trinity Buoy Wharf. It was a long search for a venue as we were determined to not have a wedding/party in a hotel ballroom and additionally we wanted a venue that none of our friends had been to! We did a lot of searching for venues, but it was all worth the wait! We also chose this venue as we knew that if we were going to get married in London then we actually wanted to be able to see London (Bethany grew up in the Suffolk and Shropshire countrysides, so that was an option too!).

We didn’t want all of our guests who were coming from across the world to come to our wedding and then be in a room which could have been anywhere. So we found a lighthouse on the Thames, opposite the O2 with the city in the background, it was perfect!

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

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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…

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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.

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A Romantic Jewish Wedding Bringing the Outside Inside, at The Grove, Hertfordshire, UK

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Every marriage faces its tests, but for Jenna and Nick, their dedication to one another was tested very early on in the relationship, when Jenna faced medical and family hardships – and Nick proved to be her rock, and a total keeper.

One conversion later, and Nick, now a fully fledged member of the tribe, and Jenna, said “I do” in front of their nearest and dearest. His moving wedding speech can be heard in the special stills video below by much-loved Recommended Vendor, Adams Photography, who also shot the wedding in full. Tissues at the ready, guys….

We love the romantic story about how these two chose their dream venue – going on atmosphere and instinct, which proved to be a magical moment in itself. 

To mirror the venue’s ethos of ‘bringing the outside inside’, Nick and Jenna did exactly that, creating a bloom-filled dà©cor scheme, with an abundance of delicate gypsophila, soft pink roses and a stunning tree-inspired table plan.

We’ll leave you in Jenna’s capable hands for the full recap, including a fortuitous find at David’s Bridal – clearly this big day was totally meant to be!

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How we met

Jenna, the bride: Long-ish story! We met on Plenty of Fish! I basically was unsure, at first, about dating a non-Jewish guy, so I kept Nick a secret until I was sure it was something serious.

A week after Nick and I started talking, I was working on a film in Newcastle, and I slipped on some ice and really hurt my back. I flew back to London (barely able to walk) and went to see a specialist, who told me if I didn’t have surgery the next day, I could be paralysed. The following day I had surgery, and four days later my grandmother passed away.

I was left alone in my hospital bed in London, and Nick was a rock to me during that time. He was so supportive (be it over the phone) and we really got to know each other inside out. I understand it was not the most conventional way of dating, but once I was back on my feet, we met up and it felt like we had known each other for years. It just felt so right.

Six months later, I introduced him to the family. A few months after that, Nick came to me and asked me how I would feel if he was to convert to Judaism. I was really surprised by his question, but also felt a lot of admiration towards him. It was very important to Nick that when we were to have children that we are all on the same page and part of a family unit. Nick spent 18 months converting to Judaism, he learnt Hebrew, he had a circumcision (now that is commitment!) and after all of that lengthy process, Nick is now a proud Jew and I am, of course, very proud of him!

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A Jew-ish Industrial Vintage same-sex wedding with a Lyn Ashworth gown at St Pancras Renaissance, London

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Tissues at the ready, folks, because I guarantee that you won’t make it through this gorgeous lesbian Jew-ish wedding without welling up — especially if you watch the tear-jerker of a wedding video at the bottom of this post, artfully and sensitively shot by Love Storage.

Charlotte and Ellie wanted a dramatic and industrial meets romantic, dark florals-vibe for their big day, and they found the perfect venue in the iconic St Pancras Renaissance Hotel in London. The story of the day was expertly captured by fantastic photographer, Dale Weeks.

We simply adore the moody aesthetic and jewel-toned theme; Charlotte and Ellie’s vintage-industrial look made their whole day so quirky and unique, but still so chic and stunning.

The attention to detail from artistic bride Ellie was simply phenomenal. Each item was carefully and lovingly picked with the theme in mind: the home-designed invitations, the rust-coloured chairs, the Victoriana table decorations and whole flower stems strewn down the aisle. The style extended to the brides’ outfits, which were simply beautiful and perfectly in keeping with the tone and theme of the wedding.

We love the birch pole Chuppah, complete with Charlotte’s grandfather’s tallit, and that the start of the Jewish ceremony was signaled with one of our all-time favourite wedding songs, Sunrise Sunset. Could there be a more perfect or sincere way to conduct a Jewish ceremony?

Over to Charlotte and Ellie to fill us in on all the details from their divine wedding day.

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When you know, you know

Charlotte: Ellie and I met online. There was no woo-ing and no long conversations. Ellie sent me a message saying “Shall we go for a drink then?” and when I agreed she informed me that I had to choose the location.

I chose The Bridge in Hoxton and we met outside Hoxton station that Saturday afternoon because we both already had evening plans.

We sat side by side in the boudoir-like surroundings, drinking coffee and chatting for hours. It felt very natural from the start, like we’d known each other for years. It didn’t take long before we were spending every spare day together!

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