Dreaming of Italy but grounded by lockdown? Take some inspiration from Sarah-Jayne and Emile, who brought their love of the country to the UK in their (pre-COVID) interfaith Jewish wedding. Between their decision to wed at Poole’s The Italian Villa – a dead ringer for a Tuscan escape – adelectable Italian menu, and homemade limoncello favors, they truly created a little Italian oasis in Dorset!
We also love the way these two crafted a ceremony that was truly THEM. Their Jewish ceremony – officiated by Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Paul Glantz, The Wedding Rabbi (who they found via Smashing the Glass!) – featured plenty of egalitarian touches: instead of the bride circling the groom the traditional 7 times, Sarah-Jayne and Emile each circled each other 3.5 times and did a badeken where not only did the groom veil the bride but the bride gave the groom a kippah in return – the pair even wrote and delivered a speech together!
These two were also ultra-attentive to their guests’ comfort and enjoyment, going out of their way to include special touches like a board game area and personalized kids’ packs for each child in attendance, featuring toys, snacks, coloring, and treasure hunts! All the love and joy of the day – not just the couple’s, but everyone’s – comes through so strongly in the beautiful photos from Ben Minnaar Photography and video from Mulhern Media.
There’s so much more we could say about this wonderful wedding, but we’ll leave the rest to the bride, who looked lovely in Maggie Sottero…
How we met
Sarah-Jayne, the bride: We have been together ever since our winter ball in our first year of university. We were in the same halls and we had the most incredibly extravagant winter formal in a huge circus tent, complete with a fun fair, acrobats and real snow.
A rather drunk, but cute guy approached me (my now husband) and said he remembered me from a go-kart social months earlier and he had thought about me since as I had given off dream girl vibes, rather flattered I added him on social media and 10 years later (including 3 long distance) here we are. We got engaged in the Gili Islands on the beach at sunset, whilst visiting his brother and sister-in-law. We had a long engagement of 3 years to save up and we are so excited for everything to come in married life!
