Old Finsbury Town Hall wedding venue Archives - Smashing the Glass

It’s no secret that we love seeing a couple who crafts a unique Jewish wedding that’s totally, 100% them. And that’s exactly what today’s bride and groom did. Candy and Max are passionate about documenting their life together as an interabled couple at Riding Everest – Max, an investment analyst, has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair, and in addition to a career in writing and social media Candy cares for Max, assisting him with all the tasks he needs help with due to his disability – and showing the world that relationships where one partner has a disability are just as loving, normal, and beautiful as any other.

And that seems to go doubly for weddings, based on Kristian Leven’s radiant, joyous photos of the day. This wedding was SO full of love, happiness, and cool personal touches, from papel picado in honor of Max’s Mexican heritage, eucalyptus leaves to reflect Candy’s Australian family, and tiny plastic horses scattered around the venue for guests to find as a nod to the couple’s 2018 horseback trek to Everest Base Camp! And they also worked in plenty of DIY touches, from hand-painted place cards (Max worked with a paintbrush held in his mouth, and Candy took charge of the calligraphy) to homemade gin favors.

We also love that these two opted to get married twice in one day, starting their day at the register office and ending it under the chuppah, which Candy and Max loved because it gave them the opportunity to have both a small, intimate wedding with just family AND a big Jewish wedding where they celebrated with their community.

And then there’s the exuberant Jewish music by Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Shir! This mega-talented group not only helped the couple pick their favorite tunes and iron out logistical creases in their day, they also led the Israeli dancing and made sure that everyone – even guests who’d never before attended a Jewish wedding – got involved!

There’s so much more we could say about this awesome wedding, but we’ll leave it to Candy – who started the day in a pale blue vintage tea dress before a secret pre-chuppah costume change into a beaded dress from BHLDN – to fill you in on the rest…

How we met

Candy, the bride: We met after my masters, when I needed a part time job (an MA in playwrighting isn’t a very lucrative way to get into the job market) and Max needed a PA at work. Then we accidentally fell in love and the rest is history!

Rachel and Zach were married at Old Finsbury Town Hall, which has to be one of the most beautiful wedding venues in London. They threw a really relaxed, fun wedding party and organised most of it via the wonders of the internet from their home in New York.

They ditched a lot of the traditional wedding formalities too: they chose not to have a bridal party, wedding cake, expensive dress or favours, and had some brilliant ideas, like using Rachel’s enormous collection of New Yorker magazines as individual place cards for each guest. They also devised a very traditional, but totally egalitarian, Jewish ceremony with tons of personal twists, and an utterly unique ketubah. They also wrote an inspired wedding program. The beautiful bride, Rachel, elaborates below.

Chris Giles, their photographer, does city chic romance effortlessly, and even the way he captures Rachel’s shoes perched on a side table is like something out of a modern fairytale. Enjoy every one of Chris (and his wife, Laura)’s gorgeous images, and whisk yourself away to a warm-hearted wintery December in London.