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A Gozde Karadana Bride for a Tel Aviv-Meets-London Jewish Wedding at St Pancras Renaissance Hotel, London, UK

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Alex & Fyodor, St Pancras Renaissance Hotel, London, UK

Happy 2022! We wanted to start off the year with a bang… and how better to do that than with the ultra-chic Jewish wedding of Alex, who works in PR, and Fyodor, who’s in digital marketing – which you’d never guess was planned in just 2.5 weeks!

Due to COVID, the couple – who’d originally planned to wed in Tel Aviv – ended up having to change their plans three times, and by the time they settled on London’s St Pancras Renaissance Hotel, their third venue, they didn’t have much time to pull things together.

But thanks to a fantastic team of vendors – many of whom came recommended through Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club, of which Alex was a member – they pulled it off and then some.

Even after changing countries from Israel to the UK Alex and Fyodor still wanted to include some touches of Tel Aviv – and their florist, Liz Inigo Jones from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Blue Sky Flowers, helped them pull it off, combining palm leaves with bold autumnal colors complementing the Gothic Revival style of the venue.

Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Liam Smith Photography is behind the couple’s gorgeous pics, and we couldn’t be any more obsessed with his non-posed, documentary style shots. And another wonderful Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor, Matt from York Place Studios, handled videography in a similarly fresh, candid style.

Last but certainly not least, Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Jam Hot Showband managed the music for the entire wedding – and not only was their performance “phenomenal,” they were a joy to work with from start to finish.

There’s so much more we could say, but we’ll leave the rest to Alex, who looked uber-glam in her Gozde Karadana gown…

Alex & Fyodor, St Pancras Renaissance Hotel, London, UKAlex & Fyodor, St Pancras Renaissance Hotel, London, UKAlex & Fyodor, St Pancras Renaissance Hotel, London, UKAlex & Fyodor, St Pancras Renaissance Hotel, London, UK
How we Met

Alex, the bride: We met in Poland at a Jewish trip called March of the Living.Continue ReadingContinue Reading

A Made with Love Bride for a Tropical Jewish Wedding at The River Rooms at The Mermaid, London, UK

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Jewish wedding The River Rooms at The Mermaid, London, UK_0019
A tropical wedding in London? Sounds crazy, you say? Well, you might want to wait until you see the gorgeous Jewish wedding of Michelle, a fundraising manager at Battersea Dogs & Cats Home, and Joel, a property developer, before passing judgment.

Inspired by their engagement in Curacao, these two knew they wanted a relaxed Caribbean party vibe filled with beautiful tropical plants and colours – and they didn’t see their desire to wed in their hometown of London as a barrier.

And with some help from fantastic wedding planner Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Rachel Flax – who Michelle says “seriously saved my sanity” during the last few months! – they pulled it off and then some.

From their fab tropical chuppah with its lush green canopy and soft pink florals to the balloon installation in tropical pinks and peaches by the bar (not to mention the giant flamingo balloon at the corner of the dancefloor), we’re totally getting those beachy Caribbean vibes. Photographer Martin Phelps captured the day SO perfectly in his trademark documentary style.

Michelle and Joel chose fabulous Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Totem to make sure their big day not only looked like a party but felt like one too. It’s no surprise that Totem created a killer atmosphere and kept guests on the dance floor all night long – but what was a surprise was that they secretly worked with the groom on a musical performance of his own! Much to Michelle’s surprise, Totem announced Joel onstage and accompanied him as he sang‘Crazy Little Thing Called Love’ ! There’s nothing like a fun surprise element to make your day super memorable!

Now over to the bride, who looked radiant in her Made with Love dress and Hollywood glam look courtesy of Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Pamela and Andrea Makeup…

Jewish wedding The River Rooms at The Mermaid, London, UK_0001Jewish wedding The River Rooms at The Mermaid, London, UK_0001Jewish wedding The River Rooms at The Mermaid, London, UK_0001
How we met

Michelle, the bride: We met on a Sunday afternoon in the pub, The Kings Head in Crouch End. We were both with friends having a chilled afternoon and got talking and the rest is history!

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2018/19 Real Blogging Brides: Introducing Harlie + Ben: How They Met To The Present Day…

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Today on the blog we’re introducing our 3rd gorgeous bride from our crop of 2018 and 2019 Real Jewish Brides! Please give a warm welcome to Harlie who will be marrying Ben on 19th August 2018 at the Landmark Hotel, London, UK.

THREE FACTS: Harlie met Ben on an ‘Aish’ trip to Israel during their university years (2) They will be bringing in lots of Spanish influences into their London wedding, for a variety of reasons, not least because that that’s where they got engaged! (3) They will be having a fairly traditional orthodox London wedding, but are including lots of modern twists.


How we met

Ben and I met in Israel during our University summer of 2013, on a tour that was part of a Jewish youth programme for students. I was at University in Leeds and Ben was at law school in London. We got talking over Shabbat lunch in the beautiful, spiritual city of Tzfat, and in the spirit of romance completely ignored each other for the rest of the trip!

It wasn’t until December that year when we both ended up in Spain with the same organisation that the sparks started flying. On the last night after a few shots of tequila, we both plucked up the courage to start chatting. After some grafting in the weeks to follow (although he wont admit it!), Ben won my heart.

Our dating days… up and down the country.

We only had a few low key casual dates back home, and it then wasn’t long until Ben was travelling up to Leeds and back from London to visit me at University. We went on a five week travelling stint around South East Asia that summer after only five months of dating, and have since made many amazing memories around the world. That was our story for the next three years, both travelling up and down the country every other weekend to see each other and spending many summers together jetting off around the globe.

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Review of Sassi Holford’s Twenty17 Collection, Occasionwear, and Mother Of The Bride collections – plus a Facebook Live chat with the designer herself

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Sassi-Holford-Twenty17
All images by Kate Nielen

One of the best things about being a wedding blogger is, undoubtedly, that I get to go and gaze at exquisite wedding gowns — for my job! For that reason and many others, including the impulse to share cutting-edge bridal fashion with you guys, I’m really passionate about promoting incredible bridal designers.

Sassi HolfordSassi Holford EveningwearSassi Holford With that in mind, it was a real treat to be invited to the 2017 Open Day of the one and only Sassi Holford, a leading international designer with a plethora of awards and accolades, earned over 35 years in bridal design. As the official blogger I wanted to get ALL the coverage so I asked Sassi if she would do a Facebook Live showcasing her designs and talking about current wedding trends.

With the opportunity to interview such a wedding world heavyweight, I came dressed for the occasion (even wearing a floral dress to echo one of Sassi’s most sublime designs, and my Emmy London shoes) — and armed with questions.

Sassi Holford_ Sassi Holford_0231Sassi Holford_0252Despite a couple of small hiccoughs with the live feed, it was a fabulous experience, which you can catch up with above — and a couple more at the end of the post. (Also, a very special thank you and shout out to Pamela and Andrea, who did my makeup to perfection).

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