Prezola Archives - Smashing the Glass

Gifts That Won’t Cost Your Guests a Penny: Social Gifting with Prezola

26/02/2019 by Karen Cinnamon

I’m so excited to share a new wedding list innovation from our friends at Prezola, the UK’s leading wedding registry, and the only gift list service in the UK we hand on heart recommend. I think we’d all agree that the best gifts don’t always cost money, and Prezola’s found a fantastic way to facilitate gifting the precious resource of time.

That’s why I think you’re going to love social gifting, which allows you to register for meaningful experiential gifts that don’t need to cost guests a penny. Now, in addition to traditional gifts from hundreds of retailers, a honeymoon fund, cash contributions, and charity donations, Prezola’s enabling your guests to promise to do something, not just buy something, to commemorate your special day.

WHAT ARE SOCIAL PROMISES?

Prezola’s Social Promises can be anything close to your heart — you can choose from a selection of pre-created promises, or create your own.

Whether it’s volunteering at a charity that’s meaningful to you, helping you move house, or looking after your pet while you’re on honeymoon, you can create and add Social Promises to your gift list just like any other gift, completely free of charge.

Social Promises put the focus of gift-giving squarely on sharing time and experiences with loved ones. It’s also a great way to reduce the pressure for guests to spend a lot on attending your wedding — such a win-win.

A Pronovias Bride for a Tuscany-in-London Jewish Wedding at The Brewery, London, UK

08/02/2019 by Karen Cinnamon

It’s not every day one of our beautiful blogging brides gets married — and at one of our very favorite London venues, no less! Everything about the Jewish wedding of Charlotte, (a much-loved member of our Brides Club for Jewish Brides) and James is pure #weddinggoals.

Not that you can really go wrong when you get married at Smashing The Glass Recommended Venue The Brewery. Though the location could hardly be more central, this is not your run-of-the-mill London venue — with its flexible spaces and vintage architectural touches like exposed brick walls, wood-beamed ceilings, The Brewery somehow manages to have a ton of character while also serving as an amazing canvas for wedding dreams of all stripes.

Like, for instance, recreating an outdoor Tuscan wedding indoors in London. Sounds impossible, right? But with the help of long banquet tables, romantic lighting, and seriously elegant florals (how cool is the high/low tabletop dà©cor scheme?!) we think these two managed to pull it off. Be sure to take it all in via Adam and Hannah’s exquisite documentary-style photos and AT Motion’s stellar videography.

There’s so much more good stuff about this awesome wedding, from the fact that Charlotte and James used one of our Smash Glass pouches to the espresso martini syringe shots they served on the dancefloor to keep everyone’s dancing energy up to the fact that the couple registered with Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Prezola… but we’ll leave the rest of it to the bride, who looked so classically elegant in her Pronovias gown.

How We Met

Charlotte, the bride: I met James through a mutual friend nearly four years ago, before going on a night out to none other than Ministry of Sound. We really hit it off and have been inseparable ever since.

A Kenneth Winston Bride for a Musical Jewish Wedding with DIY Touches at Belsize Square Synagogue and the Liberal Club, London, UK

02/07/2018 by Karen Cinnamon

We all know how overwhelming wedding planning can be. There are so many choices to be made, from color schemes to venues to symbolism and more — and so many vendors to choose from. Of course a wedding planner can be a huge help in sorting through everything that’s out there and focusing your vision, but what if you want to do a lot of the planning yourself?

Today’s couple, Bekka, a lecturer in international relations, and Benjamin, a musician and lecturer in music went for a wedding consultancy session with Smashing the Glass’s own Karen to help and advise with their Jewish wedding.

She directed them toward many of their fantastic vendors, from Smashing the Glass Recommended Vendor Once Upon A Paper, who provided the couple’s beautiful watercolor guest book, to Adams Photography, who captured all the emotion and excitement so exquisitely, to Smashing the Glass Recommended Vendor Prezola registry, which Bekka and Benjamin loved for its wonderful selection of gifts from different stores in the UK, as well as cash funds, Judaica, and charities, to The Wedding Gallery , the world’s first wedding department store, for the groom’s outfit.

All this freed up their time and energy to focus on the many DIY elements the pair incorporated into their wedding.

Bekka and Benjamin designed their invitations themselves and built their own chuppah, but music is where the pair really put their own stamp on the day. For one thing, their ceremony venue, Belsize Square Synagogue, was chosen because Benjamin is the congregation’s music director. So it was only natural that he arranged and composed pieces to be performed during the ceremony, performed by Benjamin’s quartet, bOYbershop, and three (!) choirs that he conducts.

We’ll leave it to Bekka, who looked beautiful in her ivory lace Kenneth Winston dress, to fill you in on the rest…

A Venue with History

Bekka, the bride, and Benjamin, the groom: We got married at Belsize Square Synagogue. We chose it as Benjamin has worked there as musical director for 12 years.

The evening was at the Liberal Club (1 Whitehall Place). Bekka found the venue online. The venue had a small personal connection as Benjamin’s grandfather was a member of the Liberal Party, and Bekka’s father is fascinated with William Gladstone.

Mainly, however, we just loved the venue when we saw it. We also loved the idea of a dusky double decker bus ride through London from the synagogue (particularly for our international guests).

Real Jewish Brides – Charlotte: Our Wedding Gift List With Prezola

22/05/2018 by Smashing The Glass

Charlotte will be marrying James on 26th August 2018 at The Brewery, in London, UK. Click here to read all Charlotte’s planning posts to date.

THREE FACTS: (1) James proposed to Charlotte in Florence… on her parent’s 36^th wedding anniversary (aaaah – we love that!) (2) They are planning a Jewish urban-rustic wedding in East London (3) They have already decided on their wedding hashtags — it’s #dropitlikeitshart !

Planning a wedding gift list is probably one of the most fun parts of the wedding. And even better — it’s the one part of planning where you don’t need to worry about blowing the budget! There is a lot of choice out there when it comes to gift lists now.

But firstly, why have a wedding gift list? It makes things a lot easier for your wedding guests and saves them the stress of deciding what to give you. Your guests won’t waste their money on gifts you don’t need (or even don’t like!). People who are going to your wedding are going to want to give you a gift for your special day, but they might not have a clear idea of what they want to get you. A gift list just simplifies it for them.

The more choice the better, unless you plan to spend your married life enjoying the 5 kettles and 4 cake knives that no gift list can leave you with!

Wedding Gift Lists – Yay or Nay?

25/01/2018 by Karen Cinnamon

Here at Smashing The Glass, we’re big fans of gift giving (and, if we’re honest, gift receiving), but we know that not everyone feels the same way as us.

Gift lists can feel thorny for some. Couples who have lived together for a while can find themselves stuck on what to ask for, as they already have everything they need to start a life together. Others may find gift lists a bit too traditional, or feel uncomfortable asking for things for themselves. However, we’re so strongly in favor of having a gift list, that we’ve decided to make it our personal mission to change your mind!

Because we’re such huge advocates of the idea, we thought we’d call on some true experts to help make the case for us, our dear friends at Prezola!

Prezola, the UK’s favourite wedding gift list, known for being stylish, on-trend and, great news for the wedding budget, free, are taking over the STG pages with some top tips for creating the perfect wedding gift list.

Remember that people will get you gifts regardless

Even if your invitations specify “no gifts”, it is inevitable that people will want to bring something. Many would feel uncomfortable arriving to a wedding empty handed, while others may assume that you don’t really mean it.

Whatever their reasons, well-meaning people will definitely ignore you. You may as well give them a list full of things you truly want and will cherish forever, instead of being forced to stare at that lovingly given hideous china ornament from great aunt Marion for the rest of your married life.

Get over your discomfort

We totally get it – it can feel uncomfortable to ask guests for gifts on top of their already considerable travel or accommodation expenses, but they will have factored that in and will be really happy to have some guidance when it comes to buying you a present.

If you still feel a bit iffy about it, there’s no harm at all in making it clear in the invitation that you are not expecting anything but the pleasure of your guests’ company, but for anyone who wants some guidance, you have provided a gift list.

Reduce the risk by using a protected gift list

Using Prezola takes away all of the potential risks associated with giving wedding gifts. It prevents potential loss from guests do not turn up with envelopes of cash, or cheques, potentially made out to the wrong name. Everything is insured and 100% guaranteed to be delivered to you, so a gift list really does give you peace of mind.Continue Reading