• About
  • Find a Vendor
  • Submit
  • Advertise
  • Brides Club
  • Your Jewish Life
  • Contact

Smashing the Glass | Jewish Wedding Blog

Inspired Jewish Weddings

  • Real Jewish Weddings
    • City Chic
    • Fashion Forward
    • Outdoor
    • Destination
      • Israel
      • Italy
      • Spain
      • France
      • Beach Weddings
    • Super Luxe
    • Budget
    • DIY
    • Same Sex
    • Covid Weddings
  • Jew-ish Weddings
    • Real Jew-ish Weddings
    • Jewish-Catholic Weddings
    • Jewish-Chinese Weddings
    • Jewish-Christian Weddings
    • Jewish-Greek Weddings
    • Jewish-Hindu Weddings
    • Jewish-Humanist Weddings
    • Jewish-Irish Weddings
    • Jewish Japanese Weddings
    • Jewish-Muslim Weddings
    • Same Sex Jew-ish Weddings
  • Inspiration + Guidance
    • Engaged? Start Here
    • Ceremony
      • Chuppah ideas
      • Jewish ceremony music
      • Jewish wedding ceremony 101
      • Jewish ceremony traditions
      • Ketubah Ideas
      • Jewish wedding legalities
      • Jew-ish ceremony ideas
    • Reception
      • Music
      • Speeches
      • Entertainment
      • Venues
    • Food & Drink
      • Kosher catering
      • Wedding cakes
      • Drinks
    • Decor
      • Decorations
      • Favours
      • Floristry
      • Guestbooks
      • Stationery
    • Style
      • Brides dresses
      • Shoes & accessories
      • Grooms
      • Bridesmaids
    • Advice
      • Converting to Judaism
      • Real blogging brides
      • Dear Karen…
    • Honeymoons
    • STG Live
    • Five Minutes With
    • Wedding Must-Haves
    • Wedding Consultancy
  • Jewish Brides Club
  • Find a Wedding Vendor
Home > Ritva Westenius dress

A Ritva Westenius Bride for a Moving Jewish Wedding at Rosewood London

07/02/2018 by Karen

Jewish Wedding Rosewood London UK

All together now – say “aaaaw!” Good. Now you’re all prepared for your reaction to today’s wonderful Jewish real wedding.

Serena and Philip got chatting at a family member’s birthday party and love immediately blossomed. So much so that Serena forgot she had a taxi waiting outside (we did prepare you)!

Their beautiful Jewish wedding was a late Saturday celebration, which meant that friends and family could get the party started after the evening chuppah, while the photos were being taken, so that by the time the couple arrived, everyone was already on their feet. 

Bride Serena looked absolutely breathtaking in her Ritva Westenius gown, with material from her mother’s and grandmother’s wedding dresses sewn in. Serena also honored her grandmother by wearing her brooch as a hairpiece. Philip’s late father was remembered through the use of his tallit and his wedding ring.

Three fabulous Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendors helped to bring this beautiful big day together. Florist Mary Jane Vaughan created a stunning floral motif that told a story as the day progressed, the stunning spread of photographs was provided by the one and only Blake Ezra (did you catch him in our Smashing Summit?!) and Chazan Simon Cohen
treated the couple to his divine voice under the chuppah. 

In fact, you can watch Simon in action in the wonderful chuppah video below, provided by Matt Camlin.

We’ll leave you in Serena’s good hands for the full story – take it away Serena!

  Jewish Wedding Rosewood London UK

Jewish Wedding Rosewood London UK Jewish Wedding Rosewood London UK Jewish Wedding Rosewood London UK
How we met

Serena, the bride: Philip was best friends with my first cousin and even though we had been to parties and weddings together over the years, we had never met (probably because he was married at the time).

It was my cousins 50th birthday party (Philip had been separated for a year) and just I was leaving. As my taxi was outside to take me to another party, Philip came over and said ‘hello’. The rest, you might say, is history.

We stood there talking in a ‘bubble’ till the end of the party, unaware of anyone around us and the taxi sat outside waiting the whole time.

Strangely, my parents met him at Christmas lunch the year before and I my dad left saying he knew Philip and I would be together, which is ridiculous because we had never met.

Continue ReadingContinue Reading

Share this post:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)

A Creative Indoor Forest Jewish Wedding with a Ritva Westenius Bride at One Embankment, London, UK

05/06/2017 by Karen

Jewish Wedding One Embankment London UK_0046
Oh Genna and Seth, where to start? What a wonderfully cool and creative wedding these two had! 

But we have to start somewhere, so what better place than with the venue design? This included effectively transporting a magical woodland into an urban, London venue – the beautiful One Embankment. You genuinely have to look hard to realise that the chuppah did not, in fact, take place in an enchanted forest. We are also seriously into those stairs leading to the chuppah – what an entrance!

The wedding was submitted by illustrious kosher caterer, Food Story, for whom Genna and Seth had nothing but glowing praise, and, being very familiar with their work, we have to agree! 

Genna looked every bit the breathtaking bride in her astoundingly gorgeous Ritva Westenius gown, which was made just for her (and wow, it really shows), and STG Vendor Sensation Band entertained the crowd with a spectacular live music soundtrack, working very closely alongside the bride and groom in the run-up to their Big Day (that’s an STG Vendor for you!)

Genna and Seth did not see or speak to each other for a whole week before the wedding, and, literally surrounded by friends and family at the chuppah, were totally overwhelmed with emotion and excitement. We think this is an absolutely wonderful idea for those who possess the self control, and it clearly made the moment even more special and electric for them. 

You can check out all the details below, including all the images by Earthy Photography, the moving, vintage-inspired movie by videographer, Mariage a la Mode, and beautiful words by the gorgeous bride, Genna.

Jewish Wedding One Embankment London UK_0078 Jewish Wedding One Embankment London UK_0067 Jewish Wedding One Embankment London UK_0019
How we met 

Genna, the bride: I wouldn’t call this a romantic fairytale story… Seth and I have know each other for 15 years. We had a first kiss when we were just 14, then again aged 16, where I totally and utterly fell for Seth but the feeling wasn’t quite mutual.

Eight years then passed without speaking or bumping into each other, until we met again at a friend’s party. After an awkward conversation, and a lot of drinks, we set another time to go on a date, and the rest was history.

Continue ReadingContinue Reading

Share this post:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)

A Ritva Westenius bride for an Italian Garden-themed wedding at Home in London, UK

20/09/2016 by Karen

Italian-themed-Jewish-wedding-at-home-in-London
Today’s bride, Katie, is just the cutest, and what amazing fashion choices — a W-day gown from  Ritva Westenius  (she chose it as she was after  something pure,  spiritual and simple to reflect the chuppah), dusty pink Manolo Blahnik‘s, and then fired up her look with  a sparkly belt, headpiece and earrings for the  evening party. So so chic!

The venue  is very  special too. It’s Katie’s childhood home and it set the scene for a truly  intimate and meaningful day. The symbolism of their Jewish wedding was so important to these two, and they honoured a  traditional Jewish wedding ritual that I’ve  seen only a few times on the pages of Smashing The Glass: they  spent the entire week before the wedding apart. They didn’t speak, they didn’t even text! In Katie’s words, this made the day so much more special, and it really did  remind them of what the day is all about. Katie’s brother, Ben, spoke under the chuppah, and I love what Katie says about their chuppah design too:

We felt the beauty of the chuppah should come from what is happening underneath rather than what it looks like. We wanted it to be pure and spiritual allowing our guests to focus on the ceremony rather than the chuppah structure itself.

Another detail that was evidently very important to these two was their  Italian garden  theme. They  both spend a lot of time in Tuscany and love that part of the world and they wanted to bring Italiana into every  corner of their wedding! They brought their ideas to life with the help of Ben Krieger from  Outrage Events, and an incredible Italian feast  by Food Story  including spaghetti meatballs, tiramisu, and of limoncello!  The  beautiful themed stationery, designed by one of our much-loved Smashing Suppliers,  Emily & Jo, was even printed in Italian,  and  home-made olive oil  favours alongside oodles of  fresh herbs and lemons  were placed  on every table. You could literally see, touch, taste and smell Italy!

The stunning photography is  by another  of our  hugely talented Smashing Suppliers,  David Pullum Photography.  And there’s also a  fabulous film by Atmotion  too.

So all that leaves me to say is… Cin Cin. Sit back, relax, and enjoy!

italian-themed-jewish-wedding-at-home-in-london_1
How we  met

Katie, the Bride: We met through a friend and started talking on Facebook in that classic way  ?

Continue ReadingContinue Reading

Share this post:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)

A Ritva Westenius bride for a city-chic Interfaith Jewish Wedding at One Marylebone, Central London, UK

19/01/2016 by Karen

One-Marylebone-Wedding
Today’s wedding from One Marylebone in the heart of London, is a masterclass in how to ensure your guests enjoy your big day. In particular, it’s an absolute must-read for anyone planning a mixed faith wedding. Lucy’s report is long — there’s no denying it — but it’s brilliantly written and very much worth scrutinising, particularly the section on how she and Matt developed and personalised their ceremony. It’s clear that Lucy’s Jewish faith is culturally and religiously of deep significance to her, and she and Matt (who’s taken to her Jewish-ness like a duck to water!) incorporated so many symbolic and personal details into their celebration.

And I love this…Six weeks before the big day they invited all of Matt’s friends over to their flat, and hosted a small Israeli dancing lesson as many of Matt’s friends had never attended a Jewish wedding before. Such a brilliant and fun idea!  As Lucy says, “while there is nothing that can prepare you for the sheer madness of running in circles and being thrown up in the air — it was great that the boys had a vague idea of what was going on so that on the day they knew how to get stuck in!”

The attention to their guests enjoyment didn’t stop there… Lucy and Matt really wanted to let their guests know how happy they were that they were there to share their big day with them. So they hand-wrote 200 (yes 200!) individual cards so that each guest had a personal note waiting for them on their place at the table.

Our bride and groom look impeccable stylish — Lucy in a beautifully cut Ritva Westenius gown, and Matt in a three piece suit by Hackett. And whilst we’re talking fashion can I just be frivolous and say that I am loving the gals’ personalised sports bras!

Photography is by Jez Dickson whose work I’m delighted to be featuring on the blog today.

One Marylebone Wedding
how we met

Lucy, the Bride: Matt and I met in the summer of 2010, at a club in Putney. We both had other plans, and as two staunch North Londoners neither of us were particularly enamoured with the idea of an evening so far from home! I spotted Matt on the dancefloor and danced near him, within a matter of minutes he had offered to buy me a drink — we sat in the corner nursing a single drink for the next three hours and had our first official date the next day.

On the Sunday he rang his mother and told her that he had met the woman he wanted to marry — she politely reminded him that I may not necessarily feel the same way after one short meeting. Nonetheless, 6 dates and 10 days later he asked me if I would be his girlfriend, after 4 years of dating he asked me to marry him and then 15 months after that we walked down the aisle!

We have never stopped talking or loving spending time with each other — and going south of the river that one night could not have been more worthwhile! Both of us are complete chatterboxes and one of the questions that everyone always asks us is who speaks when we get home? How do either of us get a word in edgeways? But somehow we’ve managed to find the one person that we can sit in silence with.

One Marylebone Wedding
Continue ReadingContinue Reading

Share this post:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)

Jewish Weddings by Country

Vendors We Love

Weddings by Colour


Jewish Wedding Gift List


Awesome Jewish Gifts

Vendors We Love

Get posts directly into your inbox

Enter your email address below and get the latest posts delivered straight to your inbox.

Monica Vinader
Liberty London
Kate Spade UK Limited
Mr And Mrs Smith Honeymoons
Biscuiteers Baking Company

Today’s Top Posts

  • A guide to the Jewish Wedding Ceremony and Order of Service under the chuppah
    A guide to the Jewish Wedding Ceremony and Order of Service under the chuppah
  • Dates in 2023, 2024 and 2025 to avoid for a Jewish wedding plus a 12 Month Wedding Planning Monthly Checklist
    Dates in 2023, 2024 and 2025 to avoid for a Jewish wedding plus a 12 Month Wedding Planning Monthly Checklist
  • A Pronovias Bride for an Intimate Destination Jewish Wedding at Villa Cora, Florence, Italy
    A Pronovias Bride for an Intimate Destination Jewish Wedding at Villa Cora, Florence, Italy
  • Chuppah ideas
    Chuppah ideas
  • Breaking The Glass – Jewish Wedding Traditions Explained #7
    Breaking The Glass – Jewish Wedding Traditions Explained #7

Subscribe by Email

Enter your email address below and get the latest posts delivered straight to your inbox.

Connect

Instagram
TikTok
Facebook
Pinterest
YouTube
Twitter
Advertise
Mailing List
Email Karen

Receive Smashing The Glass posts via Email

Enter your email address below and get the latest posts delivered straight to your inbox.

closeClick Here To Get The Ultimate Jewish Wedding Checklist

All content © Smashing The Glass 2023