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A Suzanne Neville Bride for a Super Chic Seaside Jewish Wedding at Rosh Hashanah, Bait al Hayam, Jaffa, Israel

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Can you believe it’s Erev Passover this evening? How did that happen already?! And what are you doing for seder night tonight? I’m on holiday and we’re having our Seder in Tel Aviv, celebrating with my family in Israel, so it seems appropriate to post a gorgeous Israeli wedding today!

And today’s real  Jewish destination wedding fully embraced another beautiful Jewish holiday: Rosh Hashanah.

London-based bride Jamie, a PR and marketing manager for a cancer charity, and groom Joel, who works in finance, opted for a chic outdoor destination wedding in sunny Jaffa, Israel, during the High Holiday season.

Opting to marry at gorgeous seaside venue Bait al Hayam, the couple had an outdoor rooftop chuppah overlooking the city of Jaffa and the sea, with the party in a beautiful air conditioned room beneath — a big deal given the Israeli climate!

In honor of Rosh Hashanah, Jamie and Joel had mini honey pots and apples at each place setting — isn’t that sweet?! We love that this couple incorporated Jewish tradition into their day in ways that were totally authentic to them.

For instance, even though, as Ashkenazi Jews it would have been customary for them to have their badeken separately from the chuppah, they chose to do it on the aisle, because that’s what spoke to them.

And the pair opted to follow the Jewish tradition of not seeing each other in the week leading up to the wedding… that takes some real dedication!

Their wedding also had some incredibly cool touches inspired by sources other than Jewish tradition: for one, as part of their entertainment they had a flower stall where guests could have flower wreaths, bracelets, hair slides, and boutonnieres made! Isn’t that lovely? And a great alternative activity if you’re not into some of the more standard options like photo booths.

Photographer Ronen Boidek captured the day in all its effortless elegance and the insanely talented STG Recommended Vendor Portnoy Brothers brought emotion out of all of the guest through their incredible acoustic sound and beautiful traditional songs. We can’t recommend the Portnoy Brothers enough, one of our absolute favourites! Jamie, who looked super glam in her old Hollywood-style silk Suzanne Neville gown (seriously, we’re all a little bit obsessed with it at STG Towers), will fill you in on the rest.

Hag Sameach – enjoy your matzoh ball soup wherever you’re celebrating this evening!

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How we met

Jamie, the bride: I always knew of Joel… I lived with his brother at university, but I met Joel properly once I moved to London, at a friend’s birthday. He carried me out of the bar over his shoulder and we’ve never looked back! 😉

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A Suzanne Neville Bride for a Stunning Midsummer Night’s Dream Jewish Wedding at St Pancras Renaissance Hotel, London, UK

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St Pancras Renaissance Jewish Wedding
Hands up who wants to see the ULTIMATE London Jewish wedding? Set at an iconic London venue, with some of the city’s finest Jewish wedding vendors, and styled like an absolute dream, Lauren and Mark’s magnificent big day deserves to have praise HEAPED upon it.

Before we get to the gorgeous aesthetic of the wedding, we must acknowledge just how much this brave couple went through before the big day. Losing Mark’s mother shortly after their engagement was a terrible blow, and Lauren and Mark honored her memory in beautiful and moving ways.

Bride Lauren broke her foot, and so her dream of showing off glitzy heels in her stunning Suzanne Neville dipped-hem gown was replaced with a new dream of walking down the aisle in glitzy Converse, with groom Mark surprising her with his own matching pair.

The big day came together like a dream – a Midsummer Night’s Dream, to be exact, with an abundance of flowers, expertly arranged by Tony Marklew, culminating in the ultimate floral arch chuppah. Your eyes will pop out of your head when you see it. This was matched only by the stunning production by Outrage Events.

Of course, a Jewish London wedding was buzzing with incredible Smashing the Glass Recommended Vendors, including much-raved-about kosher catering by Food Story, sensational cinematography by the inimitable Imaginarium Cinematography, who will, incidentally, be joining me for a Facebook live chat tonight at 8pm GMT with… (drum roll) one of my all-time favorite photographers, Blake Ezra Photography, another much-loved insanely talented STG Vendor. Blake is widely known for being one of the UK’s top photographers, and the pictures below really do speak for themselves.

We’ll leave you in Lauren’s capable hands for the full report of the day – we’re sure you’ll be swooning (and Pinning) the whole way through!

St Pancras Renaissance Jewish Wedding

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Midsummer Night Dream Wedding

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How we met

Lauren, the bride: Mark and I actually met in 1991! We attended the same school when I was six and Mark was almost eight. Although he doesn’t remember me, I do remember him. It wasn’t until we were at his dad’s house when his mum had died, and got out all the memorabilia to look at, that we found an old Westwood 1991 school play programme and we were both in it! It brought the happiest of smiles to all of our faces during a very hard time. We have since watched the footage and we were standing yards apart on stage.

We finally came together almost three years ago when I was in Brasserie Zedel with my brother and his future wife. Mark and my brother go back a very long way. As fate would have it, my brother and Mark’s brother have also been best friends from the age of about 12, and even shared a ‘romantic’ trip to Marrakech together a few years ago.

Mark added me on Facebook the next morning, and the rest, as they say, is history. I knew from our first date that he was going to be the one. It was clear from the start that we shared a very special bond, and that even though our paths had tried to cross over 26 years ago that the timing was now right and that we were always destined to meet.
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A Rosh Hashanah-themed Jewish wedding with a Suzanne Neville bride at Braxted Park, Essex, UK

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Anyone else have goosebumps? Scroll down. How about now? The sensation you’re experiencing is a result of extreme wedding prettiness combined with the unparalleled artistic prowess of much-loved STG Recommended Vendor and photographer extraordinaire, Blake Ezra. 

In fact, Tash & Jason’s magical secret garden-inspired wedding was a total STG Recommended Vendor-fest, with an appearance from fabulous makeup artist Philippa Louise. The couple also won their photo booth with Mega Booth in a Smashing the Glass competition. 

Now that we’re done blowing our own horn, let’s talk about the wedding horn (shofar) which was also blown (yes, smooth segue, we know). The wedding was Rosh Hashanah themed, with beautiful fresh fruits incorporated into the wildflower floral arrangements, honey pot and honey cake recipe favours and the blowing of the shofar during the ceremony. 

Gorgeous bride, Tash, is an art director and, as such, was delighted to be let loose on a wedding theme – and boy, does it show. Tash’s expert eye and attention to detail created a cohesive, overwhelmingly beautiful (and delightfully purple) theme that looks outstanding in photographs. And that wildflower-adorned Chuppah – a masterpiece! Bravo, Tash! If you fall in love with the images below and simply can’t get enough, check out her Instagram! 

We also adore Tash’s customised Suzanne Neville gown, with little embellishments to bring in her own personality and tastes. 

Tash and Jason’s Badeken and ceremony were full of heart and meaning, especially as the couple hadn’t seen or spoken to each other in a whole week! What willpower! We also adore the couple’s joint words of wisdom at the end of this post – so much fantastic advice. 

We’ll let Tash take over now to tell you all about how her and Jason’s big day came together. Tash – the stage is yours! 

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How we met

Tash, the bride: Despite having huge amounts of friends in common, and probably attending the same parties during our university days, we didnt meet until after uni, at a mutual friend’s birthday party, where else but Camden?

We were in a Blues Bar and got chatting. The instant Jason heard that I love to bake, and did gluten-free cupcakes (he was GF at the time) the match was made, and we set our first date after partying the night away! Our relationship hasn’t really changed. I still bake for him, and our worlds pretty much centre around food, family and friends.

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A Suzanne Neville Bride for an uber chic elegant Jewish wedding at New London Synagogue and Claridges, London, UK

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Be still, my beating heart. Philippa Bloom’s Suzanne Neville dress is simply DIVINE. As are her metallic Jimmy Choo’s for that matter… But are you surprised when she’s one half of We Are Twinset one of the biggest fashion influencer accounts on Instagram?

Yes folks, we are in for a HUGE treat today with Philippa & Alex’s super chic Jewish wedding at the elegant New London Synagogue followed by their reception at one of my favourite luxury London venues — the one and only Claridges.

And their big day is every bit as glamorous and romantic as you’d expect. An emotionally-charged badeken having not seeing each other for one week prior (wait till you see the moment in the wedding film — it’s goosebumps all around), a gigantic floral chuppah surrounded by pillar candles, the coolest bridesmaids in gold sequinned gowns, exquisite stationery with calligraphy by one of my wedding supplier crushes, Lamplighter London, and crazy jewish wedding dancing thanks to entertainment from the legendary Gilev Show Band.

It’s a truly stylish, luxe wedding and not only do we have the dreamy images from Polly Alexandre, but we also have the film from Gorgeous Films who actually filmed my own London wedding back in 2013 as well!

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A Jewish wedding at the New West End Synagogue and Claridges

Philippa, the bride: Our ceremony was at the New West End Synagogue — we loved how ornate and traditional this synagogue is compared to others in central London. It’s got a beautiful intimate feel and has a strong spiritual vibe which we loved too.

We had our reception and party at Claridges. From an early age, Claridges has always been my all-time favourite hotel in London. I was really conscious of not having a very large Jewish wedding and because of Claridge’s ballroom size it meant that we could control this. We also love its art deco super sophisticated style. Although in general it’s quite a large hotel, it feels really homely and the staff are incredible — there wasn’t anything they couldn’t do!

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‘Old Hollywood’ destination Jewish wedding at The Great Synagogue of Florence and Villa Di Maiano, Florence, Italy

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Olivia and Jacob  are one seriously hot couple  —  I mean just  look at  David Bastianoni‘s gorgeous  images of them both… And it gets even better. They chose a wedding theme of  50’s / Old Hollywood glamour meets The Godfather. Off the scale, right?!

Both  Londoners,  (they met 7 years ago at Nottingham University) the bride and groom opted  to marry in Florence, as that’s where Jacob proposed to Olivia. They chose the  breathtaking  Great Synagogue of Florence followed by a magnificent party at  Villa Di Maiano,  and their big day is every bit as glamorous and romantic as you’d expect. There’s an  immense  chuppah made from gypsophila, pretty blush  pink roses  and candles, beautifully ornate calligraphic decor, a classic convertible  wedding car, a mille-feuille wedding cake constructed in front of the guests, a phenomenal firework display… I could go on and on  and on!

As you’d expect, our bride and groom look impeccable stylish too — Olivia  in a beautifully cut bespoke  Suzanne Neville gown (based on a design that her and her  mother created), and Jacob  in a bespoke suit by  Cad and the Dandy. It’s a super chic  wedding, full of  panache, and lots and lots of heart.

Not only do we have the insane  images by STG fave,  David Bastianoni,  but we also have the 8mm film by  Marriage à  la Mode.Jewish wedding Florence
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