The Crawley’s Photography Archives - Smashing the Glass

A Pronovias Bride for a London-Meets-Israel Jewish Wedding at Offley Place, Hitchin, UK

09/12/2019 by Karen Cinnamon

What do you do when you’re dreaming of a destination wedding in Israel but family obligations keep you closer to home? Well, you could do worse than to follow the example of STG Brides Club member Nicola, a senior business analyst for a technical consultancy, and Dave, the CTO and co-founder of a digital design and marketing consultancy, who made it their goal to bring a little bit of Israel to their Jewish wedding right here in the UK.

How’d they do it? For starters, they worked with Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor XS Showband to put together two party simcha sets with a mixture of Mizrahi and Israeli music that kept everyone on the dance floor in true Israeli style – Nicola also can’t stop raving about how helpful the XS team were in creating the couple’s day of plan and processional order, plus providing day of coordination.

And in good Israeli wedding style, Nicola and Dave had the “reliable and fantastic” (in the bride’s words) Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Magniv mobile photo magnet team taking photos of everyone throughout the festivities so that people could have a keepsake to take home.

Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor The Crawleys photographed the whole day so beautifully in their trademark artsy documentary style, and we’re so touched to hear Nicola say that the ultra-supportive community of STG Brides Club was “literally the only thing that kept me sane” during wedding planning

Now over the bride, who looked simply smashing in Pronovias…

How we met

Nicola, the bride: We met in the good old fashioned way… on a dating app – Jcrush to be precise (seems this is the only way to meet your soulmate these days).

There was an instant connection when we met but both of us were not long out of relationships and not ready for anything serious so we maintained a strong friendship. Even as friends, we would go out for regular dinners and lunches together, him insisting on paying for every single one being the kind and generous soul that he is.

It wasn’t until a mutual friends party, and the help of a bit of dutch courage (tequila), that we both realised what was right in front of us and shared a kiss. The first of many more to come.

The Crawleys: Fab Photographers for Your Destination Jewish Wedding

13/06/2019 by Karen Cinnamon

Your destination wedding is a once-in-a lifetime experience. And you want to make sure you find just the right team to capture every exhilarating moment. Enter The Crawleys.

The Crawleys are a husband-and-wife team, consisting of Liam and Bee – and they’re the masterminds behind some truly fantastic real Jewish weddings here on STG.

From the wonky little cottage they call home in the Delamere Forest in the north of England, they’ve been shooting weddings all over the world since 2002 – that’s 600 and counting!

They were voted 2019 UK Wedding Photographer of the Year by The Wedding Industry Awards.

They are true travelers at heart, and they’ve got tons of experience working in Spain, France, and Italy. They especially love working in Spain, where they’ve been shooting since 2012 – the sea, the sun, and the quaint villages have totally stolen their hearts.

But they’re also always down for branching out somewhere a bit more exotic – they’ve shot in Thailand, Kenya, and Malaysia, to name just a few.

Destination weddings are a huge part of their business, and they’re willing to go wherever you need them!

A Samantha Sleeper Bride for a Magical, Musical Jewish Wedding at the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue and Old Billingsgate, London, UK

03/12/2018 by Karen Cinnamon

How as your first night of Hannukah last night? I love this time of year with latkes, donuts, candles, and presents! And before we dive into today’s stunning Jewish wedding do check out my TWO Hannukah gifts to you if you’re a bride-to-be!

So today’s wedding is jaw-on-the floor… That chuppah. That veil. That London summer sunshine. That gorgeous couple! This Jewish wedding is 100% pure magic, from start to finish.

Being that Adam is a filmmaker and Chloe is a photographer, it’s not surprising that ALL the visual details are totally on point. Take that chuppah. You might think such a wild natural design would look out of place in the uber-traditional synagogue setting.

But you’d be wrong. You could’ve fooled us into thinking a lovely little thicket of trees just happened to sprout up in the middle of the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue and we’d have believed you, that’s how perfect a fit it is.

Or Chloe’s dress (and veil!) from Samantha Sleeper — it’s the absolute perfect combination of elegance and whimsy, and those hand-sewn blush silk flowers on the veil?! OBSESSED.

Being pros themselves, the couple demanded nothing less than the best when it came to photography, and did they ever find it in Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor The Crawleys! From the emotion to the gorgeous details to the wild dancing, they captured every single moment so incredibly beautifully. By the time we finished looking through their exceptional photos, we honestly felt like we’d been there.

With Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Jonny Mosesson on hand to deliver one of his trademark soulful performances at the chuppah, we’re hard pressed to think of anything that could have made this wedding better.

But here’s one: This multitalented couple also gave a pretty epic musical performance themselves, with Adam on guitar and Chloe on vocals — no big deal in the middle of your big day, right?! You don’t want to miss Juno Wedding Films’ recording of the big moment — or any other details of this exceptional day, for that matter.

Alright, take it away, gorgeous Chloe!

Jewish wedding Spanish and Portuguese synagogue and Old Billingsgate in London, UK_0021

How we met

Chloe, the bride: We met through a set up of mutual friends! Chloe was living in Israel and Adam in London and we emailed one another for months before meeting! Top tip – never say never, anything can happen!

An Industrial Warehouse Winter Jewish Wedding at Victoria Warehouse in Manchester, UK

23/07/2018 by Karen Cinnamon

After the popularity of last week’s winter wedding, we’re thrilled to be sharing another incredible (and very different!) winter Jewish wedding that’s cooler than a polar bear’s toe nails (sorry couldn’t resist that!).

Despite getting married in February in Manchester — when daylight is at a minimum, and you can pretty much forget about sun — Danielle and Jason (who run the travel blog 52WeekendsNY) had the most stunningly gorgeous day.

Knowing what they were up against, the couple decided to play up the dark, wintry vibe. Their venue, Victoria Warehouse — a former Kellogg’s factory — is just the kind of cavernous warehouse space that lends itself to some serious cozying up. Danielle and Jason did such a fantastic job warming up the concrete floors and unfinished brick walls with florals in claret and dark green, a candle aisle (!), and the dreamiest chuppah (built by Danielle’s dad!): pared-down in keeping with the industrial vibe of the day, but with the poles still wrapped in greenery and purple flowers — plus some fairy lights for a super magical wintry look.

We just love how the couple created such a unique and beautiful aesthetic for their day — and photographer Liam Crawley of The Crawleys did the best job of capturing not only the lovely details of the day but also all the emotion, of which there was plenty to go around.

One other thing we loved about this wedding is that not only did the bride give a speech, so did both of the mothers! On our Facebook group lately, there’s been some discussion about the English tradition of only the groom, best man, and father of the bride speaking.

Understandably, a lot of today’s brides aren’t so comfortable with this all-male lineup, but it’s not always easy going against such a longstanding tradition. So we’re always excited when we see brides — and their female relatives and friends — standing up and speaking out on their big days. Now over to Danielle…