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A Joyous Jewish Wedding Featuring a Personalized Outdoor Chuppah at Sopwell House, St Albans, UK

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Ines-and-Andy-Sopwell-House-UK

We are so thrilled to be featuring the Jewish wedding of our Bride’s Club member Ines today! Ines, a professional chef, wed Andy, a property investor, at Sopwell House in an outdoor ceremony under the most gorgeous personalized chuppah – just one of the many special touches the pair included in their day – and we are all about it.

So about that chuppah… Ines and Andy worked with Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor The Happy Chuppah People on the chuppah of their dreams – which they topped with the most exquisite personalized canopy handmade by Israeli artist Bella Alon – and they can’t stop raving about how much they loved working with the incredibly helpful team.

We also love that Ines opted to wear her mother’s wedding dress on the big day – how special is that?! Ines’s father had tragically passed away from Covid, and wearing her mother’s gown was such a meaningful way to honor his memory and make him part of the day. Don’t miss the incredibly special pics by Leivi Saltman.

Ines and Andy worked with a whole bunch of wonderful Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendors, including Noa Attias, who designed their beautiful ketubah; talented wedding filmmaker Robert of CCS Video, who made the couple’s wonderful wedding video; planner Events by Natasha; and Shir, who Ines describes as “the most amazing band ever!” Shir kept the dance floor packed all night long, and they even taught in Israeli dance lesson to get all the non-Jewish guests in the loop!

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How we Met

Ines, the bride: We met years ago at a friend’s house…  It was instant attraction, but took us around 2 years to start dating… But at the end of our 1st date, we were already deciding what to do on our 2nd date! And our 3rd date we had the most magical weekend in Monaco, staying at the Hermitage Hotel….Continue ReadingContinue Reading

A Hayley Paige Bride for a Florida-Meets-Norfolk Jewish Wedding full of Tropical Touches at Titchwell Manor, UK

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We just love seeing a couple merge their unique backgrounds into one fabulous big day – and that’s exactly what Rachel, an educational psychologist, and Matt, a sales specialist, did!

Rachel is from Florida, while Matt’s British – and the couple’s big day at Titchwell Manor Hotel combined tropical chic with country house cozy in the most wonderful way – and it also happens to be near the beach, which Rachel loves. They took advantage of the venue’s beachy touches, like white wicker chairs, bright colors, and a large conservatory for the reception space, and added in vibrant orchids and tiger lilies, chocolate shells, Mai Tais, and Rum Punch – check it all out in the vibrant photos by Kate Lowe.

Read on for the rest of the story in Rachel’s own words – and don’t miss her perfect Hayley Paige gown!


How we Met

Rachel, the bride: I grew up in Florida, spending summers as a camper at Camp Kenwood in Kent, Connecticut and returned there to work as a ropes course counselor for three summers. During the summer of 2012, Matt was employed through a British agency called Camp Leaders, which recruits English university students to work at American summer camps, as a ropes course counselor at Kenmont and Kenwood Camps.

We quickly became inseparable that summer, spending most of our time together working on the ropes course and all our time off together with our fellow ropes course counselors. For the next 7 years, we continued our relationship long distance with me in America finishing my education and Matt in England. During that time, we visited each other over 30 times, Skyped nearly every Sunday, and exchanged countless WhatsApp texts and calls. I then moved to England in 2019 and have lived here with Matt since.Continue ReadingContinue Reading

A Wed2B Bride for an Egalitarian Jewish Wedding at Kew Gardens, London, UK

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Anya and Soren, Kew Gardens, London, UK

We love it when a couple makes their values the center of their Jewish wedding. Which is exactly what Anya, who works at an international development NGO, and Søren, a PhD student and research assistant working on DNA repair, did in their gorgeous Kew Gardens wedding.

The couple’s egalitarian values were front and center in their ‘shutafut’ (partnership) ceremony — an egalitarian alternative to the traditional ‘kiddushin’ marriage service under the auspices of Masorti. Their rabbi rabbi helped them create a ‘shtar shutafut’ (partnership contract), also known as a ‘brit ahuvim’ (lovers’ covenant), for their ketubah text, where they mapped out their commitments to each other and values they wanted to focus on in their marriage – how special is that?!

We also love that Anya and Søren opted to work with a whole bunch of our beloved Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendors to make their dreams a reality. The duo chose #STGvendor Claudine Hartzel as their photographer for the way she beautifully captures candid moments, and they could not have been more thrilled with the results.

#STGvendor Dvash provided outstanding catering, meeting special dietary requirements with aplomb, and Anya and Søren report that guests are still raving about their favorite canapes!

#STGvendor Happy Chuppah People provided the couple’s birch chuppah – a perfect fit for the setting – and, continuing the botanical theme, and Anya and Søren found their exquisite Tree of Life ketubah via #STGvendor Ketubah.com.

There’s so much more to say about this very special Jewish wedding, but we’ll let the newlyweds take it from here…

Anya and Soren, Kew Gardens, London, UK Anya and Soren, Kew Gardens, London, UK Anya and Soren, Kew Gardens, London, UK Anya and Soren, Kew Gardens, London, UK
How we Met

Anya, the bride and Soren, the groom: We met through JSwipe in October 2016.Continue ReadingContinue Reading

An Enzoani Bride for a Family-Focused Jewish Wedding with a Stuning Floral Chuppah at Offley Place, Hitchin, UK

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The wonderful Jewish wedding of Sophie, a sustainability executive, and Daniel, a legal technologist, has so much going for it – stunning florals, a gorgeous chuppah, rockin’ music, and an exquisite venue, to name just a few things.

And we adore them all. But most of all, we love that these two made it their highest priority to make sure their big day felt like a big, welcoming community, centered on happiness, love, and family. Especially meaningful was the fact that Dan’s dad – who’d been in hospital and rehab for 8 months recovering from Covid – was able to be there, and you can just feel the emotion come through in each and every one of the photos from Jo Russell of Chiko Photography, and every frame of the epic wedding video by Max from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Denee Motion.

Sophie and Daniel opted to work with a number of our beloved Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendors, including their venue, #STGvendor Offley Place – which “ticked every single one of our boxes and then some” between its welcoming staff, beautiful grounds, and accessible spaces – and #STGvendor Toastmaster Jango, who helped to ensure the day ran smoothly – and also provided invaluable assistance in the runup to the big day. They also opted to make their wedding gift list with #STGvendor The Wedding Shop, who we love for their fab selection of not only general home goods but Judaica too!

There’s so much more to say, but we’ll leave it to Sophie – who looked simply ravishing in Enzoani – to fill you in on the rest…


How we Met

Sophie, the bride: The story of how we met depends on who you ask! However, we can both agree we met at the University of Manchester, and have been together coming up to 10 years.Continue ReadingContinue Reading

A Watters Bride for a Summer Colors Jewish Wedding Weekend at Elmore Court, Gloucestershire, UK

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Over the past months, it’s been so beautiful to see big, festive Jewish weddings coming back. And for so many couples, it’s been all that much sweeter getting to celebrate together with loved ones after spending so much time apart.

That was very much Ilana and Sam’s experience – from day one, their vision included a big, fun party for their nearest and dearest, and while the pandemic certainly added stress and uncertainty to their planning, it made the end result – just three weeks after UK COVID restrictions had been lifted! – that much more meaningful.  

To make the most of having everyone gathered together after so long, Ilana and Sam opted to turn their Sunday wedding into a full-on wedding weekend, renting out a nearby house with both their families to host Saturday welcome drinks and generally get in some extra bonding time.

We also love Ilana and Sam’s “summer colors” theme, beautifully shown in the photos by James Davidson – complete with vibrant pink and orange florals in the bouquets, on the tables, and adorning their beautiful birch chuppah rented from  Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Happy Chuppah People. Speaking of which – note how Ilana and Sam went for flowers just on two corners of the chuppah. This is a great example of how doable it is to incorporate gorgeous florals into your chuppah design without breaking the bank.

There’s so much more to say, but we’ll leave the rest to Ilana, who looked so glam in her gown by Watters…


How we Met

Ilana, the bride and Sam, the groom: We met seven years ago at a house party on a crowded ‘dance floor’ – Sam took Ilana’s number, didn’t text her for a week, then cancelled their first date because he’d started dating someone else. Ilana proposed a friendly coffee instead; Sam upped that with a trip to the Tate Modern. One seven-hour “non-date” later, Sam decided he might want to organise a real date, and the rest is history.Continue ReadingContinue Reading