UK Archives - Smashing the Glass | Jewish Wedding Blog

A Le Spose di Gio Bride for a Winter Jewish Wedding at Home in Liverpool, UK

18/06/2018 by Karen Cinnamon 1 Comment

Today’s Jewish wedding is a rather special one for me to blog as it’s the beautiful wedding of my right hand woman at Smashing The Glass, wonderful Claire who I work extremely closely with day in, day out!

Claire came on board just over a year ago and is literally the backbone of everything we do at Smashing The Glass. Having her on board, doing her fabulous thing, has enabled brand STG to grow in all sorts of wonderful ways.

It’s an absolute honor to feature Claire’s joyous wedding to Mark (held in a marquee at her parents house filled with family and friends) and even though their big day happened prior to Claire joining Team STG, it’s no surprise that it features not one, not two, but THREE incredible STG Recommended Vendors: photography superstar David Pullum (his images are everything), Sensation Band who rocked the night in the imitable way that only they can do, and the fabulous and meticulous Qube Events who we couldn’t love any more (read on to see what Claire has to say about each of them!).

And on a creative level, their chuppah is jaw-on-the-floor EVERYTHING!! Oh.. and you’re going to want to steal an amazing creative / favour idea that the guests went nuts for involving (wait for it…) napkins! Oh yeah. All I can say is that I wish I had one too…

Let’s hand over to Claire (dressed to perfection in Le Spose di Gio) for the full scoop!

A Wedding at Home

Claire, the bride: We got married in the garden of my family home. Ever since I was a little girl I had always dreamt of getting married there. With so many happy memories, it felt so special and perfect for us.

My family are from Liverpool and my husband’s are from London, so we also thought that creating our own “venue” would be a fun change from the norm and make it a little more exciting for those who were making the trip up north to Liverpool!

A Pronovias Bride for an Intimate Last-Minute Jewish-Australian-Danish Wedding at Spring Restaurant, Somerset House, London, UK

01/06/2018 by Karen Cinnamon Leave a Comment

We dare you to take one look at today’s stunner of a Jew-ish wedding and guess how long the couple spent planning it. Two years? One year? Six months? No, no, and no! Lauren, a travel writer (of Princess with a Backpack fame!) and Christopher, a tax lawyer, planned their wedding in a mere eight weeks! SAY WHAAAAT?!

That’s not a typo – this fab day really did come together in a mere two months, without even a planner to expedite the process. And not only that, the couple planned their ultra-chic London day just shortly after relocating to the city from NYC!

The globetrotting duo (Lauren is Australian, while Christopher hails from Denmark) found a perfect venue in Spring Restaurant.

The elegant space had tons of built-in décor, from hanging foliage to fairy lights; all the couple needed to do was throw in some stylish modern florals in white and green from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Hayford & Rhodes to make their venue was 100% wedding-ready.

You might expect that a Jewish-Australian-Danish wedding would yield some cool cultural fusions – and Lauren and Christopher didn’t disappoint. It just takes one look at Ivan Franchet’s stunning photos to see the energy and the love that went into the day.

The touching ceremony embraced Lauren’s Jewish heritage with touches like a gorgeous pared-down chuppah from The Chuppah Design Co (the creation of our own former blogging bride Lauren Beadle!) as well as Danish tradition, in the form of a beautiful Danish love prayer.

And the couple incorporated some fun Danish traditions into their reception (hint: one involves kissing under the table!). Read on for all the details from lovely Lauren, who looked absolutely model-perfect in her elegant lace Pronovias gown…

A London Wedding

Lauren, the bride: We got married at Spring Restaurant, Somerset House, London. We had just recently moved from New York to London a few months before and because our friends and families are based all over the world (my family is based in Australia and my husband’s friends and family are in Denmark), we thought London would be the perfect neutral ground to celebrate our wedding in our new city.

When I was looking for venues in London, I walked into Spring and immediately fell in love with the space. It was perfect: blue pastels on the walls, matched perfectly with the soft pink velvet lounges, tan leather dining chairs, blonde wood floorboards and crisp white tables.

As it was the end of March, spring had officially begun, and what better place to celebrate than Spring in London. Spring also happens to be run by celebrity chef Skye Gyngell who is originally Australian; her signature style is seasonal and elegant, providing dishes that are unique with a farm-to-table approach.

Our hotel (Langham London) was perfect for getting ready and staying the night of the wedding. Clearly, they have had many brides stay there before, so nothing was too much to ask, and the service was incredible. We also had a fantastic large suite, which gave 3 of us (mum and sister included) plenty of space to get ready for the big day.

A Stephanie Allin Bride for an Ultra-Personal Country House Jewish Wedding at Parklands Quendon Hall, Essex, UK

21/05/2018 by Karen Cinnamon

We absolutely LOVE today’s bride, Tash, who is an avid Smashing The Glass reader, and looked so elegant in her Stephanie Allin gown (with “the best twirling skirt ever!”).

She made some amazing vendor choices (choosing three STG Recommended Vendors all found on the pages of Smashing The Glass) and she had so many beautiful creative ideas. We particularly love the couple’s extra-meaningful chuppah design inspired by a previous wedding on Smashing The Glass, where the guests helped decorate the canopy with flowers (so gorge).

Their fab florist, the amazing Emma from STG Recommended Vendor Urban Flower Farmer, designed a simple birch pole chuppah laden with greenery and arranged flowers in buckets by the entrance to the ceremony, with a sign asking the guests to add them to the chuppah.

And that’s just one of the beautiful ways Tash and Ian personalized their ceremony while embracing Jewish tradition – you’ve got to read about their ultra-meaningful badeken. Photographer Andy Tyler and videographer Rideout Films did a wonderful job capturing all the emotion of the day.

The pair had a large wedding (230 guests!) with LOTS of children, and to make things easier for the parents in the crowd they hired another fabulous STG Recommended Vendor Safe and Sound Childcare to provide a creche, which kept all the little ones entertained and allowed the adults to enjoy the party.

Tash and Ian knew they wanted a band that could handle some serious Israeli dancing. Turning to Smashing The Glass for ideas, they found STG Recommended Vendor XS Showband. The couple report that the band created a fab atmosphere and kept their guests dancing all evening – and, most important of all, they ably handled not one but two rounds of Israeli dancing! Speaking of which, be sure to check out Tash’s top tips for Israeli dancing in her writeup…

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How we met

Tash, the bride: We met online – if you’d told me 5 years ago that I’d end up marrying someone I met online I would have thought you were mad, but here we are!

We met through Mysinglefriend, which is the site where your friends write your profile, which means you get slightly more interesting descriptions than the classic “I like eating out with friends and country walks.”

But it turns out it doesn’t actually mean you get more truthful profiles, as Ian’s friends Jo and Stu wrote lots of things that I’ve subsequently discovered were complete lies – like the suggestion that Ian is not a football obsessive!

A Riki Dalal Bride for a Jewish Wedding Featuring a Musical Flash Mob at Stockbrook Manor Country Club, Billericay, Essex, UK

16/05/2018 by Karen Cinnamon

With the Royal wedding just days away, we’ve got our very own ‘Smashing Royalty’ getting married on the blog today. Yes – it’s the real Jewish wedding of a very dear colleague, wonderful Francesca, who manages (and is a big part of) much-loved STG Vendor XS Showband, to Ziek, a chef with kosher-style caterer Shuka Catering.

Being in the industry, the pair had a major leg up when it came to choosing suppliers for their gorgeous Jewish wedding at Stockbrook Manor Country Club. Francesca and Ziek chose Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendors Blake Ezra and Denee Motion for photography and videography, respectively. Having worked with both, the couple knew they were choosing suppliers who not only produce amazing work but are incredibly passionate about what they do.

And entertainment was a no-brainer: the bride’s own XS Showband – which she both owns and sings in – was obviously going to be part of her wedding. With an epic 18-piece setup playing non-stop from start to finish, music was absolutely integral to the day.

It just happens that XS Showband has pioneered using musical flash mobs in wedding ceremonies, so it was only natural that Francesca included one in hers. You’ve got to check out Denee Motion‘s video of the flash mob in action; it’s unlike anything we’ve seen in any other wedding!

Beautiful Francesca, who looked positively radiant in her elegant lace Riki Dalal gown, will fill you in on the rest…

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How we met

Francesca, the bride: We met on Jdate!

A Modeca Bride for a Multicultural Jewish-Scottish Wedding at The Principal Hotel, George Street, Edinburgh, Scotland

09/05/2018 by Karen Cinnamon

Today’s Jew-ish wedding features a wonderful blend of the couple’s Jewish and Scottish heritages, with so many heartfelt personal touches. Leigh (@Leighjshhh), a personal assistant and team secretary, and Steven (@Hunter941), an ammunition technician in the British Army, married at The Principal Hotel in Edinburgh.

Leigh, who is Jewish, and Steven, who is Scottish, crafted an ultra-personal day that combined their two cultures seamlessly. They paired their registrar-run legal ceremony with a Jewish blessing from a rabbi they worked with closely to create a very personal service.

We just love how this couple strove to run their day in a way that was true to who they are, individually and as a pair, and that would feel inclusive to all of their guests. They had an archway of flowers instead of a chuppah; they didn’t have a ketubah but did smash the glass – and to make sure everyone could follow along, Leigh made a program explaining the Jewish traditions. In a very cool nod to Steven’s Scottish heritage, the color scheme of teal and gold was taken from his family tartan.

But we think our favorite way Leigh and Steven blended their backgrounds is through music – and dance. Their DJ, Graeme Barrie Entertainment, not only played music for the Israeli dancing; he also served as ceilidh caller (instructor) for their Scottish dancing! Check out Cro+Kow Photography’s stunning shots of the couple and their guests in action.

Now over to Leigh, who looked beautiful in her strapless ivory Modeca gown…

How we met

Leigh, the bride: We met at a mutual friend’s wedding. We both knew the groom, and after both of us enquiring about the other we started chatting and knew almost instantly that this would be a conversation that would never end!

Nearly four and a half years later, after an entire long-distance relationship, we got married ourselves and now start our new journey together as husband and wife – and finally living together!