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An Intimate Rainy Day Jewish Wedding for 30 at Dyson Place, Sheffield, UK

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Olivia and Daniel, Dyson Place, Sheffield, UK

When COVID forced Liv, a mortgage broker who recently opened a take away coffee shop called Olive and Joy, and Dan, a lawyer, to scrap their original plans for a 150-guest wedding at a stately home over the May bank holiday, they came up with something even better.

As soon as 30-person weddings were allowed in England, Liv and Dan sought the guidance of Victoria from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Linda Abrahams & Co in planning an ultra-memorable day in chic urban courtyard Dyson Place (Victoria, who does double duty as a planner and luxury stationer, also designed the couple’s stationery, complete with custom wedding logo). They put together a beautiful outdoor chuppah – which ended up having to be moved indoors halfway through the ceremony as the rain picked up – streamed on Zoom to all their loved ones who couldn’t be there in person. Don’t miss the gorgeous photos by Steven McNiven.

Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Feast by Ed Schaerf provided his trademark innovative kosher catering, featuring his kosher burger van which served up burgers, hotdogs, salt beef sandwiches, and fried chicken with all the trimmings.

In the bride’s words,

The thing that made it so special was that there were only 30 people so we could talk to everyone there really easily and all of them were our closest family and friends. Anyone who is doubting whether to go ahead with a smaller wedding during government restrictions – we definitely recommend it! 

Now we’ll turn you over to Liv…

Olivia and Daniel, Dyson Place, Sheffield, UKOlivia and Daniel, Dyson Place, Sheffield, UKOlivia and Daniel, Dyson Place, Sheffield, UK
How We Met

Olivia, the bride and Daniel, the groom: We have known each other for as long as we can remember. Our parents were friends when we were little and it turns out that we both liked each other but neither of us realised until we swiped each other on J-swipe!

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A DIY Jewish Garden Micro Wedding in London, UK

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We are absolutely in love with the quintessentially English garden micro wedding of Rebecca, a teacher, and Joel, an engineer. These two needed a convenient all-outdoor venue where they could throw a COVID-safe celebration – and fortunately, the school where Rebecca teaches happens not only to have a gorgeous garden but is also located just around the corner from the pair’s home.

With some help from their friends, Rebecca and Joel put together a beautiful day starting with a tisch and badeken in the couple’s own garden, followed by a procession down the street to their venue. Then there was the ceremony – which came together with lots of participation from not only those guests who were able to attend in person, but also some VIPs who joined in via the couple’s livestream. These included the bride’s parents, who were able to give the couple a blessing, and her brother, who sang to them as they stood under the chuppah.

Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Kate Swerdlow captured the day so perfectly in her emotion-filled photos – and Rebecca and Joel can’t stop raving about how much they loved working with a photographer who not only put them at ease on the day with her warm, easygoing nature but also just “gets Jewish weddings”!

Now over to Rebecca…

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Garden Venue

Rebecca, the bride: We got married in the garden of the school where I work which is around the corner from our home. We picked this venue because it was beautiful, surrounded by an orchard, a vegetable patch, with easy parking and close by. It had a big green space where we had small marquees with tables that we used for lunch.

The chuppah was made out of bamboo and designed and constructed by my husband and his friends, and they built it onsite. The location was intimate and green and perfect.Continue ReadingContinue Reading

An Essense of Australia Bride for a Drive In Jewish Wedding at Micklefield Hall, Hertfordshire, UK

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Happy 2021! To ring in the new year, we’ve got something extra special for you today: the drive in Jewish wedding of Sophie, a program manager at a beauty college, and Marc, a TV set designer! When faced with England’s 15-guest limit, these two came up with the most creative way to include more of their guest list in a legal and COVID-safe way, retooling their vision for the big day to encompass a retro drive in movie theater style setup at their original venue, Micklefield Hall, who “were amazing throughout adapting to all our plans.” We can’t get over the incredible day they crafted, and once you have a peek at Iain Gomes Photography’s incredible photos, we bet you will too.

They ended up with 41 cars outside, with 86 people watching the proceedings on a big screen and listening through their car radios (plus a Zoom stream for those who couldn’t make it to the drive in). The wedding was also streamed on zoom so everyone who couldn’t make the drive in could watch online. Marc being a designer, he created videos, graphics, and artwork to amp up the drive-in feel, including a fun welcome pack delivered to each car on arrival. The packs included photo props – the couple asked guests to take selfies with the props, which they then assembled into a guest book – and a wedding speech bingo card: the couple read out wedding speech phrases from the barn, and guests in cars honked their horns when they won! Then, after the ceremony, the pair drove around on a farm truck greeting their drive in guests (from a safe distance, of course).

Extreme Production filmed the day – and lit it to look good on the big screen – with some films by Marc, pre-recorded wedding speeches and a video with the couple’s first dance song playing in the background so guests could dance along from their cars or from home, played in between the live broadcasts.

Sophie and Marc couldn’t have pulled this epic day off with help from some wonderful Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendors, including Alexandra’s Florist, who not only created the couple’s gorgeous floral chuppah but was also “amazing throughout and always adapted to our ever changing plans,” the legendary Toastmaster Jango, and ever-innovative kosher caterer Feast by Ed Shaerf, who were “so understanding with constantly changing plans” and put together a fantastic afternoon tea featuring sandwiches, cakes, doughnuts, and macarons with iced tea – all packed in boxes and delivered directly to guests’ cars!

We just love how Sophie and Marc found so many creative ways to make sure their drive in guests were truly involved and engaged – read on for more of their excellent ideas!

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How we met

Sophie, the bride: We met in December 2016 after matching on Jswipe! Marc moved to London in March 2016 from Manchester and I’m from Stanmore. Our first date was in a bar in Shoreditch. I actually saw Marc in the same carriage as me on the way to our first date and thought it would be awkward to get off together at the same station so I stayed on an extra stop and luckily went back!

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An Enzoani Bride for an Elegant Jewish Wedding at Warren Weir at Luton Hoo, UK

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There’s not much that makes us happier than seeing a couple pull off the Jewish wedding of their dreams thanks to the work of some of our very favorite Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendors. So as you can imagine, the wedding of Smashing The Glass Brides Club member Natasha, a marketing manager, to Simon, a recruitment consultant, is giving us ALL the feels.

Natasha reports that she loved her time in Brides Club – in her words, “it was so great to know there was a group of other brides going through similar things that you could confide in, get advice from or just get support where needed” – and she also found two of her wonderful vendors through the group! Natasha and Simon’s toastmaster, Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Jango, is a firm favorite among Brides Club members, and true to form he kept everything running smoothly on the big day. And a recommendation via Brides Club led Natasha to Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Ann Louise Bridal, where she found her gorgeous Enzoani dress and veil! Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Alexandra’s Florist was responsible for the incredible floral chuppah, featuring an elegant mix of white hydrangeas, white roses, and greenery.

We’re also obsessed with the fact that Natasha and Simon opted to open their ceremony with a flashmob by the amazingly talented Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor XS Showband! What a fun surprise for the guests – and indeed, Natasha reports that people are still talking about it to this day!  

This is truly a special wedding – be sure not to miss the emotion-packed photos by Chiko and trailer from AtMotion!

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How we met

Natasha, the bride: We were set up by Simon’s sister. I became friends with her through some mutual friends and she always said that she wanted to set us up. Simon was living in Manchester at the time and one day we arranged to go on a blind date at Dim T in Hampstead. As the say, the rest is history…

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A Jewish Wedding with a Fabulous Wildflower Chuppah at The Queens Hotel, Leeds, UK

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Ok, is this #chuppahgoals or what?! We’re positively obsessed with the floral masterpiece Deanna and Elliott dreamed up for their big day.

Inspired by the glorious wildflowers the pair saw on a hiking trip to the Dolomites, these two worked with their florist to concoct an absolutely stunning structure that really does look as if it was just airdropped in from a magical field in the Italian countryside. Don’t miss the exquisite photos from Nadine van Biljon – who did an absolutely masterful job capturing not only the luxe details, but all the love and emotion of the day too.

We’re not sure what’s got us feeling more FOMO, that chuppah or the mouthwatering menu from the incredible Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Feast by Ed Shaerf. Ed and his team dream up kosher wedding food like you’ve never seen before – we’re salivating over Deanna and Elliott’s dessert, which involved spiced ginger cake, strawberry daiquiri ice cream and candy floss! – and the couple reports that Ed was a delight to work with every step of the day, and made dealing with allergies and special diets a breeze. They’re still dreaming about his fresh, innovative food – and at this point, so are we!

We’ll let Deanna take it from here…

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A Hometown Venue

Deanna, the bride: We got married at The Queens Hotel in Leeds. I grew up in Leeds and always knew I wanted to get married there. The space was exactly what we were after and the venue was located right in the centre of town next to the train station. We had been to weddings there before and seen how the space could be magically transformed. We had several guests from out of town so having our venue next door to the train station was super convenient for them. 

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