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A Jewish-French-Greek-British Animal-Filled Wedding at London Zoo, London, UK

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Jewish wedding London Zoo UK_0077
Before we get started, we need to present today’s bride, Clelia, with a medal for THE most Smashing The Glass-obsessed bride ever to grace these pages. Clelia took an extraordinary amount of inspiration from the blog, including sourcing almost every vendor and having one of our past real brides, Lauren, create her incredible chuppah design.

Helping Jewish brides to plan their weddings is exactly what Smashing The Glass is all about, and Clelia embodies our spirit and ethos and then some! Thanks for making us such a huge part of your journey, Clelia, we are truly honored.

Now back to staring at wedding pretty and getting inspired, which is what we’re all here for. If you’re a fan of adorable monkeys and meerkats (and if you’re not, who even ARE you??) you’ll love today’s into-the-wild venue, London Zoo. We’re SO here for Clelia and George’s animal kingdom selfie competition – what an inspired way to make the most of such a unique venue! 

Clelia and George were full of gratitude for the way their loved ones came together to help make their dream day perfect, and it really shows in the images and Clelia’s moving writeup. We’re all also totally behind Clelia’s words about body positivity and self love, and are so grateful to her for sharing her feelings on this. 

It was also, as we mentioned, a wedding packed with STG Recommended Vendors, including ludicrously talented klezmer band, Shir, wonderful rabbi, Paul Glantz, and ultimate gift-list service, Prezola.

Famed photographer, Laura Babb, and her partner in crime, videographer Peter Wilbourne, did an outstanding job of telling the story of the day through their stunning spread of images and Peter’s cinematic wedding video. We feel like we were there in person! 

It’s finally Clelia’s well-deserved and long-awaited turn to take over the blog for a post. Take it away, Clelia!

Jewish wedding London Zoo UK

Jewish wedding London Zoo UK

Jewish wedding London Zoo UK_0077

Jewish wedding London Zoo UK

Jewish wedding London Zoo UK
How we met

Clelia, the bride: We met in a car park in Northampton when our colleague, Richard, offered to drive us both back to London. Instead of awkward work chat, I asked George every question in the Proust questionnaire. 

When Richard dropped us off at a north London tube station, George asked me out on a date. I introduced him to long haul-holidays, he introduced me to beans on toast and football. I agreed the kids would support Spurs, he agreed the kids would be raised Jewish and proposed under Tower Bridge, a few meters from where he’d first seen me in the office.
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An Oscar de la Renta Bride for a Super Luxe Italian Garden-Themed Jewish Wedding at The Dorchester, Park Lane, London, UK

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There’s only one appropriate word to describe Sophie and James’s Italian-style Jewish wedding day: bellissimo!

Yes, if you breathe in deeply, you can almost smell the stunning Italian-inspired herb garden this creative couple reconstructed in their London venue, you can almost taste the limoncello, the bombe desserts, the gelato station… sorry we drifted away for a minute! I think we can all agree that wedding planners, Banana Split, know a thing or two about creating an incredible, immersive experience.

Sophie and James had their ceremony (conducted by none other than THE Chief Rabbi Emeritus, Lord Jonathan Sacks) at the place their relationship began, Norrice Lea Synagogue, under an ah-maaaazing olive-tree chuppah.

The party really got started at super-luxe venue, The Dorchester, which was transformed into an Italian heaven, with ludicrously wonderful floral arrangements by Wild at Heart. Seriously, a recipe for divine decor.

Let’s take a second to swoon over beautiful bride Sophie’s stunner of an Oscar de la Renta gown, altered especially to fit her vision – and what a vision she looked! 

There’s so much to love about today’s big day, from a singing groom to a rapping dad (YES!) but we don’t want our writeup to be longer than Sophie’s! So we’ll take a minute to appreciate the absolute photography GENIUS that is our Recommended Vendor and Smashing The Glass regular, Blake Ezra Photography. We have been lucky enough to feature Blake on many, many occasions, and he has knocked it out of the park yet again with today’s sublime spread of images.

Videographer AtMotion provided the beautiful wedding film below – and if groom James’s speech doesn’t make you well up, then we don’t know what will! Enjoy, and remember, Pin your gorgeous hearts out! 

Jewish-wedding-at-The-Dorchester-Park-Lane-London-UKOscar-de-la-renta-wedding-dressJewish-wedding-at-The-Dorchester-Park-Lane-London-UK

Jewish-wedding-at-The-Dorchester-Park-Lane-London-UK
How we met

Sophie, the bride: We actually grew up around the corner from each other, but being a few school years apart, our paths never crossed. Our fathers trained as accountants together, and both our mothers went to the same hairdressers and regularly chatted.

Our fathers share a best friend, Wayne, who approached James in shul during the Kol Nidrei service and told him that he had just had an epiphany — that he had the perfect match in mind. He told James he should take me out on a date, and the rest is history.
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An Art Deco-Themed Green and Gold Jewish Wedding at The Ned & Banking Hall, London, UK

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jewish wedding Banking Hall London UK
Happy Wednesday you gorgeous lot you! We’ve got a very special treat in store for you today with a fabulous 1920s Art Deco-themed Jewish wedding that you’re going to  totally and utterly fall in love with.

Rosanna and Jacob adore the Art Deco aesthetic, so naturally every last detail was Art Deco-ed, even down to getting ready at London’s hottest new hotel, The Ned, which is dripping in Art Deco touches.

They chose a color scheme of deep emerald green with accents of gold and palm-leaf shapes throughout and the result was absolutely gorgeous, with such attention to detail that the theme was even reflected in bride Rosanna’s earrings.

Everything was brought together like an absolute dream under the expert supervision of sensational wedding planner and STG Recommended Vendor, Potcakes Weddings.

Beautiful bride, Rosanna, went for a bespoke gown by Christine Kendall, celebrating the ancient Egyptian influence on Art Deco design, and her naturally gorgeous features were enhanced by fabulous makeup artist and much-loved STG Recommended Vendor, Philippa Louise Makeup.

Speaking of our Recommended Vendors, the dance floor was filled all night by none other than The Function Band – it really was a Smashing The Glass family effort! 

The fantastic spread of images below were captured by photographer Richard Payne, supplemented with aplomb by videographer Heartfelt Productions. 

We’ll pass you on to Rosanna now for the full writeup of her and Jacob’s magical, vintage-inspired Jewish wedding. Take it away, Rosanna!

jewish-wedding-Banking-Hall-London-UK

jewish wedding Banking Hall London UK

jewish wedding Banking Hall London UK

jewish-wedding-Banking-Hall-London-UK

jewish wedding Banking Hall London UK
How we met

Rosanna, the bride: We met through a mutual friend, and we were close friends for about a year before he asked me out at my 23rd birthday (with some pushing from friends as we were both too nervous!).

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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 David Fielden Bride for a Shakespearean Jewish Wedding at Bevis Marks and The Underglobe, London, UK

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Bevis Marks and The Underglobe, London, UK
A very Happy New Year to all our Jewish readers as it is, of course, Erev Rosh Hashana tonight! We hope you all have some lovely family plans – we’d love to hear about them in the comments!

What better way to kick off the new year than with a beautiful Jewish wedding at one of our favorite London synagogues, Bevis Marks? Jenni and Rich’s celebration continued at The Underglobe, leading to a spectacular Shakespearean theme, drawing on elements of a Midsummer Night’s Dream for a dimly lit, magical atmosphere. 

The venue even came with its own magical tree – what more could anyone ask for?

There’s so much to love about this lively and exciting celebration, which saw the bride being thrown in the air on a sheet, proving that on your big day, you can do anything – a flying bride! 

All of the magic and detail was captured with expert ease by Miki Studios, including the romantic floral arrangements on the low-lit tables, centered with gorgeous gold candelabras.

Let’s hear from bride Jenni, who looked every bit the boho babe in her lacy David Fielden dress! Take it away, Jenni!

Bevis Marks and The Underglobe, London, UKBevis Marks and The Underglobe, London, UKBevis Marks and The Underglobe, London, UKBevis Marks and The Underglobe, London, UKBevis Marks and The Underglobe, London, UK
How we met

Jenni, the bride: Richard and I met at King Solomon High School when we were 16 and 17 years old. We were together till we left school and went out separate ways. Richard attended golf college, while I went on year course to Israel. Once I returned we reunited, and the rest is history.
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