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An Ultra-Personal Chanukah Jewish Wedding Micklefield Hall, Hertfordshire, UK

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Ella and Aaron, Micklefield Hall, Rickmansworth, United Kingdom

We love a Chanukah wedding, and Ella and Aaron’s is one of the best we’ve seen! Their vision for their winter Jewish wedding was “twinkly winter wonderland with lots of doughnuts, latkes and joy,” and they worked with the most talented team – including a number of beloved Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendors – to bring it to life.

Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Uptown Events planned the day to perfection, recommending vendors – including the couple’s stunning venue, Micklefield Hall, after their original location fell through – and making sure everything ran smoothly on the day. They also guided Ella and Aaron to choose a DJ Live act when it came to entertainment – and Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor The Twentysomethings ended up being “such a hit that they’ve since become the unofficial band for our whole group, with two other couples booking them since!”

Ella and Aaron made all the stationery themselves (with their small business It IS Personal) – including the most adorable dreidel-shaped reserved seating signs and matchbox place cards in honor of Chanukah. Also perfectly on theme? The duo’s wedding menu, which included latkes, a full salt beef bar, and savoury pulled beef doughnuts (in addition to the sweet kind). Don’t miss all the fabulous details in the exquisite photos by Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Claudine Hartzel, who captured all the emotion and joy of the day so beautifully.

Another Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor, Carmel Designs, painted the couple’s wonderful custom ketubah, merging their vision for a design in keeping with their rustic wedding vibes, incorporating the Tree of Life and reflecting Ella and Aaron’s love of animals.

Read on for the full story in Ella’s own words…

 

Ella and Aaron, Micklefield Hall, Rickmansworth, United Kingdom Ella and Aaron, Micklefield Hall, Rickmansworth, United Kingdom Ella and Aaron, Micklefield Hall, Rickmansworth, United Kingdom Ella and Aaron, Micklefield Hall, Rickmansworth, United Kingdom

How We Met

Ella, the bride: We met the way so many modern couples do these days – on good old Hinge! We first met in June 2022, when Aaron was finishing his teacher training year, and Ella was working at her local synagogue. Aaron is now Pastoral and Wellbeing Manager at his old Jewish secondary school, and Ella works as Children and Family Educator at the synagogue we’ve joined together, while training to be a therapist. Our professions are an example of how well our values align – something we were both aware of when we met, and is one of the many reasons we instantly clicked and fell for each other so quickly! Not even a month into dating, we’d booked our first holiday to Israel together for Chanukah that year.

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A Zavana Bride for a Romantic Winter Jewish Wedding at Offley Place, Hitchin, UK

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Jonny & Sophie, Offley place, London, UK

We’ve got a really special Jewish wedding to share with you today! Sophie, a media agency manager, and Jonny, a private chef, had the most beautiful romantic winter wedding at Offley Place just outside London, filled with all the best things in life: food, music, and – of course – family and community.

Given that Jonny’s a chef, the food needed to be top-notch – and he even created the menu himself! And we love that Sophie decided to have a “L-ish” (ladies’ tish) pre-chuppah. In hjer words, “The boys get a drink with their friends before they walk down the aisle, I thought why not do the same with my girls too! It was so lovely to have some of my closest friends around me before I got married, highly recommend getting your hype girlies together to have a little moment and drink before.” How fun is that?

And then there’s the music: Sophie and Jonny wanted the best of the best, and they found it in  Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor The White Keys. In Sophie’s words, “their energy, talent, and incredible vocals created the most electric atmosphere.” Rounding things out were the couple’s incredible chazzan, Serge and super-talented Josh Nesbitt on the keys, who brought the ceremony to another level.

Photographer Marcus Curry captured the most wonderful images of the day, as did videographer Ayla from Reel All About It – who also created the most beautiful reels for Sophie and Jonny the very next day!

Jonny & Sophie, Offley place, London, UK Jonny & Sophie, Offley place, London, UK Jonny & Sophie, Offley place, London, UK

How We Met

Sophie, the bride: The short, not so romantic story, is Hinge! The new version of a matchmaking.

The long story is, we have always known of each other, living in the bubble, we had gone to the same school at some point and the same clubs as children.

As Jonny is slightly older than myself, he used to volunteer looking after and run sessions for younger children at a Jewish youth club called Chigwell Maccabi, ‘Chigs’ for short. My younger sister happened to be a part of this age group Jonny helped. She remembers him as the boy who used to make people laugh and run around in a monkey onesie, he remembers her as being loud and trying to keep her away from the boys.

At this very same club, Jonny’s family donated an award for volunteers each year. After his Grandpa got too old to present it himself, his dad Bradley would present the ‘Mervish award’ to those who had volunteered. My sister was the winner of this award and there has been a picture of my sister, Jonny’s dad and sister up on our wall years before we met!

I say she got the shield, but I got the trophy.

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A Country House Jewish Wedding in White at Sopwell House, St Albans, UK

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Natalie-and-Josh-Sopwell-House-UK

We love a country house Jewish wedding – and Natalie and Josh’s big day at Sopwell House in St Albans is really something special! Natalie and Josh loved the gorgeous grounds and the private, remote feel – all while being an easy trip from London.

We’re obsessed with the couple’s super cool Lucite chuppah, adorned with gypsophila and hanging white roses – don’t miss it in the wonderful photos by MIKI Studios.

To make sure everything ran to plan on the day, Natalie and Josh turned to Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Toastmaster Jango. He made sure everything went smoothly so the bride and groom could relax and enjoy their day stress-free, and the couple give him lots of credit for making the day of their dreams a reality.

Now over to the bride, who’ll fill you in on all the details…

Natalie-and-Josh-Sopwell-House-UKNatalie-and-Josh-Sopwell-House-UKNatalie-and-Josh-Sopwell-House-UKNatalie-and-Josh-Sopwell-House-UK
How We Met

Natalie, the bride: We met on Hinge back in October 2020, when the covid lockdown curfew was 10pm!Continue ReadingContinue Reading