Tali & Dan | ‘Gin in teacups’ 1920’s Jewish Wedding at Heatherden Hall, Pinewood Studios, Buckinghamshire, UK

Blake Ezra, one of our  Smashing Suppliers,  always captures bucket loads of love and emotion in his wonderful  photography, and this is most definitely true of Tali  and Dan’s  big day which I’m beyond excited  to be featuring on the blog  today.

This  stylish  pair were married at Heatherden Hall at the legendary  Pinewood Studios, just outside London, and this has  got to be one of the most iconic  wedding venues  to have yet graced the pages of STG. Pinewood has been home  to many productions over the years from huge blockbuster films to television shows, commercials and pop promos but  is most famous  as the home of the Carry On, Superman, James Bond and Harry Potter film series. What a  perfect  venue for film buffs!

Despite the fantastically cool  venue, this wedding is all about the people  —  you can see joy in every singe image, and  Blake Ezra tells me that, “there was a massive emphasis on friends throughout the day with their big crowd of amazing mates getting involved in all aspects of the ceremony, music and general entertainment.”

You can really see the fun factor complete with comedy DJs, barber shop routines, drum circles, dancing, a fire show (and a very moving ceremony) in the wedding film  by the uber-talented Charlotte Armitage right at the end of the post.

Tali’s  bridal style  is to die for…  I am expecting plenty of pinterest  action for her vintage dress  which incidentally  was made entirely out of  sustainable and  ecological fabrics.

And lastly I must mention that Dan, who is a journalist, recorded a message to Tali from Boris Johnson as part of his speech (see 10:38 in the film at the bottom of the post). I’m a big Boris fan  — that’s immense!

So come and have a look at this gorgeous  ‘I Do’ jointly narrated by  the bride and groom.

VENUE
Tali, the Bride, and Dan, the Groom: Tali and I chose to get married at Pinewood Studios  in Gerard’s Cross. We wanted a ‘London’ wedding so it was accessible for elderly family and all our friends,  and Pinewood had indoor and outdoor space, was very cool, and they allowed  us to do whatever we wanted.

THEME
The idea was ‘gin in teacups’ with a 1920s vibe. This fitted perfectly with the venue and our style and our guests  really embraced that theme.

INVITATIONS
Dan’s dad is a graphic designer and created it specially using an old vanity fair front cover for the design.

THE DRESS
My wedding dress was made by Sanyukta Strestha.  She’s incredible. She is the only vintage wedding dress maker that uses sustainable / ecological fabrics and fair trade seamstress-ing (that I could find!). These were both really important qualities to me, as most wedding dresses are sewn  abroad using children to sew the delicate beading. My dress was just stunning  and could be worn in 3 ways (the top came off for dancing later).

ACCESSORIES
Tali, the Bride:  The ostrich feathers on the wrap came from a fair trade farm and no ostriches died in the making of it!  I found the gorgeous necklace at a vintage market. I love it and still wear it.

GROOM’S ATTIRE
I wore a classic black tie suit from Hugo Boss, a Ted Baker  shirt with a tie bar, and long black tie.

THE CHUPPAH CEREMONY
We used a chuppah that one of Dan’s  best men got married under a few days before, and we held a  traditional but egalitarian  service. We both circled each other,  and our friends formed a small choir to sing us down the aisle.

Our favourite part was standing arm in arm under the chuppah in front of our friends and family.

PHOTOGRAPHER
We used the amazing Blake Ezra, a personal friend and simply the only photographer we would have used.

THE JEWISH DANCING  AND  FIRST DANCE
Our first dance was to At Last a  beautiful song by Etta James.

ENTERTAINMENT
We involved  lots our friends. Our good friend Brett compered the whole thing  and  at one point his alter-ego ‘Avis Van Rental’ the fictitious Dutch DJ turned up and was hysterically funny and mad!

Another pair of our friends Clive Selwyn and Rachel Rose Reid performed a barber shop routine during dinner.

And one of our favourite DJs from festivals we’d both been to and loved was our DJ John Hendicott.  One of our friends is a theatre producer and he created a musical flashmob during dancing to Lauren Mvula’s Green Garden.

We also had a drum circle and fire show outside once it was dark – that’s when the shots of rum were handed out.

SPEECHES WITH BORIS JOHNSON (SORT OF!)
Dan who is a journalist recorded a message to Tali from Boris Johnson as part of his speech,  and one from the friend who introduced them who couldn’t be there. He was in Malawi with his wife and they mocked it up as a live satellite link.

LYCHEE MARTINIS
We brought out lychee Martinis on dry ice for all the guests  before the brides speech.

ADVICE TO OTHER BRIDES
Make sure you have someone you trust in charge of everything on the day so you don’t have to worry about anything  – it’s your day  and this way you’ll enjoy it to the max.

Watch Tali  & Dan’s  wedding film

TALI  + DAN’S LITTLE WHITE BOOK
Photographer —  Blake Ezra Photography
Videography — Charlotte Armitage
Venue —  Pinewood Studios
Bride’s Dress —  Sanyukta Strestha
Groom’s attire —  Hugo Boss  and Ted Baker
Flowers — Expressit
Entertainment —  Clive Selwyn,  Rachel Rose Reid
DJ John Hendicott