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A Stella York Bride for a Rom-Com Inspired Jewish Wedding at Chiswick House & Gardens, London, UK

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A rom-com inspired Jewish wedding?! Um, yes please! We love that today’s bride, Lucy, planned her wedding to groom Joel with inspiration from the romantic comedies she grew up on. In her words, “I always wanted my wedding day to give me and my guests that warm feeling inside I got from watching them as a little girl” – and we think she nailed it!

From the dreamy garden setting at London’s Chiswick House & Gardens to the fabulous chuppah from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor The Happy Chuppah People to Lucy’s princess gown by Stella York to the wonderful music by Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Ambassador Band that kept guests on the dancefloor (including to two sings from The Parent Trap, one of the bride’s favorite films!), this day was picture perfect from start to finish.

And speaking of pictures – the photos by Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Kate Swerdlow Photography were pretty darn perfect too! Lucy and Joel wanted someone who could capture authentic moments throughout the day, and Kate fit the bill perfectly. Kate also made them feel comfortable on the day – something that’s so important to factor in when choosing a photographer!

Now over to Lucy…

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How We Met

Lucy, the bride: I am an Account Manager in Influencer Marketing and Joel is a Sales Director. We met on a dating app called Hinge in 2019 and met shortly after 3 days later. I immediately knew Joel was the one. We instantly clicked and it was a feeling I had never had with anyone before. We spent loads of time together before being intensely locked down during Covid. This only served to bring us closer together. We already wanted to spend every single day together and when Covid struck it meant we could and without external distractions. 

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A Riki Dalal Bride for a Fabulously Floral Jewish Wedding at The Langham, London, UK

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How incredible is this floral chuppah?! It’s really a stunner – which is no surprise when you find out that today’s bride, Gaby, is a former wedding planner and floral designer, now working in interior design. Gaby’s got a serious passion for flowers – so much so that she and groom Alex, who works in finance operations/business intelligence, picked their wedding date in part based on when the best selection would be in bloom!

As if that chuppah (and Gaby’s credentials) weren’t giveaway enough that this pair has impeccable taste, we were also delighted to learn that they worked with some of our very favorite Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendors to bring their dreams to life.

First, the amazing Dimitria Jordan, who crafted the couple’s exquisite wedding stationery with so much attention to each and every detail – don’t miss the wonderful results, featuring delicate florals, gold foil, scripted font, custom wax seals, and more, in Mike Garrard Photography’s breathtaking photos.

Then there’s Philippa Louise, who did Gaby and her mum’s makeup – in addition to looking like absolute perfection, Gaby reports that Philippa set the perfect calming tone for the morning.

And last but certainly not least, Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Ambassador Band was Gaby and Alex’s pick for entertainment – one of their top priorities in planning their day. They went with a 16-piece band and can’t stop raving about the energy Ambassador brought to their day – or what a fab job the group did with music for the Israeli dancing!

There’s so much more to say, but we’ll leave the rest to the bride, who looked simply smashing in Israeli designer Riki Dalal…

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How we Met

Gaby, the bride: Alex and I have known each other for some time. We both went to JFS sixth form and then onto Leeds Uni, but we didn’t officially get together until after Uni.Continue ReadingContinue Reading

A Suzanne Neville Bride for a Flower-Forward Jewish Wedding with the Ultimate Floral Chuppah at The Grove, Chandlers Cross, UK

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Jewish wedding The Grove Chandler Cross UK_0030
Um, wow. Just when we think we’ve seen it all when it comes to floral chuppah design, we’re proven wrong. Just look at this floral chuppah of dreams. Jaw-on-the-floor WOW!

Flowers were top priority for bride Natasha, who works in the diamond industry, and her groom, Charles, a solicitor. And it shows. The couple turned to Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Mary Jane Vaughan to realize their vision of an indoor spring garden, and did she ever!

She’s the visionary behind that chuppah — which is truly a floral fantasy, between the blossoms wrapped around the columns and the wisteria hanging from the canopy.

Their chuppah is pretty unbeatable, and the flowers they had for the reception hit the spot too. And all of it was captured so beautifully by yet another Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor, the AMAZING Imaginarium Cinematography on film (below), with Chiko Photography on stills.

If flowers were priority #1, then food came in as a close second. Another incredible STG Recommended Vendor, Food Story created a menu including the likes of beef carpaccio with yuzu and pistachio (!) a totally different class to your standard kosher wedding fare. And don’t even get us started on the donut wall (we LOVE a donut wall!).

One last thing we loved about this fab day is the way Natasha got two totally different looks out of her classic strapless Suzanne Neville gown by pairing it with a demurely elegant Sassi Holford jacket for the chuppah (also handily keeping her shoulders covered).

If you love the idea of separate dresses for the ceremony and reception but don’t necessary have the budget for it, this is such a smart way to mix up your style throughout the day. Okay, now over to the bride, gorgeous Natasha…

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Jewish wedding The Grove Chandler Cross UK_0001

Jewish wedding The Grove Chandler Cross UK_0050
How we met

Natasha, the bride: We met through Jcrush! We had never met before but have many weird connections! One of Charles’s best friends happened to be my cousin! We both attended my cousin’s bar mitzvah at 13 years old, and my sister and Charles’s brother were friends, having met on Israel tour together when they were younger!

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A Ritva Westenius Bride for a Moving Jewish Wedding at Rosewood London

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Jewish Wedding Rosewood London UK

All together now – say “aaaaw!” Good. Now you’re all prepared for your reaction to today’s wonderful Jewish real wedding.

Serena and Philip got chatting at a family member’s birthday party and love immediately blossomed. So much so that Serena forgot she had a taxi waiting outside (we did prepare you)!

Their beautiful Jewish wedding was a late Saturday celebration, which meant that friends and family could get the party started after the evening chuppah, while the photos were being taken, so that by the time the couple arrived, everyone was already on their feet. 

Bride Serena looked absolutely breathtaking in her Ritva Westenius gown, with material from her mother’s and grandmother’s wedding dresses sewn in. Serena also honored her grandmother by wearing her brooch as a hairpiece. Philip’s late father was remembered through the use of his tallit and his wedding ring.

Three fabulous Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendors helped to bring this beautiful big day together. Florist Mary Jane Vaughan created a stunning floral motif that told a story as the day progressed, the stunning spread of photographs was provided by the one and only Blake Ezra (did you catch him in our Smashing Summit?!) and Chazan Simon Cohen
treated the couple to his divine voice under the chuppah. 

In fact, you can watch Simon in action in the wonderful chuppah video below, provided by Matt Camlin.

We’ll leave you in Serena’s good hands for the full story – take it away Serena!

 Jewish Wedding Rosewood London UK

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How we met

Serena, the bride: Philip was best friends with my first cousin and even though we had been to parties and weddings together over the years, we had never met (probably because he was married at the time).

It was my cousins 50th birthday party (Philip had been separated for a year) and just I was leaving. As my taxi was outside to take me to another party, Philip came over and said ‘hello’. The rest, you might say, is history.

We stood there talking in a ‘bubble’ till the end of the party, unaware of anyone around us and the taxi sat outside waiting the whole time.

Strangely, my parents met him at Christmas lunch the year before and I my dad left saying he knew Philip and I would be together, which is ridiculous because we had never met.

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A Galia Lahav Bride for a Luxe Jew-ish Wedding at Lost Orangery, Euridge Manor, UK

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Rachel and Alex’s Jew-ish wedding took place on a very, very rainy September day – but this fun-loving couple embraced the weather wholeheartedly, and unreservedly had the best day of their lives.

This gorgeous wedding was all about making much-loved guests, who had come for a full weekend in the countryside, feel special and appreciated. Considerate couple, Rachel and Alex, went above and beyond with caring, personalized touches, providing a plethora of fabulous favors, handwritten notes and even hangover kits. 

We LOVE the oh-so-Israeli story of how beautiful bride Rachel found her dream Galia Lahav dress (we won’t ruin it for you, it’s too funny), and the celebration of divine Israeli designers – we’re with you, Rachel! 

Not one, but two of our fabulous Recommended Vendors were involved with this gorgeous big day, including incredible florist, Mary Jane Vaughan and videographer, HD Moments, who shot the stunning, cinematic wedding video below and submitted this amazing W-Day to us.

The details and emotion of the day were captured by the talented photographer, Aga Tomaszek, and the witty writeup below was by Rachel, the bride. We hope you enjoy reading it as much as we did. 

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Jewish Wedding The Lost Orangery Euridge Manor Cotswolds UK

Jewish Wedding The Lost Orangery Euridge Manor Cotswolds UK
How we met

Rachel, the bride: We met at Movida nightclub. A not-so-classy establishment, but we instantly clicked. While I don’t believe you can ‘love’ someone at first sight, we both just knew that we would have a future together of some kind, but never in my wildest dreams did I imagine it to be as fairytale-like as it is!

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