A Suzanne Neville Bride for an Enchanted Garden Backyard Jewish Wedding in London, UK – Smashing the Glass

Change of Plans

Orli, the bride: We got married in my parent’s garden and it was by far the best and most special decision that we made. Before the pandemic we had planned to get married at St Pancras Renaissance but with all the uncertainty we wanted a venue that we knew we could definitely have regardless of if the numbers were 15 or unlimited. Moving the wedding to my parent’s garden whilst caused more logistics and stress at the time was hand on heart the best decision that we made.

What ‘Smashing The Glass Brides Club’ Did For Us

We found a number of our vendors on Smashing the Glass and I found it incredibly useful talking to different brides going through similar things with postponing and replanning and dealing with so much uncertainty. 2020 was a very challenging year but having other people go through similar things did make it easier and made me feel less alone. 

All About Family

By having the wedding at home we made it our own, we had our engagement party at Ben’s grandmas house and to us family is everything. There was something that was so incredibly special walking out of the front door as husband and wife for the first time, and walking out the lounge into the marquee to begin the Israeli dancing. We had Susannah Raye as our wedding planner and she was absolutely incredible constantly working with our changing plans and needs and coming up with solutions.

Invitations / stationery

My cousin Away with Lines designed our invitations. 

A Suzanne Neville Dress

My dress was from Suzanne Neville, the moment I put it on I knew it was the one, it was me in a dress. It was simple but perfect and worked with our new change of venue.

Accessories

My grandma got married in a tiara and it was so important for me to have something of hers on my wedding day, so I had the tiara recreated into small hair clips that went perfectly with the style of my hair. I showed the hair clips to Hair by SLO and gave her a rough description of how I wanted my hair and left the rest up to her! I borrowed my other grandmas earrings and also wore my mums bangle that my grandma got her.  

Shoes

Back in November 2019, I had the most wonderful day shopping with my aunty and cousin when I chose my dream Manolos, I wore them for the ceremony and then changed into a trusty pair of wedges to have photos and danced the night away in them.

The handsome groom

Ben had his suit made by a tailor that he trusted, Nick Tentis. The one thing I was really surprised by was him wearing a tie, which he quickly took off after the ceremony and changed into a T-shirt and trainers! That was more him.

Bridesmaids

I had two flower girls dressed in David Charles my two cousins children who sprinkled dried petals as they walked down the aisle or really down the garden path.

Ceremony

The ceremony couldn’t have been more special, we had Jonny Turgel as our chazzan and he gave us shivers down our spine as he sung. As we all walked in everyone cheered, and we danced under the chuppah for the final sheva brachot. We had made it! Ben wanted a public bedekhen so that’s exactly what we had.

Chuppah

We wanted to use Ben’s grandpas tallit and didn’t want a traditional chuppah so instead we had four trees, with the tallit suspended and herbs and lavender in baskets around the trees.

Flowers

We had Liz at Blue Sky Flowers, from the moment I met her, I knew she had to be our florist. Her flowers were beautiful and she created our enchanted garden filled with lavender, hydrangeas, herbs and flowers. 

Photographer and videographer

We had Pascal from Promise Photography as our photographer we loved how comfortable he made us feel, and we loved the magazine that he provided the morning after the wedding. Our videographer was Paul at PR Films who got every moment and didn’t miss a beat. 

Food and Cake

Our caterer was Philip Small went above and beyond what we could have imagined and was constantly thinking about what was best for our guests and how he could make it flow. He was constantly adapting even after we changed our timetable 3 days before the wedding. 

Entertainment

We had The Function Band – we knew we wanted them from the moment we got engaged and I remember my first call with Bradley when I told him our initial date and that I wanted them. I didn’t know where, or any other vendors we just had a date and we had them! They created the party and the atmosphere and we danced the night away!

Advice to couples currently planning their wedding

Enjoy every moment of your wedding day because it goes so quickly and it really is the most special day. Be true to yourselves in what you both really want and what is important to you and make sure your wedding reflects you both as a couple.

ORLI & BEN’S LITTLE WHITE BOOK

Photography – Promise Photography
Videography – PR Films
Flowers – Blue Sky Flowers offers 10% discount to all members of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club
Band – The Function Band
Wedding planner – Susannah Raye
Bride’s dress – Suzanne Neville
Bride’s shoes – Manolo Blahnik
Groom’s attire – Nick Tentis
Bridesmaids – David Charles
Hair + Makeup – Hair by SLO ,  Makeup by Laura
Catering – Philip Small
Stationery – Away with Lines
Rabbi – Diyan Binstock, Rabbi Wollenberg, Rabbi Abrams

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If you’re a Jewish or Jew-ish bride-to-be, you’ll want to join Smashing The Glass’ Brides Club. Guided by the world’s number 1 Jewish wedding expert, Karen Cinnamon, Brides Club is the private community for Jewish and Jew-ish brides that removes wedstress and indecision and gives you what you need to plan with confidence during these uncertain times. Join our Brides Club here.

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