Sophie is from Stoke Newington and was a pupil at Simon Marks and JFS before studying archaeology and anthropology at Oxford. A London Underground graduate trainee, her placements have included working as a station supervisor at Leicester Square Tube. Stephen was raised in Richmond and took social policy at Bristol University. He works part-time for Jewish Care as a supported housing development manager but is better known as clarinettist, singer and composer for the Oi Va Voy klezmer band
When they met
“A year-and-a-half ago, and we felt close from the first moment,” Stephen recalls. “The first date included a drink in Camden, a Mali gig at the Barbican, the Cable Street festival, a dance in an ex-public convenience and accidentally bumping into Sophie’s parents. It was an epic adventure.”
The proposal
“I had it all planned. We’d go and see sinister Pinter play on the South Bank. Then we had a romantic walk by the river in the darkness. I stopped and asked her as a busker played Ain’t No Sunshine. It was perfect timing.”
The wedding
“We wanted to have our ceremony in a shul with lots of character and a sense of history in the East End, as I grew up nearby,” Sophie says. “So we chose the Congregation of Jacob, which has a special, intimate feel, with light streaming through the glass ceiling onto the beautifully restored interior. We woke up to see snow falling from the sky in April — it was going to be a white wedding. Musicians from Oi Va Voi and Shekoyach, as well as close friends and family, played klezmer to a packed shul, warmed by the music and the whisky. We were transported on a 73 Routemaster to the party at Highgate School dining hall. The figures on the wedding cake were wearing a London Underground hat and playing the clarinet.”
The honeymoon
“We went to Croatia,” the couple say. “We visited beautiful islands, and stayed in the heart of the enchanting city of Dubrovnik. There were long walks along spectacular coastline. It was very peaceful.”
