Posts Tagged ‘Jewish Wedding’

May 2008

I haven't mentioned it much on this site, but David and I are having a Jewish wedding. This means that we have a wealth of very rich traditions to draw on when we are creating our ceremony and reception. When most people think of Jewish weddings they think of a chuppah and the hora, but there are many more traditions then that. There is the Ketubah, the veiling, the circling, the seven blessings, breaking the glass, the chair dance, and the mezinka, just to name a few.

The challenge that I'm facing is this: fundamentally, Jewish weddings are a different kind of wedding then a Christian wedding, but they are also somewhat different from your average American non-religious wedding. When it comes to trying to plan a stylish and creative wedding the internet, and wedding blogs in particular are (at least for me) the place to go. But the internet has very little to help me plan a stylish Jewish wedding. I want stylish Jewish weddings to inspire me, and I'm working off exactly one: Randi & Jacob's extremely awesome New York Wedding. You can't even search The Knot for Jewish weddings, for goodness sake. I suspect the same is true of any other cultural or ethnic wedding: Hindu weddings, Muslim weddings, Chinese weddings.

Continue reading Cultural Wedding Inspiration Project

Posted in: Meg's Thoughts, Planning, Weddings | 8 Comments »

Jul 2008

Kathryn & Hugo’s Jewish and Mexican At Home Wedding

This lovely and simple at home wedding was sent to me by the fabulous bay area photographer Loren Weltsch. I think this wedding is a great example of how the wedding ceremony and celebration itself have a beauty that shines through when you strip it down to it's elegant essence. Here are the details Loren sent:

Continue reading Kathryn & Hugo’s Jewish and Mexican At Home Wedding

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Jul 2008

Simple Huppah Inspiration

I've been meaning to write a post about huppah inspiration, and I've finally gathered the pictures to do it! Hooray! Most huppahs (huppot, really, in the plural) these days are very decorated, and I wanted to pull together some pictures of simple, graceful, lovely huppahs.

For all of you non-Jews out there, a huppah is one of the key elements of a Jewish wedding. It's not just a pretty wedding canopy, it represents (among other things) the home of the newlyweds, open on the sides to the couples community, family, and freinds. In it's original form, a huppah was a prayer shawl held up by four poles, each supported by a friend or loved one. It's most traditional for a Jewish wedding to take place outside, with just the huppah and the sky as a covering.

Continue reading Simple Huppah Inspiration

Posted in: Uncategorized | 16 Comments »

Aug 2008

Modern Jewish Wedding Tradtions I

Today I have such a treat in store for you! I'm pleased to introduce bride extraordinare Amy - who will be guest blogging throughout the day about Jewish wedding traditions. Amy emailed me about her beautiful chuppah design, and her wedding slide show moved me to tears! She generously wrote an explanation of each of the traditions they used in their wedding. I've added definitions for you, and informative links, should you want to read more. This is unbelievably helpful to me, since I come from a non-Jewish background, and we are having a full Jewish wedding. It's funny, I've posted before about our approach to traditions we are ditching and traditions we are keeping, but we are actually planning on having a ceremony that is rich with tradition. You'll see how many we have to draw on today. Thanks to Amy, and I hope you all enjoy these posts as much as I do!

Entertainment
I have to write about this first, because it was absolutely the most spontaneous, thrilling moment of the day! It’s traditional at Jewish weddings for guests to entertain the bride and groom (in fact it's considered a special honor blessing - a mitzvah) but it’s my understanding that this is mostly done in Orthodox weddings, and we hadn’t planned it into the evening’s happenings. Our guests completely took us by surprise and put on an incredible show! They sat us in the middle of the dance floor and did all kinds of magic tricks, juggling, chicken fights, dancing, and even push-ups in between rounds of the hora! The energy and love was so incredibly festive and celebratory and joyful. All 150 guests were cheering and laughing and it totally epitomized what I had hoped the day would be like.

Continue reading Modern Jewish Wedding Tradtions I

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Aug 2008

Modern Jewish Wedding Traditions II

Here are more details from Amy & Andy's wedding:

Ketubah signing and Badeken
Before the ceremony, we did the traditional ketubah signing (Andy’s groomsmen had a Wii sports tournament to determine which one of them would be the witness!) and the veiling (badeken). After we signed the ketubah, our rabbi had our parents physically hand it to us to symbolize that they bless the marriage. I’m not sure if this is commonly done, but it was a beautiful moment.

Continue reading Modern Jewish Wedding Traditions II

Posted in: Uncategorized | 4 Comments »

Aug 2008

Modern Jewish Wedding Traditions III

Here is the final set of jewish wedding details from Amy & Andy's wedding:

Yichud (private moment between the Bride and Groom)
Immediately after the ceremony, Andy and I stole away for a few moments alone together. Our caterer put together a “moment platter” so we could enjoy all the hors d'oeuvres that were served at the cocktail hour while we were inside, and of course, some bubbly. I highly recommend taking the time to do this, even if it’s just for a few minutes.

Mezinka (celebratory dance for parents who marry their last child)
Andy is the last of his siblings to be married (his older brother is married to the lovely Lara of Southern Weddings), so we honored his parents with a mezinka. We had wreaths made for their heads and everyone danced around them to special music.

Continue reading Modern Jewish Wedding Traditions III

Posted in: Uncategorized | 6 Comments »