Weather permitting, our ceremony will take place outside as will our cocktail hour. Dinner will take place in a covered tent, designed to offer maximum airflow, and the dance floor will be indoors. We will be requiring all of our guests to provide proof of vaccination. Please be prepared to share a copy of your vaccination card with us before the wedding. As a reminder, an individual is considered fully vaccinated 2 weeks after their second dose in a 2-dose series, such as the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine. We highly recommend that everyone receive their booster dose as well prior to the wedding. We will follow up with more details on how to share your vaccine status closer to the wedding date.
There are many different traditions that couples can incorporate into their wedding day to make the ceremony Jewish. We are in the process of creating our ceremony, but know that we will have certain elements all explained in further detail below. We will be signing a Ketubah, there will be kippahs available, we will be getting married under a Chuppah, Jimmy will break a glass at the end of the ceremony, we will take a moment alone (yichud) after the ceremony, and we will dance to the hora at the reception! No two Jewish weddings are the same and we are excited to share this special day with you all.
Prior to the wedding ceremony, we will be signing a Ketubah (kuh-too-buh), or Jewish marriage document, surrounded by our immediate family, Jewish witnesses and the Rabbi. The Ketubah lists the date of our marriage, our names and details of what we expect from one another throughout our marriage. The Ketubah is then signed by the bride and groom, the Rabbi and the witnesses. Once the Ketubah is signed, it will be presented at the wedding ceremony and later will be displayed in our home.
Most Jews will cover their heads when praying, attending the synagogue or at a religious event or festival. Kippahs (key-pah) are small skullcaps that are seen as a sign of devoutness. Traditionally, only men wore kippahs, but in modern Judiasm everyone is welcome to. We will have kippahs made especially for the wedding and invite everyone who wishes to (whether they are Jewish or not) to wear one during the ceremony.
The Chuppah (huh-puh) is the traditional canopy which we will stand under, with the Rabbi, for the duration of the wedding ceremony. This canopy has four poles, is draped in cloth and is open on all four sides. The cloth and four poles represents the home that we will build together and the openness of the Chuppah represents that our home will be open to all guests.
As the ceremony comes to an end, Jimmy will step on a glass inside a cloth bag to shatter it. The breaking of the glass holds multiple meanings. Some say it represents the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. Others say it demonstrates that marriage holds sorrow as well as joy and is a representation of the commitment to stand by one another even in hard times. The cloth holding the shards of glass is collected after the ceremony, and many couples choose to have it incorporated into some sort of memento of their wedding day. When the glass is broken everyone proclaims "Mazel tov" (congratulations)!
Following the ceremony, tradition dictates that couples spend at least eight minutes in yichud [yee-chud] (or seclusion). This wedding custom allows the newly married couple to reflect privately on their new relationship and allows them a moment alone.
The celebratory dance at the reception is called the hora (haw-ruh) where guests dance in a circle. The bride and groom are seated on chairs and lifted into the air while holding onto a handkerchief or cloth napkin. Even if you don't know what you are doing, join the dance! It is mostly dancing in a circle. Here is an example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVX8RJ-zCtM