Wedding Planner

Jewish Wedding Planning

I think we all agree that being  part of a different religion than the Christian one, makes  us a minority and therefore kind of special. This article will try  to present how Jewish weddings are being planned, but for the beginning the readers must be familiar with the Jewish culture. The Jewish people is originated from the Hebrews of the Ancient Near East and it still represents a delicate problem due to the sufferance they have endured in the second World War. But I am not going to talk about any political or even religious disputes. I will try to present their traditions in organizing a wedding.




A Jewish wedding planning is a  challenging event  especially if the person who does it is not Jewish. Understanding some of their traditions names can be very difficult so pay attention and prepare yourself to have some fun. In their wedding tradition the bride (kallah) and the groom(chatan) have to prepare for a few meaningful rituals such as the procession, the chupah, the ketubah and the breaking of the glass. I bet I have you confused with the chupah and the ketubah.

But first the procession. This is the beginning ritual when both  bride and  groom walk down the aisle accompanied by their parents. The first to enter is the groom followed by the ring bearers, the flower girls, the bridesmaids and the bride. The latter has to encircle the groom seven times as a symbol of the seven days of creation and then stand to his right.

After this, the wedding begins under the chupah; this is a  sort of canopy on four poles that can often be decorated. The chupah is a symbol of the home that the bride and groom are going to create together  and the openness of it is seen as a sign of welcome. The ceremony held under the chupah  consists of blessings made by the rabbi over a cup of wine from which both partners have to drink. The groom puts a ring on the bride’s finger and after this the ketubah is read. The ketubah is a Jewish wedding contract read by the rabbi which literally means “it is written” and  acts as a sort of prenuptial contract. From the very beginning this has been conceived as a manner of protection for the brides and highlights the responsibilities of the groom in relation to his bride.

The ritual  which closes the wedding ceremony is “the breaking of the glass”. The groom and often nowadays the bride too, dashes a glass with his or her foot. The interpretation of this gesture is that the wedding will survive as long as the glass is broken which means forever. After the “breaking of the glass” the happy couple are wished “Mazel Tov!” which means “good luck” in their new life as a married couple.

The purpose of this article was to bring a little light into the whole  Jewish wedding planning process. Although it is a different process with all kind of rituals and names I find it delightful and very special, because being a part of the Jewish community and sharing all these traditions  makes you feel good and welcomed.