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Real Jewish Brides – Gillian: DIY-ing Our Own Ketubah

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Gillian will be marrying Pete on 8th September 2017 (just 3 days from now!) in a Jew-ish wedding at the Ballroom at Ellis Preserve in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, so today is her final blog before her Big Day! You can click here to read all Gillian’s planning posts to date.

THREE FACTS: (1) Gillian is Jewish and Pete is Catholic (2) A Rabbi and a Priest will officiate at their wedding (3) Gillian is a Health & Wellness Coach and Pete is a Travel Occupational Therapist.

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What’s The Right Ketubah For You?

Anyone who has started planning a Jewish or Interfaith Wedding has thought of what they want their Ketubah to look like. It’s an important part of the Jewish wedding ceremony and it’s something that you will hopefully hang on the walls of your home forever. So where does any modern bride start when planning this element of her wedding? Obviously Smashing The Glass, Pinterest, Etsy, and the World Wide Web. Only to realize that Ketubot (plural form of Ketubah) also come with their own gammat of choices to be made.

What text should you choose, should you have English and Hebrew, who should you ask to sign your Ketubah, what size paper do you want, and how much do you want to spend? The choices are endless, and then you have to pick an aesthetic you like to match – that you and your future spouse both like!

DIY-ketubah

Gillian’s DIY Ketubah!

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A Jewish-Indian Wedding with an ‘East Meets West’ theme at Sopwell House, St Albans, UK

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Jewish-Indian wedding, Sopwell House, UK_0047
What happens when you blend two beautiful, family-oriented cultures? The Jewish-Indian wedding of the year, that’s what! 

Sharon and Simon took their favorite elements from their respective upbringings and brought them together for a gorgeous cultural fusion, celebrating their globetrotting history as a couple, and culminating in an epic party, led by our sensational Recommended Vendor, The Function Band. Check out their incredible dance floor-filling mashup in the video below!

Catering a Jewish-Indian wedding, of course, meant enough food to feed a small army – with a delicious ‘East meets West’ catering theme. We’re getting hungry just thinking about it.

Beautiful bride, Sharon, looked absolutely sublime in her traditional Indian dress, adjusted to incorporated western colors, adorned with antique-inspired accessories, against the picturesque backdrop of her blush pink, navy blue and ivory color scheme. 

The inclusion of family was very important to the happy couple, with thoughtful groom Simon and his family performing a surprise Bollywood dance for his bride.

All of the action was captured by photographer, Ed Godden, and was written up below by Sharon herself. We’ll pass you over to her now for the full story! 

Jewish-Indian wedding, Sopwell House, UK_0047 Jewish-Indian wedding, Sopwell House, UK_0047 Jewish-Indian wedding, Sopwell House, UK_0047 Jewish-Indian wedding, Sopwell House, UK_0047
An ‘East meets West’ theme

Sharon, the bride: We got married at Sopwell House in Hertfordshire. We wanted a venue that could accommodate 200 guests, and Sopwell House was perfect for us, as they are very experienced with dealing with big weddings and have different options of venue rooms, as well as beautiful gardens.

We also had in mind that we wanted the day to bring elements of both of cultures together. We had an idea that we would like to have an ‘east meets west’ theme for the food, and Sopwell House were amazing in creating a bespoke menu that added Indian elements to the dishes.

As we wanted the ceremony and reception to be held in one place, we were conscious that we didn’t want our guests to be confined indoors for the entire day. Sopwell House, as a venue, brings the perfect balance of luxury hotel with a country feel. The gardens were perfect for the drinks reception, and there were lots of great choice for the backdrop of our photos.
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A Jewish Destination Wedding with a Surprise Flashmob at Beit Andromeda, Jaffa, Israel

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Jewish-destination-wedding-Beit-Andromeda-Israel
There is no better introduction to Israel than a good Israeli wedding – and that’s exactly how Molly and David lured their friends and family out to the Holy Land! 

Their Mediterranean-themed big day combined the laid-back Israeli attitude with some of the more formal elements of an American wedding, and perfectly married the two cultures. So much so, that they managed to source peonies for Molly’s bouquet – in December – in Israel! 

As you all know, at STG, we LOVE a twist on tradition, and we adore gorgeous bride Molly’s choice to have her own Tisch, a great way to get pumped up and energetic before the ceremony. 

And STG Recommended Vendor Caliente rocked the party to perfection with their live music entertainment with everything from Jewish music to Latin Jazz to Israeli pop – we love these guys — they are SO good!

Of course, it wouldn’t be a Jewish wedding without a few surprises, and thoughtful groom, David, surprised his lovely bride with a flashmob, getting friends and family involved to honor her favorite musical! Superb! 

The sensational spread of pictures was taken by none other than our wonderful STG Recommended Vendor and top Israeli photographer, Idan Milman, for whom the couple had nothing but gushing praise. 

Bride Molly loves the lost art of letter writing, and that shines through in every word of her articulate and moving writeup below. We’re you’ll enjoy reading it as much as we did! 

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Jewish destination wedding, Beit Andromeda, Israel_0048

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How we met

Molly, the bride: I had been working as a fundraiser and program planner at Boston’s Jewish Federation for years before David got a job there, also as a fundraiser.

When he came in for an interview, a friend said, “Oh Molly, your type just walked in the door!” We became fast friends especially when the office cubicle rearrangement put our desks right across from one another — our coworkers assumed we were dating long before we were.

In the years since, we’ve taken family to Israel, started new jobs, built a life in Tel Aviv and are now moving back to Boston for the next few years to get second degrees.

A few years ago, before I convinced my then 82-year-old grandfather to come to Israel (getting my cousins on a Birthright trip at the same time was key), he had said to me, “Molly I’ll only come to Israel if you get married there!” A few years later, challenge accepted!

David and I had both spent time living in Israel before we met and when David found a job here that he loved, he convinced me to move here too. We got engaged in Israel and, even though we’re both from the same suburb outside of Boston, we knew we wanted to get married in Tel Aviv.

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Have You Considered an Equality-Minded Jewish Wedding?

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Equality Jewish Wedding
This is a guest post by Jessica Haselton (above) whose wedding we featured on Smashing The Glass last month

Modern weddings are largely concentrated on the bride. From before the wedding begins to the end of the reception, the bride is principally the focus of our attention. What is her dress like? How will she do her hair? Her makeup?

We’ve so come to accept the bride as the focal point of the wedding, it’s likely never occurred to us – those in attendance, and many of us planning weddings ourselves – that the traditional Jewish wedding ceremony is by and large centered around the groom. 

Now, this isn’t to say brides don’t play an integral role. It is that, historically and traditionally, the responsibilities in the wedding ceremony lay with the groom. The traditional Jewish wedding ceremony doesn’t provide the bride with a speaking role. Only the groom takes a vow under the chuppah and places a ring on his betrothed.

But the good news is that there are ways to incorporate more balance and equality into the Jewish wedding ceremony without foregoing any of its timeless and oft-beautiful traditions. If you’re interested in a more equality-driven wedding, I’ve put together a list of five ways to incorporate egalitarianism into your ceremony and elevate your big day!

Equality Ketubah
A cattle-free ketubah

Let’s start with the Jewish marriage contract, the ketubah. Even before you get to the chuppah, you begin laying the foundation of your marriage through your marriage contract. Not all ketubahs are the same – the Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, Interfaith, Humanistic, Same-Sex texts, and many others, differ widely from one another. For this reason, it is important to take the time to select a text that is representative of you and your partner’s values (and if you need help with ketubah texts, you could contact one of these STG-recommended ketubah designers).

Traditionally, ketubahs are written in Aramaic, and many today still are. I’d like to think mine served as a detailed account of how much cattle my father was willing to fork over in exchange for my hand. Okay, obviously that’s not what my ketubah said. While the ketubah is mostly ‘legalese’, it does codify the commitment the couple is making, and details the rights of the bride and responsibilities of the groom. Unless you were an expert in your Hebrew School’s 6th grade Aramaic class, you should ask to see an English translation of your ketubah so that you know exactly what you’re signing up for.Continue ReadingContinue Reading

A Literary London-themed Jewish Wedding at Bevis Marks Synagogue and The Anthologist, London, UK

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Jewish Wedding Bevis Marks London UK
Today’s real wedding is a very special one, because Carla and Alex won their incredible wedding photography through a competition on Smashing The Glass with none other than our fabulous Recommended Vendor, Claudine Hartzel.

Alex and Carla faced mishap after mishap when planning their wedding, including their original venue cancelling just 100 days before the big day. But, in a perfect example of how to cope with anything life throws at you, they soldiered on, creating the stunning London literary-themed Jewish wedding you see below.

We love beautiful bride Carla’s attitude, from her que sera approach to things going wrong, to her gorgeous Sottero and Midgley gown with hidden pockets (!) and her bride’s speech. 

We’d also quite like to tuck into the divine-looking not-a-cheesecake cheese cake. Yes please!

The couple paid homage to their hometown, London, with lots of adorable little touches, such as riding between the venues on a classic London bus, and creating a London-themed postcard guest book, complete with a red postbox, created by the bride’s dad.

We’ll hand you over to Carla for the full story on her and Alex’s literary love fest! We’re sure you’ll enjoy it as much as we did. 

Jewish Wedding Bevis Marks London UK

Jewish Wedding Bevis Marks London UK

Jewish Wedding Bevis Marks London UK

Jewish Wedding Bevis Marks London UK

Jewish Wedding Bevis Marks London UK
How we met

Carla, the bride: We met at University. I was the only fresher to join the Jewish Society that year after signing up at the bunfight stall Alex was managing. 
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