Jew-ish interfaith ketubahs Archives - Smashing the Glass

Your Ketubah, Your Way: Our Top Ketubot for 2019

17/01/2019 by Karen Cinnamon

Brooklyn Ketubah | Ink With Intent | From $280 | (10% off for members of Smashing The Glass’ Brides Club)

One of my favourite wedding industry developments since I founded Smashing The Glass is the abundance of beautiful, lovingly crafted ketubahs to suit every style you could possibly imagine.

It used to be that your rabbi would set you up with a plain, standard ketubah – or if you really wanted to go all out, you might strike out on your own and find something a bit more ornate, maybe a traditional floral border. Even ten years ago, the range of possibilities was truly nothing like it is today.

Now, there are so many incredible ketubah artists putting their personal stamps on the ancient Jewish marriage contract. Whether you go for contemporary or traditional, whether you’re a minimalist or a maximalist, whether you love bright colours, pastels, or neutrals – there’s a ketubah for you. In fact, there are probably lots of ketubot for you.

And it’s not just design that can be customized to suit your style, either. So many ketubah creators offer a range of text options beyond the traditional, whether you’re looking for something interfaith, same sex, egalitarian, or just a little more modern – or maybe you even want to provide your own text that the two of you have written together! These days, the sky is truly the limit.

I’m privileged to work with some amazing ketubah artists, and I want to draw your attention to some of my very favorite pieces I’ve spotted recently – so here are just a few…

Silver Jewel Ketubah | Danny Azoulay | Price available upon request

This exquisitely elegant paper cut ketubah from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Danny Azoulay is truly a work of art. Like museum quality. It’s a true heirloom, with an incredible level of detail.

Geometric Bouquet Ketubah | Ketubata | From $125

If you’re after something with a more playful look, you couldn’t do better than to check out Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor Ketubata. Think gorgeous watercolors, sweet botanicals, and totally modern geometric shapes.

We’re crazy about Ketubot!

17/05/2018 by Karen Cinnamon

Artisan I by Ruth Mergi I $795 I Available to buy from Ruth Mergi

Here at Smashing The Glass, we’re totally, insanely, ridiculously crazy about Ketubot! Funnily though, when I got married to Mr STG, I didn’t actually realise there were so many amazingly talented Ketubah artists out there. When our Rabbi asked us if we wanted him to source us a standard Ketubah we just said ‘yes of course’ and didn’t think much of it.

It was only after I started Smashing The Glass that I realised there were SO many beautiful Ketubot available to couples and they literally come in a design that will suit EVERYONE. From luxe, to paper cut, to art deco, to traditional – there really is something for every taste. What’s also super amazing is that the Ketubah text can be customised for every wedding whether you’re having an orthodox, reform, inter-faith or LGBTQ.

We are so thrilled (and lucky) to have some amazingly talented Ketubah designers featured on Smashing The Glass over the years, so we have pulled together some of our favourite designs currently available. Let us know which is your favourite in the comments below and of course happy pinning!

Sasson Papercut Luxe – Indigo Ketubah I By Enya Keshet I $750 I Available to buy at Ketubah.com

Super Luxe

We love this beautiful cut-out design. This ketubah features the quotation from the seventh blessing of the marriage appears in Hebrew in the cut-out design, and in English, in coloured print, around the ketubah text and vows of commitment and love. This Luxe Collection Ketubah is hand adorned with 23K gold leaf and Swarovski crystals making it literally shine. Available at the amazing Ketubah.com

Good Earth Circle Botanical Ketubah I By Adriana Sape I $300 I Available to buy at Ink with Intent

10 Interfaith Ketubahs we love

17/05/2017 by Smashing The Glass

This is a guest post by Julianna Bright of Bright Ketubah

Ketubahs – or ketubot, depending on your grammatical preference–are sacred wedding documents that few Jewish couples would arrive at the chuppah without. In recent years, however, more and more interfaith and even non-Jewish couples have been inspired to enlist the ketubah’s singular charms. Whatever your background or beliefs, you can find a gorgeous, artful ketubah made specially to consecrate your loving vows.

Historically, the traditional ketubah was a binding legal document cataloging a Jewish husband’s obligation to his wife with provisions for her security in the event the marriage dissolved. But times have changed, and today, we gravitate towards beautiful, personalized documents that sing of our connection, that pay homage to where we come from, that illuminate our aspirations and the sincerity of our pledge to one another.

We want something that speaks to our times, and to our unique bond.

Also, as the rites and rituals stack up in our increasingly diverse partnerships, many couples seek to adapt only the most inspired and meaningful traditions from their family or faith of origin. The ketubah is certainly the cream here! We gravitate towards this loving ritual because it is a distillation of the very best of everything that leads us to our wedding day and everything that is to come afterward.

Indeed, it is something we can sign our names to, hang on our wall and return to for inspiration through the inevitable tests of marriage. The ketubah is a wedding heirloom like none other, focusing our covenant into a poetic and gorgeous piece of art.

To help inspire you, I’ve collected ten designs – including a couple of my own! – that would make a great fit for the interfaith couple. Fond wishes as you prepare for your special day!

1. Peony, Myrtle, Pomegranate Ketubah

What is a Jew-ish wedding? It’s whatever you want it to be…

18/09/2016 by Smashing The Glass

In my opinion the important part of any wedding is the actual ceremony itself. Many people can get lost in the details of the party that comes after and the ceremony just happens through the guidance of a rabbi, priest or registrar. However when you are getting married to someone of a different faith (or no faith at all) then there are some significant choices to be made.

This was something John and I discussed before we were even engaged and knew there was one non-negotiable element to our wedding day. We wanted a chuppah. I had discussed the Jewish wedding ceremony with John who is atheist (unless football is considered a religion??) and we both loved the chuppah’s representation of our first home together, supported by our family and friends. It is universal and whilst it comes from a practice of my Jewish heritage, it also will represent the joining of our two families.

Missy & Yoni’s Jew-ish wedding ceremony. Click here to read their wedding story

Jew-ish wedding ceremony options

One thing we weren’t certain of was what the ceremony itself would comprise of. I knew that there wouldn’t be an affiliated rabbi (someone connected to a synagogue organisation) in the UK who would be able to conduct a ceremony or a blessing under a chuppah. Initially I was very frustrated by this. I felt that it was ridiculous that a non-Jewish couple could choose to get married under a canopy after seeing it at a Jewish wedding and liking the symbolism, but I was not able to have a legal wedding or blessing conducted by a rabbi under the same symbolic chuppah.

We could easily have had a civil wedding and then a Jewish blessing straight away, but I didn’t want a long meaningless ceremony followed by a Jewish blessing AND not under a chuppah. Our guests would get bored and so would I for that matter! Many options were bandied about. A civil ceremony earlier on in the day with close family and a blessing that we would invite our guests to? Just a civil ceremony with some sort of Jewish readings? But we didn’t like any of these ideas, they didn’t mean anything to us and I felt like me, my bridesmaids and my mum might need that extra time earlier in the day to put on our war paint! We wanted our wedding to mean something special to us and represent who we are. We said no to the two ceremonies in one day and no to the rabbis.

We decided that we were going to get married legally a few days before our wedding day in a registry office near where we live, just with our close family, and then have a ceremony that truly represents us. This meant that we would be able to get married under a chuppah, with whatever elements we choose and get our family and friends fully involved.

We decided that we wanted to have sheva brachot (seven blessings) written and given to us during the ceremony by seven members of our family and friends, so they will be truly personal to us, a chuppah that we will make ourselves that will showcase the family and friends that have helped to shape us individually until now and John will smash that glass at the end of the ceremony.

Other than that we were excited about all the extra details we would be able to add to our ceremony. But who could we get to ‘officiate’ this ceremony? So along came my charismatic brother Josh who we felt would be a perfect ‘officiant’ for a wedding with his witty banter and strong understanding of Jewish practice and ease of speech that would ensure that all our guests would understand what was going on. Josh has been instrumental in creating this ceremony, yet he still wants to keep a few secrets from John and I. Initially this scared the controlling me, but once I gave him a list of the basic bits we want included and the people we wanted involved, I realised my brother wouldn’t mess up such an important part of the day and let him carry on with his scheming.