Status Updates From The Jewish Wedding Now

Family and friends would bring food and end meals with birkat hamazon and, if one new person was present, repeat the seven blessings.
Although the comparison may seem odd, these seven days mirror the seven (shiva) days of mourning after a death. According to folklore, both periods made people vulnerable to evil spirits […]

Because it is considered essential that both members of the couple understand its meaning, haray aht is always recited both in Hebrew and the vernacular language of the community.

Some rabbis ask that the couple provide a pair of candlesticks for the table under or near the huppah. No blessing is said for candles at a wedding, but if you wish to light them, a family member or friend can read this passage, attributed to the Baal Shem Tov:
“From every human being there rises a light that reaches straight to heaven. And when two souls that are destined for each other find one another, […]

Weddings summon a lot of spontaneous prayer: pleas for good weather, supplication that the caterer will get everything right, gratitude for having found the love of one’s life.

Immersion in water softens our form,
Making us malleable,
Dissolving some of the rigidity of who we are.
This allows us to decide who we wish to be when we come out of the water.

“Klezmer is a mashup of folk music, popular dance tunes, military marches, and melodies by great masters. Jewish music and dance have absorbed melodies and rhythms from around the world. Even the hora was borrowed from Romanian folk dance.”

“Happy occasions are an opportunity to share your gladness with those in need. […] This tradition can not honored in many ways at a wedding: you can send your floral arrangements to a hospital or nursing home after the party or donate the amount you might have spent on flowers to a cause or organization that matters to you […]”