Jewish Weddings

There are several important moments in the Jewish wedding day which I will be looking at from a photographer's perspective. The most well known of these is the signing of the ketubah, the bedeken (a very emotional moment where you'll often find the most tears), the chuppah and the breaking of the glass. There are however many less well known moments which are equally important. For example, it is customary for the bride and groom not to see each other for a week preceding the event, which means that the wedding day celebrations actually start with the bride and groom each greeting their guests seperately - if you've gotten a timeline from the couple this is usually referred to as Kabbalat Panim. The bride is seated on a throne (usually an ornate chair, she is often flanked by her mother and the groom's mother) to receive her guests while the groom is usually surrounded by guests who sing and toast him. Both are moments filled with emotion and much joy and you can usually get some really interesting emotional moments, so keep your eyes open. They also happen to occur at about the same time so you will either need an assistant or be able to move between the two rooms with ease.

It is not as common these days, but it used to be traditional for the mother of the bride and the mother of the groom to break a plate together - symbolizing that in the same way that a broken plate can never be fixed, a broken relationship can never be fully fixed. This is an Ashkenazi tradition, and it seems to be dying out. Make sure to ask though, as this is a very important moment if it happens, and if you're not around they will go ahead and break it with out you.