Guide to Wedding Ceremonies for Interfaith Couples

The links in the outline below will lead you to information about the various ceremony components and what they mean.

Modern-day Interfaith-Jewish Wedding Order

This can be adapted to your preferences, your officiant's or officiants' needs or family preference.

  1. Signing of the Ketubah prior to the huppah ceremony, usually half an hour or so before the scheduled wedding start time. Or during the ceremony.
  2. Huppah Ceremony
    1. Processional
    2. Circling
    3. Acknowledgement of Different Faiths
    4. Opening Jewish Blessings
      1. Blessing Over the Wine
      2. Shehecheyanu
      3. Blessing over Huppah
    5. Poems, Prayers and/or Reading
    6. Reading of the Ketubah
    7. Unity Candle
    8. Exchange of Vows
    9. Ring Exchange
    10. Seven Blessings
    11. Benediction
    12. Breaking the Glass
    13. The Kiss! (THIS ONE IS UP TO YOU!)
    14. "MAZEL TOV!"
    15. Recessional
  3. Yichud
  4. Wedding party--Typically includes blessing over bread and blessing over wine offered by family and friends, as well as the wedding couple and their parents being lifted up in chairs, a Hora dance and possibly a Mezinke dance.

Other Information

 

The Guide to Wedding Ceremonies for Interfaith Couples is also available in PDF and Word formats.

A huppah--often spelled ?chuppah?--is a Jewish wedding canopy with four open sides. A Jewish wedding ceremony typically occurs under a huppah. Congratulations. Literally "good luck" in Hebrew.