Comments on: Jess & Sean's Irish-Jewish tradition-meets-offbeat wedding

By: Jes

Jes — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 04:10:31 +0000

I hear you, Anne-Sophie! The Kosher thing is really really hard to negotiate at these functions. For my sister's wedding my father insisted in a Kosher caterer, but Sean and I are older so we were able to be more independent about it. Every Jewish family is different. If I were you or any bride dealing with this, I'd have a long talk with your fiance and find out what he wants or thinks should happen. You can always order kosher meals for your kosher guests, offer a kosher option as a choice along with 'meat, vegetarian,' etc, and then order special meals for those that require them. If you have guests who are kosher coming to your wedding, then it is customary to provide kosher meals for them, but you don't need to have an entirely kosher event unless it's going to cause a lot of friction between you and your fiance's family. Talk to him, talk to his family, and it should work out. Anyway, it sounds like you are going to have a fabulous event, and if you and your husband to be have worked it all out then all that's left is a wonderful day! Congratulations.

By: Anne-Sophie

Anne-Sophie — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 22:01:43 +0000

(Con't)
So, questions like:
"Can we" or "should we" use dairy products mixed with meat??!! And if we choose to do so, will the guests to keep kosher be offended? Does it matter that such and such neighbour (people whom I don't even know!) will not have 100% kosher food? We should respect them, of course, but then, what if I (the bride!) would actually like to eat a nice fillet of beef stuffed with strawberries and blue cheese?! Haha, those are questions that went through our heads in the past weeks… We figured it all out to make everyone happy and I am sure we will have the best time ever. It is surely not easy, when weddings are a union between two different cultures.
BUT, as you wrote yourself, the solution lies in a festive and celebratory evening, with an open ceremony.

By: Anne-Sophie

Anne-Sophie — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 22:01:12 +0000

THANK YOU Jess for sharing your experience!! I am from Quebec (Catholic, but not practicing), and my partner is Jewish/Israeli (also not practicing). We are planning our wedding now (next month) and the "religion issue" has been a big deal for the planning of our wedding. Luckily, the issue is NOT between him and me, but rather in the food planning, and in the respect for family traditions.

By: Jes

Jes — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 06:26:07 +0000

Deena, so sorry, I was writing to you the other day via facebook and then disconnected and forgot to get back to this, but I can send you our wording. Sounds like you and your guy are the exact combo that my husband and I are . Our Ketubah is more of what would be called a 'Brit Ahavah,' so our pledges on there are not specific to our faith traditions. It is however, in English and Hebrew with the signatures of both of our officiants.

By: Things We Like: the Bridal Blogs edition « EBE Events & Entertainment

Things We Like: the Bridal Blogs edition « EBE Events & Entertainment — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 19:49:50 +0000

[...] which is ripe with great photos, ideas, and inspiration for making your event unique. One of the featured weddings that we especially love marries (ha!) the couple's Irish Catholic and Jewish faith [...]

By: Deena Salzman

Deena Salzman — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 02:23:48 +0000

I'm a Jewish teacher/artist and my fiance is a vaguely Irish musician…so when I saw this I completely said hey, looks familiar. I was curious about what kind of wording you used in your Ketubah, since traditionally they are a contract regarding creating a Jewish household. I haven't thought much yet about whether or not we are going to have one, but I am interested in how an interfaith Ketubah would work.

By: Jes

Jes — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 01:17:52 +0000

They are stands for the chuppah. I borrowed them from the synagogue that I teach at. If any of your family members belongs to a synagogue they probably have a portable chuppah that you could borrow. Otherwise, our plan was to either go to a patio supply store for the bases, or to make bases out of flower pots with heavy soil in them. Hope this helps!

By: Hilary

Hilary — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 18:57:37 +0000

What exactly are the gold things that are serving as the bases of your chuppah poles and where did you get them?? I'm trying to figure out what to do for that.

By: Jasmyn

Jasmyn — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 16:49:04 +0000

Kudos to finding the balance between honoring your different backgrounds and having fun. Congratulations!

By: Jes

Jes — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 09:05:58 +0000

Thanks Sabrina!