Jewish wedding traditions

Jewish wedding traditions

 

While this isn’t a complete list of wedding ceremony traditions, it is probably the most popular and important traditions that one expects to see happening at a Jewish wedding ceremony.  Some of these aspects are visually very interesting with lots of unique details and really help to make a great wedding album design.

The Tish
The groom’s tish is the traditional way of starting a Jewish wedding. Tish is the Yiddish for table. The groom tries to give a lecture on the Torah portion of the week while his family and male friends interrupt and jeer him. At the same time, the family and female friends of the bride entertain her in another room. Groom and bride may lead the tish together in Reform and Conservative congregations.

Signing the Ketubah
In the Orthodox communities, when the tish is done, the ketubah or Jewish marriage contract is signed by the groom, two male witnesses and the rabbi. In Conservative and Reform congregations, the bride may sign the ketubah as well and extra lines can be added for the female witnesses as well.

Bedeken
It is during the b’deken when the groom and bride see each other for the first time in Orthodox weddings. The b’deken, or veiling of the bride. All men including both fathers will lead the groom to the room of the bride where all women and both mothers are surrounding her. The groom will lower the veil over the bride’s face and set her apart from others and indicate that his sole interest is her inner beauty.

Jewish wedding ceremony – explained by top Jewish wedding photographer London

Chuppah
The Chuppah (canopy) symbolises the home that the new couple will build together. The canopy is open on all sides, as Abraham and Sarah had their tent open to welcome people in hospitality.
Once the bride meets the groom at the chuppah, he comes out and leads her inside the chuppah, where she stands to the right of him.

The Circling
On the first time that the couple steps inside the chuppah. The bride will circle the groom for seven times which represent the seven days of creation and seven wedding blessings.
Some also believe that the circles represent creating a wall of protection from evil spirits, temptation and the glances of other women.

Kiddushin in the chuppah
The betrothal ceremony or kiddushin happens under the chuppah. This starts with greetings, blessing of the wine, and sip taken by the groom and bride. The rings come next. The groom will recite an ancient Aramaic phrase while placing the wedding band on the right index finger of his bride. This finger is said to be directly associated to the heart. In double ring ceremonies, which are not allowed in some Orthodox weddings, the bride will also play a ring on the index finger of the groom while repeating the Aramaic phrase’s female version or biblical verse from Song of Songs or Hosea. The ketubah will then be read aloud in Aramaic and English.

Sheva B’rachot
The seven blessings or sheva b’rachot, is composed of a praise for God, good wishes for the newlywed and prayer for peace in the country of Jerusalem. In the Sephardic weddings, before the recital of the blessings, parents wrap the groom and bride in a tallisto literally bind them together. There is no need for the rabbi to say all the blessing. You can give honor to special guests through requesting them to read or sing a few of the blessings.

Glass Breaking
At the conclusion of the ceremony, it is customary for the groom to break a glass by stepping on it. The breaking of the glass reminds us of the destruction of the Temples in Jerusalem. And teaches that in times of joy we must always recognise that life also brings sadness and sorrow and love, like glass, is fragile and must be protected.

This is when you’ll hear guests cheer “Mazel tov!” which has a similar meaning to “good luck” or “congratulations”

Yihud
Seclusion or yihud makes a chaotic day special. This is the standout ritual which lets you focus on the true purpose of the day: the new partnership. After the ceremony escorted to a private “yichud room” and left alone for a few minutes. These moments of seclusion signify their new status of living together as husband and wife.

Blessing of the Challach
The blessing over the clallah – a braided bread – begins the wedding meal. Usually the couple’s parents or an honorary guest makes the blessing.

The Hora
This joyful dance usually takes place either immediately after the newlyweds enter the reception room or after the first dance.
The Hora – or the chair dance – involves a few strong guests hoisting the bride and groom high above the crowd while sat in chairs. As traditional Jewish music plays, guests dance in circles and the couple is seated on chairs and hoisted into the air.

Jewish wedding photographer

HIRE A PROFESSIONAL JEWISH WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER AND JEWISH WEDDING VIDEOGRAPHER

One of the most important decisions when you’re planning a Jewish wedding is to hire a professional Jewish wedding photographer and Jewish wedding videographer.

Be Sure to book your wedding photographer in London on time,  as the best jewish wedding photographers are booked years in advance.  Capturing your wedding day will give you memories and amazing photos to treasure for life.

Cenk & Bahire – Turkish wedding

The Big Fat Cypriot Turkish Wedding Story of Cenk & Bahire, by Turkish Wedding Photographer Peter Lane

The North London Turkish Cypriot  community often  calls me – The Turkish Wedding Photographer of London, and as a wedding photographer we meet a lot of people, listen to their stories, dreams and worries.

We’re always happy to photograph or film in the beautiful wedding venue – Braxted Park in Essex. When Cenk & Bahire visited us and shared their wedding plans we were so excited. Especially happy that the whole wedding will take place in one location, which is a guarantee for lots of beautiful photos and peace of mind for bride and groom.

As a wedding photographer I was glad to have a mountain of time for the preps shots, applying different techniques and lighting setups. Such a stress free and relaxed couple, pleasure to work with.

The weather was nice and bright, no rain at all, allowing us to explore the beautiful estate and having the ceremony outdoor.

Spending the day with the couple was a blessing. We were highly honoured to document their big day.

Food and catering – 5 stars, carefully organised by Yusuf and his Complete Wedding Services team. Nice looking, fresh and plenty.

Braxted park wedding team was very cooperative keeping everything on time and sharing ideas and advices how to make the photo shoots smooth and quick.

It was pleasure to work with Mario wedding videographer from TVP weddings, can’t wait to see the video.

Dear couple, it was an amazing Cypriot Turkish wedding, we truly enjoyed and wish you long life and all the happiness in the world!

Greek wedding – Andrea & Warren

The Big Fat Greek Wedding Story of Andrea & Warren, by Greek Wedding Photographer Peter Lane

The North London Cypriot  community often  calls me – The Greek Wedding Photographer of London, and as a wedding photographer I meet a lot of people, listen to their stories, dreams and worries. You have probably read my article about the wedding of Andrea & Kyri, so the interesting thing here is that Andrea Prodromou is a cousin of Andrea Prodromou 🙂 I met Andrea & Warren almost 2 years ago, half a year before her cousin’s wedding. A lovely family together with Andrea’s mom and dad and their adorable little children.

A week before the wedding the forecast change giving a whole week of rain including the wedding day. So we all swapped plan B as a plan A. Luckily it was an amazing sunny day cut from the global forecast. That was a big gift from above allowing us to have outdoor photos in the beautiful venue garden – The Prince Regent Hotel.

Andrea’s stolisma was an emotional experience – tears, emotions … things that can’t be said by words, only hearth to hearth. It was lovely to see the support of the bride’s son holding her hand during that moment, together with her little daughter sleeping next to him during the noisy ceremony.

Tear of joy and emotional moments met the bride and her father appearing at the registry aisle. This time it was the groom.

Confetty, family photos and canapés… followed by the big entrance. Dj Funksy & Praxis Entreatment introduced all the main heroes of the day with a high start of party mood. I was glad to see a saxophone in the band, not very  usual for Greek weddings. Two singer, brilliant musicians and amazing mix of Greek, house, modern English and R&B. Good job Funksy!

Speeches! So much from the hearth and so little of reading. Touchy, deep and emotional. Our whole team my second wedding photographer and two wedding videographers truly enjoyed listening and capturing the audience reactions. Well done to all speakers including little Leo and the youngest family member who put and end of speeches with: We did it! 

Then you know what followed, Greek dance, fun and lots of laughter.

What an amazing Greek wedding!

Getting married in Cyprus – Tips

Wedding in Cyprus – Tips

 

wedding photographer in Cyprus

Cyprus is a paradise island and a wonderful place to get married in, but just like any place it requires great planning for a stunning wedding.

The first important thing is to define your wedding style and book the perfect wedding venue in Cyprus for your Big Day.

Picking the perfect location for your wedding plays a huge role in the ambiance for your Cyprus wedding. Think about is what’s important to you and your guests, for example if there will be a number of children coming you may require additional facilities.

Choose the Right Season. This is probably one of the most crucial point that needs to be addressed when choosing your wedding destination.

Cyprus gives you a greater choice and flexibility on the dates as the wedding season runs from April to October.
April and May mark the beginning of summer with average temperatures around 18°C during the day.
June is hot and very sunny month with average temperatures around 28 °C during the day and 18 °C at night.
July and August are the hottest months of the year. Those two months have their advantages. You can combine wedding and honey moon, enjoying beach and pool days endlessly as well as all the summer activities.
September and October are two of the best months to getting married in Cyprus. While summer has officially ended in Europe and cool weather has arrived, in Cyprus the best season starts.

Sunshine and cloudless blue skies – it’s a backdrop brides dream of. But while you’re fantasising about the weather, spare a thought for how it will affect your outfit. If you are swapping vows on the beach, leave the heavy gowns alone and pick a light, flowy fabric for your wedding dress.
And those satin heels may look amazing, but practical beach footwear they’re not – a beautiful white pair of flip flops will keep you comfortable.

The guest list must be prepared and wedding cards to be distributed well in advance. The wedding cards must be appealing to the guests and reflect the style of the wedding venue and location.

Hire a professional destination wedding photographer

Planning a wedding may take a few months or a year’s time. But the event is just a matter of a few days. So each and every moment spent should be captured. For this, it is necessary to hire a professional destination wedding photographer.
Be sure to book your best wedding photographer in Cyprus on time, as the greatest wedding photographers are booked years in advance.
Your wedding is a unique day. You only get one opportunity to capture those special
moments.

Anna & Peter’s Wedding

The Big Fat Green Wedding Story of Anna & Peter, by Greek Wedding Photographer Peter Lane

One morning I found this email … “Peter, I was searching for Greek Wedding Photographer based in London and I found you, we love your portfolio.” We had a lovely meeting discussing all plans and ideas, stress factors, going thru the day from A to Z. Cinematography Package was offered and Anna & Peter were happy to have all the media under one roof. I encouraged them to ask questions as engaged people very often miss important things, which is normal, people don’t get married every day. Helping them in that stressful moment (with advices, recommendations, ideas, logistics, etc.) makes the different between being just a wedding photographer and trustful professional wedding photographer.

I was happy that they have booked Cleopatra the Greek band, so the good party was guaranteed. Also happy that they took my advice seriously and booked Anna Savvides, an amazing event planner with a big big hearth.

After the meeting Peter messaged me “top secret” … there will be a surprise, someone with alpaca will meet the bride at the church entrance with rings being on alpaca, etc. For that moment I ignored the message as I knew that word alpaca describes a metal and I thought a metallic alpaca tray with the rings, who cares what kind of metal is it … but then 2 weeks before the wedding I read it all carefully and I said, hold on, let’s Google it. And Boom! Really? So crazy and so sweet. None of our photographers & wedding videographers had witnessed such a church introduction before and we all were very excited.

So, the Big Day! We started Peter’s stolisma early in the morning, followed by Anna’s preps and stolisma.

Everyone was excited to see Anna’s reaction on the 2 alpacas waiting by the church entrance. What would passing people think about Greek weddings. Imagine you drive your car, passing by a Greek Orthodox church and see 2 animals stay at the front door.

I wish I would be in Anna’s shoes that moment. She was so happy and excited to see the alpacas. Later on, I understood that one of them has been adopted by her.

Radisson Blu Edwardian was carefully set and organized by Anna Savvides. Here I want to share a moment for those of you reading this who plan a Greek Wedding. Book a wedding planner! This is not an advice, this is a must-have. You know the Greek culture – being on time, keeping things organized… is not in the list of the strongest community features. Without an event planner get ready for lots of surprises. Anna Savvides you were amazing! As always.

Speeches. You can’t hear brides’ speeches often. Anna’s speech straight from the hearth was kind, smart and spicy.

Lyra Dance Group lead by Anna was another surprise of the day. Another bridal dress, light and elegant. Everyone was upright and clapping. Such a great Greek dance performance!

Here I’ll stop my writing and let you enjoy the photos. Anna & Peter, my team of Greek Wedding photographers & videographers wishes you a long happy life together. Na ze se te!