Jewish Wedding Customs - Fun and Special

If you know me, you know that I have planned many weddings and a huge bulk of these have been Jewish weddings.

I love the customs for the closeness of family and respect for the practices and beliefs of the Jewish people.

I even incorporated the hora and the walk halfway down the aisle with my mom and uncle, who walked for my father.

I share with you these customs, so you can have a glimpse of what these customs mean and you will appreciate the meaning as I so do.

Blessing the Challah:

Before anyone eats a morsel of food, there is a blessing made, called the HAMOTZI, over the challah bread, which is a braided egg bread. It is a thank you and appreciation of what is brought to the people. This blessing is made by the couple's parents, a rabbi, or an honored guest.

Hora

No Jewish wedding is complete without hoisting the bride and groom, and sometimes the parents on chairs. It is a circle dance, where the strong men carry the bride and groom on chairs, derived from the tradition of carrying royalty on chairs. It is lovely to have parents be honored in this fun dance, as everyone is dancing and singing to Hava Nagila or Simon Tov, Mazel Tov!

Mitzvah Dances

A mitzvah is a good deed, but it is also considered at some weddings an obligation to entertain the bride and groom. At traditional weddings, the couple is seated on chairs and guests dance before them with masks, silly costumes and fun props.

Mezinke

This is a very nice tradition, honoring the parents.

It is one of the concluding dances of the evening that honor parents who have married off the last child of the family. So, if you are the last to be married, your parents are seated in the middle of the dance floor, and a crown of flowers are placed on your parents' heads while friends and family dance around them, kissing them as they pass in front of them.

These are just a few of the traditions that the Jewish people practice, but are 3 of the most significant. If you have never been to a Jewish wedding, get an invite! :) The Jewish people really know how to create a beautiful and warm SIMCHA (celebration)!

Wish them "Mazel Tov" and have a blast!!!!