My Friend's Wedding: Part III: The Ceremony

I have never been to a Jewish wedding. It was a wonderful experience. Jack is not Jewish, but he didn't mind having a Jewish ceremony. True to Rebecca, it was pretty laid back. In fact, when the Rabbi was pronouncing the seven blessings, her parent's car alarm went off... and everyone stopped and Rebecca was laughing and commenting about how appropriate it was (apparently it goes off a lot... it did the night before at the Welcome Dinner, but it took her dad a little while to realize it was him!).

As you can see, Rebecca was stunning!



Part of the ceremony was the sharing of the cup of blessing. Look and sound familiar to any Christians?












Another Jewish tradition involves the woman going around the man in a circle three times, correlating to the three blessings pronounced by God in the book of Hosea. The modern female Rabbi read the blessings, and had Rebecca go around Jack three times (supposedly clockwise, but she went counterclockwise... it was actually kind of funny, 'cause she even asked, and some were answering, but it was just a jumble of words!), and then Jack went around Rebecca three times (pictured) and then they went around each other three times. It was incredible to see such tradition and symbolism.



Another thing that was brought up is the ketubah, or the ancient Jewish tradition of a marriage contract. Originially, it helped protect the woman in case of divorce or her husband's death. It now is about the same as written vows. What is so cool for me is that my church recently finished a class on Marriage and Divorce, and the ketubah was a key cultural component to understand the context of Jesus' statements about divorce and remarriage.

She and Jack wrote the vows, she had a friend make a copy of the vows in Hebrew, and then Jack actually did all the art work (very detailed and beautiful), the bride, groom, and witnesses signed it, and then it was framed. What a beautiful tradition.






Here are the newly weds coming into the reception.












One of the most entertaining and news-worthy notes is that just like in Fiddler on the Roof, they actually did the Chair Dance! It was a lot of fun. Not only did they lift each individually, they lifted them together, and then lifted each of the parents individually. What a time!

My Friend's Wedding: Part II: The Locale

The wedding was held in Meredith, New Hampshire, in the Lakes Region of central New Hampshire. The communities are around Lake Winnipasaukee and Lake Winnisquam. The wedding itself was held outside on the grounds of the Inn at Mill Falls - Church Landing. It was an incredible location. I did not realize how high the mountains of central New Hampshire really are. It was gorgeous. I highly recommend the area, and especially the Inn (I stayed at the Super 8 15 miles away in Tilton, but I got to change clothes in one of the rooms that my friend was staying... amazing!).


You can see the Inn in the background, with the wedding tent in front. The wedding and cocktails were served outside, and it was a perfect day, as you can see. Memorial Day can be brutally hot or bitterly cold in New Hampshire, but it turned out to be perfect... I'm guessing upper 70s.

I hope I get to go back again soon.