It’s basically summer, and you know what that means: wedding season! Before we get caught up in the effusive happiness and romance that’s just begun to spring forth from every corner of your core friend group, we need to take a step back and take a long, sobering look at the most annoying part of…
Serving as a bridesmaid in a Jewish wedding is not cheap. “It cost me about $700 per wedding, when I calculated cost from the day the couple gets engaged till the end of their sheva berachot [traditional post-wedding celebration],” said one woman in her early twenties. Often, a bridesmaid is obliged to purchase a kitchen…
The chuppah, the traditional Jewish wedding canopy, is commonly thought to represent the home the bride and groom will create through their marriage. And in recent years, more and more couples are putting thought into how to make that chuppah more indicative of who they are personally, both as individuals and as a couple. This…
When my husband and I started to make wedding preparations for our August 2017 wedding, one thing was evident: We would try to do as much as we could ourselves, to alleviate expenses. Some solutions were simple, and even fun — after discovering that the rental cost of a chuppah from a florist would start…
As a chef and food writer, I always dreamt of a wedding that was less about the dress and invitations — and more about the menu. Spending my summers in Israel and having my Israeli mother cook dinner almost every night meant Israeli food had been one of the cornerstones of my life: Hot bread…
Almost thirty years ago, my father invited me to attend a round table discussion on intermarriage. He was a leader in the local Jewish community, a vice president of an important Jewish organization. I was a rabbinical student, with clear instructions – sit in the corner; shut up. The various machers went around the room…
On Sunday evening, Hillary Clinton attended the wedding between two prominent Jewish families wearing a long, flowing blue caftan. Was the dress fun? Yes. Was it fashionable? Not really. Hence my shock that this glorified muumuu made Vogue’s best-dressed of the week list. We get it, Vogue loves Hillary. We love her too. But this…
Unless you live in Israel, you’ve probably never heard of Tu B’Av, but it’s one of the happiest of Jewish holidays. In fact, Tu B’Av is the “love holiday” (sort of like American Valentine’s Day), which makes it a perfect day to get married! What is a sure thing at a wedding (besides two people…
