page_title: Jewish wedding
section_title: Covering of the bride
hierarchical_section_title: Jewish wedding / Covering of the bride
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Un mariage juif, Marco Marcuola, Venise, vers 1780English: Jewish wedding, Marco Marcuola, Venice, around 1780
context_page_description: A Jewish wedding is a wedding ceremony that follows Jewish laws and traditions.
  While wedding ceremonies vary, common features of a Jewish wedding include a ketubah which is signed by two witnesses, a chuppah, a ring owned by the groom that is given to the bride under the canopy, and the breaking of a glass.
  Technically, the Jewish wedding process has two distinct stages: kiddushin and nissuin, when the couple start their life together. The first stage prohibits the woman to all other men, requiring a get to dissolve, and the final stage permits the couple to each other. The ceremony that accomplishes nisuin is known as chuppah.
  Today, erusin/kiddushin occurs when the groom gives the bride a ring or other object of value with the intent of creating a marriage. There are differing opinions as to which part of the ceremony constitutes nissuin/chuppah; they include standing under the canopy - itself called a chuppah - and being alone together in a room. While historically these two events could take place as much as a year apart, they are now commonly combined into one ceremony.
context_section_description: Prior to the ceremony, Ashkenazi Jews have a custom to cover the face of the bride (usually with a veil), and a prayer is often said for her based on the words spoken to Rebecca in Genesis 24:60. The veiling ritual is known in Yiddish as badeken. Various reasons are given for the veil and the ceremony, a commonly accepted reason is that it reminds the Jewish people of how Jacob was tricked by Laban into marrying Leah before Rachel, as her face was covered by her veil (see Vayetze). Another reasoning is that Rebecca is said to have veiled herself when approached by Isaac, who would become her husband. Sephardi Jews do not perform this ceremony. Additionally, the veil emphasizes that the groom is not solely interested in the bride's external beauty, which fades with time; but rather in her inner beauty which she will never lose.
caption: Jewish Wedding, Venice, 1780 Musée d'Art et d'Histoire du Judaïsme
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