page_title: Wedding
section_title: Jewish customs
hierarchical_section_title: Wedding / Religious aspects / Customs associated with various religions and cultures / Jewish customs
caption_attribution_description: English: The husband takes his wife after the wedding by her hand to the Cheder Yichud according to Minhag Yerushalayim
context_page_description: A wedding is a ceremony where two people are united in marriage. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnic groups, religions, countries, and social classes. Most wedding ceremonies involve an exchange of marriage vows by a couple, presentation of a gift, and a public proclamation of marriage by an authority figure or celebrant. Special wedding garments are often worn, and the ceremony is sometimes followed by a wedding reception. Music, poetry, prayers, or readings from religious texts or literature are also commonly incorporated into the ceremony, as well as superstitious customs originating in Ancient Rome.
context_section_description: A traditional Jewish wedding usually follows this format:
  Before the ceremony, the couple formalize a written ketubah (marriage contract), specifying the obligations of husband to the wife and contingencies in case of divorce. The ketubah is signed by two witnesses and later read under the chuppah (wedding canopy).
  The couple is married under the chuppah signifying their new home together. The chuppah can be made from a piece of cloth or other material attached to four poles, or a giant tallit (prayer shawl) held over the couple by four family members or friends.
  The wedding couple is accompanied by both sets of parents and they join the wedding couple under the chuppah.
  In Orthodox Jewish weddings, the bride is accompanied to the chuppah by both mothers, and the groom is accompanied to the chuppah by both fathers.
  Seven blessings are recited, blessing the bride and groom and their new home.
  The couple sip a glass of wine from a Kiddush cup.
  The groom will smash a wine glass with his right foot, ostensibly in remembrance of the destruction of the Second Temple.
  In Reform Jewish weddings, the bride and groom can smash the wine glass together.
  At some weddings, the couple may declare that each is sanctified to the other, repeat other vows and exchange rings.
  In Orthodox Jewish weddings, the bride does not speak under the chuppah and only she receives a ring. The groom recites "Harei at mekudeshet li k'dat Moshe V'Yisrael"- "behold you are [thus] sanctified to me by the law of Moses and Israel" as he places the ring on the bride's right index finger. The bride's silence and acceptance of the ring signify her agreement to the marriage. This part of the ceremony is called kiddushin. The groom's giving an object of value to the bride is necessary for the wedding to be valid.
  In more egalitarian weddings, the bride responds verbally, often giving the groom a ring in return. A common response is "ani l'dodi, v'dodi li" (I am my beloved's, my beloved is mine)
  In some Orthodox weddings, the groom then says:
  "If I forget you, O Jerusalem, may my right hand forget its skill.
  May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth.
  If I do not remember you,
  if I do not consider Jerusalem in my highest joy."
  The ceremony ends with the groom breaking a glass underfoot.
  The couple spend their first moments as man and wife in seclusion (apart from the wedding guests, and with no other person present). This cheder yichud – "the room of seclusion (or 'oneness')" halachically strengthens the marriage bond since Orthodox Jews are forbidden to be secluded with an unrelated person of the opposite sex.
  The ceremony is followed by a seudat mitzvah, the wedding meal, as well as music and dancing.
  At the conclusion of the wedding meal, Birkat Hamazon (Grace After Meals) is recited, as well as the seven wedding blessings.
  In more observant communities, the couple will celebrate for seven more days, called the Sheva Brachot (seven blessings) during which the seven wedding blessings are recited at every large gathering during this time.
caption: Jewish wedding
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