Complete, authoritative, and indispensable, The New Jewish Wedding provides the couple with options--some new, some old--to create a wedding combining spiritual meaning and joyous celebration. Step-by-step, Diamant guides readers through planning the cermony and the party that follows--from finding a rabbi and wording the invitations to hiring a caterer.

Newly revised and updated, the definitive guide to planning a Jewish wedding, written by bestselling novelist Anita Diamant—author of The Red Tent and The Boston Girl—and one of the most respected writers of guides to contemporary Jewish life. This complete, easy-to-use guide explains everything you need to know to plan your own Jewish wedding in today’s ever-changing world where the very definition of what constitutes a Jewish wedding is up for discussion. With enthusiasm and flair, Anita Diamant provides choices for every stage of a wedding—including celebrations before and after the ceremony itself—providing both traditional and contemporary options. She explains the Jewish tradition of love and marriage with references drawn from Biblical, Talmudic, and mystical texts and stories. She guides you step by step through planning the ceremony and the party that follows—from finding a rabbi and wording the invitation to organizing a processional and hiring a caterer. Samples of wedding invitations and ketubot (marriage contracts) are provided for inspiration and guidance, as well as poems that can be incorporated into the wedding ceremony or party and a variety of translations of traditional texts. “There is no such thing as a generic Jewish wedding,” writes Anita Diamant, “no matter what the rabbi tells you, no matter what the caterer tells you, no matter what your mother tells you.” Complete, authoritative, and indispensable, The Jewish Wedding Now provides personalized options—some new, some old—to create a wedding that combines spiritual meaning and joyous celebration and reflects your individual values and beliefs.

This is the book for all of today’s couples. Explores the rich history of Jewish wedding customs and rituals throughout the centuries while providing contemporary interpretations and creative options. Published by CCAR Press, a division of the Central Conference of American Rabbis

From reciting the Kiddush (sanctification prayer) to building the chuppah (wedding canopy), the details of a Jewish wedding can be overwhelming! This wedding guide helps newlyweds understand tradition and plan a wedding they’ll cherish forever. Written by a rabbi who has performed many weddings, this informative guide will help people navigate: the Judaic concept of marriage; engagement etiquette; the proper way to introduce the families; how to confer with a rabbi and the ritual director; the business of incorporating family heirlooms; and more! Whether the wedding is joining two Jewish people or an interfaith couple, this book is a must-have survival guide for any chatan (groom) or kallah (bride).

There is nothing more daunting to a newly engaged couple than planning their wedding. For Jewish couples, balancing religious and aesthetic needs can be especially tricky. Rita Milos Brownstein provides inspiration and practical advice in Jewish Weddings, a lavishly illustrated guide to creating a wedding that both honors Jewish culture, ritual, and tradition and reflects the lives and personalities of the bride and groom. Beginning with a brief history of the Jewish wedding (including wonderful stories of barshert, couples whose love was clearly meant to be), Brownstein guides the bride and groom through the pleasures of the engagement party and Jewish bridal shower to choosing a ketubah (marriage contract), wedding ring, and invitations. She describes traditional Jewish customs and rituals, then suggests ways to personalize the chuppah, or wedding canopy; music; wedding programs; and even the chairs. Brownstein includes the joyous times after the wedding and gives the new couple tips on how to create a Jewish home and original ideas for thank-you notes. Of course, Brownstein doesn't forget about food, with menu suggestions for an engagement party and a bridal shower tea party, as well as for the wedding reception and Sheva Brachas, the traditional week of festive meals following the wedding. Delicious, mouth-watering recipes for Salmon Roll with Dill Sauce, Green Bean Bundles, Potato and Leek Soup, and Poached Pears will please even the most finicky couple. Brownstein supplies tips on how to keep a kosher kitchen as well. The book also offers glimpses of seven real-life Jewish weddings. From a jubilant outdoor celebration in San Diego, California; a dazzling New York City affair; a classic Hasidic wedding in Hartford, Connecticut; to an elegant affair in Palm Beach, Florida, these stories will inspire any bride and groom in planning their own wedding, no matter where they live. Illustrated with more than 200 gorgeous color and black-and-white photographs, Jewish Weddings is an indispensable book for any Jewish couple.

Planning your Jewish wedding? Here is your wise, warm, practical, and invaluable guide to all the personal choices that will express you and your partner’s unique qualities and deepest feelings about this wonderful celebration. Most importantly, through tips and stories, this guide to modern Jewish weddings helps you to incorporate your heritage and evaluate your priorities while preserving the essential meaning and integrity of the event for you as a couple. "Here’s a friendly guide to help anyone create a wedding experience with the deepest of Jewish traditions: innovation." –Douglas Rushkoff, commentator, essayist, professor of communications at New York University, and author, Nothing Sacred: The Truth About Judaism "Make Your Own Jewish Wedding is a well-written, well-researched book providing very helpful information and suggestions on planning a Jewish wedding. It also offers important history and background relating to Jewish rituals and customs from the Ashkenazi, Sephardi, and Mizrahi traditions. I would recommend this book to anyone preparing for a Jewishly authentic wedding." –Rabbi Suzanne Singer, Temple Sinai, Oakland, California "Make Your Own Jewish Wedding, like the contemporary Jewish wedding itself, is a marriage between tradition and innovation. It performs the real service of accompanying the modern couple step by step on their journey to the chuppah and in doing so enables them to make their wedding distinct yet responsive to their backgrounds, traditions, and values." –Alan Abraham Kay, author, Make Your Own Passover Seder

The first comprehensive wedding guide specifically for the Jewish/Christian couple who wants to honor both religious traditions in their service, vows, and readings. Saying "I do" is one of the happiest moments in a couple's life together--but planning that trip to the altar can be a stressful ordeal. The minute an engagement is announced two full clans want to celebrate the union their way! When one of those families is Jewish (50 percent of whom now marry outside their faith) and the other is Christian, the religious details can increase the pressure on the bride- and groom-to-be. Celebrating Interfaith Marriages provides all of the expert advice on how to combine elements of the two faiths so everyone can rejoice with the bride and groom on their wedding day. Devon Lerner draws from her twenty years of officiating interfaith weddings as she discusses the significance of vows and traditions unique to both faiths and suggests how to incorporate them into a service that is balanced and beautiful. She provides Christian and Jewish services readers can mix and match, as well as custom-bled ceremonies contributed by couples who have worked with her over the years. There's a chapter on how to avoid crashes on issues like location, when the ceremony takes place, and whether the bride and groom should see each other before meeting at the altar. A full section of readings, both biblical and secular, are here too, as well as anecdotes that will reassure and amuse. No interfaith couple will want to be without this essential handbook when they plan their special day.