Jewish-ish Wedding Traditions- The Chuppah

Hello all!

Today we have our next Jewish Tradition to dissect and determine if it's right for my wedding! The Chuppah! Probably the most well known feature of a Jewish wedding, the Chuppah is symbolic of the bride and groom's home. It is open on all four sides to represent hospitality. It is also a nod to Jews' nomadic history of living in tents. The Chuppah is empty of "things" to serve as a reminder that home is the people that you care about, not possessions. All in all, I think it's a great tradition! I love the history that goes along with it! Plus they look gorgeous!! Here are some of my favorites!

 Can you imagine the time it took to make all of these pinwheels and kites! Makes quite an impact!

 This one is beautifully understated! 

 How unbelievably fantastic is this one!!

 These two aren't technically chuppah's but they make lovely nontraditional options 

Love the birch wood

 They're so wonderfully romantic! 

This one adds a bit of color! 

But as for me, I want a chuppah made entirely of baby's breath! So soft and fluffy!

Two for two on including Jewish wedding traditions!

<3

Shoe Vision

My shoe vision is coming in gold and glitzy!

I love how shoes give a bride the opportunity to customize her style! It's a great way to add a pop of color that's not totally visible all day long. I've also seen brides use their shoes as their "something blue." I on the other hand- I want to use my shoes to add some glitz and glam! Or, some romance. Deciding between two different directions, although who says glitz can't be romantic!?! Here are some of my favorite heels!

 These rose gold heels are fantastic! They would accentuate my engagement ring beautifully! Unfortunately, they're Brian Atwood and are therefore a little too rich for my wallet!

 These heels have a romantic vibe to them. I really love the softness.

 Now THESE have glitz! 

 Chunky rose gold glitter! 

 These are Bella Swan's wedding shoes! Absolutely stunning!

I love the nude shoes with a glittery heel! A shimmery surprise from behind!

Now these babies steal the show! They are art deco glamour at its best! I very much covet these!! Unfortunately, they are Louboutins and cost a pretty penny! 

I would be a lucky girl to have any of the above heels to wear on my wedding day! However, I've decided to take a flatter route! I am not a heel girl. I almost never wear them, and when I do wear them I end up kicking them off as soon as possible! I do not want to be standing up there, lovingly gazing into my almost-husband's eyes, and be thinking... "Ow, my feet hurt! I love yo---- owwww my feet! I am so happy righ--- dear lord when can I take my shoes off?" so I've decided to find some fancy flats! This also works out because J's only 4 inches taller than me, so if I had heels on I'd almost be as tall as him! Although, in flats I'm going to look like a munchkin next to my bridesmaids! So here is some flat inspiration!

Very cute and romantic! 

 See, flats can have glitz and glam too!

A little bit of rose gold sparkle

 These are pretty unique! And they look very comfortable!

 Adorable

Ah, these were going to be the "ones" until I discovered they cost $540. So delicate, so pretty!

Another shoe related wedding trend I am loving is decorating the bottom of your shoes! I have seen this done many ways. Some brides have their bridesmaids sign words of love and encouragement on the bottom of their shoes. Others, will stick sequins underneath that spell out "I DO". Here's an especially cute pair! 

I can't wait to find my perfect shoes to dance the night away in!

<3

Wedding Palette Wednesday!!

Hi All!

This week's featured color palette is yellow and grey! I absolutely love this color combination and try to infuse it in my wardrobe often! It looks lovely in a wedding as well, especially with some bright yellow flowers! I apologize that I don't have sources for all of these pictures but they've been on my computer for a while. Here's a look at this fresh color combo.

Those shoes are so cute and I adore that grey dress! I think it's great how the flowers really pop!

This is one of the coolest installations I have ever seen! AND it is all made out of paper!! Talk about an impact!

These flowers are absolutely stunning! Such a fun pop of color!

Another fantastic paper installation. They went with the 1,000 cranes theme!

Some DIY yarn art! (Insider tip- you may see something similar at my wedding!) 

More lovely maids! 

A beautiful invitation from the Wedding Paper Divas! (www.weddingpaperdivas.com)

First of all, that wallpaper is gorgeous! Second of all, this is the cutest sweets table! They did such a great job of incorporating the color scheme! I'm trying to figure out a way to incorporate some sort of big "LOVE" sign. I think this one is very well done! 

Isn't this invitation sweet? It's also from the wedding paper divas

Another tasty sweets table infused with yellow and grey! The paper accordions really make a statement and are super easy to make! 

Ok, that's all for now! I'll be back later this week for the second installment of Jewish-ish wedding traditions!

<3

Jewish-ish Wedding Traditions- Ketubah

My Big Fat Jewish Wedding! Well, not quite. More like my Small-ish Jewish-ish Wedding! 

Having a Jewish wedding when you're really more of a Jew by culture rather than by religion comes with a lot of choices. What to include, and what not to include? I was brought up as a secular humanistic Jew. According to wikipedia, humanistic Judaism is defined as "a movement in Judaism that offers a nontheistic alternative in contemporary Jewish life. It defines Judaism as the cultural and historical experience of the Jewish people and encourages humanistic and secular Jews to celebrate their Jewish identity by participating in Jewish holidays and life cycle events (such as weddings and bar and bat mitzvah) with inspirational ceremonies that draw upon but go beyond traditional literature." This pretty much sums up how I explain it. Being Jewish to me is similar to being Greek. It's a cultural experience rather than a religious one for me. 

Now I have the daunting task of first learning what the different Jewish wedding traditions are and then deciding which to include. Here are the top Jewish wedding traditions!

1. The Ketubah Signing

2. The Chuppah

3. Separation

4. The Procession

5. The Covering of the Bride

6. Unterfierers

7. Encircling the Groom

8. Betrothal

9. The Kiddush

10. The Seven Blessings

11. Ring Ceremony

12. The Breaking of the Glass

13. Yichud

14. The Hora

There are too many to address them all right now so I'm going to make defining Jewish wedding traditions and deciding which to include a series of blog posts! Let's start out with the first one! The Ketubah signing:

A ketubah is a special type of Jewish prenuptial agreement. It is considered an integral part of a traditional Jewish marriage, and outlines the rights and responsibilities of the groom, in relation to the bride. It is signed by two witnesses (not blood related to the bride or groom) and read aloud during the ceremony. Close family and friends are invited to witness the signing, which is considered an honor.  The ketubah is often hung prominently in the home by the married couple as a daily reminder of their vows and responsibilities to each other.

Ok- so this tradition I LOVE! The ketubah signing is so special and I love what it represents. Also, they make some seriously beautiful ones! Here are a couple I found on etsy that I think are fantastic! 

How cool that you can get your ketubah on a canvas of one of your engagement shots!

This one is my favorite! It really is a piece of art! 

Oh yeah, and another thing I love about ketubahs is that they include my favorite Jewish wedding phrase. "I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine." I just think it is so romantic! I've grown up seeing it on my parents ketubah and I love it! 

Ok, well so far we are one for one in including the Jewish traditions! Check back for the next one!

<3

First Things First, Color Palette

I think most of us girls know the type of color palette we will want at our wedding years before we're even engaged! So naturally, this was the first decision I made about my wedding after the question was popped!

There are so many great choices out there! One of the favorites out in the blog-o-sphere lately has been blush tones which I think looks amazing! I mean really, check these out!

marthastewartweddings.com

source unknown

stylemepretty.com

So pretty! So feminine! I love how this next wedding takes the blush tones and updates it a bit with the sparing use of red. Who doesn't love a pop of red?

weddingsunveiledblog.blogspot.com

BUT if my blog colors are any indication... I am not going in the blush pink direction. I am a purple girl through and through! The color palette I will be draping our day in is magenta/violet, pale blue, and gold! I tried searching on a great palette resource website (theperfectpalette.com) to find an example of the palette, but alas it does not quite exist! So let me paint the palette with pictures!

This is the general idea. The bottom color will be more of a shiny gold, and I won't be including the top and third color, but the magenta and blue are right on! From design-seeds.com 

Creamylife.com

luxefinds.com

etsy.com

stylemepretty.com

joyfulweddingsandevents.com

bridalbar.squarespace.com

I think that palette is very rich and fun! I'm very excited at putting everything together to make it come alive!

There are so many gorgeous palettes out there and I'm just happy to have put together one that best suits my style and personality! Since there are so many different fabulous pairings of colors to make any wedding lovely, I think I may try to make pretty palette Wednesdays to inspire some mid-week posts out of me!

<3

Wedding Style at the Globes

Hollywood has gone bridal! There was lots of inspiration to be had last night during the Golden Globes! Great hair, great makeup, and several fantastic white dresses! I love that you can get wedding ideas from so many different places! Here are some of the  beautiful white dresses from last night's soiree!

A look for a modern bride

For a daring bride with a gorgeous back to show off!

Not white, but has a great wedding gown silhouette 

Now this one just screams bridal! 

Any bride who chooses this style has to have some serious confidence! 

This next one is my personal favorite! It will be inspiring my own gown search!

Those sleeves!! The material, the flowy-ness, it's simply stunning

I love everything about that dress! I don't know if I will end up with sleeves but those glittery cap sleeves are fantastic! I love how the dress flows and how soft it looks! I will be printing this picture and taking it with me on my dress hunt!

In addition to her killer sexy dress, Charlize Theron had a lovely updo that would work well at a wedding as well!

Love the blingy headband! 

And what would a wedding be without a dream groom? 

Delicious!

Hope you all enjoyed the fashion at the Golden Globes as much as I did!

<3

Dana