This is traditionally the time during which guests can greet the bride and groom before the wedding ceremony begins. Join us for a welcome pour of wine with a toast, share some stories and blessings, and offer us words of encouragement. Or just give us a hug, take a look around, and catch up with friends and family you haven't seen in a while.

In the last few minutes before the start of the ceremony, the groom is escorted by friends and family to the bride. Here, in the presence of everyone, he veils her. We're choosing to incorporate the bedeken into our ceremony to honor our history and culture. It connects us to a longstanding tradition for the Jewish people. It represents the idea that our marriage is based on more than appearances, but even more so, it gives us a chance to take one more deep breath, share a secret smile, and start down this new path together. 

The entire ceremony takes place under a canopy. The canopy is meant to signify, among other things, the house the couple will be building together. It is open on all four sides in the spirit of hospitality modeled by our ancestors Abraham and Sarah.  Ashkenazi tradition is for an outdoor chuppah, to hearken back to God's promise that Abraham and Sarah's children shall be "as the stars of the heavens."

At a traditional Jewish wedding, the bride would approach the chuppah and circle the groom seven times, figuratively building the walls of the couple's new home. We have modified this tradition, in the spirit of egalitarianism, and instead Mahala will circle Adam three times; Adam will circle Mahala three times; and both will circle each other once. In doing so, we are showing we build these walls together, as partners in our life ahead.

Before the reading of the ketubah, or marriage contract, we will drink wine while our dear friend and officiant Akiva Toren reads the betrothal blessings. Afterward, Adam will give Mahala a plain ring, witnessed by others to be real and unadorned gold, signifying a marriage of simple and invaluable beauty. As he places the ring on her index finger, he will say, "Behold, you are betrothed unto me with this ring, according to the law of Moses and Israel." It is at this point that Jewish law considers the couple married.

Before the marriage is blessed, we will be reading our marriage contract. While the Hebrew text is traditional, we have included English text interpreting our obligations to each other including our promise to attend to each other's needs, emotional, physical, and spiritual.

To solemnize the marriage, we drink a second cup of wine and recite the sheva brachot, or seven blessings. The theme of each of these blessings is to proclaim the glory and beauty of the world we live in, the obligation we have to care for it, and to express gratitude for opportunities to celebrate joyful events with friends, family, and community. 

At the conclusion of the ceremony, a glass is placed on the floor, and the groom shatters it with his foot. This serves as an expression of sadness at the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, and identifies the couple with the spiritual and national destiny of the Jewish people. A Jew, even at the moment of greatest rejoicing, is mindful of the Psalmist's injunction to "set Jerusalem above my highest joy." 

With shouts of "Mazal tov!" from the guests, we leave the chuppah together.