Monday, June 25, 2007

Mazel Tov!

Mazel Tov- Congratulations to Alex and Courtney! We had another amazing weekend traveling on the wedding train. This past weekends stop was in Georgia at Barnsley Gardens http://www.barnsleygardens.com/ It was ridiculously hot for the ceremony which was outside in the garden, but the scenery was breathtaking all around.

Where the service took place....

All of my photos of the bride and groom are blurry - go figure- so above is a photo of the bride and her father.

Check out the story of this old 1800's house on the Barnsley Garden Resort web site- link above.
A quick shot of me heading toward the fountain in the gardens. (and to those of you who were at my wedding: nobody got naked in this fountain)
This was my first experience at a Jewish wedding and I learned a few things:

Some Jewish Wedding Traditions

The Chuppah: The wedding ceremony takes place under the chuppah or wedding canopy, a symbol of the home to be built and shared by the couple. It is open on all sides and symbolizes that their home is always open to family and friends. First photo above.

The Ketubah: The Ketubah is the marriage contract recognized by the Jewish law. It is signed by the bride, groom, Rabbi, and witnesses. It reflects the bride's and groom's obligations to one another as husband and wife and affirms a connection to the Jewish faith.

Sheva B'Rachot: There are seven blessings that celebrate the creation of the world, the union of the couple, family and happiness for this joyous occasion.

Breaking of the Glass: The tradition of breaking a glass at the end of a Jewish wedding ceremony is to remind us of the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem and how fragile life and love can be. To the couple, it further signifies the end of the ceremony, a time of celebration and the beginning of their life together. It is customary for friends and family to shout Mazel Tov! following the sound of the breaking glass, which is the traditional expression of congratulations and best wishes.


Next weekend we head north to Alicia and Brian's wedding. We are looking forward to another great wedding with friends! Next weekend will end phase 1 one of wedding season. We will be on brief hiatus from wedding travels until fall, but don't worry the chronicles of my exciting life will continue...















4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great pictures!! Looks like it was a really nice wedding. Were there a lot of people from 1-18 there? Thanks for sharing the updates. Do you know where they were headed for their honeymoon? You know they're both from WI :) Hope you're doing well keep us posted on the job search. Rachel

jill said...

You look GORGEOUS!!!! Wowza! I've got one lucky brother!! :-)
Luv ya sister! ~J

Anonymous said...

Hey there-
Did you go to another wedding this weekend? If so, I want to see the photos! Hope all is well.

Alex said...

I just randomly found this on a google search! Great blog entry. And Courtney and I were so glad that you two could be at the wedding. Definitely let us know when you are up in Washington DC.