The weather had started to get a bit stormy, but it completely held off during their vowels, and the lighting with all of the fall colors was beautiful. This was my first (in memory) Jewish wedding, and it was definitely a lot of fun. Once the bride made her entrance, she circled her groom seven times before stopping under the chuppah so that the ceremony could begin. I previously knew about the chuppah, but had no context for the circling ritual, and sensing that there were many with me in the audience, the Rabi began by saying "I am sure that you noticed the bride circling her groom seven times as she approached the chuppah... It is an old old tradition, and as far as why she does it... well, we don't really know why..." (or something along those lines). He was very entertaining.
The rest of the wedding was pretty modern... dinner, dancing, toasts, the usual. Although they did do the Hora (chair dance) to Hava Nagila which looked like so much fun!
There were definitely some unique personal touches worth mentioning as well. Steven, the groom, is a chef who owns his own restaurant in Bend called Barrio (I sometimes pick up some freelancing for them), so him and his staff were able to provide the catering themselves. It was hands down the best wedding food I have ever had! Steven's very talented daughter also baked the wedding cakes herself. I don't know what my problem is, but I have successfully forgotten to try to the cake at three of the four weddings we have attended this summer. However, Pat tried the spice cake and said it was delicious. Another item of note was the decor. The bride and her friends did a great job customizing the space with DIY projects that really fit her personality. My favorite aspects were the centerpieces, which were composed of colorful fall fruits, cactuses, and flowers in antique wooden crates. Finally, along with a DJ they also hired a band to play at their wedding, which was a lot of fun. They even learned a few new songs just for the bride and groom.
Alright, enough of that, here are some pictures from the wedding. Not all of mine turned out great, so I did have to grab a couple off of Instagram to really showcase everything. Below you will find a mix of my and other wedding guests photos.
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| [[ the wedding ceremony. newlyweds. venue decor. the delicious spread. the band. dancing. cutting the cake. me and the beautiful bride. this guy... ]] |
