What happens at an Orthodox Jewish wedding?
• As long as the bride (Kallah) and groom (Chatan) are standing under the Chuppah (canopy), the marriage ceremony can take place almost anywhere — in a synagogue, the bride or groom’s home, in a public venue such as a hotel or even on a beach. • The wedding venue is chosen by the bride and groom. The cost is normally covered by the bride’s parents. • The Orthodox Jewish wedding ceremony follows a strict pattern, including singing and readings taken from the psalms, from which it is impossible to deviate. The wedding lasts about one hour. • To marry in the Orthodox Jewish tradition, your parents must also have been married in the Orthodox manner, the ceremony presided over by an authorised Rabbi. They also need to produce a Ketubah (Jewish marriage licence). • For the Orthodox wedding to be considered valid, there needs to be a minimum of ten males (usually friends or family) in attendance, a group known as the minyan.
