do men and women have to sit seperately during the chuppah ceremony?

GilMoses

we thought we were being respectful by making the back rows for the more religious members a men and women seperate seating section. my fiancees father who is more observant is concerned that the members of his community will not be comfortable. in my experience at relatives weddings who are lubavitch every one stands outside at the chuppah together so i didnt think this should be a concern.

chavanola

Men and Women halachically do not have to sit separately.  I did have separate seating at my chuppa because that is the prevailing custom in the Orthodox community.  Your father in law is right in that many people in his community might not feel comfortable with it as it is not the general practice (even for people who would have mixed seating at the dinner). 

How opposed to it are you?  Most people will not care if the seating is separate--they might fuss beforehand, but day of its not an issue--its 15 min where they focus on the chuppa anyway.  We had a really mixed crowd (including a lot of non-Jews and not religious people and it worked out fine).  If it really bothers you, you are on firm halachic standing to have it mixed, but if you don't care either way--from experience your guests won't be bothered by it (even if they imagine they might before hand).  Also, from a practical perspective its difficult to make seating half something on the day of--that is something you are not going to police--either make it separate or make it mixed--that will involve a lot less headache.

Are your Lubavitch relatives' weddings at 770?  Those tend to be more mixed re: standing because of the lack of space rather than intentional mixing.

Danaz1

The orthodox wedding I went to they sat seperatly at the chuppah but the reception was mixed sitting and seperate dancing.

JoelsGirl07

I went to an "orthodox" wedding with separate seating at the ceremony and mixed dinner dancing. I use the "" b/c the bride had uncovered shoulders at the reception so it felt forced in my opinion. I am of the do it or don't do it, but don't pretend, mindset.

2dBride

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/cultural-wedding-boards_jewish-weddings_men-women-sit-seperately-during-chuppah-ceremony?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Cultural%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:399Discussion:ad20e8a0-1fe0-4bf8-b780-6488ed873563Post:ae1e5b35-f03a-40b6-826e-a327a7a53864">Re: do men and women have to sit seperately during the chuppah ceremony?</a>:
[QUOTE] If it really bothers you, you are on firm halachic standing to have it mixed, but if you don't care either way--from experience your guests won't be bothered by it (even if they imagine they might before hand).
Posted by chavanola[/QUOTE]I've been to an Orthodox wedding at which men and women sat separately, and I definitely felt uncomfortable about it.  About the only person I knew there was my then husband, and I was not able to sit with him.    And it wasn't really for just the 15 minutes of chuppah.   We allowed extra time to make sure we weren't late, and therefore ended up being seated early.  And the wedding (as often happens) ended up starting late.  So it was over an hour that I was sitting with a bunch of strangers.

If separate seating is important to you, I would recognize your right to have it.  However, don't assume that all your guests don't care, because it just isn't true.