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Please critique our Jewish / Catholic interfaith ceremony / and a question :) ibtldr

d2vad2va member
5 Love Its First Anniversary First Comment Name Dropper
edited June 2014 in Chit Chat

I found 3 interfaith ceremony texts that I liked and we sat down together and picked them apart. We chose the wording that we liked and this is what came of it, please be brutally honest. It is an interfaith jewish / catholic wedding. My FI wanted it to be more secular, but there are few traditional jewish things that I wanted to add, and with that theres some explanations of those things for ours guest that are not jewish. 


Question: In all the ceremonies that I saw ( interfaith ones) the vows and the rings giving wording is separate. Would it be wrong to combine both in to one so that we can shorten the ceremony a bit?


Thank you in advance! :)


Ceremony:

Luda: We are gathered here today to celebrate and witness one of life's greatest moments, the joining of two hearts, and the joining of Danielle and Oscar in marriage. We are here to give recognition to the worth and beauty of love, and to add our best wishes and blessings to the words that will unite Danielle and Oscar. Out of two distinct traditions, Danielle and Oscar have come together to learn and share the best of each, appreciating their differences but confirming that being together is far, far better than being apart from the other.

Today we have come together to witness the joining of these two lives

Danielle and Oscar, life is given to each of us as individuals, and yet you desire to learn to live together. Love is given to us by our family and friends- we learn to love by being loved. Learning to love and living together is one of the greatest challenges of life and it is the shared goal of a married life.

The bridal canopy, or chuppah, is a multi faceted symbol. It creates a special and sacred space for this extraordinary moment in your lives. Your chuppah is open on all sides to symbolize the importance of the world that lies beyond your new home and how important your family and friends will be in your future. The fragileness of the chuppah is a reminder that you must both take great care to protect the integrity and strength of the union that you have begun to build today.

A good marriage must be tended and nurtured
In marriage there are no "little" things
It is never being too old to hold hands
It is speaking words of appreciation, and demonstrating gratitude in thoughtful ways
it is having the capacity to forgive and forget
it is not only marrying the right person - it is being the right partner
What marriage will be for you is a great adventure

May you build a life together that is bright with the laughter of children and the smiles of friends and family. May your home be a haven from the tensions out our time and wellsping of strength; may it be the one place where you most want to be at the end of each day. Walking together, may you find much more in your union as husband and wife than either of you would have found alone.

VOWS

Oscar: I, Oscar take you Danielle to be my wife,
to have and to hold from this day forward,
for better or for worse, for richer for poorer,
in sickness and in health,
to love and to cherish from this day forward.
I will honor you, uphold and sustain you in all truth and sincerity,
in times of joy as well as hardship.
May we always keep these words in our hearts
as a symbol of our eternal commitment to each other.
I am my beloveds and my beloved is mine.

Danielle: I, Danielle take you Oscar to be my husband,
to have and to hold from this day forward,
for better or for worse, for richer for poorer,
in sickness and in health,
to love and to cherish from this day forward.
I will honor you, uphold and sustain you in all truth and sincerity,
in times of joy as well as hardship.
May we always keep these words in our hearts
as a symbol of our eternal commitment to each other.
I am my beloveds and my beloved is mine.

GIVING OF RINGS:

The ring is a symbol of the unbroken circle of love. Love freely given has no beginning and no end, no giver and no receiver for each is the giver and each is the receiver. May these rings always remind you of the vows you have taken.

Luda - repeat after me

Danielle, I give you this ring as a sign of my love, and with all that i am and all that i have I honor you, and take you for my wife as long as we both shall live.

Oscar I give you this ring as a sign of my love, and with all that i am and all that i have I honor you, and take you for my husband as long as we both shall live.

Luda:

We have been privileged to witness a special event in the lives of Oscar and Danielle. They have made their covenant in our presence and given their promise to move through life together.

Will all of you, family and friends, gathered here to witness these promises, commit yourselves to honor danielle and Oscars decision, and to provide all of the encouragement and support possible to help them sustain their marriage? If so answer " i will".

May there be peace in your home, quietness and confidence in your hearts.

May you continue to enjoy each other as you did when you first met. May you realize that nothing, nor no one, is perfect and to look for the good in all things and all people, including yourselves.

May you respect each others likes and dislikes, opinions and beliefs, hopes and dreams and fears even though you may not always understand them.

May you learn from each other and help each other grow mentally emotionally and spiritually.

May you realize that, no matter what happens to you, if you will turn to each other and hold on to each other, things have a way of working out for the good. Remember that, in times of adversity, turn to one another, rather than turn on one another.

Danielle ans Oscar I would ask that you always treat yourself and each other with respect, and remind yourselves often of what brought you together today.

SHARING THE CUP OF WINE:

The years of our lives are like a cup of wine that is poured out for the sake of labor., honor and love. Many days you will sit at the same table and eat and drink together. 
Many are the experiences and adventures you will share.
In token that you will now share each others home and table and that you will now be each others home and sustenance- drink from this cup.

As with a glass of wine, one of you may find it sweet, the other perhaps dry or different.

Let the drink you share today serve as a reminder that although you may perceive things very differently, being right is never more important than being happy.Always putting your commitment to love and honor one another first, your lives will grow deeper, richer and greatly satisfying, like a rare and fine wine.

BREAKING THE GLASS:

Luda:

The final act of this ceremony is the traditional breaking of the glass, marking the end of the ceremony and the beginning of the celebration.

This old custom has many traditions, with many interpretations.

For Danielle and Oscar it is a symbol: what is theirs alone to partake of, none others may. The bride and groom - and everyone - should also consider these marriage vows just as permanent and final as the breaking of this glass is unchangeable.

The glass is broken to protect this marriage with the implied prayer .... May your bond of love be as difficult to break, as it would be to put back together these piece of glass.

(both drink from glass)

Luda:

After Oscar breaks the glass, i invite everyone to shout the Hebrew words " Mazal tov! " meaning good luck and congratulations.

(Oscar breaks glass)

( crowd cheers)

You have kissed a thousand times, maybe more. But today it is new: becoming husband and wife is sealed with a kiss. Today your kiss is a promise.

I now pronounce you husband and wife you may kiss your bride.



Re: Please critique our Jewish / Catholic interfaith ceremony / and a question :) ibtldr

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    This is beautiful.
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    eyeroll
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    d2vad2va member
    5 Love Its First Anniversary First Comment Name Dropper
    Inkdancer said:
    This is beautiful.
    Thank you! I cant take credit for the words, but I can take credit for mashing it all together.

    Would you happen to know if it would be okay to combine the vows and rings parts?
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    I ran it by my minister grandfather and he says you're good to go!

    As an aside, did you use InterFaith Family as one of your resources? FI and I are having a Jewish/Presbyterian ceremony and I know we found that site to be really helpful. It's even how we found the rabbi!

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    We're having a Jewish/Catholic ceremony too! I love what you've done!
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    d2vad2va member
    5 Love Its First Anniversary First Comment Name Dropper
    Simky906 said:

    I ran it by my minister grandfather and he says you're good to go!

    As an aside, did you use InterFaith Family as one of your resources? FI and I are having a Jewish/Presbyterian ceremony and I know we found that site to be really helpful. It's even how we found the rabbi!

    Ohh thank you!!

    Can you ask him if it would be okay to mash up the Vows and the Ring giving part?

    Yes, I read a lot on the interfaith family website! I also just googled interfaith jewish ceremony lol Theres not that many samples to choose from because usually the rabbi will sit down with the couple etc, but because we are having my MOH as our officiant we started from zero.
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    Sure! How roughly were you thinking of doing it? Oscar would say his vows & the ring exchange part at the same time? Or would say his vows & then just place the ring on your finger without additional wording?
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    d2vad2va member
    5 Love Its First Anniversary First Comment Name Dropper
    edited June 2014
    Oscar: I, Oscar take you Danielle to be my wife,
    to have and to hold from this day forward,
    for better or for worse, for richer for poorer,
    in sickness and in health,
    to love and to cherish from this day forward.
    I am my beloveds and my beloved is mine.

    Danielle, I give you this ring as a sign of my love, and with all that i am and all that i have I honor you, and take you for my wife as long as we both shall live.

    Maybe something like this? My FI is all about NOT talking lol!

    ...but I think we should something other than "I do" So were going to meet in the middle, and not have custom vows, and keep it as short as possible.
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    d2vad2va member
    5 Love Its First Anniversary First Comment Name Dropper
    We're having a Jewish/Catholic ceremony too! I love what you've done!
    Thank you , it really means a lot to me to have our faiths, but no g-d, moses, jesus in it as FI would be fine saying " YOU, WIFE" and put the ring on my finger ;)

    So, I think I covered the main things.
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    d2va said:
    We're having a Jewish/Catholic ceremony too! I love what you've done!
    Thank you , it really means a lot to me to have our faiths, but no g-d, moses, jesus in it as FI would be fine saying " YOU, WIFE" and put the ring on my finger ;)

    So, I think I covered the main things.
    We're exactly the same way. FI's family likes the lasso tradition so we'll probably do that instead of wine but you've written what we're thinking!
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    d2vad2va member
    5 Love Its First Anniversary First Comment Name Dropper
    @wandajune6 feel free to use any parts if you would like :)
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    It's pretty wordy, but if it works for you, just remember where you are in the process.
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    Thank you!
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    d2vad2va member
    5 Love Its First Anniversary First Comment Name Dropper
    It's pretty wordy, but if it works for you, just remember where you are in the process.


    SITB



    Do you think it is too wordy though? If you were tocut something to shorten it what would you cut?
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    I assume you ladies know that your marriages won't be recognized by the Catholic church, and that you will no longer be able to practice your Catholic faith by receiving the sacrament of the Mass?
    httpiimgurcomTCCjW0wjpg
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    d2vad2va member
    5 Love Its First Anniversary First Comment Name Dropper
    CMGragain said:

    I assume you ladies know that your marriages won't be recognized by the Catholic church, and that you will no longer be able to practice your Catholic faith by receiving the sacrament of the Mass?

    I'm jewish, he didn't want religion involved at all so we are doing a what i call " jewish light " ceremony which highlights the traditions and some wording from a traditional jewish wedding mixed in with some catholic wording.


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    Simky906Simky906 member
    5 Love Its First Anniversary First Comment Name Dropper
    edited June 2014
    Ok, grandfather says that you can definitely combine the wording the shortened way you were planning. He would absolutely perform an interfaith ceremony that way. Also, he says that the beautiful thing about weddings is that you can pledge you love in pretty much anyway you choose. So don't worry too much about it; if you and your fiancé are happy with what you're saying that will shine through to your guests and it will be wonderful.
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    d2vad2va member
    5 Love Its First Anniversary First Comment Name Dropper
    Simky906 said:

    Ok, grandfather says that you can definitely combine the wording the shortened way you were planning. He would absolutely perform an interfaith ceremony that way. Also, he says that the beautiful thing about weddings is that you can pledge you love in pretty much anyway you choose. So don't worry too much about it; if you and your fiancé are happy with what you're saying that will shine through to your guests and it will be wonderful.

    Thank you so much for asking your grandfather! I really appreciate it as well as your kind words. :)
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    Yes, I think you can combine the rings and the vows, because the exchange of rings isn't necessary to be married.

    We are also combining doing "Jewish light". We are incorporating some jewish traditions, but nothing related to god or religious readings (I'm an atheist). 

    Your wording is similar to what we are doing, and I don't think it's too long.
    image
    image

    image


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    Sugargirl1019Sugargirl1019 member
    Combo Breaker First Anniversary First Comment 5 Love Its
    edited June 2014
    I've been super emotional recently, so I absolutely cried when I read your ceremony. Its really beautiful! I think it's perfect and you can do whatever you want since it is not being performed in the catholic church or the synagogue.

    ETA: I don't think your ceremony will be too long. It would keep my interest! But you can combine as PPs suggested if you want. I prefer the rings and vows separate though.

    image   image   image

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