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Seven circles

JoBell123JoBell123
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in Jewish Weddings
With our wedding just about a week away we're now getting down to the nitty gritty details.  Originally I had thought of splitting the seven circles up between FI and me then doing one circle together, which is what my cousin did at his wedding.  But now I'm on the fence.  We're not orthodox, so I know we can do either (I grew up Conservative and he grew up Reform, but we now belong to a Conservative synagogue, our officiant is a Reform Cantor).

I know this is a personal decision, but I'm curious...Who circled at your wedding?  Just the bride?  Both?  Why?
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Re: Seven circles

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    LisaBRMLisaBRM member
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    edited December 2011
    I circled my husband three times.  Why didn't I do 7?  I honestly have no idea.  I think the Rabbi said that three was also acceptable, so, that's what I did.  I wish now that I had done the full 7.

    I felt no need to have my husband circle me, but, I'm also quite conservative and traditional.

    Interestingly (and I know that many on here will find this strange), of all the jewish weddings I've been to, I've never seen the mutual circling.  I never actually heard of that until this board.  I've only ever seen the bride circle (or no circling at a handful of reform or mixed weddings).  I'm not saying what's right or wrong - just my experience!
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    jessicabessicajessicabessica member
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    edited December 2011
    I circled 7 times.  I'm not really sure why.  I was raised Conservative, my H was raised Reform, we were married by an unaffiliated cantor.  We're liberal, not too traditional, etc., it just was a tradition that I liked.  Sorry that's probably not too helpful.  
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    Musicheals71Musicheals71 member
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    edited December 2011
    As I mentioned in a previous post, we did not do the circling at all.
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    tenofcups4metenofcups4me member
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    edited December 2011
    I didn't do any circling at either of my weddings. This seems to be an old tradition that was completely out of favor for years (at least with reform weddings) but seems to have made a come-back in popularlity in the past decade or so.

    That said, of all the wedding I've atended, I've only seen it done twice. If I had done it, though, I definitely would have had us both circle. If I understand right, it's supposed to represent the creation of the home and to my mind, that has to involve both parties.
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    reebsreebsreebsreebs member
    First Anniversary First Comment
    edited December 2011
    We did the 3-3-1 and it was the most deliciously flirty part of our chuppah. I LOVED it. We tried to keep eye-contact the whole time, so my DH kind of spun with me as I circled him and I "spotted" him like in dance class (didn't want to spin with that train). We hadn't planned it that way, but that's how it worked out. It was really delightful.  We did it slowly, while the cantor sang. It was great!!
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    vlevittvlevitt
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    we did a folk dance step that looks kind of like a close "dosa do" from square dancing.  we circled each other seven times, so both of us were moving the entire time, kept our eyes on each other the whole time.  i have to say it was probably the flirtiest part of our ceremony as well. 
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    MrsMLRBMrsMLRB
    First Comment First Anniversary
    edited December 2011
    I circled him 7 times. I seriously debated the 3-3-1 idea (which is what my rabbi really wanted us to do). In the end, we practiced the 3-3-1 and H kept tripping my "train". It just felt weird.
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    girliegirlralgirliegirlral
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    edited December 2011
    I did the 3-3-1.  I really didn't want to chance going around 7 times and being dizzy before the ceremony even began!  We are both reform so it worked for us and no one seemed to be offended by our choice.
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    bsidebellabsidebella
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Our rabbi suggested I do three and my FI do three. I like that idea because it's even and reciprocal - just like marriage should be!  

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    lyssanlyssan member
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    edited December 2011
    I will be doing all 7, but before reading this I had not even considered the 3-3-1. I am intrigued and will look into it, but my family os very traditionally conservative and his family is technically the same (I find them more observant) so I don't think that it would really be an option.
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    lyssanlyssan member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    I will be doing all 7, but before reading this I had not even considered the 3-3-1. I am intrigued and will look into it, but my family os very traditionally conservative and his family is technically the same (I find them more observant) so I don't think that it would really be an option.
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