Jewish Wedding program template

Hi ladies I am tring to make a program for my wedding but i am really not sure what i ned to put in it for the jewish ceremony. Does any one have a template or can show me theirs so i have some ideas.
TIA
Lauren

Hi!! I know this is long, but I hope it's helpful.

I didn't use a template. Instead, I gathered the 3 programs from family and friends' weddings, chose some things we liked, left out some things that were irrelevant to us, and changed around some of the wording to make sense for DH and I.

Then I wrote a little about how we met and included the photo we took on my camera phone the weekend we got engaged. I also included a tribute to both of our parents with their wedding photos, which I had seen in a program online. Maybe it was LIW? Don't remember. I also included the wedding party page, where I just listed down the page (centered), the rabbi, our parents, my sisters, his brother, bridesmaid, groomsmen.

I included what the Jewish traditions and symbols mean, and anything that was special to us. I didn't do it in sequential order (what happens first, second, third... as some do in a Catholic wedding Mass program), since I wasn't sure what things the rabbi would do in which order.

Here's what I included:

-- the significance of the chuppah, a traditional 'home' open on all sides to welcome family & friends

-- the meaning behind the bedeken ceremony before the actual marriage ceremony, which is the story of the marriage of Jacob to Leah. He was tricked into marrying Leah, instead of his true love Rachel, so the groom traditionally lowers the veil so he knows who he is marrying. If you're not wearing a blusher veil or having this as part of your ceremony, just leave it out.

-- the signing of the ketubah and its meaning as the Jewish marriage contract. I described our ketubah and its deep meaning to us (we chose a rose design in memory of DH's grandmother Rose)

-- the significance of wearing yarmulkes and a tallis as respect during jewish religious services.

-- the meaning of the kiddush cup and the kiddush part of the ceremony (wine being the 'fruit of the vine' that is also celebrated every Shabbos). We used DH's kiddush cup from his bar mitzvah many years ago, so I mentioned this in the program.

-- the betrothal (wedding rings) part of the ceremony and the Sheva B'rachot. I explained our exchanging of rings and a little about the Seven Blessings that are said toward the end of the ceremony.

-- breaking of the glass ----- the 'hallmark' of a Jewish wedding that everyone knows!! I explained the symbolism of broken glass and the destruction of the temple years ago and now it also has come to symbolize the fragility of love which needs to be cared for so it does not become broken.

-- the Yichud. This is the 'seclusion' where the bride and groom retreat to a room by themselves for a few minutes right after the ceremony ends (after you walk the recessional) and it's a sacred time for the husband and wife, as they share their first few moments of married life.


I took a combo of all these things that my sister and a close friend of mine wrote in their programs and totally modified it to make sense for us. Our rabbi kept telling us to put our own 'personal stamp' on our ceremony, meaning to make it our own by customizing anything we wanted. So, I did just that. I wrote little things that personalized the program for us so it wasn't just generic text.

I hope these help!!
Happy Holidays!!