LGBTQ Wedding
Robert and Cory’s wedding is a result of snowball referral. I met them when photographing Robert’s sister’s wedding last year. And I’ll be photographing Cory’s co-worker’s wedding later this fall. This particular wedding at The Story’s Building is pretty unique being a LGBTQ wedding. But even more so considering both of them are of the Conservative Jewish faith. While I have photographed a LGBTQ wedding before and Conservative Jewish weddings before. This was my first time mixing the two together. And unlike civil weddings or even other religious weddings… Jewish weddings have very distinct gender roles/tasks that are performed as part of the ceremony.
Jewish Wedding
Ceremony
Like a cake, the basic ingredients of a Jewish wedding stay the same. But everyone has their own personal take on the recipe. The foundations include the Ketubah/Bedecken, ring exchange, and the seven blessings. The Ketubah is a signed and witnessed marriage contract. The Bedecken is normally the groom veiling the bride. But in this case, the grooms wrapped themselves together in a veiled cocoon. The seven blessings each thank God in a different way. They are represented by the bride walking around the groom, 7 times before joining him under the chuppah. Or in this case, both of them did the walk around the other 7 times each.
There are so many variations to this structure. For example, when I work more conservative Jewish Orthodox weddings, they have a Tisches. This is a separate pre-party before the ceremony where the men and women celebrate separately. The ceremony itself happens in a chuppah which the family holds up.
While the first kiss would normally be the highlight of most western ceremonies, with Jewish weddings it is the breaking of the glass. This is normally done by the groom as well. Or in this case, they did it simultaneously. The breaking of the glass serves as a reminder of all the struggles Jewish people have faced in the past. It’s loud noise also serves to scare away any demons who may be lingering over the wedding day. This is very similar to Greeks breaking plates, or Muslims making their war cry.
I’ve always appreciated the little elements involved in a Jewish wedding. And I really loved how Robert & Cory were able to customize it for their own relationship.
Reception
However needless to say, this wedding was not about the formalities. It was about the party to follow. We did their portraits at Graffiti Alley and Union Station. After some light mingling, and a couple speeches… the dance was officially opened with one of the most energetic horas I have ever seen. It’s amazing how much more aggressive it can be when there is no wedding dress getting in the way. Normally my reception dance floors are captured for about an hour before things start to die down. But in this case, the energy did no let up at all. It was still going strong at midnight when I eventually said goodbye.
