The Modern Ketubah Blog

During an interview, Star Trek (and Lost) director J.J. Abrams had this to say about interfaith marriage:

My wife is Irish Catholic and it’s a fascinating thing having married someone who’s of a different religion, because you get to understand and see and respect another way of growing up and believing. That to me is interesting and healthy.

I always say interfaith couples have a deep understanding of religion’s place in their lives. A same-religion couple can (often erroneously) make the assumption that they share the same traditions and beliefs. But an interfaith couple cannot make any assumptions. They have to talk about how they were raised, what they believe, what they are unsure of. They have to think how they want to raise their kids, and celebrate the holidays. The have to figure out how to talk about family, heaven, sin, faith, God. They have to talk, they have to discuss, and more importantly, they have to make decisions about all this as a couple. This ongoing conversation makes them, their family, and their faith stronger.

One thing I have learned is that every ketubah is unique. Each one takes on the personality of the couple who make it, through the design they select, the words they choose. Watching each couple craft a ketubah that reflects their personality is one of the things that make my job as a ketubah artist so interesting.

One couple, Krista and Matthew, just came to me with a unique and fun request. They are an interfaith couple, Catholic and Jewish. So they wanted the text of their ketubah to reflect both of their traditions. But their idea was to not just do this through the words they used, but through the languages used as well. Just like Judaism is grounded in its use of Hebrew, Catholicism is rooted in Latin. Although it is not used anymore for regular services, the language is still a part of the flavor of Catholic culture. Krista and Matthew wanted their ketubah to respect both of these linguistic traditions. So we created a ketubah that blended English, Hebrew and Latin. Luckily Krista had an aunt who knew enough Latin to provide a translation! The result was quite special, and very much reflected the personality of Krista and Matthew.

Yesterday I bumped into one of my ketubah customers, Marni Gold, on Twitter. I discovered that like me, Marni started up her own business inspired by her own wedding. She creates custom card boxes to store your wedding gifts and invitations. As she says “When planning my own wedding I was searching for a unique and secure way to store gifts and cards at the wedding. Frustrated with the gaudy, tacky or just plain expensive options I found, I created my own custom cardbox that was simple, elegant, and understated while still matching my theme.”

Creative Custom Cardboxes specializes in producing an affordable custom designed cardbox/gift holder for your special occasion. Creative Custom Cardboxes will hold your gift cards and keep them safe in a fun and stylish manner. She does beautiful work, so be sure to check it out!

Many times, when an artist is planning their own wedding, they want to create their own ketubah. And hey, that’s how I got started in this business! But a ketubah can be a complex thing, and they usually need some help getting the text and details right. This is why I have created a new product, the Text Only Ketubah. This is a ketubah that contains just the text, professionally typeset. It is then printed in archival black pigment ink on fine art 100% cotton rag paper that can be illustrated with watercolor, acrylic, gouache, marker or colored pencils. It is the perfect solution for the artist-bride or artist-groom who wants to create their own ketubah!

With my Text Only Ketubah, you get to select any combination of my English and Hebrew texts, in a number of sizes and formats. The price includes me professionally personalizing your texts, as well sending you a proof to review and approve. This ketubah is available in a number of sizes, and can even be purchased as a computer text or PDF file, for people who want to print their own ketubah. And with times being tight, this very inexpensive ketubah option will help people who are trying to do their weddings as inexpensively as possible.

Purchase the Text Only Ketubah

Elyssa, who purchased the Horizon Ketubah from me just wrote and asked for some advice for framing her ketubah after the ceremony. First of all, I always recommend that you take your ketubah to a local quality frame store. I don’t sell frames myself, since it’d be too expensive to ship them safely, and it would be too hard for me to provide you with the range of options your local frame shop has. Your frame store can provide you with a huge range of materials to choose from. And with their expert advice, you’ll be able to find a frame that will complement both the ketubah and your home’s decor.

Some general advice: When you get your ketubah framed, ask them to treat it like the work of art that it is. Insist that the matt be archival quality, acid-free, and non-buffered. The ketubah should be attached to the matt using art corners or cloth tape. (I do not recommend that you let them dry mount your ketubah, since this cannot be undone.) The glass or plexiglas should have the maximum UV protection available. It may cost more, but the investment will be worth it. Make sure they understand what this ketubah means to you, and that it is irreplaceable.

When chosing the materials for your frame, consider the artwork itself. For the Horizon ketubah, I’d recommend having a white or ivory matt of at least 2-3″ in width, and using a dark wood frame. Since the Horizon ketubah is a macro photograph of a dried leaf, full of tiny details and textures, I believe that the natural grain of a wood frame would bring out that texture much better than metal. A dark wood would complement the darker tones of the ketubah.

I hope this helps. And remember, after you get your framed, I’d love to see a photo of how it looks!

A lot of my ketubah designs, texts, and options have been inspired by suggestions from my customers. I always love hearing ideas from someone who is seeing my art for the first time — it helps fire up my creativity, and inspires me to continually create and improve my work.

Based on a number of suggestions, I’ll soon be releasing a number of my most popular ketubahs in a variety of colors, including ivory, and black and white. I’ve also just added a new poetic verse and will soon be adding more texts, all based on feedback from you. Thank you everyone!

“We received the Ketubah, it is amazing!!! I was speechless when I saw it, and if you knew me, you would know that never happens! We can not thank you enough! You do amazing work!”

Jennifer and Mario, who chose my Tulip ketubah.

“I just received our Ketubah and I wanted to send you a note to let you know how much we absolutely love it. My fiance and I looked long and hard to find a Ketubah that spoke to us, as much in the words as in the art. When we received ours last week, we were speechless. We didn’t think we could find something we’d want to hang on our walls, now the questions is how quickly can we get it framed to put us. Again, it’s beautiful. Many thanks.”

Stephanie and Elon (Vermont) chose my abstract Horizon ketubah.

Interfaithfamily.com and Rabbi Steven Carr Reuben have put together a short video that gives interfaith couples some good basic advice when getting ready to plan their weddings. They say that this is the first in the series, so we look forward to seeing the rest.

Kim and Matthew wrote to me to describe why they chose my Autumn Gold ketubah, and to describe how they customized their interfaith wedding ceremony to fit their personalities:

“One reason we chose your artwork is that my fiancé very much likes Japanese décor. We have created a “flower ceremony” within our ceremony during which we are exchanging five flowers with specific meanings to give each other for the recipe for a great marriage. Specifically, we are using the Lotus Flower because it blooms in tough times, the Lily of the Valley which means happiness, the Chrysanthemum which means love and longevity, the Yellow Rose which means friendship and finally Ivy which means Fidelity. The Japanese Maple Leaf that we found on your website was yet another aspect of the Japanese decor and fit our theme perfectly! The moment we found your website we knew it was perfect.”

In addition to their wonderfully unique “flower ceremony”, Kim and Matthew chose to sign their ketubah during the wedding ceremony, instead of before (as is tradition). They also added two extra witness lines so that both the bride and the groom could choose two people close to them to sign it.