Monday, May 08, 2006

here comes the kallah



The wedding ceremony I attending yesterday combined Christian and Jewish traditions. This is maybe the third such ceremony I've attended. I don't know about others raised in the Christian tradition, but what this combination has basically come to mean to me is part-"default-ceremony" and part-way-cooler-and-more-interesting-rituals-than-what-you-get-in-the-"default-ceremony"-ceremony. For that matter, at the reception, I've found I much prefer watching the bride and groom hoisted around on chairs to watching progressively more guests get dragged into a dance where they are supposed to wag their arms like a chicken.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Nevertheless, I hope you got a chance to shake your tail like a quail.

Gwen said...

Careyoke's wedding was the first Jewish wedding I've ever been to, and it was *fantastic*. ALL weddings should people hoisted in chairs! And dessert buffets.

carly said...

Just so you know, some people actually like the chicken dance. My recently-married brother-in-law for instance. I don't understand it, but, you know, he does.

Ang said...

In Milwaukee, the Christian weddings I've been to have generally fallen into one of two camps: the Catholic ones, that last six days, and the Lutheran ones, where the bride is forced to say that she will obey the groom for eternity, and what does she matter, anyway, because she's just a chunk of rib.

My point? These two experiences don't really typify Christian weddings any more than the stupid chicken dance. For the record, I've seen plenty of chicken dances at Jewish weddings.

Anonymous said...

Hey Ang,

How much do you want to bet that Jeremy will be the one leading the chicken dance at Katy's wedding?
--Kathryn

Ang said...

Hi Kathryn: I would pay good money to see that! Jeremy, add in teh alligator dance thingie where you get on the floor, and I'll make a substantial donation to charity!

RWS: That's... man. I thought the rib thing in the vows was bad.

Anonymous said...

"...the Catholic ones, that last six days..."

Ah, but those marriages often last a lifetime.

Anonymous said...

Maybe. And maybe some of them are happy. But maybe some of them are also trapped in miserable marrages because they're not "allowed" to divorce.

-SJP