ModernTribe Best of the Jewish Web

Wednesday! Blog roll, please...

B'nai Mitzvah Memories From A Hip Jewish Mom (ModernJewishMom)

Birthright Israel Will Pay For Your Shabbat Dinner (Heeb'nVegan)

Ultra-Orthodox Electronics Store...Happiest Place On Earth? (Matthue.com)

Rabbi Yonah's Hypothetical Speech at Ivanka Trump's Jewish Wedding (Jewlicious)

Jews Rock! (MyJewishLearning)

Yes, You Can Register for Judaica for Your Jewish Wedding

You know your parents' friends are going to buy you Judaica anyway... you might as well get what you want!

You're engaged, you're planning your wedding, and at least one of you is Jewish. So when you have some downtime from choosing the caterer or finding an officiant, you can do something fun for yourselves - register! And the best part is that registering for gifts for a Jewish wedding can take on a new dimension. Sure, you'll request the basics: crystal, china, towels, a bread machine. But also can take this opportunity to suggest that friends and family help you start out your new life as a Jewish couple with some beautiful Judaica that you may even want to pass down to your children someday...or at least some items that you'll be proud to display in your home during the holidays.

First, take inventory of what you already have.

Did you already get a kiddush cup for Shabbat dinner at your bar or bat mitzvah? Do you have a set of candlesticks from your great-grandmother that you already prefer to use to light holiday candles? Or are you starting out fresh and need everything and anything that is available?

Next, make a list of the holidays that are most important to you.

Which ones will you really want to celebrate in style, year after year? Then research places offer the Judaica that fits your style and that allow you to create a registry that can be sent to family and friends.

For what items would you register?

A sample registry for a Jewish couple just starting out will likely include:
• A seder and matzah plate for Passover
• A menorah for Hanukkah
• Some decorative dreidels and other items for Hanukkah
• A kiddush cup for use on Shabbat
• Candlesticks for use on Shabbat and other major holidays
• One or more mezuzahs
• Decorative items such as groggers for Purim
• An apple and honey plate for Rosh Hashanah

Tip: Include a variety of prices.

The important thing with any registry is to give your guests items for any price range. Feel free to add some extravagant items just in case one person is feeling generous or a group of your friends want to chip in for one big gift, but make sure to also select some smaller, simpler items. This is your opportunity to ask for Judaica that matches your personal style, so choose carefully. Have fun - and mazal tov!

More In Search of a Jewish Wedding Brand That Doesn't Suck

Copyright Allebach Photography

Continuing from yesterday's post, here are some other resources I found in my search for independent bride imagery. Bust Magazine, the magazine of record for the indi-woman, in which we advertise ModernTribe, sponsored an event called Unbridaled in Philadelphia on January 10th. Now, this is the kind of wedding expo I wish was around when I was planning my wedding. If you live in Philly, they have a list of Unbridaled vendors for you to check out: everything from independent bakeries, florists, photographers, dress designers, stationary designers -- all, I assume -- who will cater to your off-beat style and won't try to sell you bows and roses (unless, that's what you want, of course).

I clicked through some of the photographers and was most impressed with Allebach Photographers (a photo of theirs above) whose style is definitely edgy even when they aren't shooting tattooed brides (although, this seems to be a favorite of theirs and they have a blog for photographs of their tattooed brides.)

Also, somehow I found myself here at Offbeat Bride whose tagline is "Alter your thinking." Ariel Meadow Stallings, the founder of the site, has a book too: Offbeat Bride: Tafetta free alternatives for Independent Brides and an alternative community to The Knot: Offbeat Bride Tribe.

First ModernTribe Jewish Wedding

ModernTribe has spawned its first marriage! Jill (Editor) and I (Jeremy, Director of Affiliate Programs) are engaged.

After we'd dated for about two years, and several months after Jill knew we should get married, I too realized that. We'd planned a trip to Jill's alma mater, William and Mary, so that seemed like a nice occasion for the proposal.

My alma mater, Miami University, had a tradition that if you kissed under the Upham arch at midnight, you'd get married. I wondered if William and Mary had something similar, so I asked Jill in general terms about campus traditions. She mentioned one, then said there was another but she would not tell me about it. I looked online and confirmed my suspicion: legend has it that if you kiss on the Crim Dell bridge, you'll get married.

Jill had told me she wanted to help pick out the ring after we got engaged, so I thought a little gift would be nice. I chose ModernTribe's hamsa with two golden birds (kawaii!) to represent us. It arrived in the nick of time!


At William and Mary, it was a nervous day (for me!) of walking around the campus. Finally, we made it to the bridge. We took pictures then kissed...and kissed...and kissed...I was mentally all set to propose, but hadn't realized how awkward kneeling would be. After yet more kissing, I thought it'd be less awkward if I took her hand as I knelt. I knelt and my little spiel was unremarkable, but the look on Jill's face was total shock. When I asked her if she'd marry me she said simply "yes" and we went to sit down and recover. She asked, shaking, if I'd known about the tradition and I told her yes. I gave her the hamsa and she loved it.

Now we're planning the wedding for this fall. Wish us luck!