Persian-Jewish Wedding
 

We have a wedding in June where the bride is Persian and the groom is Jewish. Starting to do some research concerning possible traditions observed and am curious if anyone has filmed a wedding of this type? Of course we will be discussing more details with the B&G, but just trying to become familiar with terms and traditions ahead of time to talk intelligently.

Any assistance and thoughts would be appreciated.

Jewish with Perisan.... a rarity, I'd say.

It depends on whose tradition they are going to follow in the ceremony. Both Iranians and Jewish have a rich cultures and set of rituals... Obviously the Iranian bride is pretty secular (or not a Muslim) to have married a Jewish unless he converted, so I'd say it will be pretty casual based on my experience with cross-cultural weddings.... and majority of the time, the bride side dominate the rituals... So I assume this will be more of a persian wedding than Jewish ceremony... but then I could be wrong...

Persian wedding with Islamic ceremony: Persian Wedding Traditions and Customs, عروسى ايرانى, Iranian Wedding Traditions and Wedding Table Setup, Iranian Sofreh Aghd

http://www.eleganceandsimplicity.com...gw-river-farm/

Wow, I thought I was the only one who did a combo like that.

Let's see, 2007? Maybe 2008, I honestly don't remember but regardless. The one I did was at a banquet facility. The ceremony was in one room and the reception was in another. OK let me remember. They held to some of both traditions. There was a Rabbi but no Chupha, they did share the wine and break the glass but the bride did not walk around the groom 7 times as is typical in Jewish ceremonys. Nor did they stand bride left and groom right again as in Jewish ceremonys. There was also a Persian officiant I don't remember what his actual title was, I don't think he was an Imman (sp) but there were a number of Persian traditions like the sharing of the bread/cakes and fruit and numerous readings. The ceremony actually only ran about 35 or 40 minutes and honestly I don't remember everything about the ceremony and perhaps some of what I've related here isn't quite 100% but it's pretty close. I would have to say the ceremony was really 1/2 and 1/2. BTW the groom was Jewish and the bride was Iranian (Persian).
The reception was pretty much as any reception. I think there was a bit of Iranian music but mostly it was a pretty typical American type reception. Intros, toasts, cake cutting, first dance F/D and M/S dances open floor but no bouquet or garter. Oh yeah lots of booze ;-)
Anyway I hope that helps a little, good luck.

^ She may have been a Bahai and their religious ceremony varies to an Islamic one (Nikaah), however the cultural Persian rituals would be the same...

Thanks Hameed and Don for your replies.

Based on discussion I had this past weekend with the Persian bride (actually 1/2 Persian) it appears the wedding will be very similar to what Don described. There will be a mix of both but Persian tradition will be predominant. We are looking forward to the wedding as it will be something new for us. Since we usually attend rehearsals (I'm an engineer in my day job and don't like surprises) we should be well prepared for the flow of things. Also, the couple is using a wedding planner so should be able to get a good timeline.

Appreciate your responses.

I would definitely say that Persian ceremony will be the dominant part of the wedding, I have done many weddings Persian bride marrying Jewish groom and definitely what they call SOFREHE AGHD, which is the Persian ceremony settings is the most important part of the day, I do not have any sample online but here is highlights of a full Persian wedding I have done and it will be very similar.

Hadis and Mohsen's Persian - Iranian Wedding Video Highlights - AROUSI or AROOSI

There are a few very important thing in Persian wedding ceremony, one is when bride and groom exchange rings, then feeding one another honey with their finger, then looking at one another in mirror in front of them on the "sofrehe aghd", then receiving gifts from relative, usually cash or jewelry, and all other element which are important in a typical Western wedding.

Then there is also Persian Bahai wedding which they do not have a Sofrehe Aghd and it is very simple, just a few reading and exchange of rings and signing documents.

Good luck
Mitchell