Wedding Blog

A little joke for you from Anita Diamant’s The New Jewish Wedding: “The tongue-in-cheek Yiddish-English ’translation’ for R.S.V.P. is Remember to Send Vedding Presents.”Hahaha. Call me a dork (or a 95-year-old Jewish man), but it’s a knee slapper! Snort. Snort.

As you might remember, I’m in the process of converting to Judaism, and Mr. Hot Cocoa and I are looking forward to setting up a Chinese-Jewish household once we’re married. But one can’t possibly be expected to be a balabusta (that’s yiddish for quality female homemaker) or balabusto (that’s cocoa-yiddish — coquidish — for quality male homemaker) without the proper accoutrements, right? So even though we haven’t given any thought to where we’d register for our everyday items, I have already come up with a list of judaica stores with online registry services. And since my Judaism homework this week involves studying the rituals associated with celebrating the sabbath — in particular the tradition of shabbat dinner — I thought I’d also list a few of the shabbat-related items that might go in a vedding registry.

1. Judaism.com has an easy-to-use registry service that allows you not only to register for the many Judaism-related products in its e-store but also to incorporate tzedakah (the Jewish tradition of charity) into your registry by allowing you to pledge a certain percentage of the value of the gifts you receive to charities of your choice. Your guests can also be invited to match (or exceed) your donation.

Their e-store is among the most well stocked of the websites I found. It offers a particularly rad collection of challah boards, which make even the least palatable of supermarket-bought challah rolls look delicious. Challah atcha boy:

 
Oriental Challah Board

 
Azoulay Challah Board & Knife

2. Modern Tribe is one of my favorite finds. It has a smaller inventory than Judaism.com, but what it lacks in quantity, it makes up for in novelty. For example, it may be traditional to light candles before sunset on the sabbath, but these are definitely not your bubbie’s candle holders:

 
Craftsman Pomegranate and Grape Candlesticks

 
Laura Cowan’s Adam and Eve Candlesticks

I’m digging these anodized aluminum candlesticks that read “Shabbat Shalom” and “Yitzkor, Shamor” (Remember, Observe) and come in IPod colors.

 
Planet Candleholders

3. In spite of its name, Ketubah.com doesn’t just carry Jewish wedding contracts (though it has a lot of those). It also has a gift registry and a serviceable selection of judaica.

Just a warning: the galleries are not as easy to browse as those of Judaism.com and Modern Tribe, both of which allow you to sort by type of item, by Jewish holiday, etc. At Ketubah.com you have to either browse everything or search for specific items. But if you like glassware and a more painterly style of judaica, you might find some pretty items here. Like this art nouveau kiddush cup — perfect for a blessing over wine and not so bad to look at either:

 
Wedding Kiddush Cup

4. Ahuva.com carries a large selection of keepsake-quality judaica, ranging from the chic to the oy-gevalt. You can’t add items directly to an online registry, but they can build a registry for you if you email them the list of the items you’d like. I’m impressed with their collection of havdallah sets — the collection of wine glass, spice container, and candle holder that you use during the ceremony to mark the end of the sabbath.

Isn’t this Monet-esque set fashioned from hand blown glass and silver so pretty?

 
Blue Glass Havdallah Set

Or how about this purple peacock spice box and candle holder for your crazy Aunt Edith who collects tchotckes:

Purple Spice and Candle Holder

5. Because I heart all things handmade, I’m loving some of the items available at Artistic Jewish Promotions. The selection is small but the objects are charming and eclectic; each page on the site is like a cabinet of wonders. How delightful are these tzedakah boxes?

 
Noah’s Ark Box

 
Twelve Tribes Box

6. All Things Jewish has a more limited selection of judaica than the other stores above, but it does carry two items that I am kvelling over:

 
Bagel Chew Toy

 
Kvetchy Boy Book

Jellyby, our kosher haute dog, would be all over the bagel chew toy. As for Kvetchy Boy? I think its charm is evident. Here’s the blurb from the back cover: “Grr, I’m Kvetchy Boy. I’m always complaining: ’The sun is too bright . . . . My ice-cream is melting.’ In my book, I learn that life is more enjoyable if I save my complaints for something important. Then, people listen and even try to help.” A good lesson — especially for those of us vedding planning, right?

Are you registering for any religious or culturally significant items?