Jane and Simon’s New Year’s Eve Wedding

Jane and Simon were married on New Year’s Eve, a date that already held a special place in their story. They had met on New Year’s Eve years ago. A few years after that, they got engaged on the same night. By the time we began planning the wedding, it was clear that December 31 was more than just a date, but the thread that ran through their relationship right from the start.

They wanted their wedding to embody what New Year's Eve represents: a turning of the page, a new start, marked intentionally. For both families, this was a first: Jane and Simon were the first child on either side to get married, marking not only the beginning of their marriage but also a new stage in the life of each family.

Their ceremony followed a Jewish structure, with the chuppah, blessings, and the Seven Blessings at its center. At the same time, Jane and Simon wanted Simon’s family to feel fully included. His family is not Jewish, but they carry a strong Irish culture and identity. Jane and Simon didn’t want that to be left out, and it was important to them that the ceremony reflect the fact that two families were coming together with full histories behind them. 

The three of us worked together to include Irish wedding traditions in a way that felt natural alongside the Jewish elements. The goal was not to create two parallel ceremonies, but to build one with a clear path, where the Jewish framework held the structure and the Irish customs added texture and specificity. The end result felt balanced and personal, with guests from both sides recognizing their cultural symbols and family traditions in the ceremony. It was very successful!

One of the most meaningful parts of the ceremony was the involvement of Jane’s siblings. Jane has four siblings, and each of them took a turn reading one of the Seven Blessings. There is something especially fitting about siblings offering the Sheva Brachot. These are not private words. They’re meant to be communal! The blessings speak about joy, companionship, and the building of a home. Having Jane’s siblings involved placed the blessings in the context of family life, the kind you grow up inside of and the kind you choose to create as an adult.

The ceremony became more layered as each sibling stepped forward. The Hebrew words stayed the same, but the energy shifted slightly with each voice. That is one of the gifts of having loved ones read the blessings! The ritual stays intact, but the community becomes audible.

Lights hung from the chuppah, casting a warm glow over the couple as they stood beneath it. The lights were not just decorative; they symbolized the couple's commitment to embracing brightness, possibility, and hopes for the future, themes that were echoed throughout the ceremony. On New Year’s Eve, that symbolism landed naturally. 

A New Year’s Eve wedding can easily become all about the party, with the ceremony treated as a quick formality. But Jane and Simon made their ceremony the heart of the night. The celebration followed, but the commitment came first, witnessed by community, held by tradition, and shaped by the story that brought them to this date in the first place.

This wedding exemplified how Jane and Simon's shared history, from their first meeting to their engagement on New Year's Eve, guided the ritual and was reflected in the ceremony's design. The date mattered. The families mattered. The blending of cultures mattered. And the ceremony reflected all of that by unfolding as it should, marking the end of one chapter and the beginning of another.