I just got off the phone with a Yenta, and I couldn’t wait to share her information with my ChaCha girls.

My amazing conversation was with Alison of The Wedding Yentas, a new company that writes a blog about Jewish weddings and provides ideas, photos, explanations, and information on Jewish wedding traditions. In addition, their website has a vast vendor directory that can help all brides, but the daily blog articles specifically references Jewish wedding traditions.

If you aren’t familiar with the term Yenta, the old school Yiddish definition (which is derived from German and Hebrew vocabularies) is busybody. Today, the word translates to mean an endearing person who knows a lot of people and many things, and who shares that information with her circle of friends. Alison and her friend/business partner, Nicky, who was also her wedding photographer, created this new company, The Wedding Yentas at www.theweddingyentas.com, and they share their expert knowledge about Jewish weddings and traditions. When they got married, there was no one-stop website that answered their questions in a modern way, so they created this company. ChaCha girls love women who solve problems! Both women are the kind of Yenta you want to know, because their blogs will make your wedding easier if you are a Jewish bride or having an interfaith ceremony.
Many brides have traditions they want to preserve in their wedding ceremony or reception. If you have never been to a Jewish wedding, it is deep in tradition. You may not be aware, but many Jewish brides can’t get married on Saturday afternoon, because it is the Sabbath, a holy day, and no weddings can occur until it is dark. Hence, they covet the three-day holiday weekends so that their guests can enjoy a Sunday wedding, and not rush back to work the following day. Brides of all faith love the three day weekends, as it makes great anniversary weekends too, and that is why they book up so fast.
My wedding was interfaith as my husband’s family is Christian. We had a rabbi and a minister preside over our service. One of the main traditions is to sign the Ketubah, which is the Jewish version of a marriage contract. It is signed, framed and displayed like a piece of art and they are very personal. This isn’t your traditional over the counter marriage certificate, which is also required by United States law. Jewish marriages are constantly reminded of their promises to each other every time they pass their Ketubah, and many brides search for new, modern phrases as no bride wants to be referred to as property or being owned. My Ketubah is on my bedroom wall. Do you know where your certificate is located? I hope it isn’t in the junk drawer of your kitchen!

Another Jewish tradition is having the bride and groom stand under a Chuppah (a bridal canopy), which is a cultural symbol representing the new happy home that the bride and groom will build and create together. The Chuppah is covered on top as a symbol of security and protection and is open on all sides so that family and friends will always feel welcome

Jewish brides also circle their future husbands seven times, which is an omen of good fortune, linked to the seven days of creation. The circling is also a means of protection, from evil spirits and from the temptations of the world. It also creates space, space from their families and space together. I only hope no one faints or gets dizzy after that practice, as that would be a wedding coordinator nightmare!
Jewish grooms step on a glass at the end of the ceremony and the reasons for this are so varied that I refer you to The Wedding Yentas’ website, www.theweddingyentas.com/traditions/kiss-my-glass. The key is making sure you pick a glass that is breakable (I think we used a lightbulb as a substitute) instead of your fine crystal. Judaica shops have specific glasses for this purpose.

I refer you to the Yentas for more information, as they are the experts and their website has the resources to help make the process easier. Oh yeah, and if a Yenta says that the ChaChaBella ring is a must have, you better listen up!

If you have had a Jewish wedding or an interfaith wedding that comes with a funny story about a traditional element, share with me and you will be blessed with a ring of your choice! I only hope your Chuppah didn’t fall down or you got dropped during the Hora!
Contact Suzanne at s@chachabella.com.

My friend’s husband said, “If you can’t fit it in a backpack for camping, you don’t need it.” Well, I guess I went camping ChaCha style, because two car loads later, I felt like I had almost everything. My children were excited to camp on Mother’s Day weekend with our neighbors (33 people in total!), so I was going to make sure we were over-prepared. Isn’t that a girl scout motto?

Five families spent the night and many others came to visit on Saturday. After my husband assembled the tent and built the fire, I came in with the two queen air mattresses, sheets, comforters, and extra pillows. He may have given me looks that showed he was a manly man and didn’t need all of that, but I know his back appreciated it the next morning. My son wanted to know why he needed so many clothes and after his third outfit in one day got wet, I just smiled and said, “Mommies know best!”

We had more than enough food to feed the entire campsite, let alone a small nation. The chip selection alone rivaled Walmart’s aisle ten! When you hike, swim, and bike all day, appetites are fierce. Or, the exact opposite, when you sit around in a fold out chair all day and stare at a fire knowing you can’t do laundy (but thinking about all the stuff you will have to wash upon return), clean out a drawer, or empty the dishwasher, you just eat all day too! I of course not knowing what my tastebuds might crave, had a sampling of everything from sweet, salty to sour. In addition, I brought several different alcoholic beverages to choose from and those mixers. I would like it to be written that next year, I am bringing a blender, but thought I might get too many looks from my fellow neighbors on camping trip round one. I know my limits of being an over-doer. One friend did have a welcome mat outside her tent, and I will file that away as a future camping necessity.

We were on Red Top Mountain on Lake Allatoona in Geogia. The weather was a Chamber of Commerce weekend, warm 2 days and cool the third, with no rain in sight. I know we were only thirty minutes from civilization but it seemed much further as all four of us slept within an arms grasp of each other…perhaps, that made it the perfect thing to do Mother’s Day Weekend, except for the side effects of those campfire beans!

If you have a ChaChaBella camping story to share, the winner will receive a ring that represents the color of nature!
Send submissions to Suzanne at s@chachabella.com.

Seriously, I am stuck in Paris! Yes, an unprecedented explosion of an Iceland volcano has sent ash into the air closing airports across Europe and stranded me in Paris with me my four college girlfriends. I know, break out the violin, as I have it so rough!

My sorority sisters and I decided to see if we could celebrate the big 4-0 with a bang by planning a trip to Europe. The depth of organizing a trip of this magnitude, figuring out a date, using our frequent flyer points, agreeing on a place and organizing child care is so enormous, that it was a miracle that the trip happened at all- and then to get additional days due to cancelled flights, was unprecedented. As my husband said, if a natural disaster happened on his Keys trip with the boys, I would have said, “Walk Home!” Well, I couldn’t swim back to the USA and he sensed my anxiety, so he told me to just enjoy my extension as eventually I will return home to reality.

Of all the natural disasters to occur, a volcano eruption never entered my mind and I am a planner! I wanted to enjoy the extra days, but I was a little stressed about my return to the United States. The news in Europe was much more exaggerated then here as the trains were striking (because they could) there were no rental cars left to travel to Spain (the only open airport), experts predicted another eruption (hence closing airports longer) and Paris isn’t the cheapest city in the world either! Since my friends and I are all positive, we actually thought our flight on Tuesday wouldn’t be canceled and once it was, we had to deal with the reality of we could be here a few more days. Now, we were in the backlog of people whose flights had been canceled since Friday. After phone calls to the airlines and rebooking back up flights, we tried to enjoy the rest of our extended trip by drinking, eating, and shopping - a girl’s favorite activity!

For those of you that maybe just planned a wedding, I know it is hard to imagine, but the girls that you just had as your bridesmaids could very well be your best friends in another 25 years. There is something about old (my friend likes to say dear because it sounds better) friendships and the comfort of knowing each other so well. Getting stuck was a joy with my friends and in true ChaCha style, we embraced a situation we couldn’t control with a few tears, but mostly laughter. We were part of a world wide event, the closing of European airport in April 2010. Needless to say, we all got home safely, on different days, on different flights, on different airlines with none of us flying directly home anymore, but with transfers, yet we are all happy to be back on this side of the pond! In looking back on the trip, the airport closing is one small part of the trip as the memories we made in Provence and Paris will make my 40th birthday unforgettable!

If you were stuck in Europe, tell me how you handled your situation in ChaCha style.
Contact Suzanne at s@chachabella.com