Breaking of the glass questions

[mridgway]

My FI is Jewish and as a way of honoring his mother (who passed away right before we met) we'd like to incorporate the breaking of the glass into our ceremony. Unfortunately, Adam does not know any of the details of the tradition, so I had a few questions that I'm hoping someone can help with.

1. What type of glass should be used?
2. What type of fabric should be used to wrap around the glass? (I recently saw an article about making a bag for this purpose)
3. What is done with the glass and cloth after it is smashed? (In particular if just wrapped in a cloth, I would be afraid some could fall out). In my mind I can see the sentimentality of keeping it in a special place, but was not sure traditionally what was done.

Any help would be appreciated! Thanks!
Melissa

[MsShelley]

I am not Jewish, but I did help a friend plan her Jewish wedding, that she was unsure about too!!

I really don't think it matters what type of glass you use, most couples pick a glass they would like to keep as a memory...
As far as fabric, I think that again is personal prefernce, we saw somw kits online that were kind of expensive... so they could easily be done on your own!
As far as the glass, I did answer that above and my friends kept theirs as a keepsake...

Do It Yourself Jewish Wedding Glass Ideas

Any glass may be used for the Jewish wedding glass, although most couples choose a special glass to be broken and kept. It is commonly wrapped in a cloth napkin (to avoid dangerous glass shards) or enclosed in a pre-made cloth pouch. A “do it yourself” option is to purchase a single colored glass goblet to be used in the breaking glass Jewish wedding tradition. Look for a unique glass at a vintage or used thrift store. If you are planning on keeping the glass shards from the breaking glass consider colored glass instead of clear, especially if you plan to do a craft project with them later. Make certain the glass you choose is not too thick. It needs to be easily broken when stepped on! For this reason, stay away from heavy lead crystal goblets.

The Jewish wedding glass pouch can be a simple rectangle of fabric that you sew around the glass, much like a pillowcase. Close the third end with ribbon or sew it shut. Choose fabric that matches your wedding colors. Thicker fabrics such as velvet work well, but thinner fabrics can be doubled up. You don’t want them too thin or the glass shards will easily rip through it.
Good luck with your wedding planning….Mazel Tov!

[lauren]

hey melissa,

i've seen it done tons of different ways, but the easiest is a light bulb wrapped in something....we're not religious at all, and we'ld be breaking the glass for our parents....so i think we're going to use a colored bulb wrapped in a cloth napkin and after, put the glass pieces into whatever we use for our sand ceremony...our ceremony will be on the beach, so we have to figure out what kind of hard surface to put down in order for it to break......

oh some people take the glass and have it made into the outside of a mezzuzah (sp?)....i'm sure you could do lots of different craft-like things w/ it - melt it into part of a menorah base, sedar plate, etc.

[Alyssa]

this is the best place i know of for the colored glass (if you want to use for mezzuzah or something else)

Judaism.com - Wedding Glasses

good luck!

[mridgway]

Thanks ladies! This is all very helpful!

[Jenn]

I'm not religious, and hadn't really considered doing this, but my mom just brought it up a few days ago... I don't mind doing it since it is important to her, but I'm not sure about the logistics. We're getting married on the beach - and we were planning on both being barefoot. Should Sam have a pair of flip-flops stashed just to break the glass? Do you put down a hard board of some kind to break it against?