"In every human being there rises a light that reaches straight to heaven. And when two souls that are destined to be together, find each other, their streams of light flow together and a single brighter light goes forth from their united being."
-Ba'al Shem Tov (18th Century Jewish Mystic)

Welcome to our Jewish, Interfaith, Intercultural Wedding Blog!

Personalized wedding rituals from around the globe celebrating the Art of Ceremony and Celebration.

Mazel Tov and Congratulations!
Here you'll find inspirational thoughts, creative ideas and resources for planning personalized Jewish, interfaith and intercultural weddings.

Have a question you want answered?
Tweet it. We'll blog about it and tweet you back.

We look forward to sharing our discoveries with you.
Yehudit Steinberg M.Ed

Friday, July 24, 2009

Elopement and Intimate Wedding Packages in San Francisco and Napa Sonoma Wine Country

Jewish Interfaith Wedding Network in partnership with Sacred Events announces their new service providing customized elopement and intimate wedding packages. They specialize in working with Jewish, Interfaith and intercultural couples

Intimate weddings and elopements focus on the basics of getting married, your love and commitment to each other. Northern California offers a wide variety of wedding locations to hold your private ceremony and at Sacred Events, we specialize in finding just the right custom package for you and your partner.

Enjoy your wedding in a private intimate setting surrounded by your closest friends and family. Customizable options available to create a wedding that speaks to your personal taste and style. Your event is expertly planned by Sacred Events' professional ritual designer and wedding consultant, Yehudit Steinberg and attended to by a team of highly-qualified event professionals.

Basic Elopement packages include:
- Picturesque ceremony location
- Services of a personal wedding coordinator
- Interfaith minister or Rabbi
- Personalized Wedding Ceremony designed to your specifications
- Flowers: Bridal bouquet, Boutonniere
- Basic Ceremony set up
- Photographer
- Photos posted online
- 2 to 10 guests

To begin planning your elopement or intimate wedding, please contact us to discuss how we can be of service to you.

Monday, July 20, 2009

Destination Weddings_Interfaith Outdoor Ceremonies

Recently we've been asked if we perform elopements and intimate weddings for Jewish and Interfaith couples. Here is a compilation of some of our favorite outdoor ceremonies we've worked on around the San Francisco Bay, Carmel and Napa Sonoma Wine Country. Stay tuned for the launch of our Elopement and Intimate Wedding Packages on August 1st.


Recommendations for Jewish Interfaith Wedding Network

"We couldn't have asked for a better interfaith ceremony planning experience than what we encountered with Rabbi Gershon and Yehudit. Since we were planning our San Francisco wedding from LA with limited time to actually travel up, all of the planning was done by phone and email. They were so organized ... When the day arrived, we were thrilled with the dynamic that the Rabbi had with the minister, who co-performed the ceremony and happened to be my dad!"

Jennifer [bride]
Ceremony Venue: Corinthian Yacht Club- Tiburon, CA
Los Angeles, CA

“Yehudit was a wonderful addition to our wedding planning. Yehudit helped us put together our wedding service, finding both a Priest and a Rabbi that would marry us. Everyone at the wedding thought the officiants must have known us for years, the tone was so perfect. Yehudit kept in touch with us through out the planning, setting up meetings with the officiant and she worked so well with our wedding planner, making sure both our Jewish Ceremony and the main dual ceremony went perfectly. We could not of asked for better memories or a better send off into marriage. Yehudit has continued to keep in contact with us, and we feel her continued blessings with each message we receive. We thank her for her hard work and for making our wedding ceremony the one that we wanted and continue to cherish.”

Top qualities: Great Results, Personable, High Integrity


Andria Ruben McCool [bride]

Fairmont San Francisco,CA


We were happy to get a rabbi, but we didn't know that we were getting a sage!

Jessie [father of the groom]
Canlis Restaurant Seattle, WA


"On Saturday evening May 20 at the Calistoga Ranch you performed a most beautiful wedding service for out son David and daughter-in-law Kathy. We are so greatful for your desire to honor both their traditions and to bring both families into a circle of love, community and unity. You most certainly fulfilled your mission of addressing the beliefs and values of both the bride and groom and their families. We deeply appreciate your willingness to listen to our wishes as presented to you by our dear friend."

Evelyn and Doug [mother and father of the bride]
Calistoga Ranch-


"I can only tell you that it was the best decision we made for our wedding, Rabbi Gershon and his wife Yehudit really care about the details and they go the extra mile to make sure you enjoy your event.

Also, the wisdom of the Rabbi is very impressive, I had well travel friends from different religions and they enjoy the wedding a lot. The wise words of the Rabbi really made an impact in our ceremony.

Our wedding needed to be translate to Spanish because of the majority of the guest, and even with a 3 language wedding (English, Spanish and Hebrew) the Rabbi was able to maintain a good pace for the ceremony and make it very enjoyable for everybody.

I will recommend you 100% the Rabbi and like they said a picture is better than 100 words I attached a couple of pictures from our ceremony.

Just follow Yehudit's system..."

David and Carla [Groom and Bride]
Guadalajara, Mexico