FAQs—Planning an Interfaith Wedding
These are some of the typical areas couples ask about when planning their wedding ceremony. Alexandra Gellman, who is likely to be your first contact when you connect to discuss your ceremony, answers some frequently asked questions. Please feel free to contact us for any topics we may not have covered in the detail you […]
Obtaining Your Marriage License in Ontario
During the ceremony, we sign your marriage license and forward it to the Registrar to ensure that your marriage is legally registered. The Rabbi is a licensed officiant. Before the marriage can take place, you must obtain the original license from your local municipal offices, which you provide to us up to 90 days before […]
Creating the Perfect Wedding Video
Award-winning wedding cinematographers Mark and Danielle capture stories around the world for their company Kismet Creative, surpassing the expectations of many happy wedding couples from Toronto to Vancouver and far beyond. They specialize in producing wonderful films with a strong narrative designed to show the couple’s personalities, documenting their turning points and ceremony into a […]
Families and Weddings
You may feel you have the date, you’ve booked the Rabbi, and you’re ready… However, as almost any wedding planner will tell you, that may be when things start to go awry. Your wedding ceremony will stay in your memory as one of the most important days of your life (and probably the most astonishing […]
Choosing a Ketubah for Your Jewish Interfaith Wedding
Ketubahs can be fine art or modern art—they can be papercut, gold leaf, letterpress, canvas—there are many different options to choose from re the design inspiration or approach, often by leading artists and very distinctive and unique. Choose budget-friendly or select a custom-design for this important element of your wedding. This decision will be totally […]
Danielle & Jesse’s Camp Wedding
From the Toronto Star— ‘Maybe I just met my husband’: How an Israel adventure led to happily ever after. ToFoodies founder Danielle Finestone planned the most delicious wedding to her beau Jesse Helfand.” Danielle and Jesse’s very special wedding was featured in a recent issue of the Toronto Star newspaper—here is the link to the […]
Two Ceremonies to Celebrate— A “Double Wedding”
Katrina and Dannel had a wonderful time at both of their weddings—they celebrated their marriage ceremony twice in one day, which only made the day more special, says Katrina. And after scheduling the ceremony three times —and having to postpone it in 2020 and 2021 due to pandemic restrictions and all that this involved, they […]
Are Zoom Weddings Legal?
Recent reports on how a few Israeli couples were getting married remotely in Utah to bypass local regulations made headlines and prompted questions about whether Zoom or Facetime weddings are legal. That depends. Weddings where the officiant or at least two witnesses are not present in person “on location” may not stand the legality test. […]
About Purim
Purim in 2023 starts on Monday, March 6th, and ends on the evening of Tuesday, March 7th. As you probably know, this is not a public holiday but a Jewish holiday that commemorates the delivery of the Jewish people from oppression and tyranny in the Persian Empire, which then spread over “127 lands” and is […]
The Ketubah Story
More and more marriages are putting it in writing—and it’s not only Jewish wedding couples who are adopting the Ketubah as part of their wedding ceremony, a tradition that dates back thousands of years. One of the largest suppliers is Ketubah.com—a trendsetter in design and online service well-known internationally for museum quality work, was founded […]
Relationship/Pastoral Counseling
Everyone seems ready to get back to full speed ASAP as soon as things really open up—but new stresses may have been highlighted from working in isolation, too much Zoom instead of relationship-time, or even staying home more often. Extended family or relationships may have felt the strain, or there may be interfaith questions that impact family […]
Online Interfaith Sabbath Services
WEEKLY ONLINE INTERFAITH SABBATH SERVICES— Remote interfaith sabbath services are held online on Fridays (from 6:30 to 7:00 p.m.). These are ‘mini’ services—designed to be 30 minutes or so. We will start with three blessings of the three things that provide life— • For lighting the Sabbath candles • Blessing of the wine • Blessing […]
God’s Promise
Izzy is the most precious gift, says mom Susan. And after such a challenging journey, Susan and her husband Edgar knew they wanted to celebrate the birth and naming of their daughter in a very special way that would stay with them always. “We wanted Rabbi David Gellman to perform the baby-naming ceremony because we […]
Your Wedding Video—Wedding Planning 101
VIDEO AT THE WEDDING—CEREMONIES 2021 Even with some gathering limits relaxing soon (we hope!), couples may still need to rely on Zoom, YouTube, or live streaming to bring friends and loved ones together for your wedding ceremony for some time to come. Restrictions are variable in different areas/parts of the world, and ensuring everyone you […]
Wedding Planning 101— #2
Wedding Photography and What You Need to Know Top of the list of questions when you’re planning your wedding is how do you want to capture this significant and wonderful event in your life? Couples often think they can economize on the photographer—since everyone carries a camera on their phone these days. This is not […]
Ontario eases regulations —weddings and ceremonies
GATHERING LIMITS FOR ONTARIO WEDDING CEREMONIES EASING—2022 Ontario has taken a big step on the way back to normal. Capacity limits will expand to 50 percent in arenas, theatres, and concert venues (with some number limitations)… Where vaccination certificates are required, capacity limits have been removed for most other areas/indoor public settings such as cinemas. […]
Celebrating Hanukkah
Click to view the latest newsletter for what’s on: Happy Hanukkah and the Best of the Season
Baby Naming Ceremony
We took these lovely photographs recently at a baby naming ceremony conducted by the Rabbi and received a very nice testimonial from the parents. Thank you! “We would like to truly thank Rabbi Gellman for the wedding and baby naming services that he provided. As my husband and I are an interfaith couple, finding a […]
Wedding Planning 101-Before Your Day
What you need to know: Before the Wedding # 1— If you’re planning a wedding, the best advice is to first choose the officiant and the location—so you have the date, time, and place of this great event in your lives secured. Then you’ll likely be thinking of your wedding gown, and where to hold […]
