Love is Where We Are: Yichud

Of all of the details that went into our wedding, the ceremony was the part that had me the most nervous. When I was writing it, I wasn't following religious guidelines; I wasn't even following a template. That blank canvas really intimidated me. Was it going to seem too weird and unconventional? Were the few religious components going to seem really out of place? I was also worried about my cousin/officiant and his lack of experience. He's a charismatic speaker, but would that be enough to lead a ceremony? Did I totally freak him out by asking him to perform the ceremony and he just said yes to be nice?!

The ceremony was perfect. I enjoyed every second of it, and my cousin was a better officiant than I ever could have hoped for. And just like that, we were married.

We recessed down the aisle. I stopped, of course, to chat with guests...

...and to pose for the camera.

The Lioness Bmaids and Lion GMen followed closely behind us.

They retreated to cocktail hour, but my new husband and I had other plans.

When I first created our day-of itinerary, I scheduled in a little bit of time for a Jewish tradition called yichud. Yichud, or unity, is a period of time in which the bride and groom are alone together immediately after the ceremony but before the reception begins. A long time ago, this time was used to consummate the marriage. I don't think anyone really does that anymore (mostly because touching up hair and makeup to that extent would just be a pain in the ass). Nowadays, the more traditional Jews use that time to share a meal together, breaking the fast that led up to their wedding. The rest of us just use it as a peaceful break from the chaos of the day.

We had told our photographer and our videographer to leave us alone for ten minutes. It seems brief, but that's really all we had time for. We hadn't seen each other since the rehearsal dinner, so we squeezed in a lot of catching up during that short time! I told Mr. Lion about how we almost didn't make it to the venue on time; he told me about some silly things the guys had done the night before. It was so refreshing and relaxing. It really hit me that everything was over and all we had left to do was party. That's a pretty great feeling.

Just as we were starting to wrap things up and head back to the garden for photos, my cousin Shannon busted through the door. She looked terrified when she realized that she had interrupted our first moments together as husband and wife. "Dude," she exclaimed. "I am so sorry. I just wanted to put my uke away." I just burst out laughing. It was just so appropriate that the first person I spoke to as a married woman was one of my cousins. It was even better that the first words someone spoke to me were, "I just wanted to put my uke away."

If I haven't said it enough on here, allow me to reiterate: I love my family.

Catch up on the Lioness recaps here!

• First, we got ready at my apartment.
• Then, we finished getting ready at the venue.
• The boys got ready and posed for pictures.
• We exchanged gifts.
• The girls posed for pictures.
• I admired every little detail.
• We walked down the aisle.
• We got married.

*All photos by H. Photography unless otherwise noted.