More often than not, religious style wedding ceremonies take place in a place of worship. For Jewish weddings a temple, for Christian or Catholic weddings a church and so on. Holding your ceremony in a religious space, if you’re thinking more modern, isn’t always set in stone, however.

Of course, deciding on the basics and details of a religious style are wedding is a bit easier when both members of the couple come from similar religious backgrounds. You can refer to both sides of parents and religious officials on the basics of a religious wedding if you’re unsure.

But this isn’t to say it’s impossible to hold a religious-style wedding if both partners are from different religious beliefs. In fact, creating a ceremony that aims to fit both traditions can be fun and can present more opportunities for a ceremony that truly celebrates the coming together of two families.

For Islamic weddings, brides don intricately designed dresses and headdresses. These kinds of dresses can come in bright colors and brides don beautiful henna tattoos on her hands, taking the garment to another level. Muslim brides, in addition to the vibrant clothing and henna tattoos, also sport bright and elegant jewelry including long necklaces, headpieces and noserings. They also wear circular earrings and other pieces that could have been passed down from previous generations.

For Orthodox Jewish weddings, brides wear gowns with more conservative silhouettes. As opposed to strapless and revealing wedding gowns, Jewish brides often wear long-sleeved gowns with high-cut necklines.Unlike the bright garments one might see at Muslim weddings, Orthodox Jewish wedding gowns also skew on the lighter side. Just as in Catholic and Christian tradition, the white wedding gown symbolizes purity in Jewish tradition.

RECEPTION

Once you, your spouse and your friends and family have survived the formalities of the ceremony, then you can afford breaking out of the mold for hours of fun and celebration at the reception.

Like the attire and ceremony, each religious will have different customs and requirements of for the reception. Regardless if you’re joining your entourage for group dances or blessing the challah at your reception, you can still expect moments of excitement and happiness worth remembering.

In Jewish tradition, wedding ceremonies include a good number of well-wishing rituals. Some of the basic elements of a Jewish wedding reception include the couple blessing the challah or ceremonial bread, guests dancing and entertaining the newlyweds with mitzvah dances and of course, the hora.