Jodi: We decided to blend traditions from both of our cultures that we thought were important to have. My husband is Filipino and I'm Cuban, East Indian, Jewish, Irish, German, and Jamaican. We had Filipino, Jewish, and Hawaiian aspects in our ceremony. The ceremony included an explanation of the Chuppah, Shehecheyanu [a Hebrew prayer], honoring those not present with memorial candles [I had lost my dad to suicide, so it was especially hard emotionally not to have him there. Mark secretly handed me a tissue and whispered a joke to make me laugh to help me get through it.], a Filipino cord ceremony, a community vow of support, and a blessing of the wine. We also had an explanation of Yichud and the breaking the glass.
