Anna Zysman-Ualat: The most unique aspect of our wedding was the blending of so many traditions in one day. In addition to the many military aspects, we also incorporated both Catholic Filipino and Russian Jewish traditions into the ceremony, such as a Rabbi to officiate, blessing of the wine, circling each other, the unity candle, breaking of the glass at the end and my dad reading a poem in Russian covered "my side" of the wedding traditions. Family members and close friends (sponsors) presenting us with a cord, coins, and veil were the Catholic Filipino traditions. We also signed a Ketubah (Jewish marriage contract) that bound us in marriage in the faith/religions sense in addition to our legal marriage certificate. Our witnesses, the Maid of Honor and Best Man, who signed the Ketubah with us were also, in a sense, non-traditional as one of them is Muslim and the other Catholic and they were signing a Jewish document.
