Can you please give me some background information, and an overview, of the Jewish marriage ceremony?

According to Jewish Tradition, before the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai, once a man and woman decided to get married, moved into the same house, and had their first act of sexual intercourse, they had the status of a married couple and the laws of adultery apply – there is no need for any ceremony or witnesses. In fact, this is the marriage procedure for a Gentile according to the Noachide Laws (the laws given to Adam and then added-to during the time of Noah, to which all Gentiles are bound).

After the Torah was given, things changed for the Jew. The Torah requires that when a man wishes to marry, he must first sanctify the woman to himself in front of two witnesses: the ceremony called kiddushin. One of the ways this can be achieved is by giving the woman an object of value (e.g a ring) in front of acceptable witnesses while saying the prescribed “formula.” Once the above ceremony has taken place, they are considered married in terms of the laws of adultery, even though they have not yet engaged in sexual intercourse and are still living in separate homes. The final stage of the marriage process is called nissuin and is achieved by beginning to live together.

After kiddushin, but before nissuin, the couple are prohibited from sleeping together by Rabbinic decree. In the Talmudic era, this stage often lasted up to one year. Yet nowadays, both the kiddushin and nissuin stage are performed on the wedding day: Under the marriage canopy (chupah), the groom performs the kiddushin procedure as described above; seven blessings are then recited by people chosen by the couple; and then they are both escorted to a room where they must be alone for a short period of time, symbolizing the fact that they have now begun to live together. When they come out of the room, they are considered fully married.

Best wishes,

Ari Lobel