When a Jewish couple, gets engaged to be married, the families usually announce the occasion and the wedding date with an engagement party. There is an almost un-heard of ritual performed by the bride's and groom's mothers to emphasize the seriousness of the commitment of the man and the woman who formally announced their plan to marry. It is, the act of breaking a ceramic plate. Customarily, the bride's mother and the groom's mother, drop the well wrapped plate onto a hard surface. Breaking the plate indicates that just as breaking the plate is final, so too the engagement is final, not to be terminated.
It is customary, though not frequently practiced, that at that time of the engagement party, the families sign a contract, that declares the obligations of each side concerning the wedding. In the more traditional Jewish Circles, the bride and groom stop seeing each other, one week before the wedding. This, in order to have them miss each other. Thus, enhancing the joy of seeing each other at their wedding.If the ketubah is lost, a new one must be written.
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