Bedeken and Tisch

In a religious Jewish wedding, the ceremony is preceded by the Bedeken and the Tisch.

During the Bedeken, the bride is surrounded by her bridesmaids and female family while she greets her guests. The Tisch happens simultaneously in another room, where the groom and his male guests celebrate and sign the Ketubah (the marriage contract). When all of the contracts have been signed, the groom will be escorted with song and dance to the bride, where he will lower her veil to signal that the ceremony will begin.