Ketubah with Shehechiyanu

I made this ketubah papercut for a lovely couple I met at the Summer Havurah Institute in 2016. They got married in October 2017. When I talked to them about what they wanted in their ketubah, both women had so many beautiful ideas! I saw among those ideas a common thread about nature, organic-ness, openness, and joy. Their mention of butterflies and trees and sky in particular struck me, and ended up forming the most visible natural parts of their papercut. (There is also a cat; can you find it?)

The words of the shehechiyanu are particularly meaningful to these two, and I incorporated the essence of that blessing into the bottom part of the piece. The full prayer is “?[Blessed are you G!d, ruler of the universe, who has] granted us life, sustained us and enabled us to reach this moment”.

One of the women wrote the text herself in a lovely, neat, and delicate hand. We had to do some careful coordinating to make sure the two pieces of paper would work well together, and it came out perfectly the first time.

November 2017
15" x 15"