Chuppah

It consists of a cloth or sheet, sometimes a tallit, stretched or supported over four poles, or sometimes manually held up by attendants to the ceremony.

[4] In Yemenite communities, the practice was not for the groom and his bride to stand under a canopy (chuppah) hung on four poles, as is widely practised today in Jewish weddings, but rather to be secluded in a bridal chamber that was, in effect, a highly decorated room in the house of the groom, known as the chuppah[5] (see Yichud).

[9] Numerous illustrations of Jewish weddings in medieval Europe, North Africa and Italy show no evidence of a huppah as it is known today.

The betrothal ceremony, which is today accomplished when the groom gives a wedding ring to the bride, prohibits her to all other men and cannot be dissolved without a get or religious divorce.

As the kippah served as a reminder of the Creator above all, (also a symbol of separation from God), so the chuppah was erected to signify that the ceremony and institution of marriage has divine origins.

[citation needed] The symbol of the chuppah is often painted or embroidered onto wimpels after a boy’s Brit Milah ceremony.

Here, the chuppah is a reference to a wish for the boy’s life to be under the guidance of God and for him to have a traditional marriage and family (also expressed in a blessing).

In Ashkenazic communities, before going under the chuppah the groom covers the bride's face with a veil, known as the badeken (in Yiddish) or hinuma (in Hebrew).

Others suggest that the purpose was for others to witness the act of covering, formalizing the family's home in a community, as it is a public part of the wedding.

When the bride then enters the chuppah it is as though the groom is providing her with shelter or clothing, and he thus publicly demonstrates his new responsibilities toward her.

Silk or quilted chuppot are increasingly common, and can often be customized or personalized to suit the couple's unique interests and occupations.