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.

The wedding celebration is composed of two distinct and successive ceremonies: betrothal (kiddushin) and nuptials (nissuin). The kiddushin includes the betrothal blessings, the proposal, and the giving of the ring before two witnesses. The bride will walk around the groom seven times to show that she encircles and completes him. This is followed by a transition stage—the public reading of the marriage contract. Afterwards, the nissuin begins. This consists of the seven blessings, followed by the breaking of the glass, and finally by yichud, several minutes of seclusion after leaving the chuppah.