Below are some text options. If there is something that your rabbi or wedding officiant wants to use instead, or you have your own text that you would like to send me in a pdf or word document, that works too.
If you and your partner are interested in having an English (or another language) section included, you can browse through the traditional, conservative and reform options on this site, write your own wording or contact me to send you more options from MP artworks who charges $25 to purchase the rights to use their wording.
Before anything gets printed I will send you and your rabbi a digital proof of the text.
If you are interested in having me collaborate with a calligrapher I have that option as well. I know some local calligraphers I can work with or I can work with the one that you can introduce me to.
I not only focus on triple-checking your ketubah text to make sure it is accurate and approved before printing, but also consider the aesthetics of the text. That include is not limited to fonts, font types, font sizes, whether the Hebrew and English text are placed side by side or on top of one another, and whether you are interested in including a quote, phrase, or even you and your partner’s names and date of the wedding on top of the text. Customizations are endless!
I also create non-ketubah art, and that includes artwork with song lyrics, poems, short stories, quotes, anniversary ketubahs, Quaker certificates, and ketubahs for non-Jews.
The first step is for you and your partner to decide which route you and your partner are pursuing- the Orthodox, traditional, conservative or reform route. If you are going the Orthodox or traditional route, the text used is either Chabad, Orthodox Aramaic for Ashkenazi or Sephardic. All other ketubah texts include traditional, reform, interfaith, humanist, and Quaker wording. You can even make up your own wording if your rabbi is lenient.
If you are interested in using different fonts, I will email you a sample of the artwork with the wording in those requested fonts until you find one that you absolutely love. The link to the text personalization form is available below, or you can email me both you and your partner’s names, Hebrew names, both parent’s Hebrew names, wedding location, wedding date, whether the chuppah ceremony will be performed before or after sundown, and your rabbi/ wedding officiant’s contact information to get this process started.
Either way, I will get in contact with your officiant/rabbi and take it from there. I’ve worked with dozens of rabbis and wedding officiants before who allow couples who choose their own text (particularly if they are reform). If your rabbi is Orthodox, I will make sure your ketubah text is 100% kosher as I am aware that the ketubah is likened to a mezuzah- if there is one word off, the marriage is not considered valid by the Beit Din.
If you are just looking for an English wording for the ketubah, you can refer to the conservative, traditional, reform, and interfaith English texts. If you are interested in a text but want to change some things around and add your own wording, the sky is the limit. Once I have the wording that you decide upon, I will properly format it to the ketubah design and send it for approval.
About Lieberman Clause: Quoting an Orthodox rabbi in the Los Angeles community, the reason why the Lieberman Clause is not added to the text is that “The Lieberman issue is not accepted as Halakhically appropriate. There is a large literature on this topic. Bottom line – it creates a ‘forced condition’ that the husband would have to give a ‘Get’ and that is the problem. A ‘Get’ can’t be forced. The husband must give it willingly.”
Just an FYI: the wording is always going to be slightly different depending on your wedding officiant (minus the exception of the Chabad, RCC or Sephardic Aramaic text version).
Orthodox – Aramaic Chabad (Ashkenaz)
Orthodox (generic English translation)
Conservative – (Orthodox text + Lieberman Clause)
Egalitarian (Rabbi Gordon Tucker)
