New Ketubah Designs

Over the years, I’ve had several failed attempts at illustrating a Birch tree ketubah. I find Birch trees to be so magical and inviting, but every time I sat down the draw them, they ended up looking like sticks standing upright in mud. Charming, right? Last week, I decided to give it one more shot, and I’m so glad I did. I’m excited to share two brand new ketubah designs with you:

The Birch Tree Ketubah – Autumn

The Birch Tree Ketubah – Summer

It turns out that the secret to illustrating Birch trees is to embrace their whimsical side instead of strictly sticking to reality.

My absolute favorite part of this design is the secret message I’ve hidden among the leaves. It translates to “I have found the one in whom my soul delights.” Isn’t that beautiful? The message doesn’t jump out at you, but you can easily see it if you know it’s there. It’s like a tiny marriage mantra buried in your ketubah.

I spent a whole day playing around with the colors. For the life of me, I couldn’t decide whether I wanted fresh, summery greens, or mysterious autumn oranges. Then I realized I didn’t have to choose – I could add both to my shop!

If you’d like to purchase the Birch Tree – Autumn ketubah or the Birch Tree – Summer ketubah, you can do so right in my shop or on Etsy.

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I’m excited to announce that I’ve just added a brand new design to my shop! I’ve been slowly working on this design for over 6 months. Last summer, when I way lying in my new hammock and staring up at the sun streaming through the trees, I realized that the twisty, turny branches of the big Ash tree in our yard could easily turn into Hebrew letter-forms. I began sketching out concepts for a ketubah with my favorite Hebrew phrases hidden among the branches. But it just wasn’t working. The first design was too chaotic, the second too simplistic, and the third just felt wrong. I set the project aside for several months until last week, I had an idea about how to make it work. And the “Tree of Life – I Am My Beloved’s Ketubah” was born!

I wanted to capture the over-flowing bounty of a tree at the height of summer – drenched in saturated greens and bursting with leafy shapes that feel both spontaneous and ordered. All with a solid, weighty trunk that represents the strong foundation of a marriage. And, of course, with the eternal phrase “Ani L’dodi, V’dodi li” (“I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine”) hidden among the branches.

This new ketubah design is now available in my shop with all 10 text options.

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Over the weekend, I was bumming around my house, wondering how I’m possibly going to make it another 5 days before I can watch the third season of House of Cards, and I was struck with a vision for a new ketubah design. This is actually pretty typical for how I work. I’ll be minding my own business when suddenly a fully-designed ketubah just pops into my head.

I sat down in front of my computer and began fleshing out the details of the design. And before I knew it, the Washington DC ketubah was born! I’d been meaning to add a Washington DC ketubah to my Cityscapes Ketubah Collection for quite some time, but every time I started playing around with a composition, I’d be uninspired with the result. It’s hard to capture the beauty and majesty of our national capital without ending up with a ketubah that reads more 4th-of-July-BBQ-invite than wedding certificate.

The trick, I discovered, is to show the city at night underneath a sky full of stars. To me, this captures the essence of Washington, DC – mysterious, powerful, layered, and, of course, beautiful. I’m hoping it speaks to the many couples I know who have fallen in love with the city.

Learn more about the Washington DC Ketubah here.

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Right now, dead-smack in the middle of a Wisconsin winter, I start to day-dream almost constantly about spring. I start wearing my most colorful clothing, doodling flowers in the margins of my papers, and craving strawberries like nobody’s business. Sadly, spring is still a long three-months off for us Northerners. But it’s not all gloom – at least the spring wedding season is in full swing! Now is when I usually start hearing from brides and grooms who are getting married in March, April and May. So it’s the perfect time to round up my favorite spring ketubah designs and share them with you.

This year, my spring ketubah collection is inspired by: fresh colors, playful scenes, and new beginnings.

Song Birds Ketubah

I tried to keep this design as simple and minimalist as possible, while still capturing all the beauty and magic of those first birds that start singing in the spring.

Abstract Spring Ketubah – Persimmon

I love abstract ketubah designs. This one features one of my favorite spring hues – persimmon. I’ve also included the phrase, “I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine” in Hebrew for a contemporary typographic element.

Abstract Spring Ketubah – Emerald

And I reworked the spring abstract design with an emerald color palette for those who prefer cool tones.

Tree of Life Spring Ketubah

This design features the ancient Jewish symbol – The Tree of Life. It’s a simple silhouette filled with a bright, hand-painted texture.

Typographic Ketubah – Mint

This is my classic typographic design, but in a fresh mint green – perfect for the springtime wedding. You can purchase this design over at ketubah.com.

I hope you enjoy this collection! As always, please reach out to me if you have any questions or if you would be interested in working with me on a custom ketubah design.

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In my humble opinion, the winter wedding is a hidden gem.  While bright spring weddings, sun-drenched summer weddings, and crisp autumn weddings are undeniably delightful, I think that the winter wedding has a deep beauty all its own.  Maybe it’s because they are more rare.  Whatever the reason, each winter wedding I’ve had the pleasure to attend has been an intimate, cozy, and sparkling affair.  And since we got our first real snow of the season this weekend, winter weddings and the winter ketubah have been on my mind.

Now that December, January and February weddings are just around the corner, I’ve put together a small collection of winter ketubahs designed just for these special events.  I hope you like them!

Winter Ketubah Collection

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I created this abstract winter ketubah design by layering multiple hand-painted textures on top of an antiqued chalkboard background.  To me, this design feels like spending an evening snuggling on your sofa and watching the snow fall outside.  I’ll be right back – I need to go grab myself a cup of hot cocoa.

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This tree of life winter ketubah design is done in crisp whites and rich blues, making it perfect for a brilliant winter wedding.  The trunk says “I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine” in Hebrew.

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This typographic winter ketubah features the phrase, “I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine.” The text is hand-lettered and layered over a deep blue watercolor backdrop.

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This design is part of my Tree of Life series. I’ve layered a warm hand-painted texture over the silhouette of a tree in winter.

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