What to do with the glass from your Jewish wedding: a mezuzah and 5 other keepsakes
Most couples who keep the glass from their Jewish wedding put the shards in a mezuzah, a shadow box or a piece of jewelry. Some send them to a glass artist, and plenty keep them in a jar or throw them away. You don't have to keep the glass at all. If you want it, though, plan before the wedding, because the pouch is easy to lose once the chuppah comes down. Below are six keepsake ideas, how a wedding glass mezuzah works, and how to get the shards home safely.
What can you do with the glass from your Jewish wedding?
Put it in a mezuzah, a shadow box, jewelry, a fused glass piece or a jar. The only keepsake you have to buy before the wedding is a kit that comes with the glass you'll break. Everything else can be made from your shards afterward, weeks or years later.
| Keepsake | When you arrange it | Who does the work | Where it ends up |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mezuzah with a shard tube | Before the wedding, if it comes with the glass | You pour in the shards | Your doorpost |
| Mezuzah made with your glass | After the wedding | You mail the glass, the maker sets it in | Your doorpost |
| Shadow box or frame | After the wedding | You, or a framer | A wall or shelf |
| Jewelry or a keyring | After the wedding | You with a resin kit, or a jeweler | You wear it |
| Fused glass or mosaic | After the wedding | A glass artist | Your table or a wall |
| A jar | Any time | You | A shelf |
How does a wedding glass mezuzah work?
It is an ordinary mezuzah case that also holds the glass from your chuppah. There are two kinds: a case with a tube you fill with the shards yourself, and a case made with your glass set into it. Both hold a regular scroll and hang on the doorpost like any other mezuzah, so you pass your wedding glass every time you come home.
| Mezuzah with a shard tube | Custom shard mezuzah | |
|---|---|---|
| When you order | Before the wedding, often with the glass | After the wedding |
| What you do with the glass | Pour the pieces into the tube | Mail it to the maker |
| Where the shards end up | Loose inside a closed tube | Set into the case, nothing loose |
| Pick it if | You want it on the door as soon as you're home | You want the glass to be part of the case |
Judaica shops sell both kinds, and some glass artists make fused versions too.
Is a mezuzah with wedding glass still kosher?
Yes, if the scroll is. What makes a mezuzah kosher is the handwritten scroll inside, not the case, so glass in or on the case changes nothing. A single cracked letter does make a scroll invalid, though, so keep shards out of the scroll's compartment. Wedding glass in a mezuzah is a modern custom, not an old one, so ask your rabbi if that matters to you. Our guide to what's inside a mezuzah covers the scroll.
Our two wedding glass mezuzahs
We handmake both kinds in Toronto.
- The wedding glass breaking kit. It comes with a stemless glass in blue, green, gold or silver and a velvet pouch to break it in, or without the cup if you already have a glass. The resin mezuzah comes in seven designs. White and black have a clear corked tube on top. White with gold flakes, holographic glitter, grey with gold flakes, black with silver flakes, and black with gold and silver hamsas have it down the side. At home, you tip your favorite pieces into the tube.
- The custom shard mezuzah. You order it after the wedding, and we send instructions for mailing us your glass. We set the shards into the case itself, so there's no tube and nothing loose, and it's ready to ship in 3 to 5 days.
Both are 6 by 1.25 inches (15 x 3 cm) and fit a scroll up to 12 cm long, which you buy separately. They mount with two clear adhesive strips, and our guide to hanging a mezuzah shows where on the doorpost they go.
Jewish Wedding Glass Breaking Kit with Wedding Glass Mezuzah
$130.00 CAD
Jewish Wedding Smash Glass – Shards Embedded in Mezuzah Keepsake
$190.00 CAD
Other ways to keep the shards
A shadow box or frame
A shadow box is a deep frame that holds objects behind glass. It is the easiest way to display all of the glass, next to the invitation, a photo of the stamp or a dried flower from the bouquet. Glue the pieces to the backing with a clear glue made for glass, or seal them in a small clear bag, so nothing slides around when it hangs. A framer can build one if you'd rather not handle the shards.
Jewelry or a keyring
Small pieces can be cast in resin as a pendant, a keyring or cufflinks. You can do it at home with a resin kit and a silicone mold, or ask a jeweler who works with resin. Practice on a few spare shards first, and wear gloves while you sort them. Colored glass stands out in clear resin. Clear glass is much harder to see.
A rock tumbler is the other route. It wears the sharp edges smooth, like sea glass, and a jeweler can then wrap a piece in wire to hang on a chain.
Fused glass or a mosaic
A glass artist can melt the shards into a plate, a bowl, candlesticks or a kiddush cup, or set them into a mosaic tile or tray. Ask how much of your own glass will be in the finished piece. Drinking glass doesn't always fuse well with art glass, so some artists use your shards as accents in a piece made mostly of their own glass. Ask for the timeline too, before you mail anything.
A jar or the pouch
This is the simplest keepsake. Tip the shards into a small lidded jar with the place cards, your vows or a ribbon from the bouquet. Or leave them tied in the pouch you broke them in. Label it so nobody mistakes it for broken glass to throw out. You can always make something from it later.
How do you make sure you get the shards back?
Break the glass in a closed pouch, and have one person collect it right after. On wedding forums, several couples say their venue threw the glass out with the rest of the cleanup.
- Tell the venue. Let your planner and the venue coordinator know you're keeping the glass.
- Break it in a pouch. A drawstring velvet pouch or a cloth napkin tied tight keeps every piece together.
- Name one person. A sibling, the best man or your planner picks up the pouch right after the stamp and holds on to it until you leave.
- Use real glass. A light bulb shatters into thin, sharp flakes that don't make much of a keepsake.
- Choose colored glass if you want the shards to show. Blue, green, gold or silver pieces stand out in a tube, a frame or resin.
- Open it carefully at home. Wear gloves, tip the pouch out onto a tray, and pick up small pieces with tweezers.
Our guide to breaking the glass covers the stamp itself: which glass to use, what surface to stand it on, and when it happens in the ceremony.
Frequently asked questions
Is it OK to throw the wedding glass away?
Yes. The glass isn't a holy object, so there's no rule about what happens to it afterward. When a reader asked Ohr Somayach's Ask the Rabbi service this question, the answer was that it can go in the garbage. Keeping it is a custom, not an obligation.
How long after the wedding can we make a keepsake?
There's no deadline. Glass keeps, so the pouch can sit in a drawer until you're ready. Something made from it is a good anniversary gift.
Can we give the kit as a gift before the wedding?
Yes, and before is the right time, because the couple needs the glass for the ceremony. It suits an engagement party or a shower, and you can add a gift box when you order the wedding glass breaking kit. If the couple already has the glass they plan to break, choose the version without the cup.
Is the mezuzah scroll included?
No. Our cases hold a handwritten scroll up to 12 cm, or 4.7 inches, long. Buy it from a scribe or a Judaica store, or ask your rabbi where your community gets theirs.
What to remember
- Decide before the wedding and give one person the pouch. Once the venue clears the chuppah, the glass is easy to lose.
- A wedding glass mezuzah has a tube you fill or your glass set into the case. The scroll is what has to be kosher, so keep shards out of its compartment.
- Nothing obliges you to keep the glass. A labeled jar is a fine start, and you can make something from it years later.
