Rachel Rubin, 28 and Maddie Deutsch, 40 were just married this past month in Northern California. Their adorable ceremony, surrounded by family and friends, included both kippot and cowgirl boots. Both ladies are Jewish, and they found meaningful ways to include their culture into their deeply personal ceremony. Rachel, an activist for the LGBTQ community and former employee of many a Jewish communal professional organization met Dr. Deutsch at a healthcare fundraiser at the LA Gay & Lesbian Center when both were formerly SoCal residents. Rachel currently works in the philanthropic world and serves as Director of of Individual Giving at Project Open Hand, which provides nutritious “meals with love” to the sick and the eldery in the SF Bay Area. Maddie is a trailblazer for transgender health at UCSF, also maintaining a practice in Berkeley and weekly trips to Los Angeles as director of the Transgender Health Program at the LA Gay and Lesbian Center.
Below, Rachel provides a touching photo journey and captions that share some of their special moments on their special day. (all photos courtesy Weddings to the People )
We got married on Mount Diablo both because of how totally beautiful it is and also because maddie’s grandparents really loved that mountain (they lived nearby). Since they couldn’t be there as they’ve passed away, it felt like a meaningful way to include them.
We had kippot there because my mom insisted. I hadn’t really connected with the idea of it, but once the wedding started, it was one of the things that connected me to the moment. Seeing all of the men in kippot, it grounded me in to the tradition of marriage for us as Jews. It meant a lot and I’m glad we had them.
That’s my niece and nephew who were both in the wedding. It felt so special to have children be part of the ceremony.
I think this picture really captures how much fun we had that day. Everyone talks about how stressful weddings are and we just didn’t experience that. It was totally magical to have everyone we loved in the same place. I imagine it will be the only time in our lives that that happens and i think we worked hard at enjoying the small moments of the day.
Maddie built our chuppah which meant so much to me. We got married in California in August, so there was no way we were waiting til sundown. It would have been at 9 o’clock! We did our ketubah signing Friday afternoon before the rehearsal dinner and had a good friend marry us on Saturday. That felt like reasonable balance between wanting a Jewish wedding and not wanting our reception to start at 10pm!
We both stepped on the glass together. It was cute.
I’m including the menu because the food choices were very tired to Tikkun Olam and how that directs our lives. It was important to us that everything be local with fair labor practices. We were able to do that with the food and the flowers and that really connected to our sense of Jewish identity and social justice.
I just love this picture and I think it’s very “us.”
Community felt like a big part of our wedding.
Rachel and Madeline | July 13, 2013
For more adorable pictures from the couple’s wedding, check out the following album: HERE.
For their vows, they wrote their own and then read them aloud alternatively, starting with Rachel.
R: I pledge to be only the very best parts of me that fit perfectly with the best parts of you.
M: I pledge to be only the very best parts of me that fit perfectly with the best parts of you.
I promise to ask for help when I need it, and offer it to you always.
I promise to learn from you with eternal curiosity and to teach you with endless patience.
I vow to never stop traveling, even if it means flying LOT Polish again.
I vow to seek out adventure wherever we go.
I pledge to keep skiing no matter how many times I have to be rescued by ski patrol on a green.
I pledge to brave the rapids with you, and do my best to not close my eyes when I’m supposed to be steering.
I promise to give you kisses when you are flustered, because I love you and not at all because you are making us late to something.
I promise to process with you for hours, because I love you and not at all because you’re very very neurotic.
I vow to protect you in all of our travels, even from 8 year old girls in morcon train stations.
I vow to keep you safe on night trains, even if I have to bribe the engineer to get us a private compartment.
I pledge to never wear shoes in the tent.
I pledge to always build the fire.
I promise to give you my warmth whenever you require it, even at night when your hands are like tiny blocks of ice.
I promise to take care of you and be your doctor forever, even if it means watching you try and swallow antibiotics for 20 minutes in a crowded restaurant.
I pledge to not confuse the B52s with Le Tigra.
I pledge to at least try to listen to music made after 1978
I vow to be on your side always and to make all of your fights my fights.
I vow to honor the integrity of who we are and who we come from by never leaving your side in our fight for a most just world.
I pledge to not swim in a hurricane even though I was a junior lifeguard.
I pledge to stop at stop signs when I’m riding my bike, even on the wiggle.
I promise to choose you, over and over again, no matter what.
I promise to choose you, over and over again, no matter what.
I vow to never stop being in awe of all you do and everything you are.
I vow to never stop forgetting how lucky I feel today.
I pledge to you every ounce of my love, today and forever. And after that as well.
I pledge to you every ounce of my love, today and forever. And after that as well.
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