Carlos and Guen's Guatemala Inspired Jewish Ketubah
Guen and Carlos come from two beautiful and colorful backgrounds: Jewish and Guatemalan. They wanted to commission a custom, hand-painted ketubah that would celebrate both of their heritages. I love working on ketubahs with interfaith couples and creating art that represents a blending of cultures.
We got to work brainstorming!
Here is the inspiration list we came up with on our first brainstorm call:
- Bright colors (music to my ears!)
- Quetzal Bird with greens and reds — maybe two
- Tree to the side with branches going over
- Tree of life
- Winding branches, full leaves, robust leaves
- Round Design — wrapping/organic
- Ketubah text in English, Hebrew and Spanish
I couldn't wait to get to work. First I did a little research into Quetzal birds and I was blown away! Not only are they absolutely gorgeous, but they also have a rich symbolic history in Guatemala.
Quetzal bird in the wild
Some couples approach me to create a custom ketubah and they already know exactly what they want right down to the colors and details. Other couples have no idea where to start. Both options are totally ok! If a couple has no idea what they want for a ketubah, then I spend some time brainstorming with them. The goal is to get a good sense of their artistic taste and aesthetic, as well as to help them narrow down what story they want their ketubah to tell and what elements are most important to them to include.
Guen and Carlos were the first kind of couple. They came to me already knowing that they wanted Quentzal birds to be the stars of their ketubah and it was pretty easy for me to get a sense of their artistic preferences. I was so excited that I got to work right away and presented them with these ketubah layout sketches:
Guen and Carlos loved the first sketch, that was easy! And so, we got to work on their ketubah text. Guen and Carlos decided to have their ketubah text in Hebrew, English and also Spanish to symbolize their cultures. Did you know that I can offer translation to Spanish for any ketubah texts? That's thanks to my Argentinian husband, he comes in handy.
Once we had the text finalized, Guen and Carlos gave me a green light to go all in on bright colors, mimicking the gorgeous teal, red, and yellow of the Quetzal birds.
This is the process of how the painting came together:
I had so much fun working on this colorful ketubah that combines two colorful cultures and symbolizes the seeds of a beautiful family!
Mazel Tov Carlos and Guen! Wishing you a marriage full of joy, color, and many happy celebrations. L'chaim and Felicidades!
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