Gabrielle Kaplan-Meyer

As they were originally planning their wedding, neither Hilarie nor Brian had thought much about what kind of ketubah they wanted; choosing one was just one more thing to check off on their wedding 'to do' list. But when Brian's stepmother told the couple that she would like to give them a custom-made ketubah as a Hannukah gift, they had to give the decision more thought.

"I hadn't really thought of doing something custom. To be honest, it seemed a bit extravagant," Hilarie recalls. However, when Brian's stepmother sent them to the artist Nishima's website and they saw she had created ketubot based on pieces of art that were important to couples, they thought of the painting [that Brian gave Hilarie shortly after she converted.]

It seemed perfect to take the symbols from a painting that was so meaningful to them and incorporate those symbols into their ketubah.

Brian and Hilarie really liked and clicked with Nishima after talking to her. She was flexible, and her utmost concern was making a beautiful ketubah that said about them as a unique couple… In addition to the symbols from their favorite painting, Nishima also added images of Hilarie's family's barn that still stands in rural western Illinois… and Brian's synagogue, where he celebrated his bar mitzvah and where his parents were married as well. To Hilarie and Brian, these touches make the ketubah feel as if it represents a continuum encompassing their individual pasts, their present life together, and their future as a married couple.

"There was nothing like the feeling that we both had as we opened our ketubah. It was more beautiful and special than we imagined it would be," Hilarie says. Evolving from simply an item "to do" into a work of art for them, the ketubah enriched their wedding and now graces their home.