16Aug

Wedding Video as a Music Video: Our Ketubah is Featured!

We’re huge fans of Jacqueline Graben & Alex Hoffman. At first, they were a couple that we got along with well, and we created a ketubah for them that, in the end, turned out to be fantastic (of course, we’re very biased!). Another Ketubah Hit — Yay!

But then. After their wedding, Jacqui sent us an email with a first take from their video team for the wedding video. We all watched it together in our studio and… our hearts fell to the floor. Yes–we are completely and utterly cheesy and we fall for it. But it was just so heart warming, every aspect of it: their love story; the ups and downs of the week when Alex proposed–even the tiny little details (she fell for him before she met him… when she saw the photo of his dog!!!!). Their love shines through.

But it gets better. The video itself was done incredibly. And I’m not a person that says that easily; I’m usually an annoying guy with annoyingly high standards. Personally, I usually hate wedding videos and refuse to watch them. But I got into this one, it is the first one I’ve ever seen that I got in to–and that I have willingly, enthusiastically watched multiple times already: it felt like a rock video! I emailed Jaqui asking her, “who made this video? I need to meet them!” and she told me that it’s Paul and Melanie from Darlington Studios. This video is fantastic–I would unhesitantingly use them for my wedding, if I were to get married in Toronto. And be on the lookout for appearances of the Ketubah! Enjoy–and congrats to Alex, Jaqui, Paul, and Melanie.


14Aug

Making Your Ketubah Art Unique For You Two!

Often, a Ketubah is beautiful and just awesome…. but you wish a detail were different.

Maybe you want the Bride and Groom in the artwork to look more like you two.

Maybe you want the colors to be your favorite colors, or to match the wall you’re put it on.

Maybe you think there is one heart too many in the design, and you want it just marginally less cheesy. Or maybe you want to add a few more hearts to it.

Whatever change you want to make to your Ketubah… just ask us! Our dedication is to do everything possible to make sure that your Ketubah isn’t just fantastic but it is right for YOU TWO. This includes changing the Ketubah in any way we can.

Just ask us if we make the changes for you… and we will try to!


13Aug

Our Philosophy, in a Phrase

Our awesome artist, Yael, made a great observation the other day while we were in the studio:

“A bad product is the worst publicity a company can have.”

Yes! Great insight! That gets right to the heart of it! I take her same idea, and I would phrase it positively, even hyperbolically:

“A truly world-class awesome product is the best possible publicity a company can have.”

And this is exactly what we strive to do, in both the negative versions (avoid the bad) and positive versions (promote the good).

What what does having such a great product entail, particularly in the context of a ketubah? We would say that a great ketubah experience includes:


07Aug

Why Are Ketubahs Usually So Expensive? (And How Can You Have Such Great Prices?)

When talking with couples we work with, and other couples we know, one question we commonly get is, “Why are Ketubahs so expensive? We know yours are very well-priced and cheaper than almost all others, and far-and-away the cheapest given their quality — but I would have still expected ketubahs to be a fraction of the cost that they are! Why aren’t they this cheap? You’re just printing something out, right?”

Boy oh boy, do we have a lot to say on this subject! So lets go:

1.) We agree with that comment! In fact, one of the reasons we began This Is Not a Ketubah is because, we realized that too many other people overcharge for their Ketubot. Our vision is to ensure that everyone has a truly awesome Ketubah, regardless of their budget.

2.) We create our ketubot using the most high-quality materials — our canvases are magnificent! Printing on A4 printer paper is cheap, but printing museum-quality Ketubot can get very expensive! It is museum quality, after all!

But there is a lot more going on here than just the printing cost! Lets see…

3.) To our surprise, what takes the most time is… personalizing the Ketubah. Coordinating the exact information you want, in Hebrew, can be a big and time-consuming pain in the (I don’t want to write the word in this family-friendly G-rated post). Everyone has a different convention — should we write the year like this, or like that? Who would have known that a lot of people really prefer the Hebrew year written out, rather than as a number? We didn’t!

4.) Among the most time-consuming parts of the process is, getting your Rabbi’s, Cantor’s, or Officiant’s approval. This is essential to us — he (or she) is the one making your wedding happen so he needs to love the text! And just getting ahold of a rabbi takes a lot of time and back-and-forth. We were shocked to discover how busy all rabbis are — but it makes sense, if I were a rabbi, I’d be spending all my time with my congregants and studying the Torah and a million administrative duties!

5.) Truly awesome customer service is… well… time-consuming for us. We answer our phone — so you can call us any time. We chat with you online. We respond to every single email within a day. We hold your hand and guide you through the process. We’ll tell you things you might otherwise forget (Don’t forget about getting a pen for the ketubah! Oh, here are our recommendations!). We pride ourselves on our fun, good-energy, non-stop fun customer service to the point where we just hate the phrase “customer service.” And this takes a lot of time.

The more time-consuming something is, the more expensive it will be — since we need to buy lots and lots of coffee for our studio, to give us energy!

6.) We offer an awesome refund policy, no questions asked. Therefore, we need to keep some money in order to save for the occasional person who asks for one so we can afford it! In other words, in order to offer a great refund policy, we need to make sure we have enough money to afford the refunds! (Note: this hasn’t happened yet! Yay!!! Knock on wood!!!)

7.) We are truly dedicated to ensuring that all of our artists receive a living wage. Our artists are all Argentine Jews, many of whom have few opportunities. We pay all of our artists handsomely because, after all, we were founded as a collective of Argentine-Jewish artists. We believe artists deserve to be paid fairly for their work, at least enough for them to live off of.

8.) We also use 10% of all of our income to support Ieladeinu, Argentina’s Jewish orphanage.

We are truly committed to our vision of ensuring that everyone gets an awesome Ketubah at a price they can afford, and we will stop at nothing to make sure everyone gets the best price! That said, we still wish we could reduce our prices even more — and we’re working on it!!!! Stay tuned for some upcoming exciting announcements, making our prices even better!

Taking all of the following into account, the obvious follow-up question is, “Guys, you are offering so much and doing so much — how can you afford to have such a lower price on the market?”. To which, my response would be:

A.) Awww thanks for the kind words! We strive to have the best price and I’m happy you think so (Yes, I’m talking to you, hypothetical blog reader who happens to read this!).

B.) We are in Argentina, where the costs are lower than in the USA. A livable wage in Argentina is substantially lower than a livable wage in the USA, for example.

C.) We’re not a for-profit that’s trying to make every penny we can; we’re just a team of artists trying to make sure that you get the best ketubah at the best price! So we’re not trying to find a way to extract a penny from you here are there.

We’re dedicated our vision of, the perfect modern ketubah for every single couple, no matter what their budget is.

Any questions?

Morgan
Team Ketubah



11Jul

Now Shipping All Around the World!

Exciting news: Here at This Is Not a Ketubah, we have so far only been shipping to the USA and Canada. But now, we’re shipping to: England (UK, including London, of course!), Israel, South Africa, Australia, Mexico and France! So if you’re in any of those countries — just say hi!

(We are about to ship to a bunch of other countries, too — so if you’re somewhere else not on this list… then just ask!)

So exciting!


28Jun

Rush Ketubah? Team Ketubah Is Here to Help!

Is your wedding coming up in less than 3 weeks, and you don’t have a Ketubah? If your wedding isn’t tomorrow, we can help!!

If you need a Rush Ketubah, Team Ketubah can make it happen! Get in touch with us pronto to get started:

  • Email us with your wedding date, and we’ll get back to you pronto, usually in less than one business day! < team@tinak.org >
  • Or, call 347-627-0022 and we’ll get back to you STAT

We’ve worked with lots of last-minute couples. We use FedEx Next Day Air with Tracking, so no need to worry! Our dedicated Arts Team will create a Ketubah you’ll absolutely love, as quickly as you need it!

What you need to know:

 

First, pick you design, just look through our Gallery!

 

“What size do want your Ketubah to be?”
All about sizes:
(The standard Ketubah size is 16×24)
“What material do you want your Ketubah on?”
All about materials: 
“Do you want the text personalized (we’ll fill in the blanks using our calligraphy)?”
 
About Text Personalization: This is if you want any of your personal information (names, dates, places) to be done in the same print calligraphy as the rest of your Ketubah. Otherwise, your Rabbi/Officiant would fill it in at the ceremony. (Text Personalization is $75, and orders received within less than 21 days of the Expected Delivery Date it’s $90). If you choose this option, after you complete your payment you will receive a form to fill in with all the details. It’s a good idea to consult your parents and/or Rabbi/Officiant while doing this, to get the details right.)
“What Hebrew text do you want to use?”
“What English text do you want to use?”
 
All about Text Options: Here you can choose which text is perfect for you and your bride/groom. (It’s important to consult your Rabbi/Officiant by asking if they have a particular text preference, specially for the Hebrew part.)
 
“How should we ship your Ketubah? (regular ground shipping is included in the US)”
All about shipping: US Ground Shipping in the US is free (7-10 Business days). Canada is $30 regular ground. For Rush orders, which is 21 days or less of the Expected Delivery Date, you will have to choose 2 day or overnight shipping.
How much will I spend? Most couples spend about $400 on their Ketubah.

 


28Jun

The Official Guide: Receiving & Signing your Ketubah!

Congratulations! Team Ketubah has sent your Ketubah to print, and you’ve received the FedEx or UPS tracking number. Hurray!

Note:If you don’t receive your Ketubah or the FedEx delivery status is inaccurate, email or call Team Ketubah right away!

Opening & Flattening Your Ketubah

As soon as you receive your Ketubah, open up the mailer! Inside you’ll find your Ketubah, and maybe some surprises too. Depending on your print medium, your Ketubah may arrive in a tough Cardboard Tube, or shipped flat in a sturdy rectangular box, guarded by additional layers of Cardboard inside the box.

For Ketubot Shipped Flat, carefully open the package by opening the box from one end. DO NOT cut into the box — you could damage your print! As you remove the support board which carries the Ketubah, carefully remove the light adhesive tape. Inspect your print to make sure its absolutely perfect, and check the mailer for any other little surprises! After you and your fiance have admired your print, return it to the print to the box in a cool, dry place. It’s the safest place until wedding day!

For Rolled Ketubot Shipped in Tubes, begin opening the mailer at the end closest to the shipping label, and remove all tape or packaging from that end. DO NOT cut into the tube — you could damage your print! As you remove the print from the Tube, gently drag it vertically along the tube wall. Stay calm, and be careful not to force the print with your fingers!
Once you’ve removed the print, it may have a slight curl, this is totally normal! We recommend placing the print on a flat surface, and leave it for 24 hours. If after this time the print still does not lay flat, you can weight down your print with books or other non-sharp weights, by first place a layer of wax-paper between the print and the weights. One flattened, we recommend maintaining the print flat until Wedding Day!

Transporting your Ketubah

Team Ketubah recommends transporting your Ketubah to the wedding site in the same mailer package it arrived in.
If you have recently flattened a rolled Ketubah, carefully re-roll the Ketubah and place it in the mailer. If it is only rolled for transportation and is immediately taken out and laid flat again at the wedding site, it should stay flat!

Signing Your Ketubah

Yay! The moment is here! By signing your Ketubah, you’ll be joining generations of Jewish couples, and even having a little fun! Here are some tips for every print type, and we recommend extra care for Endura Prints!

Before Wedding Day:

  • Consult with your Rabbi or Officiant on the signing ceremony or process, so you know what to expect
  • Choose one of the Pens for Signing Your Ketubah page, and chose the option that is best for your style and taste.

On Wedding Day:

  • Have the signing pen and a spare sheet of paper available, to test the pen and practice signatures, if signers are feeling excited.
  • Place your Ketubah in a central location. We don’t recommend passing the Ketubah around the room!
  • Advise the Ketubah Party that there will be wet ink! Avoiding ugly smudges can be prevented! Give the heads up to all signers to be very careful, and mindful of previous signatures
  • Give ample drying time for the signatures, on all print mediums for all pens. Humidity, lighting and temperature can all affect drying time — don’t risk touching the print too soon!
  • Congrats on successfully signing your Ketubah!

    We can’t wait to see pictures!!

    Team Ketubah


    19Jun

    Conservative with Lieberman Clause Text Option!

    If you belong to a Conservative temple, synagogue, or congregation or your Rabbi will probably ask you to find a Ketubah with a Conservative Text, with Lieberman Clause!

    Team Ketubah’s Conservative text is the same endorsed by the Rabbincal Assembly, the international association of Conservative rabbis.

    Conservative Text with Lieberman Clause

    You can see the Conservative Ketubah Text Info Here, or download the PDF. Team Ketubah uses this exact text, and we’d be happy to edit it, to your Rabbi’s request!

    We’re more than happy to Mix-and-Match the text with any English option you prefer. Of course, we always send you a Pre-Print Proof and will never print without the Green Light from you, and your Rabbi!. So, no need to worry!

    See the rest of our text options here.

    If you have more questions, give Team Ketubah a call! 347-627-0022 or email us at .


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