Expert Advice: Have Ketubah, Will Travel

Ketubah designer Daniel Sroka of Modern Ketubah shares his tips for safely transporting a ketubah to your wedding site.

When my wife and I got married, we were living in San Francisco, but our wedding was closer to our family in New Jersey. Let me tell you, planning a long distance wedding has its challenges! One of which is how to safely bring your ketubah on the plane with you. As a ketubah designer, I get asked about this a lot, so I thought I’d share some advice with you. First, have your ketubah shipped directly to you, not to the site of your wedding. It is really important that you see your ketubah in person, well before the ceremony. This will allow you look it over carefully, and make sure that it is exactly what you ordered. G-d forbid it gets accidentally damaged in shipment, it will give you time to replace it.

Packing Your Ketubah

Most ketubah companies will ship your ketubah rolled between sheets of acid-free tissue paper, and placed in an extra-strong shipping tube. Experience has shown that this is the safest way to ship unframed fine art. (If this was not the way your ketubah was shipped to you, be sure to pick up these supplies to re-package the ketubah.) So the best way to travel with a ketubah is to reuse this shipping tube. Place your ketubah between the tissue paper provided, and carefully reroll it and place it in the tube. You now have a safe and portable package to carry with you to your wedding location. If you are traveling by plane, be sure to bring it with you as a carry-on, or stash it safely deep in the middle of your suitcase, surrounded on all sides by clothing.

When You Arrive

When you get to the location of your wedding, take your ketubah out of the tube, and let it unroll. The paper will keep its curl for a while, but don’t worry. The paper of your ketubah should easily “forget” the curl over time. When you remove it, you could gently use the tube to roll it in the opposite direction to remove the curl more quickly. If you feel uncomfortable doing this, just lay it flat like I suggested for a day or so to get rid of the worst of the curl. For my own wedding, I used an inexpensive poster frame to flatten the ketubah, and then protect it throughout the wedding and reception. When you are ready to have it framed, your framer can make sure that any remaining curl is removed.