The Jan.-Feb. issue of AARP magazine states that some couples--for financial reasons--are choosing to be married at a funeral home. This is a "win-win" situation for the funeral home. Now they can hold birthday parties,graduation parties, and weddings in addition to funerals. What does Jewish law say about holding a wedding at a funeral law? Has it ever been done? wouldn't it be better for a synagogue to use part of their funds to help a Jewish couple get married at their synagogue rather than at a funeral home?
Certainly within Judaism such a thing would not be acceptable. Whilst it is true that King Solomon writes that it is better to go to a funeral than to a wedding he certainly does not mean to go to a wedding in a funeral home! King Solomon is teaching us that a funeral home is a place where the end of life is contemplated and one must behave with certain sense of decorum when there.
A wedding hall is something else all together. I would be absolutely amazed if this was a fad that had reached the (Orthodox) Jewish world but if it has you would be absolutely correct - Synagogues should reduce the costs of their wedding packages to allow them to be attractive to all budgets.
