The "Bride's Bagel"
A loaf known as the "bride's bagel" is sometimes broken over the bride or over the young couple before they enter the yihud chamber (in which they are alone together for the first time). This loaf, which conveys a blessing of fertility and abundance, is also considered a lucky charm for single girls awaiting a match. Those gathered around the newlyweds therefore make every effort to secure a piece of the bread.

Breaking the "bride's bagel" over a newly married couple
About to enter the yihud chamber
Jerusalem, 1990s

Bride or Bread?
Until recently it was customary at Hasidic weddings for the bridegroom's mother to approach the newly married couple as they left the huppah, performing a special dance and holding a braided hallah (koyletsh) in her hands. As she danced in front of them, someone would ask the groom: "Which would you rather have - the bride (kallah) or the bread (hallah)?"
Apart from their similar ring, the words kallah and hallah juxtaposed here allude to the resemblance between the braided wedding loaves and the braiding of the bride's hair in a ceremony preceding the wedding. In the past it was also customary to seat the bride on a kneading trough while braiding her hair, as a lucky charm (segulah) and a blessing.