Marriage in Egypt (Part 3)

The fun (and very hectic) part has come! Time for the party(s)
Now, Egyptians are a very joyous people, we find reasons to celebrate, we crack jokes at times of misery and we have a huge amount of official holidays (true!), so it would only be natural for us to have lots of parties during the process of getting married!

 

 here

• The get-to-know each other gathering (which usually coincides with the fat-ha) when parents get to know each other is more like a tea/dessert/snack thing. You are not expected to be formally dressed, just smartly so. 

• The Engagement Party: This is like a cocktail-ish party, the bride to be wears a pretty dress( not white, of course) and everyone celebrates, because basically, she got her ring(s!). The Engagement party came to existence because, in the past, the bride and groom didn't know each other to begin with (arranged marriages) so it was for everyone to know that this couple are officially together. And accordingly, they can go out, they can start preparing for their wedding....etc. But now, it's more like a tradition. The bride pays all expenses that have to do with the engagement party. A new trend is to go out to celebrate instead of a real party and save the money up for a huge wedding.

• Bachelor/ Bachelorette and Henna Parties: Typically, a night or two before the wedding, the groom goes out with the guys, and the bride with the girls, waving their "single" lives goodbye. What Egyptians additionally do is Henna Night (which is, a tradition of Nubian/upper Egyptians) it has become more of a trend in recent years, and not everyone holds this, but it deserves the mention (it's tons of fun!) it's typically held on the night before wedding night.

"A henna night is a jamboree of festivities. The bride and her female guests (usually, men are not allowed to attend) gather after sunset the day before the wedding to sing, clap, ululate, and dance the night away. Refreshments, snacks or a full-blown supper may be served. Gifts may or may not be given to the bride. Depending on her financial capabilities, a bride may don up to seven different outfits. Candles are lit on a tray, which the bride has to circumambulate seven times. At many henna nights in Egypt, this is where the evening ends; the brownish plant paste is nowhere to be seen. But in keeping with the cultural code, some households insist on the grand finale: a skilled woman or hannana is brought to slather henna on the bride's palms and feet or to draw designs." Here
Pictures!

• The wedding contract is signed either on the night of the wedding or around noon of the same day, rituals differ as to if the couple is Muslim or Christian. This is not a party, but is celebrated.

• The wedding! (I got goosebumps writing this, don't ask why!) Egyptian weddings are glamourous, festive, loud and LONG!

1. The Zaffa: First; the car parade, when the bride and groom in a car, and their families in cars following thiers, noisily use their horns to show the people that they are heading to their wedding, the street is usually engaged in the noise and congratulates the couple. Then the hotel/reception zaffa, translated as "the wedding march" and it's far from a march, zaffas are LOUD and emotional for the parents and close friends/relatives. According to wikipedia a zaffa "is a musical procession of bendir drums, bagpipes, horns, belly dancers and men carrying flaming swords(not necessarily). This announces that the marriage is about to begin"
2. The first dance, the dance with the father and the multi-tiered cake, the bouqet tossing and all the western influence on Egyptian weddings is there.
3. The ring switching happens at the "Kosha" which is where the bride and groom are seated surrounded by flowers, and they drink their sharbat "Sharbat is the juice served in almost all happy occassions in Egypt,it`s made of rose syrup.really sweet."
4. The entertainment consists mainly of a belly dancer(s), a singer or a band and tons of dancing! Usually until not before 4 AM! This is an excellent read.

This may or may not be the last part, but I promise there is a surprize coming up! I have been hating the weather lately (extremely dusty)..
Is there something that you guys would especially want to know about? I am trying to make this as informative as possible, but I want to get it over with because I miss my random posts :(
Have I mentioned I got 2 real life blog-compliments?! Extremely extatic, they made me!