by Cindy
I had a great time at the wedding! It was a crazy evening because before the wedding we joined some other friends at a culinary fund raising event. There we were working in the kitchen preparing the evening's meal and wearing hairnets. After dinner I exchanged the hairnet for an evening gown and headed to the wedding.
The wedding was in a ballroom at the Atlantis hotel and beyond that I wasn't exactly sure. The hotel is huge with three large buildings on the property. I really had nothing to worry about - these were the road signs leading us the right building.
We arrived at the wedding about 11 PM and the bride arrived shortly afterward. The event had about 750 attendees, all women, of all ages. We were seated at tables and you could get up and walk around all you wanted. It was a cross between a dinner reception following a wedding and a Holiday or Charity Ball. The feel of the event was joyous like a wedding but the dresses and jewelry were more like what you find at a charity ball in America. If this had been in America and men were there, it would have been called a "black tie" affair. The food was served buffet style after the bride arrived (about 11:30 PM) and was a mix of everything. Servers were bringing around juices, cokes and tea for drinks.
Along with the tables, the hall was set up with a long aisle for the bride to enter the hall and a stage for the bride to greet the attendees. The long aisle was lined with small white couches that family members sat on to greet and receive guests as they arrived to the party. The stage had a huge couch on it and the bride spent the evening on the couch. The guests took turns going up to congratulate the bride and get professional pictures with her. The below picture is taken from a corner of the room, facing the stage. The white wall was the background for the stage and the brides throne for the evening. Notice the camera boom in the picture! Along with professional photography, they were filming the whole event.
There were a few students from the university and they checked up on us regularly, made sure we had eaten dinner and that everything was okay and we were having a nice time. One student stuck with us the whole night, filling us in with details, and eventually escorted us to congratulate the bride. We posed for some pictures with her and then were escorted to one of the couches lining the dance floor to watch everyone.
Once the ladies finished dinner, they would go with their group of friends to pose for pictures with the bride and then the university age and younger ladies made their way to the dance floor. About 1 AM they announced that the men were on their way so the ladies gathered their abayas from the coat check and put on their shaylas. Some ladies had remained in the abaya all evening but most women needed to cover up before the men arrived. My friend Chris and I both commented that until the abayas and shaylas came out, you would have thought you were in America at a big party but once all of the women covered, you were quickly reminded that you were somewhere else. One thing to note is that the bride covered as well. She had a white shayla and a jacket, of sorts, that she used to cover her shoulders.
When the men arrived, they walked down the aisle to greet the bride. The fathers flanked the groom and the three led the party of about 15 men, all of whom I presume to be close family. They all posed for pictures with the bride. The scene was not much different than after an American wedding where everyone poses with the new couple. There was no ceremony really just pageantry. At some point they became symbolically married and the bride removed her shayla and her jacket; thus symbolizing that she is now a part of the family and no longer has to remain covered around them.
There was a part of the pageantry where the father (I think) of the bride or groom waved a bunch of money over the couple - I assume symbolizing a blessing - and then threw the money in the air. All of the kids came running to collect the money and it reminded me of kids on an Easter egg hunt.
After this pretty much everyone found a seat and the cake was brought out. It was seven layers and about five feet tall. I'm not sure if it was for decoration or to eat but it was HUGE! At this point many people had left or were leaving, ourselves included, so I'm not sure what happened next. The student who spent the evening with us explained that the bride and groom would each take a bite of the cake but she wasn't sure what would happen after that. It was well after 1:30 AM at this point and while we had an AMAZING time, we were ready for bed. The student escorted us out and took a quick picture of us before we left.
It really was a very fun evening and I was quite honored that I had been invited. I am sure you would like to see more pictures but that would be totally inappropriate in this culture.
You should know that my students were right, I saw all kinds of amazing gowns and jewelry. I am sure they spent HOURS on their hair and makeup. As a Westerner we did get stared out quite a bit but i think it helped that the students came to check on us regularly. It was a spectacular event and I felt privileged to attend.
