More about Egyptian Wedding Traditions

Well back in August, I had talked a little bit about Egyptian traditions. With the holiday season, and the chance to actually relax for a minute, I finally got the opportunity to watch my Aunt's wedding video (where I was candle girl - the one 15 years ago). This sparked memories of a few other Egytian Weddings that I've been to more recently - in Egypt. I'll talk about the Egyptian Weddings in Egypt for this entry, then maybe talk about Egyptian-Canadian ones a little later.

Actually before I get to that... for those of you who are wondering why I wear the engagement ring on the "right" hand, instead of the left hand. Egyptians (and many other cultures actually - like many Europeans, Jews, Arabs, Spanish (Spain, Venezuala, Chile), ... I think they even do it in Poland ...), wear their engagement rings on their right hand. At the wedding, the bride and groom switch it to the left hand. It stays on the "ring" finger the whole time, and usually goes on after the wedding ring - making it closer to the heart. Even more practically, the ring fits better on my right hand, ever since I sprained in Stonecliffe last August. (Although I'm not totally sure why it originated as the "right" hand, I think it has to do with the greek or latin (or arabic) words for "right" and "left"; the right is supposed to be better.)

Okay, so back to Wedding traditions. People are starting to ask me about Bridal showers, and Bachelorette parties. I think this is because some of them live out of town, and want to know when to head back to Ottawa. Anyway, this whole "bachelor/stag" and "bachelorette/stagette" thing, don't really happen the same way in Egyptian culture, as in Canadian culture.

The night before the big day (or a couple of nights before the wedding), the relatives, the friends and the neighbors got together to celebrate "the Henna Night". While the men went to the groom's house, we got to party it up at the Bride's house.
At the bride's house the women belly-dance and sing all night (well there's always the eating and talking bit too). The bride wears a dress (often pink) made with silk or cotton fibers, and her hands and feet are decorated with henna. "The Henna lady" that caters to the henna decorations of the bride, often does waxing as well. The other women often jump in at the chance to get henna tattoos and waxing done too. So it's just a night of indoor, outgoing, loud, dancing, singing, and spa-ing fun! The bride sometimes also shows her new jewellery (a gift that the groom buys the bride for the wedding). Meanwhile, the men dance and sing all night at the groom's house, and in case you were wondering, the groom wears a suit (not like a galabaya or something).

The next day, the marriage contract /wedding ceremony is signed and registered in the mosque/church/temple. Other than the couple and most of their families and very close friends. Usually the families take up a lot of the room, so not everyone is invited to attend the ceremony.

Okay, so I didn't make it to the candle part yet, but at least the pre-wedding traditions are mostly covered now. It's getting late and I'm getting tired. But please let me know what you think of this post, so I know if it's a good idea to talk about traditions or not.

Cheers,
Nora

P.S. There are 168 days to go! =)
P.P.S Happy Eid! =) - It starts today.