Abu Dhabi: Summer is the season for weddings in the UAE, with more than 30,000 nuptials taking place every year, excluding the holy month of Ramadan.
Emiratis still perform their weddings in the same traditional way, and only a few changes were made to keep up with modern times.
Emirati Amnah Mohammad Saeed, said the UAE wedding of old was an occasion for members of the society to get together, which is still a preserved tradition.
"In the past, parents used to select a bride for their son, unless he had seen a girl he liked and told his parents about her," Amnah said.
After the bride is selected, the groom's female relatives must visit her home to see her, which is also an opportunity to check her home and its cleanliness.
After the visit, women are served coffee and fruits, they inform the bride's family of the purpose of the visit.
The bride's family usually tells them that they need a week to ask about the potential groom, especially if he was not an acquaintance of the family, in which case they just inform the girl's father to seek his permission.
"Girls in the past had no say in their marriage, unlike today. They used to learn how to cook, clean and maintain their homes," Amnah said.
"After the visit, the girl's family asks about the man's conduct and reputation, and if they accept his proposal, the groom's male relatives visit the bride's father to set a time for the wedding, which is usually one week later," she said.
The marriage rituals are performed during the night of the wedding.
All the bride's female relatives and neighbours help to prepare all her needs, including her bridal clothes. They also take care of her beauty needs on the wedding day.
The groom's family takes the food to the bride's home, where it is cooked and served.
Weddings used to last for three days to one week, depending on financial ability, during which guests were served food and sweets, and some food was sent to the elderly and the sick, who could not make it to the wedding.
Entertainment was provided by folklore bands, which performed traditional songs and dances for the guests.
"Some families used to borrow gold jewellery from rich people, and others from jewellers. The bride's gold decorations included a head piece, earrings, necklace, bracelets with spikes and rings," Amnah said.
The groom would only see his bride during the wedding day.
The bride would wear nice-scented perfumes and wear a green dress and a burqa.
Another tradition was postponing the party if a relative dies before the wedding.
George Ebrahim, a wedding coordinator at one of Abu Dhabi's finest hotels, said the cost of wedding parties ranges between Dh30,000 and Dh100,000, with more than 200 weddings held at the hotel every year.
Have you been to an Emirati wedding? How different is it from the traditional weddings in your country? Is tradition becoming less important in today's world?
Your comments
I am a UAE national and although most marriages are still traditional, wedding ceremonies are not at all. Brides wear the white dress and singers perform while people chat and eat and dance. No one dresses like that picture above anymore.
Hind
Abu Dhabi,UAE
Posted: May 11, 2009, 15:55
Traditional weddings are always a joy to watch with many customary ceremonies. I never had the luck of participating in an Emarati wedding so far. But I think the traditional muslim weddings in Malabar drew their similarities from Arab weddings. The various events took about two weeks and the wedding normally took place at night. The bride's dresses and ornaments used to be the talk of the town for sometime after the event. Nowadays, weddings are conducted more or less like an event management, in which all the relatives gather in a five star hotel's hall and conclude all the ceremonies within a day itself!
Agniyah Shaikh
Sharjah,UAE
Posted: May 11, 2009, 14:35
Emirati weddings nowadays have changed a lot. I'm an Emirati and i think as mentioned above it's side ways right and wrong, because nowadays the weddings are held in ballrooms and the bride must wear a white dress, which is taken from western tradition. many people now in emirates consider it oldsytle if the bride wears a green dress and veil. Wedding traditions have changed a lot recently.
From A Reader
Dubai,UAE
Posted: May 11, 2009, 13:41
