I must say Egyptian weddings are quite comparable to an American wedding in the south. A week long celebration, dancing, shooting guns, loud raucous party the only notable difference is an American Southern wedding would have copious amounts of beer and liquor hahah but essentially the same energy. I was pretty partied out, there was something happening each night until wee hours.
Henna party in the village
The wedding hall they booked was quite lovely, I was impressed by the quality. I've been to two weddings so far and something I've noticed with them both they are very disorganized. Tables and chairs are usually clumped together very closely. No focus on the fine details such as center pieces. The music tends to be put to an epic limit that the chosen DJ who occasionally says something is unheard because there's no way they would turn down the music and by the end of the evening the grounds look like the finish of Bonnaroo or Coachella, lots of rubbish and odds and ends everywhere.
Rehabs wedding was my favorite thus far because they had fantastic entertainment with whirling dervishes....oh how I love love love that so much, it was great to see everyone dancing...men women and children in a celebration of love. Once the wedding finished the bride and groom rode away on a convertible decorated with bows and flowers (common Egyptian car decor for these types of events) and a loud parade ensues behind them honking, yelling out...occasionally stopping to get out and dance. The procession follows them all the way to where they will be staying for the night, the bride and the groom leave the car and essentially the entire family and im many cases village send them off to their wedding night with well wishing, clapping and gleeful shouting...then the night is finished. The next morning the close family will cook them breakfast and check on them.
For me I thank God I didn't have this with Ahmed...I find the experience to be much to much and not classy but again this is their culture and not mine. I'm just here to observe and learn about it.
A few days later Rehabs husbands brother contacted the family and requested to engage Ahmeds other sister Rania....my illusion of quite bliss was shattered. I know this sounds bad but after over a month of having so many people in and out of the house and their being a constant tizzy I was anxiously awaiting the end of wedding season but here we are again. He came from Upper Egypt met with Rania and family, eventually skyped Ahmed to state his intentions. Rania accepted his proposal for engagement and marriage after two years and planning for the party was underway. It was had in the house here. The engagement party was nice as far as Egyptian parties go. Her friends decorated the room very beautifully. While the house was being prepped we went to a local park and I took engagement pictures of the couple, the sunset was a great time for the pictures and we we returned to the house about 100 or so people had already arrived (small by Egyptian standards hahah) there was lots of dancing and expressions of happiness, cake and soda and the evening wrapped up at a fairly good time. Her fiance will return to Qatar where he works in a few days and they wont see each other for the two years prior to their wedding.
From a western standpoint its still a concept I have difficulty understanding, granted it's more open then what I've seen from some Indian weddings requiring the acceptance of an arranged marriage.The engagement period is equal to normal boyfriend and girlfriend dating and there is the option to break it off prior. I do feel there's a underlying stigma if you break it off but I still have much to learn with this area.
Overall I'm very happy for them both, as long as they are happy I am happy and I wish them the best of luck in their new endeavors :D
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