Well, it's been several days since I said I would write about the engagement ceremony I went to last weekend. Lest I forget details as time passes, I'll go ahead and give you a brief glimpse at what my evening was like. It was my first time going to a Muslim engagement, so I was really excited to see what would happen and learn more about this part of the culture. The engagement ceremony is as important as the actual wedding, at least in the Muslim Arab culture. It is, in fact, as official as marriage. After becoming engaged, a couple would have to get a divorce if they decided not to get married. I guess the only difference between engagement and marriage is that they don't physically live in the same house until the latter takes place.
First, the ceremony was for women only (most of the time). Another American friend and I went together. When we arrived at the hall where the ceremony took place, it was pretty interesting to watch the women take off their layers of clothing. Like I said in my last post, this group was particularly conservative, with probably half of them dressing in head-to-toe coverings. The bride and groom's family were dressed in formal evening wear. The bride's family greeted the guests as they came in and sat down at tables in the hall. There was an "aisle" cleared for the bride to walk down and a small stage with a two-person couch at the end of the walk.
After about 45 minutes, my friend (the bride) arrived and danced down the aisle to very loud music. Then she danced in front of the stage for several minutes while all the ladies danced around her. She eventually went up on the stage where the guests then greeted and congratulated her. They cycled through those two activities (dance, greet, dance, greet) for 45 more minutes while the guests ate cake and drank Pepsi.
Then the atmosphere suddenly changed as all the ladies threw on their garb and sat in their chairs. The bride, by the way, didn't cover herself but was in her "wedding dress" which resembles one you might see in the States except that it was pink. She returned to the entrance of the hall and waited to greet her groom. He entered, the music started again, and they walked down the aisle. They danced together while many of the women surrounded them and clapped in keeping with the music. Eventually they went up on the stage and exchanged rings. The groom, of course, presented the bride with gold, and she gave him a simple gift. There was no sort of verbal recitation or formal exchange of words as far as I could tell (the music was too loud to hear anything).
The affair was over after about 2.5 hours. I was the only guest to come armed with a camera(!), so I was asked to spend most of the evening photographing the bride and groom. Not having a clue what to expect beforehand, I was pleasantly surprised by the whole event and glad to see that the couple seemed genuinely happy. Hopefully I'll get to go to the wedding as well, which I'm told may take place anytime between two months and a year from now. I'll let you know!
