Wedding traditions and customs of an Emirati is totally different from that of a non-Emirati. The traditions and customs followed during a wedding ceremony in Dubai is a unique experience for non-Emiratis. The wedding celebrations will last for one week. Arab women appear fully covered before the guests. The Arab bride also undergo beauty treatments before the wedding to look and feel good. The bride-to-be has to eat good foods and the family will take good care of her to prepare the bride for the wedding day. Gatherings of relatives will take place at the house of bride and groom, but both families normally do not gather together before the wedding day.
Henna Party
Before the wedding day, ‘Laylat Al Henna’ will be conducted at the bride’s place. During this function, the bride’s hands and feet are decorated with henna by family and friends. The henna ceremony is followed by ‘Al Aadaa’ in which the groom is teased by friends of the bride to get money as the fee for the decoration done on the bride. This ceremony is considered as ladies’ night. The bride comes to greet the guests only after all the ladies arrived at the venue. This ceremony is usually held at the home of the bride. The arrival the bride is announced by playing loud musical instruments such as tambourines, shakers and drums.
The family members will dance and sings during the ceremony with traditional songs. The ladies will make a cheering noise using their mouths covered by the hands. The bride is accompanies by a female family member. Once the bride came to the middle of the room, then abaya (body covering cloth) will be remove and she will start dancing. After sometime, the bride will be seated in the corner and the relatives will come one by one to bless her. Most of them will give gifts to the bride and photos of the ceremony will be taken.
Wedding day
The groom and his family arrive at the house of the bride by dancing with the music of the musical instruments. Men usually performs war dance (Al Ardha) by carrying whips and swords. The men and women will be seated separately at the venue. ‘Nikah’ is the important ceremony that takes place on the wedding day. Nowadays, wedding day ceremonies are also conducted at expensive hotels or wedding halls. The wedding functions for men and women are separate. The venue of the wedding will be divided in a way to accommodate equal number of men and women. Normally, a big screen will be used to separate the areas of men and women.
During the wedding function, the only those who are not family members of the bride will wear abaya. Taking video of the ladies is not permitted as most women will not be wearing abaya. Most family members won’t wear abaya during the ceremony, but prefer to wear abaya when men come to their side. Traditional Arabic food will be service to the guests. Usually, the groom enter only after the bride to the stage. Nowadays, both bride and groom enter together. The groom sits with bride for taking videos and photographs. It is the choice of the bride to wear shelas while taking videos and photographs. After this, the groom goes to the hall of men. The bride’s party sings and dances in the colourful attire. The groom will re-enter along with male family members. The females can cover themselves, if required when the men enter to their hall. The men sing and dance with the music. After the ceremony, the bride goes to the house of the groom.