Wedding Season: Wedding 1

Groom: Local
Bride: Iranian/Sudanese

Day One: The Milcha party
Groom’s side of the party. The bride wore a green dress. I didn’t attend, sorry can't give input on this night!

Day Two: Reception (the Iranian way!)
The hall was well decorated, simple and elegant, the stage didn’t ‘shock me’ as most arab weddings do with a long runway and over the top decorations. This was very classy. Each table centerpiece had a fishbowl with fishes and fresh flowers on top. It was a mixed wedding, not a ladies event that is common to arabs.

I arrived at 9 pm, the party hadn’t started yet. The dance floor was empty, guests were still coming in. Little did I know that nothing actually starts until the bride and groom arrive! On the right side of the stage was a live band. It was a bit annoying as they had just started setting up, testing the mic. At first I thought it was a Yemeni band, as they played the Arabian oud, however I was surprised to find it was an Iranian band. Old men dressed in the traditional arab kandoora and 3igal. Apparently, they are arab Iranians. From an area in Iran that are arabs and thus the music is very Arabic. I was also told these people are called 3eeyam.

Anyway, just after the band got settled the bride and groom entered with a song played by the band. They looked spectacular together, the bride in a beautiful white gown and the groom looking handsome in a black suit. As they reached the dance floor they greeted their families. As Arabian beats subsided and the crowd went back to their seats, the groom asked for ‘their song’ to be played.

The best part – they slow danced, only for the song to be remixed into a hip song, the bride and groom acted surprised at first, and then were grooving to it with moves in unison with each other! It was fantastic! Again the music was changed back to slow dance then back again to upbeat tunes like the old hit ‘staying alive’ and then Michael jackson! Someone from the crowd passed him a black hat to complete the “MJ” look as he danced in a circle around the bride. It was a beautiful performance and the crowd was cheering, surprised at the turn of events!!

It's great to see the bride ang groom enjoying themselves. It IS their wedding afterall, innit? *sigh* I wish I can dance freely at my wedding. They even had a table set out for them at the bottom of the stage where they opened the ‘buffet’. They got to EAT. And ENJOY.

Day 3. Ragees al 3aroos ( Sudanse seduction!)

It is the bridal dance as called by the sudanese. An old tradition where the bride dances in front of a group of people (men and women in the past) but recently it is only limited to women, and the groom. It is to showcase the bride’s physique, and to show to the groom’s family the beauty of the bride. I was dumbstruck, it was amazing. The bride was wearing a seductive outfit and danced sensually to a live singing by a woman, and people from the crowd singing the chorus. There are different traditional ‘dances’ that the bride danced to. Another event of this dance is the bride would pretend to fall in one of the dances, uknown which to the groom , and the he is supposed to ‘catch’ her. You can imagine the uproar when he missed catching her the first time! The second time round he did catch her and the groom’s family is the one to shout louder this time.
The whole point of this night is to watch the bride. It was quite an event, and the dancing moves and outfit were to the likes of beyonce! The dancing was better though, moves to seduce and entice, it made egyptian belly dancing look bland in comparison. It sure kept us the audience mesmerised, it somehow made me imagine the olden days, where the arabian men would sit around and watch beatiful girls dance with silk covering half of their face with their slow moves. It was simply amazing!

Never knew the sudanse got down like that, I won’t be surprised to hear different nationalities marrying sudanese women! Although it’s not so common nowadays, it depends on whether the bride wants to do it. I think they should learn, but for the life of me I can’t imagine myself infront of a crowd! Kudos to the sudanese! Sexiness!