Al-Zawaj - The Wedding:
Just like any wedding anywhere in the world, the details of the Moroccan wedding are toiled over for months ahead of time...but I'll just fast forward through all of that madness to the actual wedding day.
Traditionally, the day before the wedding is the Henna party where the bride's feet and hands are elaboratly decorated in Henna tatoos by the "henniya" or "henna lady" as I like to call her. The couple decided to combine the two celebrations into one and did the Henna ceremony during the wedding ceremony. On the table infront of the bride and groom, milk and sugar are placed in beautiful metal containers; the milk to keep their marriage pure and white and the sugar to keep it sweet. Scented orange-blossom water is sprinkled on everyone, and burning 'oud (insense) is carried around for all the guests to smell.
So on the night of the couple's wedding, we arrived around 8:00 pm which although instructed to come at this time, we were extemely early. Apparently the Moroccan wedding doesn't really get going until midnight or so, which indeed was the case. I socialized with the other guests and listened to the first band play. They were very talented; I couldn't believe that the music they produced was live! Then, we snuck away to sneak a peak at the bride while she was waiting to be dressed by her two “ngafa”, who are hired women that dress the bride in her many different gowns throughout the evening, do her henna tatoos, and announce her and the groom's entrances with a load, booming, sing-song chant that is traditional in the Moroccan celebrations, and finishes with a loud ululation. I ended up staying with the bride in her dressing room until she was ready to make her grand entrance around 11:00 or so. She looked absotuly radient, literally like I would expect a queen to look. She wore a delicate pistacio green gown and loads of gold jewelry with green jewels topped with a matching gold crown and transparent gold veil flowing down from her hair to her back. Her hair alone was a masterpiece. I was thrilled to get this time alone with her to shower her in camera flashes. The Moroccan bride most always rents her gowns from the nagafa along with the spectacular accessories. She will change throughout the night between an average of 3-9 dresses and matching jewelry and tiaras. Truly, the Moroccan bride is a queen for the evening.
Once she was finally ready, she and Faisal were placed in their respective “mida” (padded, silver, circular carrying caddies) and drums and trumpets blarred as Faisal was lifted by four of his friends and Jessie by the hired “zerzaya” high above the guests to shoulder height. They swayed to the rhythm of the music of the “deqayqia”, a traditional Marrakesh band, and paraded through the guests who were crowded around them, making their way to their wedding canopy. Faisal was clapping playful to the music and Jessie was smiling with such genuine happiness, waving at everbody in a gentle, one-handed, princess kind of way. After maybe five minutes or so, they brought them back to the ground and one of the nagafa assisted Jessie with her flowing skirts as she and Faisal triuphantly made their way to their wedding canopy. This is when the henna began.
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