MADINAH, 3 August 2007 — With weddings across the Kingdom normally starting at around midnight and ending close to dawn break at 6 a.m., a new rule by the Madinah governor ordering wedding halls to shut at 2 a.m. prompt has put the revelers across Madinah in a quandary.
In fact, the new timings have caused women at some weddings to hysterically scream and shout in efforts to convince the management to allow them to continue merrymaking till late. There are even reports of fights breaking out at weddings as hall-owners switch the electricity off in order to bring celebrations to a close and abide by the new rules.
With the summer in full swing, Saudis generally celebrate weddings after midnight. This has been a feature of weddings across the Kingdom. The ruling, however, follows complaints by residents, who live close to wedding halls, about wedding-goers making merry on the streets, honking their horns and blocking roads.
“Prince Abdul Aziz ibn Majed issued a new ruling saying that all weddings need to finish at 2 a.m. sharp. Wedding halls have been informed about the ruling and there are strict punishments for wedding hall-owners found to violate the new law,” said the manager of a wedding hall, who asked not to have his name published.
The new timings have been met with strict opposition from women, who say the cut-off time should be extended to at least 4 a.m. “For many women, it takes between four to six hours to fully prepare a bride. It takes ages for a girl to put on her makeup and dress, while it only takes a man half an hour to get ready,” said Salma, a beautician who specializes in beautifying brides.
Speaking to people across Madinah, it seems many people initially did not take the new rule seriously. Salma added that recently a bride and her entourage were shocked when they arrived at a wedding hall at 1.55 a.m. to find that the lights had been switched off and that guests were leaving.
“The management refused to switch the lights on and the bride suffered a nervous breakdown and was taken to hospital. The most important day of her life had been ruined. The family made a big fuss at the wedding hall and police were called to defuse the situation. It was very messy,” she said.
At another wedding, the mother of the bride became hysterical when the lights were suddenly switched off at 2 a.m. and the bride had not even arrived at that point. Thinking there was a power shortage, the mother asked the management about the problem and was shocked when she was told that the wedding was over.
According to people who attended the wedding, the mother began to scream. In the end, the male members of the wedding party began fighting with the management. Police were finally called and the crowds were dispersed. Guests left without even eating. Many Saudi men are thrilled by the new rules. Fahd Olayyan, a resident of the holy city, is happy with the new timings. “Weddings are a cause for major headaches during the summer. My wife attends up to three weddings each summer and I end up staying awake till around 5 a.m. waiting for her to return,” he said, adding that his entire timetable gets ruined.
“The next day my wife and I are extremely tired and we wake up very late. We buy food from a restaurant instead of cooking. Sometimes I end up going to work late,” he said, while thanking Madinah Gov. Prince Abdul Aziz ibn Majed for his “wise decision that has benefited a lot of Saudi men in Madinah.”
Othman Saleh, a Saudi government worker, agreed that the decision has put an end to the suffering of men, who end up driving their women to weddings and then loitering around waiting for them to wrap up and leave.
“The kids stay alone at home or with the maid. These midnight weddings disturb my entire family life. I don’t know a single family in which the mother of the house comes home early. The new decision is an answer to my prayers and inconvenience. Couples with children find it difficult attending late weddings,” said Saleh.
However, on the other hand, women are at odds with the new timings. Umm Muhammad, a mother of four, said that the new timings is only ideal for men and that the authorities need to understand that women need more time to prepare themselves for weddings.
“We need a few hours to get prepared. Sometimes beauty salons are crowded and so we end up having to wait. We go to weddings directly from the salon. It’s unfair that we only end up with a few hours to spend at weddings when we prepare for them so much,” she said.
Many people that Arab News spoke to also said that if the decision was not going to be reversed then owners of wedding halls had a moral duty to reduce their prices. Wedding halls cost on average SR75,000, which includes food and waiters. Singers cost an additional SR20,000. However, most halls are not changing their prices taking into consideration the shorter opening hours.
Um Sultan Al-Ghamdi said her daughter is also marrying this summer. “It would be fair if they reduced the prices in lieu of the earlier opening hours. People in Madinah are still not used to the new system and most of them find it difficult to come early. It would take a lot of time for us to get used to the idea,” she said, adding that wedding halls should reduce their prices by at least 50 percent and then increase the prices gradually as people get used to the changes.
Wedding hall-owner Adel Nader said they are obliged to accept the new order and adhere to it. “I’ve told my staff to follow the rules to the dot and not be influenced by guests. Half an hour before 2 a.m. we begin switching lights off. At 2 a.m. the lights are totally off,” he said.
He added that if guests cause a problem then they telephone the police. “Before renting out wedding halls, we ask people to sign contracts with us to agree to end everything by 2 a.m., as specified by the governor of Madinah,” he said, adding, “As for the calls to reduce prices, I think people are just being silly and exaggerating. The charges are more than reasonable.”