JEDDAH, 14 August 2003 — The Jeddah Summer Festival came to a conclusion on a happy note on Tuesday night as thousands of invitees filled the Jeddah International Exhibition Center on the occasion of the marriage of 50 Saudi couples.
The fourth mass wedding, which is organized by the Charitable Project to Assist Youth to Get Married was attended by more than 10,000 guests headed by Prince Mishal ibn Majed, governor of Jeddah, who opened the event on behalf of the governor of Makkah.
The ceremony began with verses from the Qur’an. Later, the general supervisor of the Charitable Project, Abdulaziz Al-Khial highlighted the support of the governor of Makkah and national companies who made the mass wedding a success.
He said the project financed the marriage of 1,400 young men and women this summer at a cost of SR13 million. “Over the last 15 years the project has financed the weddings of 27,000 couples at a cost of SR250 million, including other financial aid, gifts and other services,” he said.
He added that the aim of the project is to encourage Saudi nationals to get married and to overcome the financial and social obstacles to marriage that have been building up in Saudi society.
Bassam Ibrahim, one of the young grooms, told Arab News: “I was encouraged to get married this way as were many of my friends. It is a way to cut down on expenses. My family welcomed this idea and hope that more young people follow suit.”
Nasir Al-Ahmadi said: “Holding a wedding ceremony on your own is very expensive these days. I took the idea to my family and they immediately agreed. Officials from the project encouraged me and accepted my application. I guess we have all saved a lot of money, and it’s better than taking out banks loans.”
On behalf of other organizers, Omar Balubaid expressed the hope that the private sector would help the fund arrange more weddings. “We are grateful for the financial and logistic support of everyone who contributed to this event and helped these young couples get married,” he said.
After receiving checks of SR10,000 each and gifts by Prince Mishal, the couples left the premises in a long procession.
