JEDDAH, 8 May 2008 — Weddings in Jeddah usually end when the bride and groom walk down the aisle hours after midnight. Following the walk, the buffet begins, people eat and then the guests go home.
Midnight weddings annoy many people, including husbands and drivers who have to ferry the women folk home, and the elderly who are unable to stay up late. In order to encourage people to hold weddings earlier in the day, members of the Women’s Cultural Forum have started a campaign entitled “Our Weddings Are for Our Happiness.”
“Brides don’t get to wear their expensive wedding gowns for long. They show up for half an hour before the buffet begins and before the guests go home. Some people can’t even wait until the walk is over,” said Nadia Sheikh, one of the organizers of the campaign.
The group held their first workshop two weeks ago at Nafisa Shams Academy for Arts and Crafts. The workshop brought together women who brainstormed ideas on how to raise awareness about the problem.
In the first workshop, attendees said staying out late for weddings negatively affects families. They added that when women are invited for weddings, they go to the hairdressers to get their hair and makeup done. They return home around dawn after the wedding.
“Even if the husband was out, he will come back and find his wife not at home, something that could lead to arguments. The driver has to pick the wife up late and then wake up early in the morning to finish his other chores,” Sheikh said, adding that it is also dangerous for women to be out at night dressed up and wearing jewelry. Women could be harassed, she said.
Brides are known for showing up late. Sometimes, the walking down the aisle ceremony takes place after 3 a.m. Brides and grooms are often tired, and have to prepare for their honeymoon flight the next day. Grooms often have to wait for the bride while she completes her makeup, gets her hair done and is photographed, though the men’s section usually winds up by midnight.
“In my grandmother’s time, weddings used to take place at lunchtime. The family used to gather early,” said Sheikh, adding that some people have started having their weddings during the day.
She said the excuses most people make for having a late night wedding is that the hairdresser or makeup artists come late.
However, hairdressers like Monica, who works at Jeddah’s 7L Beauty Salon, said, “We wish weddings would be earlier. This is better for both sides — the bride and us hairdressers. We return home at 3 a.m., which is too late, especially for those of us who are married. Some brides do not stick to their appointments and come late, because they’re busy.”
Members of the forum will print brochures entitled “Our Weddings Are for Our Happiness” to distribute at weddings. “We do not expect the change to happen suddenly. This might take a couple of years, but at least we can make a start now,” she said.
The group’s next workshop is scheduled to be held at Al-Shati Center.
