Wedding celebrations in Saudi Arabia are segregated with the women having their own big party and the men doing whatever. The women really dress up in mostly long fancy dresses and have their hair and makeup done. Then they put on their abayas and head and face coverings to go to the celebration. Once inside the building, safely away from the eyes of men, they can take their abayas off and show off how nice they look. There was an "abaya check" right before entering the ball room. They have lots of zip lock bags that are numbered. They give you a number and you put your abaya and scarf in the bag which they keep until you are ready to leave.
The decorations were beautiful! There were lots of flowers. There were white couches lining a long wide aisle where the dancing took place. On the other side of the couches were chairs with white chair covers arranged in sitting areas of 7 with a little coffee table in the center. There was a stage at the end of the room.
As soon as we got there I met Reema's very close group of friends who had helped her with all of the details. They were all very nice, beautiful women who were very friendly. I think they all speak English but they mostly spoke Arabic after saying hi to me. They had about 6 chairs lined up at the door where we greeted everyone who came to the celebration. We mostly stood but we could sit down when there was a break in the crowd arriving. It was Reema and me all of the time and then most of the time Othman's sister Jehan was on the other side of me. She was a big help talking to me and explaining things to me. Also Reema's group of friends were around and cousin Sarah was there and helped me a lot. Ladies just kept coming in! We stood there for about 3 hours while they all came in. I think about 11:30 (pm!) most people were there. While we were greeting people, there was a lot of very loud middle eastern music being played. Lots of ladies were dancing in that aisle. They were doing middle eastern type of dancing. It was very interesting to watch. Occasionally the music would call for mild belly dancing. I enjoyed watching it all. Also during this time there were workers passing out Arabian coffee, water and treats. There were fancy dates, little cup cakes, chocolated from Belgium and just LOTS of snacks.
The middle eastern music was live. There were about 4 female singers on the stage. There was a group of several men who were singers and instrumentalists. Since they weren't allowed to be in the room with the women, they were in a separate room. There were cameras in that room and it was transmitted to a screen in our room. That way, the women could see them and they couldn't see us.
About 12:30 am the DJ announced in Arabic that Moe was about to enter the room. There was a wave of black as about half of the women there covered themselves with their abayas and or scarves since a man was entering the room. We watched a shortened version of the video from the wedding at Purdue on a screen. Then Katie and Moe walked slowly down the aisle to cheers and "A-la-la-la-la-la-la-la" chants. When they got to the front they sat on the "throne" and then had their first dance to the same song that they had their first dance to at Purdue. That song was written especially for them and the lyrics are about their romance and life together. A songwriter from one of their favorite shows, Shark Tank, wrote it for them. Moe's mother and sisters did a middle eastern dance up on the stage in front of them. Moe stayed for about a half hour and some of the ladies greeted him. Then he had to leave so that the ladies could take their abayas back off and get back to partying. Katie stayed a little while longer and ate with me when dinner was served at 2:00 am. Then Katie left. She had commented earlier, "This is a weird wedding where the bride and groom aren't invited."
Ice sculptures and fruit
These are bread statues
The wedding cake that Moe never even saw
There was soooo much food there. After Katie left I walked around and took pictures of the food. Then I went back into the party room and watched some more dancing and texted and sent some pictures to Stacy, Becky and Mark. The party wound down about 4:30. Some of the workers cut the wedding cake and brought some plates over to the remaining partiers. I got back to Reema and Othman's house a little before 5:00
Several of the ladies who spoke to me asked me how I liked the Saudi Arabian wedding celebration. Here are my thoughts: I would rather have my husband there and the bride and groom to participate in the celebration. There was lots of good food. I enjoyed the music and watching the dancing but the music was so very loud that you couldn't really hear anyone talking to you. It started very late and lasted very, very, very late. The wedding celebration at Purdue was over before this one began. The Purdue celebration was more on my time schedule. It was a wonderful experience and I am so glad that I was able to be a part of it. It was just a little bit lonely for me.
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