Afghani Wedding
To welcome guests entering the door, a line of women stand on the right and a line of men on the left. The bride and groom's families greet and escort the guests to their tables. Guests in an Afghan wedding are dressed at their best in expensive clothes and jewelry. The guests gather around their loved ones and talk about their lives. When all guests have arrived or when the room is about half full the musicians starts playing traditional music or contemporary hits. At the downstage corner are the decorative chairs for the bride and groom. In front of the chairs is a table with highly decorative ensemble that includes candles and flowers. A traditional Afghan wedding usually begins around 6:00 pm in the evening and ends usually at 11 pm, or as long as it has been agreed with the hall. In the middle of the wedding, around 8:30 pm, a special song is sung called "Ahesta Boro," meaning "walk slowly," which commemorates the bride and groom's arrival. While the song is played like the Wedding March in western weddings, everyone begins to stand up and smile until the groom and bride are set in their place.
Nikah
Nikah, before is done when the wedding couple are covered under a decorated shawl. In the past the groom would have looked at his bride's face in the mirror and read a prayer from the Quran, known as "Aina mosaf". In the past decades, this would have been the first time that the bride and groom would have seen each others' faces due to their marriage having been arranged. The shawl is then lifted and the bride and groom feed each other “Maaleda” (an Afghan desert) and beverages as the guests applaud. The actual religious ceremony where the spiritual Mullah, the witness, and the bride and groom's families agree upon the premarital contract occurs behind the scenes either before the dinner or after the dinner. The next song that follows is “Hena Beyarin ba Dastash Gozarain” and Henna ("Kheena" by Afghans, a dark-red colored dye which leaves an orange-red color on the skin) is placed on their hands.
Henna
Historically, little insertions were cut into the bride and groom's palms so that they could be joined in blood. As time progressed it was replaced with henna considered more sanitary and less messy. At this moment a girl dressed in traditional Afghani clothes would come though the door with a silver tray with candles and an assortment of fresh flowers with little containers of henna dancing and twirling all the way to the bride and groom. The mother of the groom would place a teaspoon full of henna onto the bride's palm and cover it with a triangular cloth made of fine and shiny fabric. The bride's mother would place the henna on the pinkie finger of the groom and likewise cover it with the fabric.
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