Weddings in the Arab world are markedly different from ours.
Arabs don't really have a church wedding; legally, all that is required is a willing groom, a willing bride, and a couple of people to testify that the couple married each other. For several days before the wedding, the bride's and groom's families string white lights all over their houses as an expression of their joy, and the women often have henna artwork painted on their hands, arms, and sometimes their feet, in honor of the special occasion.
A typical wedding ceremony consists of two separate parties, one behind closed doors for the women, and the other outdoors in a tent/arena setup for the men. The groom sits in the middle of the tent, with close family members sitting nearest to him, and other (male) guests seated progressively farther away from him on either side. They are entertained by men with drums and other instruments performing traditional Arabic wedding-type chants and dances in a small arena area in front of the tent. The entire arena is surrounded by couches, known as "majelis" when they are used for sitting around and talking with friends. Afterwards, they have a big buffet dinner.
The women apparently have what amounts to a big social, maybe with some dancing, but all in private so they can doff their abayas and shailas and show off their fashions. Mobile phones have become taboo at these events, since so many of them nowadays have built-in cameras and most of the women are very camera-shy. Taking a woman's picture without the consent of the woman herself, and her husband or father, is a big no-no.
After the wedding parties, apparently the couple meets up back at their house and starts their life together. The process of courtship and the family involvement in the marriage is a long and interesting story in itself, about which I am in the process of learning. Once I get a handle on it, I'll blog it, inshallah.
Today was Lulwa's birthday (one of our students). Danna convinced Zach and me to bring our mandolin & guitar, respectively, and sing happy birthday to her in the faculty lounge. We discovered that her nickname is "Lulu," so we sang a bluegrass-style rendition of happy birthday to Lulu, seeing as how "Lulu" sings so well bluegrass-style. She was sufficiently embarrassed. It turns out that Curtis Farmer, one of our liberal arts profs, plays keyboard, and Joe Estrada plays drums, so now the students want us to form a faculty/staff band. This should be interesting.