Mohamed and Sarah get hitched!

Last night, I attended the wedding of the century!
My friend, Mohamed El-Kholy (or Kholy as we know him), got married to his long time friend, Sarah. We met Kholy last summer (he was a member of the rotary club and was introduced to the program) and we were buddies ever since! He knows everyone in Egypt and always hooked us up with all kinds of awesome concert tickets, seats to soccer games, and was always down to have a good time. So we were so excited to find out that he was getting married and that we would be here in time for the wedding!

Now, first, a note on Egyptian weddings. Unlike in the states, the marriage process in Egypt happens in a few different stages. First, the engagement. Usually, the groom goes to the bride's parents and arranges everything with them- he asks for permission, the two families talk about it, and if it is decided that the match is suitable, the couple becomes engaged. And then they have a huge engagement party that often resembles a wedding in America. Next, the couple sets the date for the official Islamic wedding called, "The signing of the book" or "Ketab al Ketaba." It is very much like the Ketuba ceremony in Judaism, but it takes place several months prior to the wedding celebration. Only close family and friends attend this ceremony, and afterwards, the couple is married in the eyes of Islam. During the time between the signing of the Ketaba and the actual wedding ceremony, the couple arranges their home, makes sure they have enough money for everything, and basically gets everything set. Then, the wedding is just a huge celebration! There is no ceremony, it's just basically a party!

So last night:
We (Katelyn, Mae, and I) were told to be ready at 4 o'clock because the wedding starts at 6. We were obviously skeptical because as we have learned, Egyptian time is not the same as American time, but we got ready nonetheless.
Bazooka picked us up at 7:30. Maalesh.
We arrived at the King Marriot and the place was decked out and absolutely gorgeous (and might I add that we three mozas (hotties in Arabic) were decked out as well!) In addition to being gorgeous, the place was ready to feed an army. A table longer than anyone could possibly imagine was ready with food trays, there was a shwarma stand, an ice cream stand, a giant fruit statue. It was unreal. There was also a dance floor in the middle, 2 giant projection screens, and at least 50 tables (we were told that there was going to be 650 people at the wedding!)






We got there just in time for the Zefa ceremony. Basically, the groom waits with everyone and a band of tabla players (drummers), trumpets, and all sorts of other instruments plays as the bride gets out of her car, and her father walks her to the groom. The band continues to play and everyone sings and dances around the bride and groom. It's a really beautiful and joyful tradition. Here is a video:



Next, after the dancing, everyone sits down and the bride and groom have their first slow dance. Then everyone gets up and slow dances as well. After that, we are seated, and are served awesome juice (mango and something that tasted like jello).

After this, a DJ comes on and everyone dances around the bride and groom. Everyone there knows all the words to all the songs and is singing and dancing and just having a blast (this basically is what happens throughout the rest of the night).
So there was a DJ, then a singer who sang on the dance floor directly to the bride and groom, then a break for dinner.


And oh my god. I wish I had words to describe this dinner. My guess is that every kind of food ever made inside of Egypt was present at this dinner. There was a fish, 800 different kinds of meat, a whole salad bar, ice cream stand, shwarma stand, 8 kinds of dessert, and remember that giant table? There were 2 of them!! Here are some pictures, because words can't aptly describe the scene!!



After dinner, they brought in a different singer, then the DJ again, so at about 1:30, the wedding ended, and we all said our goodbyes, our mabruks (congrats) and went off to sleep.

Overall, the wedding was awesome!!










please note that the pictures were taken by the talented Katelyn Gallagher. For further insight on our trip in Egypt, weddings, traffic, and life, you can visit her blog (cakelyn.wordpress.com) or Mae's blog at (maemciver@blogspot.com)