A Moroccan Wedding

July and August are rife with weddings in Morocco. Since we arrived, everyone would tell us "If you get invited to a Moroccan wedding...GO!" We did and we went!! It was amazing.

How we got invited, you ask?

Last week we randomly met a really friendly girl in the supermarché while waiting in line. She heard Dana and I speaking in English and asked (in perfect English) whether we were studying Arabic in the city. Salma is a grad student in the States and we struck up an easy conversation with her, getting her advice on things to do around the city. Her sister, Somayya, was getting married on Saturday and she invited us to the wedding. We weren't exactly sure the location or details of the wedding, or if we were really invited (real invite vs. 'polite invite'), but I have no shame. Where there's a will there's a way and there was NO WAY I was going to miss out on this.

We knew it would be a fancy affair so we spent the better part of Friday afternoon and evening purchasing wedding attire: traditional 2-piece Moroccan caftans. We got all dolled up on Saturday morning, taxied over to the 5-star hotel only to find out that we'd been told the wrong time of the wedding (12AM instead of 12PM). (I thought high noon was an odd time to have a wedding when it is hot as blazes here.)

OF COURSE the wedding wasn't at noon. Silly white people. Moroccan weddings go ALL NIGHT LONG with lots of dancing! Thank goodness we ran into Salma's mother (I remembered her from the grocery store) who assured us we were ALL invited. OH yeah. I forgot to tell Salma there were five of us. Oops. Fortunately for us, Moroccan weddings are the more the merrier.

Anyway, we had a whole day to rest up and get pretty all over again.

For round two, we arrived around 10:30pm. It was like a convention of BEAUTIFUL people dressed to the nines. (Moroccans are already striking people :) The men wore designer suits and the ladies wore traditional Moroccan dresses with intricate designs and beading. EVERYTHING was spectacular: lights, live music, camera crew, and flat screens to see what was going on in other parts of the party. Hors d'oevres, tea, and coffee were served for the hour preceding the bride and groom's entrance.

The bride and groom arrived into the banquet hall carried in on silver thrones to a processional of drums and traditional instruments. They were paraded around the room for what seemed like half an hour. It was wonderful. The bride and groom were adorable, so happy and all aglow.

Then, food, food, and more FOOD!! Every 5 minutes something was served, some tasty little pastry or snack, like luscious dates stuffed with almond and pistacio morsels. I had all the mint tea I wanted and more. Coffee and other drinks such as almond milk were also served. The almond milk was delicious.

After awhile the bride and groom left again, but still plenty of entertainment. The band and singer played all night and everyone danced, Moroccan style. The women belly danced all night long! The bride and groom came back after Somayya had changed outfits into another dazzling dress. More riding on the thrones, more drum processionals, and then they vanished again. There were to be six wardrobe changes. More belly dancing ensued thereafter.

We shared a table with two families. (And thanks to Leslie's French, we could communicate) One family lives in the medina. The father is a doctor and the mother a science teacher. She is the first woman I have seen smoking in Morocco. He definitely furnished a flask from his coat pocket and spiked his water. It was funny! They have two children- an 18 year old daughter and 19 year old son who were at our table and very pleasant as well.

The other family was one of the most entertaining aspects about the wedding. The father is a teacher of Isl. studies. He was super nice and friendly. He told Sarah and I several times that we were "beautiful, beautiful, girls" and even threw in a "zwin" (Arabic for 'nice, beautiful').

The mom (Meriem) was a riot too. She spoke mostly all French and Arabic, save for a few phrases in English. She didn't think I looked American:

"You look Fassi...very dark but light skin"

In other words, she thought I looked like I was from Fes. I told her it was my Lebanese blood :). Oh boy, did she love that. She told everyone at the table that I was of Lebanese descent so then everyone was looking and grinning at me, and nodding in my direction very approvingly.

Not long after that, Meriem came back and sat next to me and stated plainly

"I want you for my son"

Oh. I didn't know how to react. Awkward. I probably nodded politely.

But she was serious.

"Do you like me?" she asked.

Oh yeah. The whole family, arranged marriage thing. Then she must have suggested the idea to her son (who appeared to be ~16 years old) and the rest of the table because everyone was definitely sizing me up after that.

Staying in Morocco seems more and more appealing all the time. At least I won't lack for marriage offers here. And I can have spectacular wedding.

The wedding would last until dawn, with couscous served around 5am. I wanted to stay for that, but my roommates were ready to leave by 3. I wasn't going to walk home by myself. Needless to say, the wedding was a MAGNIFICENT experience that I will never forget. Salma's family and friends were exceedingly warm, welcoming, and inviting. Somayya was breathtaking, Larby (groom) so charming. A good time was had by all.

P.S. I want to take up belly dancing :)

Here we are, all dressed up: