Wow, what a night!!! I was blessed with an invitation from my neighbor to her nephew's wedding. Weddings are very different than a standard American wedding here in Kuwait. I knew this would be all female, I knew the Abayas would be off and I was told from another Kuwaiti to understand that this is the women's chance to dress up and party. My friend told me the best way to describe the wedding scene is "if you got it flaunt it". I tried to do just that, but I was still alittle to monochromatic!
When I arrived at the basement of a large hotel here in Kuwait, my neighbor and her daughter immediately uncovered and entered a large ballroom. We were greeted by the female family members of both the bride and the groom. My neighbors family was so genersous and kind to me. making sure I had tea, chocolates, juice, and sharing with me who all the highlighted guests were. Let me describe the scene as best I can.
The ballroom is longer than it is wide. Upon entering on both the left and right sides are rows of theatre style seating facing a long strip of floor in the middle (it looked similar to a modeling runway). For the first hour or so we awaited the bride's entrance. During this time the DJ is literally blasting many popular Arabic love songs. Women are greeting one another and dancing. At the opposite end of the door to the ballroom is a large lavishly decorated stage and a huge sofa. For this young women she choose oodles of pink, flowers, pillows, beads and large curtains draped in the background.
The dancing is difficult to describe, but here goes. After hours of watching the dynamic on the dance floor I did end up taking a twirl. The dancing takes place in front of the "crowd" in the theatre seating to watch the action. The women dance around thrusting their pelvis and holding their arms elevated openly in front of them. Is that as clear as mud? TI have found some good videos on youtube, but I can't link to them for some reason. At one point the ladies that were dancing put on belly dancing wraps around their hips and they were also belly dancing. It was so fascinating to see and observe. You could tell certain women liked other women and snubbed others while dancing past them. I imagine I missed many social cues as this is not my culture, but I think I picked up on quite a bit of the body language.
Kuwaiti women also really like to have very extreme eyes for formal occasions. Here is an image of an example of the popular eye make up style here in Kuwait. About one hour into the party the bride appears and the excited yelling hits a crescendo. She is photographed with her family and her friends while watching the action on the dance florr from the comfort of her sofa. After an hour of watching the bride all the sudden the tone of the room changed. I noticed all the women pull out their black Abayas and Hijabs(head scarf). I knew instantly the men are coming. Sure enough once all women were safely covered the men arrived. I covered myself with my pashmina I had, not my hair but my chest and shoulders. My neighbor and her sisters all looked at me and said "Good girl!"
The groom arrives with his brothers and cousins. They come in to applause and the women throwing money over their heads. The groom and his brothers come on the stage greet all the important females and stay for about one song. The groom stays in the room of all women well after his brothers have left. He and his bride smile over and over again with every female that wants a photo with the happy couple. You could see their smile muscles were hurting toward the end of the photo session. After the photos the bride dances on the floor alone in front of her husband and then she goes back to his side on stage. Lastly the couple exits the ballroom together to the screams of the many excited women.
The last part of the evening is a huge meal served for all attendees at about 12:00 midnight. I enjoyed many of the Arabic and Lebanese foods offered. The desert table was overwhelming, so many choices!!! I was honored to get a peek into this private world. It was one of the best experiences I have had in Kuwait so far.
