Algerian weddings

[nedjma95]

Amina hey katlek tethalla fik rahet ghir 3lina h'na

[leila_leila]

yes its true. each region is different, for example in Algiers they give just cakes and lemonade, but in Oran they do a FULL ON MEAL AND CAKES and in alger, the wedding usually start early and finish really early but in Oran they last all night finishing early hours of the next day ( about 5 am - 6am)which is so cooooooooooool!

[ammena]

salam... thanks for the knowledge... although i didnt get some posts (dont speak arabic) but thanks for everything peeps. Fi amenallah

[nedjma95]

yes its true. each region is different, for example in Algiers they give just cakes and lemonade, but in Oran they do a FULL ON MEAL AND CAKES and in alger, the wedding usually start early and finish really early but in Oran they last all night finishing early hours of the next day ( about 5 am - 6am)which is so cooooooooooool!

Hello Leila and evry body else,
Wich wedding did you attend that finished erly? .
Wel here is the deal siste ammena , some families maybe do short weddings but usually wedding in most if not all cities are very long weddings , first the planning and preparations do take a while like in the states and even more , 'cause here in the states , we plan for the hall , catering , the church hair and the only wedding dress Sometimes maybe a second dress but very rare .
in Algeria even if there are less but lots of pepeole still hold on on to hteir tradititons .
1- When the engagement is annonced the grooms family for every holiday still have to go visite the brides family and bring to her gifts , could be jewelery, or fabric ,or anything that would be helpful for the wedding day or even money
meanwhile they are getting the preparations on the way and on their visite with the other family they probably discuss some matters about the wedding .
the bride has to find a good designer to designe all her dresses wich probably she'have to wear more than four or five minimum , most of the time pepeole go up to 10 or more dresses , yah show off but it is that way .

The mother and aunts on the other hand plan for the food the sweets , coockies ,most of them made with almonds and soooo delicious , make a list of all the staf to bye and find . Some of the things are hard to find , some will be imported .
not all families rent a hall some do it at home if they have space .
the weddings in general at least are three one night and 2 days . the first night is called henna as it was explaind by Lamise above , and the meaning of it in most traditions is : Henna or h'nina means kind , so by doing the henna from the groom family to the bride means that they are wishing for the coulpe to have a kind lucky life , and the bride to be kind to her future family . they bring this big decorated basket called Ett'bak filled with Henna necessities and gifts and jordan almonds (les drages).
use to be the next day but it changed to 2 -3 days after the big ceremonies start , why later theses days , just to give some rest to the bride , and get he ready for the big 2 days ahead again as Lamise explained above .
one detail , is the bridal car is decorated in such a beautiful way like you've never seen before with flowers and ribbons .
Most of families still though feed gests way less than before but still hapening , it's just so expensive I mean the wedding ,the dresses , Almonds are very expensive , the meat is expensive , the singer ( women ) are expensive , djs are too . So pepeole dont maybe feed the whole world but the closest family and frends are a must and thats what we call achet el hallal wich is the baraka of the union of the couple I'm sure your fiance can exlain it to you .
we still celebrate the brides beakfest and lunch , we invite her imediate family for lunch , and then the seventh day where we do a coffe afternoon lots sweets deserts , sometime dinner , and some cities have traditions just an example called belting the bride , the seventh day the mother in law or his big sister or his aunt put a symbolique belt around the brides waist to officeallise her as a new wife .and a lot more .This still happens in my fathers town
You know sister ammena pages and pages would never be enough to talk
about all the traditions that still exist and they are fun.
the wedding preparations still lots of fun my cousin just got married I could not go but when I call ,they sing and youyoulate , they dance and this before the wedding .
So it is a lot of work a lot of fun and exausting at the end , but inforgetable .
hope it helps .
And no offense when we joke in algerian , we are here to have fun we miss it and we dont mean to offend any body , I think you should take advantage of it and learn some expressions , I'm sure you'll surprise your fiance and when you go to Algeria you would know what they are saying sometimes
Best of luck