The Wedding

of Awad

He sent out this map ~

But it is a darn good thing Mike had made arrangements to meet a guy from work and follow him ~  or we would still be looking for the place ~  WHAT an experience ~
Below are some links to Saudi and to Middle East Weddings
I also found some interesting information about their clothes.  Click here for some of that information and HERE for information about the women covering their face.  
Click here for general information about The Kingdom Of Saudi Arabia

~ ~NOW on to the WEDDING ~ ~

The Saudi wedding was something else ~ We all got dressed up and drove to Saudi ` One of the guys Mike works with met us at their office building to lead the way to the "wedding hall" He told me when we got out of the car to go with his wife. There were 2 separate doors on different parts of the building. One said "Women's Entrance" and the other men's. I went with his wife and daughter ~ the wife and daughter were covered head to toe in black. We went in this place and there is a large sitting room with bathroom included. All the women went in there and took off their black abaya and head coverings AND WOW the dresses ~ AND the henna painting ~ Some had it on their hands and some had on their arms ~ some of it was beautiful art work. So then we went into this really large reception hall that was beautifully decorated. There was a woman DJ and they played music all night. The wife, daughter and I sat at a table by ourselves...there were so many tables I could not count ~ and most almost full. There were 2 large containers on the table ( like thermos ~in beautiful containers ), a large bottle of water and 2 plates of sweets ~ dates and other things. The wife pored me a cup of Arab coffee ~ I like it a little but not a lot ~ haha The room was set up with different levels of tables. We were at the top and could see down to the dance floor. There were a bunch of women down there dancing ~ We got there about 8:30. You would not believe the looks I got ~ it was as if no one had seen a "white" person before. Several people came up to our table and spoke to the Arab woman and she explained (I think ) why I was there and who I was ~ the groom's bosses wife) They treated me sooo nice. It was funny ~ the kids did a lot of starring ~ they must have thought I was from mars. OUR side ~ the women's side had the children and there were a ton of them ~ all ages, from newborn up! And some were pretty rowdy but for the most part fairly well behaved for such a long and late night. At 10 the bride comes in to the entrance and there is a lot of commotion. There is a lady with a movie camera and all the women around me start to cover up their hair and face ~ I almost laughed out loud ~ the bride walked down this long long isle and it took her nearly 20 min. She would walk a bit and then stop and the lady would change to a still camera and was taking photo after photo. When she came in the music changed to an Italian song ~ the Arab lady next to me said that it was Italian and she thought that was funny ~ And oh by the way the Arab lady and her daughter spoke VERY LITTLE English ~ so it was a kind of long long night. Then after the bride got to the front there was this large chair they sat her in. She had on a beautiful white wedding gown and her bouquet was beautiful. When she got to the front and sat down they lifted her veil. The bride stood up and gave her mother-in-law a "beautiful" but I would not wear it GOLD necklace ~ so gaudy but I am sure costs thousands of $$$$. Then the Arab music started again and women started dancing in front of her. This is to honor the bride ~ This went on for about an hour and then she got up to leave and out came the lady with the camera and on went the black cover-ups ~ The daughter sitting next to me did not cover up ~ but most of the older women did. By this time I was starving ~ and we had been thru one pot of coffee and one pot of tea ~ and some juice they had brought around. As the bride was leaving the song that came on was Simon and Garfunkle "silence is golden" I was surprised about that ~ and their choice of music... I have asked Mike to ask the groom all about the music. Oh and another thing, when the women would go up to greet each other they gave them 4 kisses on one side of the face. It looked like they said something in between the kisses ~ so I have asked Mike to find out what that was all about also. He said the men do not do that ~ they kiss on each side of the cheeks~ Anyway ~ it took her 30 min to walk down the isle again, stopping along the way for the lady to photograph her ~ I thought..gee they forgot to feed us. Then the sisters of her and the groom went out with her and the mothers and they had a photo session. When this was finished it was 12 midnight and they said we could go eat ~ WELL ~ I almost got trampled to death ~ They did not out and out run ~ but there was pushing and shoving ~ I could not believe it ~ I just stood there ~ The daughter took my hand and said come ~ so I followed her. She said her mother was not going to eat ~ she did not like this kind of food ~ so I have to find out what kind of food she likes? There was a buffet set up ~ no one serving ~ a help yourself one ~ and people were crowing around and shoving ~ There was a lot of salad stuff ~tabouleh ~ and other Arab dishes, Arab bread, rice, lamb ~ but not a lot of food left ~ THE men had been served at 10 Mike told me later ~ and we got the left-overs. There was one girl there that spoke English well ~ The bride's sister and the groom had asked her to check on my during the evening I guess cause she came over a few times and asked me if I needed anything... She explained some that was going on. She and her sister had been born in the US and lived there till she was 7 ~ her dad got his PHD in the states and is with Arammco and still is. ~ There was a desert table and the daughter took me up there and we got some fruit, cake and some pudding ~ and watermelon. There were some tables but a lot of the women sat on the floor ~ in their beautiful gowns.?? weird..anyway, the girl that could speak English told me they feed the women last because the women like to talk and do not want to leave. I guess they don't get out much ~ and when they do it is an all night affair. Mike said the man on the other side that owns this palace said he has had to get the police to get the women out sometimes ~ because he has to be closed (by law) at 3 when the first prayer of the day starts. Almost every women in there had a cell phone and they all keep ringing after 10 ~ I found out later it was their husbands on the other side calling to see if they were ready to leave yet ~ The husband to the lady I was with called a couple of times and she told him (I think ) that we had not eaten yet. Her son also called once ~ I think they were getting bored. After we ate and Arab woman asked if I was ready? mainly by hand jesters ~ AND yes, I was ready. We went to the lounge area and there people were putting on their abayas and head covering ~ It was so nice of the lady and her daughter to "take care of me" thru the wedding. I could not even understand what they said their name was, but I think the daughter told me her name meant flower. That is another thing Mike has to find out ~ What their names are so I can write a thank you note to them both ~ The daughter was beautiful ~ very little make up ~ just a natural beauty~ she was 16, but very mature for her age. When we got outside we hugged by and I got in the car with Mike and the guy that works with him, also Mike and asked about their night. THEY were really bored. They had no music ~ the men just sat around and talked and drank coffee ~ remember Saudi is DRY!!! and Mike said some were even playing cards. He was with the groom most of the time and sat at the head table with him to eat ~ He said they were fed about 10 and then the groom started calling his bride. I had seen her on her cell phone when she was up front in the chair and wondered who would be calling her on her wedding day ~ Mike said he was anxious to leave and she said she was not ready yet ~ haha ~