Celebration

Before I tell you about my wedding day, let me start by how we met. In 2008 I saw my future wife after a very long time because she left the country when she was 5 years old. She was so pretty. My dad and her mom are cousins, but we never met each other. In 2008 I told my dad I like Aziza, and I wanted him to go and ask her to marry me. Weddings in my home country are usually arranged by the elders.

I met her in March of 2008, and we got married in August of 2008. Between March and August 2008, I met her only once. The second time I met her was at the wedding hall.

We had around 1000 guests at the reception. It is common for Afghan weddings to have at least around 1000 people invited or uninvited people who show up if there is a wedding in the area. The groom must be ready anytime to feed all the guests in the wedding hall. Due to culture differences between the west and the east the groom family covers all the costs, from wedding hall to food, jewelry, clothes, and gifts.

Afghan weddings are segregated by genders. Men enjoy the reception in a different hall than women. The segregation means you’re not supposed to meet other women.

We ended the night with our Nikah, the most important tradition that ties the bride and groom in a relation. It mainly occurs on the big day. However, some Afghani families prefer arranging a Nikah ceremony many days before the actual marriage day. It's not considered a grand ceremony in Afghanistan. In short, it is a short and private tradition. Only the couple's family members, the Mullah and Islamic clergy, are present at the Nikah moment.

At present we live happily in Canada.