The Customs and Traditions of the Wedding in Kuwait

Engagement Period

As we all know in Islam the engagement is a promise to marry and to make a right decision, which means that this promise could be broken and that there are no guarantees. The groom's family arranges a visit to the bride's house to ask for her hand, this is known as"Al-khetba" which means the engagement.The couple sees each other, talks to each other and agrees to marry, an engagement ceremony is arranged. Since an engagement is regarded as a contract, nobody else can ask for the engaged girls hand in marriage.The aim of the engagement is to create understanding between the couple and to comfort their spirits, engagement was not built for holding hands and flirting, it was build for a couple to communicate with each other, the couples must do some serious thinking. There are several things that a person needs to look out for in their fiance such as religion, manners, style of thinking, the look to the future and the compatibility of habits,These things will help you decide if you should move on to the marriage contract!

"Melcha" Period

After the couple decide to move on the marriage contact, the marriage negotiations start by setting a date for tying the knot, which is called "al-melcha", then a finantial gift "al-mahar" is given by the groom on that day to the bride. The groom also give his new bride some jewelry, such as the wedding ring, necklaces, a bracelat and a ring which are all called "al-shabka", then two seperate parties are set, one small party for women, and one for men.

Example of"al-shabka"

Some ideas to give "Al-mahar"

Wedding period

In this period the bride will move to her husband home to live with them forever, the family of the bride will do a very big ceremony for their daughter, it's the starting of the new life!