Local Wedding: Hamam & Henna

Hamam
The first wedding event starts multiple days before the actual wedding. In the case of our friend, she started the wedding week on Monday and sealed the deal on Friday. Traditionally the bridal party including the bride, her "attendants", her mother, future mother-in-law, future sisters-in-law, and any other important woman on either side of the family attend the Hamam. The word, hamam, is actually an Arabic word for bath. The women gather in what is similar to a communal sauna, where they pour warm water over themselves and sit as long as they can bear it. When its as hot as they can stand, they leave the sauna and lay on a (generally) a stone table, where a worker literally comes at 'em with a loofa. The lady scrubs all the dead skin (and some fresh skin if she's good) off, leaving the bride and attendants fresh and clean for the big day. Many times the bride must also have a full body wax and endure an inspection from her future mother-in-law also.

Returning to the bride's house, woman wear a long white or cream colored shawl (notice the video of the ladies in the carriage).

Henna
In the evening, a woman comes to the bride's house to apply henna and harkoose. Harkoose is similar to what we in the States call henna, as in where you put the dye is where the temporary tattoo shows up. Henna here is a very different story:

First they heat a type of wax over a small bed of coals, as pictured above.

Then the hot wax is painted onto the skin, typically the hands or feet, to create a design.

Then they apply the henna, which is generally a powder mixed with water (or motor oil to make it appear redder) that is then pasted onto the area.

Working hard on the henna

Once the henna has been applied, it must be wrapped in a glove or sock like thing to dry. 

I just got a small henna tattoo on my foot, like the bride did.

In hindsight, I should've gone with some harkoose, because this mostly just looks like I stepped in something.

Beth and I in our traditional outfits for the henna hafla.

During the henna party, all of the groom's "womenfolk" return in their dressy garb and then the singing and partying begins. Everyone gathers around the bride and the henna ladies grab their tambourines and start singing loudly. We were enjoying the entertainment, when suddenly everyone starts throwing money into a tray in front of the bride. At the end of the song, everyone then takes their money back and gives change to the henna ladies. We repeated this process two or three times in as many locations before we realized that whatever amount someone puts into the tray, they're expected to give 10% to the ladies who applied the henna. It's certainly a cultural experience, enjoy a few small glimpses:

The festivities continued to include three wardrobe changes for the bride and dancing well into the night.