Celebration

The wedding is one of the most important occasions in the Iranian tradition. Most of the traditions of Iranian weddings originated in Zoroastrian times, and have changed very little up to modern time.

In traditional Iranian families, marriages were more or less arranged by families. When a son becomes eligible for marriage, his family would take him to the house of a chosen bride to ask her family to marry her. This is called Khastegari.

Like most Western weddings, Iranian wedding are broken up into different parts - the ceremony (aghd) and the reception. I want to write more about the ceremony (aghd). Traditionally, Iranian weddings would take several days, but in the modern age when people have become busier, most weddings now take place in one day.

In the aghd portion of the wedding, the ceremony begins with the bride and groom seated on a bench in front of the guests. In front of them there is a table, which contains several highly symbolic items (sofreye aghd). Above their head there is a canopy held by female family members. The canopy signifies that the bride and groom are now combined under the same roof. Somebody burns special incense called esfand, which is said, in Iranian tradition, to ward off the evil eye. The ceremony officiator is someone who can legally sign the marriage documents. He starts by reading verses and asks for the consent of the bride and groom. First, he asks the groom if he consents to marry the bride, and he immediately says “yes” (bale). Next, he asks the bride - now this is the fun part. When he asks her if she consents to marry the groom, she remains silent. After a couple of seconds of nervous silence, someone from the audience yells, “the bride has gone to pick flowers!” He asks again, and she remains silent again and this time someone from the audience yells, “the bride has gone to take rosewater!” The officiator asks the third time, and this time the bride says, “with the permission of my father and mother, yes”. And everyone starts “kelling” (making the loud lee-lee-lee-lee sounds) and clapping in joy. Now it's the time for the honey exchange. The groom picks up a jar of honey from the table. He dips his little finger into the jar of honey and feeds it to the bride. She then does the same for him. This is to symbolize that they will feed each other with sweetness throughout their lives together. Then, their family members rush to congratulate them, and often showering them with presents of gold jewelry. Finally, the bride and groom get up and exit the ceremony. As they walk, they are showered with coins and flower petals. They exit and get ready for the next part, the reception!