Henna Party

The day before the wedding, friends and family gather for the Henna Party. Everyone dresses up and the bride gets henna done on her hands and feet. The rest of the party eats snacks and dances and watches the bride. When she is finished the ladies take turn getting henna done too. Usually just one hand and something simple. These are the gifts, or dowries that the groom presents to the bride on this day. It includes fancy clothes, jewelry, and sweets.

We all ate cous cous and got ready together at my friends house. We were ready first so we just sat around and took photos and talked.

These are some fancy stuffed dates.

Then we (everyone from the groom's side) hit the streets to parade through the neighborhood showing off the gifts. The band is following us and we are singing and dancing, all the while stopping traffic and people hanging out their windows to watch.

The gifts on display.

The bride already in the middle of her henna when we arrived.

My turn!!! After I got my henna, these kids kept wanting to play and dance and were accidentally grabbing it.

The do the actual ring exchange and feeding of the dates and milk at this party. It was really sweet.