Westerner invited to Qatari Wedding HELP

Wear your most formal, outlandish, skimpy dress or gown, put on as much makeup as possible, get your hair done, and you will still be underdressed. Bring a shawl to cover up when the men enter. Bring 1 QAR notes to throw at the dancers or singers. Don't worry about a gift. Leave your cell phone in the car or check it when you enter. A wedding is an amazing spectacle. It's the most fun you can have with all women and no alcohol.

Don't walk into the wedding with flesh on show, as there is often hoards of drivers and other men hanging around the venue. Cover up until you're inside, and be prepared for the arrival of the Groom and his kin towards the end, when everyone will cover up - shayla's, shawls, and abayahs flying. Its like a colour picture suddenly turning into a black and white negative!!

If you're western, you'll definitely not be able to match the dresses of the local women for flair, ostentatiousness, and sometimes obscenity! This is a fabulous night, but can get boring if the bride takes too long to arrive. My 'Jewelled Henna' might give you some extra pizzaz.. if you need it, (see Classifieds) but whatever you wear, your presence will be appreciated, simply because you're an outsider. The whole thing can take from three to six hours (if the bride is late)!! Leave when you want.

And last but not least - DO NOT take photos with camera or telephone cam. Ultimate insult, and illegal too. Have a great night!

Angel

Easy Haitha.. Just enjoy yourself.

BTW, It's very rare that I go to weddings. Toooo loud music :-\ so be prepared for that;try not to sit somewhere next to the speakers.

Try to sit somewhere near the bride and groom's place so you can see them clear and you can see the screens where the photos of both of them as kids and throwout their lives will appear.

No matter how much make up you'll wear, you'll be surprised how little it is compared with others lol it always happen to me so don't worry.

Enjoy yourself, it's better if you were going with a friend so you can talk to in the "seconds" between a song and the other lol.

Hello Haitha,

Im a Qatari girl.. so I guess I can help..

All the members gave u very helpful advice..

Well first of all wear anything u want.. as everyone said don’t worry about showing skin.. I would suggest a fancy dress, do ur hair, put make up..wear ur nicest jewelery..dont be toooooo simple u know.. imagine ur going to a ball party ..

U don’t need to bring a present to a wedding.. if u were invited to something called “al hadya�than it is necessary to bring a present.. but don’t worry about the wedding nothing is just fine

So all u need to do is say hello to the ladies standing by the door to greet the guests and then find an empty seat..if ur lucky u’ll bump into the lady who invited u and she will help u find a seat..

Then just sit back and enjoy the dancing.. theres gonna be loud music and a lot of dancing

It usually lasts till midnight.. it starts from 8,30-9,00 and the bride comes down around 10,30-11,00 it depends.. theres gonna be a lot of food either served to u on the table or served as a boufet..

Hmmmm what else..i guess that’s it..

So most important is dress up :)

I hope I was helpful to u.. let us know what happened

Good luck Haitha

Dress up for a kings party n wear ur best cloth n jewelry as weddings in Qatar r like fashion events. Our ladies do not have much of a chance in showing their dresses n put too much make up except there so u will sure enjoy the show. Showing skin is not an issue there as even the Qatari ladies will do ;) No gift is necessary but maybe few 1 QR bills to throw on the dancers will be appreciated n will show interest in our culture. Dance as much as u like also as it is a good gesture, but that if u feel like it. For sure the Qatari ladies may giggle if u start dancing western on Arabic music :P No mobile phone with a camera is allowed so do not take one. N last but not least, go their hungry as there will be so much food.

Oh, n do not go early. The party does not usually start till after 9:30 n stays till midnight :)

My wife was invited to the wedding of our Qatari neighbour's (Ahmed Hassan Bilal) daughter and was told by a reliable source that if she couldn't afford something expensive as a present don't bother as it's the cost that counts....not the thought.

She was avised to take a good sized bouquet of flowers for the brides mother.

They had called in a dance troupe from Bahrain for the wedding and my Mrs was astounded when the local women began touching QR notes on the dancers foreheads and throwing the notes on the floor. There was QR 65,000 on the floor at the end of the night. Next time she gets an invite she wears spikes!

I'd say chillax n kick back with a cold beer.. but i cant! ):

Take the chance to wear something skimpy. The Qatari women will. I didn't take a present to mine, but I didn't know the bride or groom and was a friend of the bride's sister. Otherwise there was a lot of dancing, food and gossip. Enjoy. :)

Don't worry about it :^) Wear a nice dress, you can show as much skin as you like - chances are, you will see more female flesh than you'll be comfortable with. These ladies do show off at the weddings! And to my knowledge no gift is necessary unless you really WANT to give something, and then it's up to you :^)