The Girl's Wedding

As previously mentioned [link], this month we are taking about Azerbaijani weddings.

So...did you know that the bride and groom have their own weddings?!

Yup. That is right. As a bride, you get two (TWO) parties to celebrate the momentous occasion of marriage. At the girl's wedding (a few days before the boy's), the girl wears a colored dress, enjoys the company of her family, and smiles, a lot. She then goes back home and prepares for the boy's wedding which will happen in a couple of days. The boy's wedding is a much more traditional affair, complete with white dress, red sash, and no smiles. The girl does not go home after this party. Instead, she starts her life as a married woman.

Last week, I went to a girl's wedding. My friend, Ş, wore a lilac dress and smiled up a storm. I wore a black dress and sat a lot because I had recently hurt my Achille's tendon in a tiger-street fighting accident (actually, it is not so dramatic and a much longer story).

The best part about this wedding? I got to MOW DOWN. U.S. wedding food has got nothing on Azerbaijani weddings. We are talking at least 5 courses of salads, meats, kebabs, and special wedding rice pilaf.


For this wedding, my friends and I arrived at 6 p.m. and stayed until about 11 p.m. Food started arriving at 7 p.m. - so..that is about 4 hours of foodage. Mix in toasts and dances every six minutes or so and you got yourself an Azerbaijani wedding. Oh yeah, do not forget the 10 decibel tar-centric music.

Happy July 4th

And for the 2nd Annual AzerDash...

Of course, who knew that moments after the race, my ankle would swell up to the size of a softball. So much for my new exercise regime...(I am doing Insanity. It is insane!).

Weddings in Azerbaijan

Welcome to my newest label, Azerbaijani Ed. Over the next 6 months, please join me in learning more about Azerbaijani culture and communities. If you have any questions or comments - click the Comment link below!

This month, we be focusing on Azerbaijani weddings.

Okay guys, dig in because this is a pretty big topic. I definitely do not have enough space in this post to talk about the whole shebang, so I am going to break it off into smaller pieces. The most important thing to know is that weddings in Azerbaijan, although called weddings, share few similarities with American weddings.

Firstly, weddings are big deals. Actually, they are the deal. My counterpart (a few years my junior) has been to as least 60 weddings in her life. There is no US equivalent to describe how big a wedding is in Azerbaijan, so it is kind of hard to wrap your head around unless you have lived here.

Secondly, the prep of a wedding kind of follows that expected path. There is an engagement party, a bachelorette party (usually where henna is used), a girl's wedding, a boy's wedding, and then the day-after party.

Last week, I went to a bachelorette party. Amid Turkish traditions and probably some Persian customs, we ate, drank tea, and danced. One tradition is to henna your future mate's initials into your palm. I did not do this, but the future bride certainly did!


Next week, the girl's wedding!