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During the henna evening, Soha and Naim are enthroned between their two mothers standing beside them. The bridegroom's mother bears a pillow on her head on which is pinned jewelry which will be awarded to the bride. The bride's mother bears a bowl of henna decorated with greens and candles. Arabs consider henna halal, meaning that it is holy., Katrina Thomas's notes: I photographed Arab Muslim celebrations billed as engagements, henna evenings and weddings in Brooklyn, NY and also in Dearborn, MI, which maintains the largest concentration of Arabs in the U.S. Couples may be matched; some meet at family weddings. Muslims make a distinction between marriage and a wedding. The marriage solemnizes a written or an oral agreement, al-mahr, money awarded to the bride by the bridegroom, and usually takes place privately in the home. It is not photographable because the bride and groom remain in separate rooms. Presumably, the marriage is not consummated until after the wedding, which announces the union of man and wife to the community. It takes place any time from a few hours after the marriage to a few years. A henna evening may be celebrated before either or both. The bridegroom's family pays for all festivities. What is distinctive besides the lack of alcohol, except clandestinely, and the sexes being divided so that women dance on one side of the hall and men dance -- dipping, hopping, stamping their feet -- on the other side, is that the bride and groom do not participate. They sit like royalty on a dais presiding over their jubilant guests.

Parwana, wearing her bridal veil and a green dress, green being a symbol for happiness, has already given verbal assent to her marriage. Now the bridegroom Assadullah brings the contract for her to sign., Katrina Thomas's notes: Islam is the common thread that runs through Afghan weddings no matter what region the bride and bridegroom are from or what their native language. Muslim faith separates the couple until the settlement of the mahr, the money a bridegroom awards his bride divided in three parts, which she accepts in signing a contract. At the weddings I attended, she wears a green dress before signing and changes into a white gown for attending the feast with her husband. At the reception, sitting together under a shawl, the newlyweds see each other first as a couple in a mirror and read a sura in the Koran. Among other wedding rites is the use of henna, a brown sticky paste put on the bride's palm and the groom's little finger, and offered to guests for good luck. The newlyweds exchange glasses of sharbat, a fruit drink and eat malida, a sugary crumbly cake. The couple's main activity during the feast is for the two to sit side-by-side, receiving congratulations from guests and posing with them for photographs. One of the first western customs adopted by newcomers is to cut a white-iced wedding cake. Family and guests dance until late in the evening; the newlyweds may dance or they may not.

The decorated box on the bridal table at Hanan and Naim's wedding the feast encourages guests to deposit gifts of money in envelopes which identify the donor. The sum collected pays for the feast with perhaps something left over for the newlyweds to spend., Katrina Thomas's notes: I photographed Arab Muslim celebrations billed as engagements, henna evenings and weddings in Brooklyn, NY and also in Dearborn, MI, which maintains the largest concentration of Arabs in the U.S. Couples may be matched; some meet at family weddings. Muslims make a distinction between marriage and a wedding. The marriage solemnizes a written or an oral agreement, al-mahr, money awarded to the bride by the bridegroom, and usually takes place privately in the home. It is not photographable because the bride and groom remain in separate rooms. Presumably, the marriage is not consummated until after the wedding, which announces the union of man and wife to the community. It takes place any time from a few hours after the marriage to a few years. A henna evening may be celebrated before either or both. The bridegroom's family pays for all festivities. What is distinctive besides the lack of alcohol, except clandestinely, and the sexes being divided so that women dance on one side of the hall and men dance -- dipping, hopping, stamping their feet -- on the other side, is that the bride and groom do not participate. They sit like royalty on a dais presiding over their jubilant guests.

The other half-cup of flavored milk, brought to her by her sister, is drunk by Halimah, still acquiring henna designs. Tomorrow Halimah and Abbas will be married separately in a mosque and the two will attend an evening reception together., Katrina Thomas's notes: I photographed the henna evening for a Muslim bride from Guyana, who will marry a bridegroom from Tanzania. They fell in love and were not matched. On this evening, he visits her house and they share a cup, but do not see each other. The following day, they will be married separately in a mosque, after which they will come together at a party given by one of his relatives. She will wear a western wedding dress and carry a bouquet. At this party, they will exchange rings and share wedding cake.

Roles may be interchanged between families when a bride and groom are cousins. Mahmoud's mother being absent, his father brought jewelry for Mariam which her own mother, aided by the bridegroom's sister, hands to her son-in-law to put on her daughter., Katrina Thomas's notes: I photographed Arab Muslim celebrations billed as engagements, henna evenings and weddings in Brooklyn, NY and also in Dearborn, MI, which maintains the largest concentration of Arabs in the U.S. Couples may be matched; some meet at family weddings. Muslims make a distinction between marriage and a wedding. The marriage solemnizes a written or an oral agreement, al-mahr, money awarded to the bride by the bridegroom, and usually takes place privately in the home. It is not photographable because the bride and groom remain in separate rooms. Presumably, the marriage is not consummated until after the wedding, which announces the union of man and wife to the community. It takes place any time from a few hours after the marriage to a few years. A henna evening may be celebrated before either or both. The bridegroom's family pays for all festivities. What is distinctive besides the lack of alcohol, except clandestinely, and the sexes being divided so that women dance on one side of the hall and men dance -- dipping, hopping, stamping their feet -- on the other side, is that the bride and groom do not participate. They sit like royalty on a dais presiding over their jubilant guests.

Emira, the bride, in her new home is introduced to the kitchen by the bridegroom's sister. She dips her fingers into a bowl of flour and then touches various appliances -- the stove, the toaster oven, the microwave., Katrina Thomas's notes: The only Albanian Muslim wedding I photographed was in New Jersey. It was more relaxed than the two Catholic weddings celebrated within the Bronx community, possibly because these families have moved to suburbia. The bridegroom is the son of an imam. Without him, in a caravan of cars the groom's family drives to the bride's house to bring her in a limousine to her conjugal home. Upon arrival, Emira sits in the limo while a young nephew is put in her lap for luck in producing sons. The bridegroom Afrim greets her in a restrained manner. Her mother-in-law, standing at the door of the house, holds a small bowl of sugared water into which Emira dips the fingers of her right hand and touches both sides of the doorframe. Then stepping into the house, right foot first, she is introduced to the kitchen, after which her new sisters-in-law celebrate her arrival by dancing, while she stands without moving, apparently oblivious. Later, at the reception, her family is present but they sit at tables apart and do not communicate with her. The sole Islamic touches that I noted were an imam reading brief excerpts from the Koran, and the lack of liquor.

On the evening before Mariam's wedding, seven unmarried girls take stitches in a gauze cloth in the hope of sewing up the tongues of any malevolent in-laws. This event is for women only, her girlfriends grinding cones of sugar through the cloth to ensure her happiness., Katrina Thomas's notes: Islam is the common thread that runs through Afghan weddings no matter what region the bride and bridegroom are from or what their native language. Muslim faith separates the couple until the settlement of the mahr, the money a bridegroom awards his bride divided in three parts, which she accepts in signing a contract. At the weddings I attended, she wears a green dress before signing and changes into a white gown for attending the feast with her husband. At the reception, sitting together under a shawl, the newlyweds see each other first as a couple in a mirror and read a sura in the Koran. Among other wedding rites is the use of henna, a brown sticky paste put on the bride's palm and the groom's little finger, and offered to guests for good luck. The newlyweds exchange glasses of sharbat, a fruit drink and eat malida, a sugary crumbly cake. The couple's main activity during the feast is for the two to sit side-by-side, receiving congratulations from guests and posing with them for photographs. One of the first western customs adopted by newcomers is to cut a white-iced wedding cake. Family and guests dance until late in the evening; the newlyweds may dance or they may not.

Having put on her bridal gown, Parwana takes her husband's arm to enter the reception under the Koran. Her downcast eyes are evidence of modesty and her reluctance to leave her mother, who remains at her side. Assadullah, now in a tuxedo, is proud to have her arm in his., Katrina Thomas's notes: Islam is the common thread that runs through Afghan weddings no matter what region the bride and bridegroom are from or what their native language. Muslim faith separates the couple until the settlement of the mahr, the money a bridegroom awards his bride divided in three parts, which she accepts in signing a contract. At the weddings I attended, she wears a green dress before signing and changes into a white gown for attending the feast with her husband. At the reception, sitting together under a shawl, the newlyweds see each other first as a couple in a mirror and read a sura in the Koran. Among other wedding rites is the use of henna, a brown sticky paste put on the bride's palm and the groom's little finger, and offered to guests for good luck. The newlyweds exchange glasses of sharbat, a fruit drink and eat malida, a sugary crumbly cake. The couple's main activity during the feast is for the two to sit side-by-side, receiving congratulations from guests and posing with them for photographs. One of the first western customs adopted by newcomers is to cut a white-iced wedding cake. Family and guests dance until late in the evening; the newlyweds may dance or they may not.

All of the 550 guests, including many children, dance all evening long. Only the bride does not., Katrina Thomas's notes: The only Albanian Muslim wedding I photographed was in New Jersey. It was more relaxed than the two Catholic weddings celebrated within the Bronx community, possibly because these families have moved to suburbia. The bridegroom is the son of an imam. Without him, in a caravan of cars the groom's family drives to the bride's house to bring her in a limousine to her conjugal home. Upon arrival, Emira sits in the limo while a young nephew is put in her lap for luck in producing sons. The bridegroom Afrim greets her in a restrained manner. Her mother-in-law, standing at the door of the house, holds a small bowl of sugared water into which Emira dips the fingers of her right hand and touches both sides of the doorframe. Then stepping into the house, right foot first, she is introduced to the kitchen, after which her new sisters-in-law celebrate her arrival by dancing, while she stands without moving, apparently oblivious. Later, at the reception, her family is present but they sit at tables apart and do not communicate with her. The sole Islamic touches that I noted were an imam reading brief excerpts from the Koran, and the lack of liquor.

The evening before her wedding, Halimah, a Shia Muslim from Guyana, is having her hands and feet decorated with henna. The bridegroom Abbas will arrive with family and friends, bringing her wedding outfit, but the couple will not see each other., Katrina Thomas's notes: I photographed the henna evening for a Muslim bride from Guyana, who will marry a bridegroom from Tanzania. They fell in love and were not matched. On this evening, he visits her house and they share a cup, but do not see each other. The following day, they will be married separately in a mosque, after which they will come together at a party given by one of his relatives. She will wear a western wedding dress and carry a bouquet. At this party, they will exchange rings and share wedding cake.