Invited to Muslim Wedding

[PolaDeVeboise]

Hi, looking for some guidance from any Muslim Mumsnetters or anyone who has attended a Muslim wedding.

Our lovely neighbours have invited us to their daughter's wedding on Saturday and, obviously, I want to be as respectful a guest as I can be. Would you advise getting a special 'Muslim' card or will an 'everyday' one be just as welcome. Is there any colour I shouldn't wear? How long will the day last? (wedding starts at 1pm). Will it be totally 'dry'? Your help would be very much appreciated.

Apologies if I haven't worded this very well and offended anyone.

Hi
The exact details will vary between different Muslim weddings as the cultural factors are entwined as well. So an Arab-Muslim wedding might be quite different to an Indian-Muslim wedding and both would be quite different to an English-Muslim wedding.

Generally the event will be totally dry. You don’t need a special card, dress code is modest so no boobs bellies or thighs on show . Although some are segregated weddings so dress code will change there. As for how long it will last - several hours I imagine. The actual ceremony takes only a few minutes but it’s the food and party after that go on. Hope you have fun!

I think there are some cultures where the bridal colour is red so you might want to avoid that if that's the case.

Thanks, I'm planning to wear a black and white boat neck, mid calf dress with red accessories - do you think that would be ok?

When I was in the Gulf the general rule was knees and shoulders covered so that sounds fine to me.

That should be fine.

Do you know the national heritage of your neighbors? Are the women hijabis? Do they wear face veils?

I attended the wedding of a non-Muslim friend to her Muslim partner a few years ago. In terms of dress my friends and I just wore normal smart wedding outfits, and brought the usual gifts and cards. It was a fab wedding, amazing food and a traditional Pakistani music and dance group. Have fun!

The event will be totally dry, and a mid calf dress should be fine . I personally wouldn't wear anything sleeveless to an Islamic wedding, but I usually wear traditional clothes to Asian weddings (my husband is half Pakistani).I think those colours would be fine. Asian weddings are great fun, and really interesting to witness as an 'outsider' - the food is usually really good too!

General wedding card with flowers etc on it fine btw.

It honestly depends so much on the individual family, their cultural backgrounds and level of religious observance.
I would definitely cover shoulders and knees. No special card required, just a normal wedding one.

The females in the family don't wear face veils, no - they do wear headscarves though. We are SO looking forward to it , and it will be a whole new experience to be at a wedding and not get trollied!

Really appreciate your input ladies, thanks.

How kind of your neighbours. They might be pleased if you asked them about colours to wear (or not wear) for the wedding.

Wear any colour you like. Most Muslims don’t seem to bother with cards but it will be appreciated anyway. If they’ve invited you I imagine they don’t mind what you wear (within reason). As past posters have said, the type of wedding it will be will depend on where they are from and how religious they are (also how rich they are 😬).

The food will be absolutely amazing, enjoy.

I've been to a few wedding of Muslim friends, I love them! The food has always been fantastic and the atmosphere really nice, I've had a few strange looks here and there from people who were a bit surprised to see a white face (in fairness, mine was the only white face at that one so I stood out a bit) but everyone was really friendly.

I've been to two Muslim weddings. The first did actually have a small bar available for non-Muslim guests (groom wasn't Muslim) and it was good fun. The second was a segregated event, which I didn't expect based on my previous experience. I was very much welcomed and looked after at both, and the food was amazing.

If the family wear headscarves it may be worth having a scarf with you that you can drape over your head for the service, just in case they would prefer you to have your head covered.

Enjoy, we went to my neighbours’ daughter’s wedding. An excellent day out.

When I went to a Muslim wedding I took a pashmina to cover my head at the ceremony, the the request of the bride who’s parents were very conservative.
Otherwise wear whichever colour you want, and enjoy!

We were invited to. Muslim wedding which unfortunately we couldn’t attend. The invitation alone was absolutely amazing so I can’t imagine how good the actual celebration would have been.