Moroccan weddings are usually all night affairs. The actual legal formalities may take place weeks or months in advance but the reception is held to officially recognize the couple as man and wife. The event begins with parties held simultaneously in the bride and grooms houses. The guests return home to prepare for the reception around ten at night.

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The wedding is held in the bride’s house or, if the parents are affluent in a villa hired for the occasion. The guests are greeted by a traditional band and after a while the bride is carried in on a big silver chair called an ‘ameria’. She is preceded by the groom and followed by the aissoua band playing horns and drums. The procession is greeted by a standing ovation. The wedding feast begins at this point.

The bride and groom are placed on circular cushions and hoisted above the shoulders of the guests. They are then paraded like royalty among the crowd. After a short time the couple leaves to change clothes and join the guests in a dance. The ritual goes in cycles; the bride and groom change, move around among their family and friends and then retire for a photography session. The whole event can involve about five changes of dress. The most difficult part of the ritual is the traditional head dresses the bride has to wear. These can easily weigh 20 pounds each. The fact that the bride has to simultaneously maintain her balance on the shoulders of the crowd adds to the intricacy of the experience.

The guests finally leave at dawn but not before steaming bowls of harira soup have been served to them and the wedding cake has been eaten.