Over the course of the night, we ate probably 30 different kinds of little treats, many sweet (and served first), savory (such as a pastry filled with something that tasted like a hot dog. Moroccan tea, which I have come to love, was in ample supply. Plus there were soups, cakes, and even mini-kebabs.
A massive band with an excellent male singer played Moroccan music and wedding songs for about 7 hours. The dance floor was full most of the time, sometimes with me and my companions, always with a collection of kids, teenagers, and adults, some of whom were quite old. There was a good deal of drumming and percussion, in addition to violins, a keyboard, and an excellent male singer. Sometimes the band worked itself into quite a frenzy; the crowd loved it.
The bride displayed four different dresses during the course of the night. The last one, the white one, was revealed at about 5a.m. She was also placed in, I believe, three different lavishly decorated boxes, hoisted above the crowd by four box-carriers, and paraded around or turned in circles. Once, she was hoisted with her husband, who had his own box and four other carriers. The husband kissed the wife and then stood up in the box; very impressive. The most exciting part of the bride's outfits, from my perspective, was her hand art: henna, on both sides of her hands and wrists. Other women in the wedding party had similar tattoos.
There were two separate couches on which the newlyweds could recline. One was white with gold decorations; the other was a rich green. The couple periodically went from one to the other.
There was an official act during the celebration, as certain papers were signed during the course of the night, but there was no formal ceremony.
My main impressions:
1. Moroccan dancing is beautiful. The women in particular are graceful and composed. Their brightly-colored flowing clothing made it all the more beautiful.
2. Moroccan weddings are LONG. I know other ceremonies are longer, but this one went on for over 8 hours. And those hours near dawn can seem longer than the others. But there was so much to do. Between all the food, the dresses, the putting of people in fancy boxes, the dancing, the cutting of the cake, the throwing of various flowers, the having of tea and coffee (several separate breaks during the night), it's hard to see how they could go much faster.
3. It was really nice to see well over 100 people, young and old, relaxing and chatting and having tea -- at 5 in the morning. The length of the ceremony gave people a chance to reconnect with family and friends, and people had a chance to get comfortable there.
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