In the Afghan capital, fifty couples tied the knot in a combined ceremony on Monday. This is a growing trend aimed at bringing down the exorbitant costs associated with traditional weddings in the poor nation.
The ceremony was relatively austere, but the couples were joined in matrimony in one of the dozens of opulent wedding halls that dot Kabul.
Following the Taliban’s return in August 2021, weddings have essentially become quiet events with no dancing or music allowed because the rulers considered it to be against Islam.
There was not a single lady there as more than a hundred turbaned men wearing traditional shalwar kameez chatted in groups in front of the City Star wedding hall near the airport.
They decorated cars with green ribbons and red plastic roses forming hearts to carry the newlyweds away.
Roohullah Rezayi, 18, due to leave with his wife in a few hours, told AFP he could not afford a solo wedding.
“A traditional wedding would have cost us at least 200,000 to 250,000 Afghanis ($2,800 to $3,600), but this time it will be between 10,000 and 15,000 Afghanis,” he said.
The young man, a member of the Hazara Shiite minority and from Ghor province, earns barely 350 Afghanis per day doing odd jobs.
“We invited 35 people from our two families, otherwise it would have been 300 to 400,” said the groom, a plastic flower in the breast pocket of his waistcoat worn over a white tunic.
$1,600 in donations, which is a substantial sum in one of the world’s poorest nations, was given to each couple by the Selab Foundation, the organization that coordinated the event.
A cake, a package with toothpaste, shampoo, and moisturizer, a carpet, a blanket, and a few domestic appliances will also be left for them when they move out and begin their married life.
A Thousand Guests
The event was held in a spacious, cold auditorium decorated with garlands, and hundreds of men in traditional patu shawls gathered.
Recitations from the Koran were held in addition to a speech by a representative of the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice.
But the prospective brides were kept hidden in a different wing and media were not allowed to approach them.
It was only after lunch that the women appeared, fully veiled.
Larger, more pricey weddings in Afghanistan can bring together more than 1,000 guests and cost over $20,000.
For Monday’s mass wedding, 600 couples applied.
For some of the lucky chosen ones, it has been a long wait.
“I’ve been waiting for this day for three years,” said Samiullah Zamani, a 23-year-old farmer from Kabul province.
“I can’t wait to see her,” he said of his fiancee.