Afghan brides need up to ten dresses for wedding

Wedding Officiants at TheSimpleWedding.com
Good morning to all my blog readers. That's really funny because I'm not sure if anyone is reading this. Where are all the comments?
Are you planning a wedding in the near future? Perhaps you are thinking about renewing your vows for your anniversary. I would be honored to provide your ceremony for either of those events.
I am very fortunate in living in an area which is very popular for wedding and renewals. Our beaches are so very nice and we are blessed with miles of them here in Broward county. I provide wedding ceremonies for many couples who come here from other states because they will be going on a cruise and leaving from Port Everglades. The price to be married on-board is quite expensive so I am a less expensive but very nice alternative.
If you are like so many people in today's world and you find yourself needing to be a little more frugal with your wedding plans take a look at my website TheSimpleWedding for some good ideas. In the section of articles you will also find some interesting facts about weddings.
I invite your comments on weddings or on my writing.
If you are like me you picture Afganistan as a place of poverty, mud houses and a shortage of everything. Well think again. Read the following article from Stars and Stripes...

Costly Afghan weddings under government scrutiny
BY JON GAMBRELL
Associated Press


AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe
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KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- Some brides in Afghanistan change their outfits up to 10 times. Throw in the six-hour trips to the beauty parlors and the meals for 1,000 guests - and one wedding alone could bankrupt many Afghans.

Now the Justice Ministry is proposing limits on the lavish events to cut down on the pressure poor Afghans face to match the elite's elaborate weddings. The government is specifically targeting party halls - and threatening to fine owners who flout the austerity rules.

"It is breaking the back of the groom and of the family," Justice Minister Habibullah Ghaleb said of the lavish nuptials. "It creates an immoral corruption."

Under the proposed wedding law, which still needs to be passed by parliament, locations would be barred from allowing more than 300 attendees for an engagement party and more than 500 people at a wedding, Ghaleb said.

Those halls caught breaking the law would be subject to serious fines or other possible penalties. However, it remains unclear what enforcement powers authorities would have to go after the wedding halls, especially in a country where bribery remains common.

Other rules are aimed at protecting grooms' families from spending too much money on gifts for brides and their relatives. Brides would get only two dresses - one for an engagement party and one for the wedding. The law would restrict other gifts too, Ghaleb said without elaborating.

"We don't want to put pressure on the people," the minister said. "We want to put pressure on the wedding halls."

Afghan weddings traditionally took place in the home, with families and friends attending several events marking the groom and bride's union. Under Taliban rule, lavish ceremonies were forbidden.

But over the last decade, rich Afghans have begun renting out the country's top halls and hotels to host thousands of people for weddings and engagement parties, complete with gifts and tables heaped with food.

The frosted-glass wedding halls in Kabul appear like a neon dream of what Afghanistan could be amid the ruined roads and bullet-marred apartment buildings. And some believe the weddings that cost of tens of thousands of dollars hint at the graft strangling government and private life in Afghanistan.

"It is happiness for them, but for others, it is just fire," Ghaleb said.

Families around the world take out loans and run up credit card debt to throw lavish wedding celebrations for their children. But in Afghanistan, the average government employee earns just $50 to $100 a month, according to a recent U.S. Senate committee report.

But even a modest government paycheck won't even secure a deposit on a $1,500 wedding dress in Kabul or expensive gold jewelry.

The financial pressure multiplies across large families, as Afghan women on average have at least six children. Most borrow money from family members and friends to hold their weddings, as formal loans remain difficult to obtain.

Afghan families mostly shrug and accept the cost as a sign of tradition mashing into a country where ATMs now spit out U.S. dollars.

Hamid Walizada, 31, an interpreter for the U.S. military, said it took his family 10 months to put the money together for his wedding from friends and others. Others travel abroad to earn money, while some elope at the risk of arrest.

"Everything is expensive here," Walizada said outside of one dress shop. "Everybody is trying to find money and get married."

Wedding hall operators - not surprisingly - disagree with the proposed rules. However, they point to the Quran as guidance for large celebrations.

"We are following the history of our Prophet Muhammad," said Moula M. Paiman, president of the City Star Hall. "When he got married, thousands upon thousands attended the wedding. We are following that."

On a recent summer night, Paiman juggled three mobile phones and a walkie-talkie, trying organize the crowds and 300 employees at his wedding hall, ablaze with lights like a Las Vegas casino with the traffic to match.

He declined to say how many people could be seated inside, but the crowds suggested thousands. Most hall operators charge at least $10 a person.

Yet he took the time to smile with pride when asked about the two, towering crescent moons leading into the hall, luminescent against the flashing neon.

"See, on the way you came, it was a dark desert," he said. "Here it is beautiful."

---

Associated Press writer Amir Shah contributed to this report.

The weekend of weddings

Mother's Day weekend was a weekend of weddings for me. My weekend started on Friday evening, on the beach with Danielle and Jason. Jason had just returned from over seas with his National Guard unit. After the wedding I drove them down to the Hollywood Broadwalk where they were going to have their wedding dinner at one of the many restaurants which sit right on the walkway with the ocean just steps away.
It is a beautiful place to "people watch" anytime and it can be a very romantic location for newlyweds.
As with all my brides and grooms I enjoyed getting to meet them and to spend a little part of their special day.

My second weekend wedding was that of Anna and Paul. They choose Fern Forest in Coconut Creek for both their wedding ceremony and for their reception. If you live in the Fort Lauderdale area and you would like a "Nature" type wedding Fern Forest might be for you. They have a beautiful covered over, open space for the ceremony which feels like you are above the forest and then the reception was held in a enclosed room one level up. The room is really nice and big with a wonderful kitchen and of course they have the tables, chairs and a portable dance floor.
My grandsons, Spencer and Chase set the room up and then broke it down after the reception. If you need a good set up crew give me a call.
Anna and Paul had a beautiful wedding ceremony including a reading by a best friend and a solo by another.
The food for the reception was provided by a lady who does Cuban food. Great.(see my website http://www.thesimplewedding.com for information for contacting the service providers I meet and recommend.

Sunday morning I started off with a beach wedding on Fort Lauderdale beach. It was already hot by 10:00AM when we met by the Yankee Clipper hotel on A1A. The beach crowd wasn't too bad at that hour but it was filling up fast.
This couple, Corina and Chris came from Texas to be married. Their guests included the grooms mother and I believe the bride's sister and her son. They were really a nice group and as in almost every wedding there was an abundance of love filling the air. Corina told me before the wedding that they would only be doing the bride's ring because they had not been able to find a ring large enough for the groom. When I talked to Corina after they had returned home to Texas she said they were still looking for that large ring.She told me the size and I didn't even know rings came in a size so large.

Onward to number four on my mother's day weekend.This one was so cute. Sharla and Dante had decided to surprise their families with a mother's day wedding. I arrived prior to the family members and when they arrived, after the family hugs and kisses I was introduced as "Donna marrieds people". The look I received was "well that's nice". It went right over everyone's head for awhile until Dante said something like "Sharla and I are getting married today, Donna is here to marry us". The looks of pleasure and surprise were priceless. This lovely couple had already started their family. They were already the parents of a beautiful little baby boy named Dante, for his father.
This wedding took place in a beautiful condo apartment overlooking the intra coastal waterway at Sunrise Blvd. Great view of the water and also Birch State Park just across the street.

And so to number five. Back to the beach, this time just on the south side of the Yankee Clipper. Actually we walked through the Marriott hotel (which sits on the beach back from A1A) to their beach for the wedding. It is a nice location and the pool area of the Marriott is a great place for pictures with waterfalls and different levels around the pool.
Donna and Tom came down from Chicago for their beach wedding. They were going to Turks and Cacos(s) Islands for their honeymoon.
They had an interesting story to share about how they met. Donna had recently moved to Chicago when she went out one night and got lost. She stopped to ask for help with directions. Tom gave her directions and the rest is now history. It seems like the night out for Tom was unusual so perhaps this was fate. You know if it's meant to be it will be. How do you feel about that?

My granddaughter Sarah, who works as my photographer (she didn't take the pictures in this article, I took them with my Iphone.) did the photography for Anna and Paul and then for Donna and Tom.

The pictures at the top of this post are from left to right:Sharla and Dante, Corina and Chris (and me), Jason and Danielle and Donna and Tom. I didn't get a picture of Anna and Paul but I did take a picture of the setup of their reception room at Fern Forest. Sarah has promised some pictures so as soon as I get them I will post them.

Please send interesting stories about your wedding or a wedding you have attended.

Remember if you are planning a wedding in south Florida and you need an officiant, a photographer or a good setup crew give me a call 954-254-6216 or email me mckei@earthlink.net

A Wedding At Bonnet House

What a beautiful wedding...what a beautiful evening.

Emily and Simon welcomed over one hundred family and friends to their wedding at the Bonnet House in Fort Lauderdale Saturday evening.

After weeks and weeks of really nasty weather the evening was warm and sunny as Emily walked down that long tree covered lane. Her attendants consisted of two lovely bridesmaids, one really adorable little flower girl, who forgot to drop the petals until the last minute, and three little boys who diligently played their roles. Very cute. Simon and his two groomsmen looked quite handsome as they awaited, with me, the arrival of Emily. She was lovely. Such a nice couple and what a nice group of guests. Emily , Simon and many of the guests very graciously complimented the ceremony. I feel a big obligation to preparing and delivering a ceremony that is special and memorable for bride and groom as well as those in attendance. When I hear that the ceremony was lovely and meaningful I know I have done my job well.

After the ceremony the bride and groom gathered in the beautiful courtyard of Bonnet House for a cocktail hour before having dinner under a canopy overlooking the fresh water lagoon that is situated between the house and the back of the property which runs along the west side of A1A just south of Sunrise Blvd.

Any event at the Bonnet House is very special and elegant. The volunteers and the paid staff, dressed in their black and white, are everywhere to handle the needs of the guests. Nicole, the events planner keeps everything running smoothly and volunteer tram drivers meet the guests in the parking lot and transport them to the front door.

If you are planning a wedding and your budget allows for a great venue I highly recommend the bonnet house.