The traditions of weddings in Tunisia

The traditions of weddings in Tunisia vary by region, the origins and personal tastes. Each region has its own peculiarities and rituals that make it unique. Although the current modernity has changed many traditions, some people remain attached to their ancestral traditions and their heritage and cultural identity.

Magharebia attended preparations and wedding celebrations in the north and the south, and highlighted specific to each of these regions customs.

Tunisian weddings always start with the engagement, when the groom and his family come to their application to the family of his future wife. The groom should always accompany their parents to meet the family of the girl, bringing gifts and pastries. If one parent is absent, a former family replaces.

Friends and family covered their safsari accompany a bride hammam.

In southern Tunisia, women celebrate the day of alaga.
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When the two families agree to the marriage, they usually recite al-Fatiha, followed zaghrouda (trills of joy) announcing the engagement. Both families then set a date for the wedding.

The bride begins to prepare the wedding getting everything she needs in her new life, including objects to decorate his new home and kitchen utensils.

"My mother began to prepare my dowry when I was a kid, manufacturing blankets and sheets I would need after the wedding," said Najia Saidi, who is recently engaged.

"For my part, I bought the cookware that I need. I will also buy some clothes, beauty products and fragrances that I will use after my wedding," said the young woman from Sidi Bou Zid.

Najia explained that the purpose of the purchase agreements was to share some of the costs with the bridegroom, because marriage is expensive today.

Men on the other hand are responsible for providing the house of the new family, with all its furniture. The bridegroom must provide the cost of the wedding preparations, including gifts for the bride, including an engagement ring, gold jewelry and accessories.

Magharebia met Taoufik Jabli, a young man about to get married, at Birka, the largest market for gold jewelery in Tunisia. He looked at the items offered and asking about their prices.

"The prices are astronomical, but I have no choice," he said. "I have to bow to tradition and buy whatever is asked. Otherwise, I can not get married. This is a habit that we have inherited from our ancestors, we must preserve and respect.'s Gold that enhance the beauty of the bride on the wedding day. "

In Tunisia, a whole day is devoted to the presentation of wedding supplies. In the north, this day is called "al-hazan farsh", while in the south it is known as the "itriya." It takes place four days before the wedding itself.

That day, the bride, accompanied by her friends and her parents, shows what she has prepared for her new home, decorating objects with colored ribbons and carrying in his new home.

The next day is reserved for the hammam. That day, the girl makes her home steam room, along with her friends, parents and neighbors, acccompagnés by songs, praise, applause and Zaghareed. She walks in the middle, covered with the safsari, traditional Tunisian dress for any passerby to see. Check the hammam, the procession turns into a small celebration where different types of incense are used.

"The benefits of steam are many for girls who are about to marry," said Saoussen Hani, one of these girls. "Besides the fact that it allows you to relax, it also helps to soften the skin and hair."

The evening of henna on the same day. The bride is wearing a traditional embroidered red dress and her head is covered with a red veil. A hennana a woman specializing in henna painting, painted the hands and feet of the girl. It can also be used hargouss, which gives a black color.

"Henna has great significance," said Hasna, a hennana. "It brings blessing and good life. Moreover, Tunisians see it as a source of optimism. They want nothing to abandon this tradition."

In southern Tunisia, the evening of henna is usually accompanied by dances rythmme popular songs and darbuka. Women also sing special songs for the occasion. In the coastal towns, the evening was marked by women's groups, the soulamia, singing hymns and Sufi for the occasion.

The bride receives gifts of the women, waiting to be dyed hands. Unaccompanied girls are especially eager because they believe the henna as a "good omen."

The celebrations continued the next day and the next day. The day after the night of henna is called "wtiya" in the northern coastal areas and "alaga" in the south.

Attarine the market in the old Tunis is one of the largest in Tunisia. It specializes in the sale of products necessary for koffa the basket of beauty of the bride, for this very important day.

Abd Thahiri Hami, a trader works on the market for over 20 years. He has before him a large table, on which are shown all types of fruit, incense and henna.

"Koffa sales fell because this tradition is replaced by the cannestro, with its attractive colors and different forms," ​​he explains.

Thahiri but added that some families consider this practice as essential for weddings and circumcision celebrations.

The young Tunisian koffa married for more than 50 different items, such as henna, different type of incense, Loubane the swak, kohl, a set of perfume, a mirror and an assortment of nuts and almonds, pistachios from zbib (raisins), candy and cosmetics.

"The preparation of the koffa is a necessary and essential steps of marriage that can not be ignored," said Fatma Jaziri, a woman we met on the markets of the old town as she prepared for marriage one of his son. "It includes everything the bride needs to preserve both its beauty and makeup for her husband."

The day wtiya or alaga, a procession leaves the groom's home after the prayers of the afternoon to the sounds of tabl (drum) and flute, taking with it the sacrifice of sheep and Gifts perfumes, clothing and beauty products for the bride.

When they arrive, the women enter the house of the bride in a round of applause, and chants of Zaghareed darbuka. Men remain outside to sacrifice sheep and prepare the meal, which consists mainly of Tunisian couscous spicy. They also prepare a salad of cooked vegetables and a tagine, and the mint tea and other beverages.

Meanwhile, the sdak, the marriage contract is prepared in the presence of maazoun (wedding planner) and religious figures. The bride is wearing a traditional caftan often white, with a veil over the face for "Tanzeel al-ser", that is to say, protect his shyness and beauty for her wedding day. The young man carries about him jebba and traditional Arab pants.

After signing the sdak, the celebrations begin and the young man dancing with his bride to the sound of popular music mezawd.

The final day of the wedding itself, known as al-merwah (the day the young couple went to his house). Drums resonate in the morning the young man when he went to the hammam with a few friends, and then to the barber. Meanwhile, the bride goes to the beauty salon.

The bride's dress for the evening wedding is different in the north and the south. In the north, it has a modern white dress with a traditional Tunisian appearance. In the south, she wears traditional Arab wedding dress, that is to say a houli, a traditional dress of mostly red, decorated with gold and precious stones.

"We have preserved traditional dress, to which we are accustomed since childhood. We prefer it to a modern dress, because it gives women unparalleled beauty," says Khadija Zalmi, from the region of Bengardene, to the Libyan border.

"In addition, it can be kept and carried on other occasions, it is not reserved for the wedding and can be used at the wedding of others It can also be transmitted between generations.".

In the south, a procession of decorated camel, the jehfa, accompanied by flutes and drums, was the girl at the home of her husband. This custom has disappeared, and jehfa is now used for decoration, as the girl goes to her new home in her husband's car.

Weddings in the tribes of southern Tunisia are characterized by dishes such as couscous with lamb, shows horse riding, Bedouin songs, and traditional clothing. In the north, weddings are usually held in rooms weddings, where the bride is received by roses, candles, to the sounds of bands specialized and distributed where excellent Tunisian pastries like baklava, cakes , and the makhdrouth SAMSSA.