Second Draft.

Mamdouh Alshammari

Wedding in KSA VS USA

I would like to compare weddings between Saudi Arabia and United States of America. I think this is big subject to cover; however, I will explain the arranged traditional marriages in Saudi Arabia and how it is way different of that in the USA. I realized it is different from the USA weddings because I went to weddings in the USA and I liked it and I saw a lot of things applied differently.

First of all, Arranged marriage is the most popular way of getting married in Saudi Arabia. Arranged marriage means the groom mother will look for a bride for her son and after the bride and the groom meet with the presence of the parents , they’ll decide if they’ll proceed with the marriage or not. The way how the groom’s mother look for a bride is she will look for girls that go with her son’s wishes in a future wife. Smart, pretty, and a nice family are usually the main things a guy needs to be in his future wife. Then, the groom’s mother will talk to her son about the girls she saw and she will talk to the bride’s family, so they will arrange time to the groom and bride to see each other and to have a chance to talk. However, most of people in the USA dating each other first after that if they like each other the man ask the woman to marry him. After that, the man should go to have his permission from bride’s father. So, the groom can propose to her, if she says “Yes” he can introduce her to his family.

Secondly, men in Saudi Arabia are responsible for providing the dowry to the bride and both families can decide what it is. The dowry is usually money, so the bride can buy a new cloth, shoes, perfume and anything she wishes for. On the other hand, for most of the families in the US, the family of the bride pays for the wedding too. The groom gives a diamond ring for the bride that usually worth 10% of his annual income.

Third, Most of people in Saudi Arabia will have separate dinner gathering usually the men will have their own dinner gathering where the groom receives congratulations from his family and friends. The average guests for the marriage, 300 guests for the men and 500 guests for the women, the women dinner gathering will have a DG or a singer until before midnight, usually. The groom’s father and brothers and the bride’s father and brothers will join the women dinner gathering where the bride and the groom will sit together in front of the guests who will dance to show their happiness. Most of people in the USA will have the marriage by gathering in a church and the father of bride will walk to the church with the bride. The bride’s father will give her hand to her husband, so she will be the groom’s responsibility from now on. The priest will declare their marriage in front family and friends. The average guests for the marriage, 150 guests.

Finally, I would say based on my experience in Saudi Arabia I saw that there’s a big difference between both weddings. Sometimes, two countries are so close geographically, yet they differ in their cultures and the way things are done. I think that it is very hard to cover everything about this topic, and that this topic is one of the most interesting topics ever.