Traditional Turkish Wedding Ceremony The “Kına Gecesi”, or Henna Night
A traditional Turkish wedding consists of several different parts such as going to
bride’s house, the engagement, the henna night and the wedding ceremony.
There may be some differences from region to region
(for example in the eastern region the wedding lasts 40 days and 40 nights
or in another region the "henna night" takes more than one night )...
The Turkish wedding ceremony
also has some similarities with the Christian wedding,
such as the bride and the groom being introduced to each others’ families.
The eldest member, if not a grandparent then the groom’s father,
opens the subject by saying that the young people have met
and have decided to be united, and as tradition states,
they officially want the girl’s hand in marriage
with the permission of her family.
In reply, an elder member of the bride’s family speaks,
nowadays usually stating that the young couple has agreed amongst
themselves and it is now only natural that the family agrees.
The bride and groom-to-be kiss the hands of the eldest members of each family,
and they begin to talk about the engagement, henna night and the wedding date.
When they have decided on the date, they begin to talk about the arrangements
like how and where they will get engaged,
when the henna night will take place and then,
of course, details about the wedding ceremony.
It is also a custom for the groom’s family to ask what is required
by the bride’s family regarding jewelry or endowment money.
The engagement itself is usually carried out by the bride’s family.
On the engagement day the members of each family
go to the arranged place of the engagement.
The groom’s family are responsible for buying the gold band
which will be placed on the ring finger of the right hand
and also either a solitaire or a three, five or seven stone diamond ring,
a gold or diamond set (comprising of necklace, earrings, and bracelet),
and close relatives such as aunts and uncles will also give
a gold bracelet or some other types of jewelery.
The most important part of the Turkish traditional wedding is
the “Kına Gecesi”, or Henna Night.
This night belongs to the bride,
so only the women come to the bride’s house that night!!!
The bride-to-be is sat on a chair with a veil over her head (usually red)
to hide the bride’s tears. :(
Next, young girls with candles set in henna-filled dishes in their hands
walk around the bride and sing traditional songs.
When the songs end, the prayers start.
After the prayers are completed a female member of the family prepares the henna and puts some of it into each palm of the bride. The bride closes her hand and doesn’t open it until the mother-in-law places a gold coin in her palm.
This represents wealth or luck or sometimes both.
Afterwards both hands are covered and tied
with a red cloth-glove and the celebrations begin.
Everyone eats the home-made meals,
and afterward all dance together and have fun :)
This is the last night of that bride will stay with her family and enjoy her single life.
It is also traditional for the groom to have a stag night with his friends
in order to say goodbye to bachelorhood...
The groom usually gets together with his friends
and goes out to a place with entertainment
where they usually get the groom quite drunk :*)
and stay out until the early hours of the morning.
The wedding day itself, is usually quite chaotic.
The wedding registry is carried out by the marriage official.
Once the ceremony is over the bride and groom go to the family elders first,
where they are congratulated as the elders present them with “takı”,
this being the normal gift of gold or diamonds as is deemed suitable.
The service of the meal begins and entertainment is followed until late.
The official dancing is started off by the bride and groom
with a slow dance and then other family members join in.
Gradually the floor is filled by the other guests at the wedding.
Traditional dances continue throughout the evening.
The wedding cake arrives later in style.
It is normal for the bride and groom
to stay until a majority of the guests have left.
Although the times have changed and some customs are not
as strict as they were in the past,
there are still a lot of traditional ways that continue,
