Muslim Wedding Highlights

Which events during the day of a Muslim Wedding are of 1st priority

to a wedding photographer? Which are of 2nd priority? What are the

restrictions and rules to be observed?

Muslim weddings vary depending on the country, just as American Protestant weddings are not quite the same as Greek Orthodox weddings.

 

The core Muslim wedding ceremony common to all, known as the Nikah, involves the officiating Khazi (the word found its way into the Spanish language, mayors are called Alcaldes) getting consent from the bride and groom, and four witnesses signing the marriage contract. It is not necessarily a very photogenic event per se.

 

The remaining highlights of the wedding are very culture-specific. The safest things is for you to confer with the bride or groom's parents.

I find them to be fluid and less organized than Christian ceremonies. My recommendation is to stay with the bride, from preparation through ceremony. So show up early to catch reception room details and ask in advance to do the groups beforehand. As always, limit your flash during the ceremony and shoot fast lenses. The couple is very inactive during the event, so shoot the people around them and find interesting angles for the stage. Typically, the couple stays on the stage and everyone comes up to congratulate them - this goes on for the entire reception. There are typically hundreds of guests, all of whom will be fighting to take pictures. Stand your ground.

If you have never been to one and don't know what to expect, here are some (majid.info/mylos/stories/2003/07/22/azraAndAdilsWedding.html) pictures I took at an Indian Muslim wedding, which are typically 3 day affairs. Arab, Persian, Bosnian, Moroccan or Indonesian weddings will be quite different, however.

<p>I expect muslim weddings differ from Jewish weddings in that the start on time.</p>

<p>correction of my typo above. change "in that the start.." to "in that they start." Jews are never on time for anything.</p>