Muslim wedding reception - wedding congrats or toasts?

My brother recently got married. Because the young woman is Muslim, he converted from Methodist to Muslim.

So--this coming weekend is the reception, does anyone know if any sort of toast is expected? We don't know what the traditions are and want to be ready in case one of my other brothers might be expected to say something like a toast or a congratulations or something....

I could use some help with this one :~)
Thanks.

I wonder if the reception will be based on ethnic traditions, which would vary according to where the Muslim family comes from. Can you ask a member of the bride's family for advice or information about customs with which you may be unfamiliar? I'm sure they will understand, and want you to feel comfortable at the reception.

I know that at wedding receptions in western Turkey, the men and women sit separately, and dance separately, but more than that I don't know.

This message was edited Mar 12, 2007 2:01 PM

Hmmm, I didn't know the traditions would be based on where she is from....shows how little I know of her faith.
Unfortunately, most of her family is still in her home country. Only her closest friends and our family will be there, and I don't know anyone else who is Muslim. We were hoping to surprise them with an appropriate toast or congratulatory saying.. Oh-well, she married an American, so we'll have to toast them American style!

Thank you for the advice.

While there may be the opportunity to publicly congratulate the happy couple, alcoholic drinks are forbidden in the Muslim religion. Since he is a recent convert, I would assume that he would uphold all dietary restrictions. Some Muslims do drink....but again, it is forbidden.

Oh--Neither of them drink alcohol. I was more concerned that there was some sort of tradition of saying something nice or giving them a particular little gift or something at the reception. Not being aware of what is expected, I was hoping to hear if there was something we should say, do or give to them?!

Anyone know how to say something nice in the Syrian language? Maybe my younger brother and I could do it phonetically... something like "welcome to our family". Anyway it is just a thought. :~)

Thanks.

*mispelled alcohol--fixed.

This message was edited Mar 13, 2007 9:25 PM

Sorry.....I'm no help with Syrian. My husband is from Bangladesh. I would assume that the wedding reception would be more cultural tradition that Islamic. From what I do know, the women usually receive gold as wedding gifts. Arabic is the official language in Syria, although the bride's family may also speak a dialect. My daughter speaks Arabic, but she's out of the country right now, and won't be back before your need to know. There must be a translation site on the web somewhere.

Well I know a lot of Arabic speaking people..tonight I tried to find..Welcome to our family in Arabic. there are many dialects.. I did ask..one..tonight..he said you could google it..but..I could nt find...it..anyway..he said it was a custom..for the groomsman or the matron..of honor to give a toast..he would not say what the glass was filled with..lol...anyway..he said.. Welcome to the family was normal.. But...he also would not tell me in Arabic...haha..but tomorrow..I will find out more for you if you wish...most Muslims are sleeping now..and I must also go to bed..so I will try tomorrow..hehehe...Stay tuned.....smiles..

Diana Ps. it is just a hobby of mine..to find out ...about other people in our world...strange...but I like it...take care..and good night...

Have you considered phoning the cultural affairs department of the Syrian Embassy in DC and asking them?
http://www.syrianembassy.us/contactus.html

why not go on the internet to find all about this subject. i'm sure you will find whatever you are looking for.

Well here is what a friend of mine said..He is a teacher..but he lives in Morocco..

Well it's different from region to another what they say, specially you're talking about Syrian people, so they live far away from Morocco,but i think you can not be welcoming by speaking Arabic, ur not supposed to do , cuz u didn't study it :)

anyway, you can say in Syrian:"merhaban feekom endna" =welcome to our family, or

"mabrook aleekom"=congratulations to you(both), if you're congratulating just married people, and i guess, if it's the same here in morocco, they toast milk and dates.
as i tod you, customs of arabic gulf are different from here in occidental coast .

I hope this helps some. I tried to find it..in Google...but did not find anything...maybe it is there..

smiles..good luck.. Diana

nminmd, my little sister married someone outside our faith just last year...she joined his faith, too. I'll skip all the details but just say it was a weird experience for my family especially since we didn't know what we were doing. The other side of family and friends seemed to be able to tell we were lost and seemed understanding enough. I wouldn't stress over it.

Thanks everyone. For fear of doing something inappropriate, we are saying our congrats/toasts American style. We will leave the middle eastern traditions to the
brides friends!

Thanks again for all the information--it was appreciated!

Nancy

Nancy.....let us know how the reception went. I'm sure that you had great food and a good time. And brides are always beautiful.

What a fun time!
At first, everyone sat on opposite sides of the room, not knowing what to say or do or even how to make small talk. It was a lot of head nodding and smiling. Eventually the bride and groom arrived and things became livelier. We should have had nametags, but I still wouldn't have been able to say most of the names! We met people from Turkey, Syria, France, Mexico, the US and I'm sure several other countries. The bride has worked in Wash, DC for years and has made many friends from many different countries. They had a little service--mainly for the Westerners--which included writings that they had written to each other. Afterwards, everyone took photos and kissed the bride and groom and offered congratulations.

They had a huge spread of food. The host was very gracious in explaining what each dish was and what area/country it was from. Wedding cake and little deserts were served, and I was stuffed by the end of the evening.

They did serve wine and champagne, but I think we (the in-laws) were the only ones drinking. There were no real Toasts--the champagne and wine were offered by servers on trays--if you wanted a drink you took a glass.

The dancing was even more fun to watch. The couple danced to a slow Syrian song and to "Celine Dion" music. For the most part it was the women dancing to faster Syrian music. In my opinion, Syrian dancing looks much more fun and graceful than "American" dancing. They pulled the women "In-laws" onto the dance floor and we tried our hand at dancing--it was fun. It was even more fun to watch my Mom.

It turned out to be a good time, the groom was disappointed that everyone began leaving by 9:00pm but everyone was tired by that time. Treats were given as we left--which was a surprise, because we thought they were chocolates. I'm still not sure what they were, but I know some of them were chocolate covered figs and the other were little pistachio squares. They were tasty.

It turned out to be a good time, and I appreciate all of the help offered here. It was definitely a learning experience

Oh, I bet it was fun. Thanks for telling us about it...

Smiles..Diana

What a great party! It is always so much fun to meet different people and have new experiences. And yes, watching 'mom' bust a move is one of those priceless moments.

Wow, what a wedding reception! What was the clothing like?

Happy for you (and for the couple also) .. that things turned out fine, nminmd ..

As gardenwife inquired above - I too, am curious - and would luv a wee 'look-peek'
into anothers' culture, clothing and traditions associated. Especially from your perspective!

{ * If photographs were acceptable/allowed} - Mite you consider sharing/posting a few photos of which you may've taken -?-

- Magpye

I think I had the most colorful blouse on. Everything was very conservative. I think just about all the middle-eastern women wore black or navy blue dresses and the all of the men wore dark suits and ties. I did notice that if the women wore sleeveless dresses they also wore a shawl to cover their shoulders. The clothing was pretty American for the most part. The groom wore a tux and the bride wore a wedding gown--off the shoulders! Very classy--but conservative.

There were tons of photos being taken, so if my mother's photos come out--I'll ask the bride if I can post them!

Everyone had lots of fun!

Take care!

Nanc

Would be wonderful, to see some of those shots ..
Definitely will be appreciated and enjoyed ..

{We'll} be anxiously awaiting the 'word' and/or photos, nminmd/Nanc !!

- Magpye