Traditional Libyan wedding

Hiya rumary, welcome to Libya.

About the Libyan weddings, gentlemen and ladies sit apart. The family hosting the wedding party usually rent a wedding hall. The wedding lasts from a single night party to several days (some time ago - the wedding lasts a full week - days - nights).

The ladies in the wedding hall dress up so fashionably, for the wedding night most of the ladies go to the beauty saloons to get ready to come a very modern and stylish way.

The ladies enjoy the night by listening to the music - dancing and having a chat to friends and relatives meet at the wedding. do not worry - the Libyans are very social - u will be so comfortable.
About the present to the wedded couples. it varies from a set of housewares to a gold bracelet or ring etc.

Enjoy it

Samakauk wrote:

ready to come a very modern and stylish way

You mean to say half naked!!!

Gernademan wrote:

Samakauk wrote:

ready to come a very modern and stylish way

You mean to say half naked!!!

Yeah, something like that.

the women's part is a bit of a meat market....women searching for brides for their sons. no expense is spared on the clothing or the jewelry and that includes the guests.

the food well -- you start out with a glass of almond milk that is highly sweetened and an almond cookie. then it just keeps on coming -- sugar and salt are the bywords and much is fried.  not for the faint of heart, but you can refuse politely.

everyone is dressed up to the teeth. as a friend of mine said "when in doubt, overdress and you'll be fine"...an understatement.

rumary wrote:

I would like to collect here all information about Libyan wedding traditions

Not only about the ceremony, but also also celebration, what gifts sould be given,  what clothers sould be wearing and so on.. All what be good to know for not Libyan person..

I tink it would be great to know more and feel comfortable if one day would be invited to the wedding

Libya is a traditional country with traditions and customs. There is usually going to be a very good reason why a Libyan man would chose to marry a foreign non-Libya woman. Yes, maybe it could be because of true love; but sometimes its something else which is much more common and universal in this world. You have been warned.

Thank you Samakauk

It was exactly as you said My fancy dress there looked really normal and makeup unusual

One thing wich really destroyed my mood for some time - to let native lady (as i was informed she was professional in that) to take care of my makeup. It was realllllyyyy big mistake! I did not recognise myself in the mirror! But after corection, wich i had to do by myself, i looked not so bad.. lol

Also i experianced that libyan are really nice, friendly and even i was the strange there i did not feel like that

So what lessons i have learned: choose  really fancy dress, take care of your makeup by yourself or let to do that person, wich you already trust, do not be shy to wear precious jewelry and be ready for really fun and active evening!

@rumary - was it your wedding, or were you just attending a Libyan wedding?

This time I was just attending a Libyan wedding as a guest

rumary wrote:

One thing wich really destroyed my mood for some time - to let native lady (as i was informed she was professional in that) to take care of my makeup. It was realllllyyyy big mistake! I did not recognise myself in the mirror! But after corection, wich i had to do by myself, i looked not so bad.. lol

This made me laugh so much! I've been to many Libyan weddings and most, if not all, of the women love extravagant makeup. I myself was horrified once when someone attempted to do the same to me as I am very very minimal with makeup. You just have to be firm and insist when someone suggests that you should have your makeup done by a 'professional' that it's not really an option you want to take up, but in a nice way :-)

I knew that Libyan ladies like heavy makeup, but did not imagine that it is so extravagant as you say I also like minimal makeup, so can imagine how i shocked i was but now it's funny to remember

I've been in the same boat - had the make-up done and everything (luckily this was a trial and a few days before the big event!). The thing I found most funny was that all the women kept telling me how beautiful I looked, and all I could think was that I looked like a ... well.... not myself!

What about hair styles?  Do most go to the beauty shop to have a special style?  Did the ladies for the most part wear their hair up or down?  I am invited to a wedding after Ramadan but in a small town in the Eastern part of Libya.  Do you think it would be the same there? The wedding lasts for 3 days, so how do you keep the style up for that length of time?

what do you mean??!?!?!??!??!!?!?!?!?!?!!?!?

Hi scroogeme and welcome to Expat.com!

This is an old thread. I invite you to create a new topic and introduce yourself on the Tripoli forum.

Thank you,
Christine from Expat.com team