First Grade Follies...REBOOT! (I'm in 6th grade now) Look for a new title coming soon!: An Emirate Wedding...

One of the things I'd heard about when I moved here was the beauty of an Emirate wedding and how one would consider themselves extremely fortunate to be invited to one. Well - I am extremely fortunate as I was invited to and attended an Emirate wedding only a few weeks ago. It truly was an honor. And - the same family has invited me to another wedding of theirs in February. I am SO excited...and so are my friends...(see #1 below) ha ha. ;)

Here's a quick intro course to Emirate weddings.

When you are invited, it means so are your friends. It is customary to invite friends to go with you when you are invited to a wedding. You're thinking, "What? Someone who is invited gets to invite others? Are you sure? Positive? This would never happen in the States, um, I'd better check with the family to be sure." Yes - it's true. If you get an invitation - your friends should looking for wedding attire :)
If the invitation says a certain time...add two hours. For example - "be there at 8pm" really means, "10pm is totally fine - you might even still be considered early."
The bride and groom's receptions are kept separate. As a female you are only invited to the bride's party and vice versa.
Be prepared to have your mind blown at how gorgeous the venue is.
Be prepared to have your mind blown at how gorgeous the bride, bridesmaids, flower girls, and basically everyone is, including the guests. People don't seem to have ugly friends here and if they do, they aren't invited. (I'm kidding).
Be prepared to see more real diamonds and jewels than in Hollywood on Oscar night. (I'm not kidding.)
Be prepared to smell better than you have ever smelled in your life. Incense burners full of oud (bakhoor specifically) and bottles of perfume will come around - don't be shy - put the burner under your shayla and waft the bakhoor towards you. You will simply die at how lovely you smell.
Once you're there...don't leave to use the restroom - you will miss out on entertainment, courses of food, and goodness knows what else :) Sit in your seat and take it alllllll in.
Arabian women are some of the most beautiful women in the world. No wonder they cover themselves. However, at weddings - they are not covered (see #5) and you will be amazed at just how gorgeous they all are without their abayas and shaylas covering them.
You will know the groom is about to enter when everyone starts to cover themselves back up. Don't worry - he won't stay long - only for pictures, then he'll sceedaddle back to his own party.
Do not take pictures of the guests or wedding party...unless you ask permission...which you probably won't be granted. It's best to stick to taking pictures of food and flowers and your friends only :)
Do not eat before attending the wedding...for the entire day. You will eat more than a small country's worth of food in only a few hours, you'd do well to fast the entire day up until the wedding.