São Paulo – The bride and groom enter the party hall as Arab dancers, candlesticks on their heads, make way. Then a group of men in typical Arab garments does the sword dance. What follows is a high-spirited celebration with lots of Middle Eastern food, a dabke group inviting all to dance, a group playing Arab music, and even Arab sweets to wrap things up. This is an approximate description of the Arab wedding that Mariée Produção de Eventos, a company based in São Paulo, helps the bride and groom organize.
“It’s a beautiful party, the Brazilian guests really enjoy the Arab wedding, the ritual is very joyous, the people get really cheerful,” explains the public relations professional Joyce Melchior, the owner of Mariée. Her company, which she established early last year, provides advising for wedding parties, and the first-ever customer was a Lebanese descendent who wanted to include Arab culture in its celebration.
Thus, Melchior set out to show the bride all elements of Arab culture that could be included in a wedding in Brazil. Mariée, however, does not deliver complete parties to the bride and groom, it only provides guidance and follow-up. The couple informs their style, what they expect from the party, the number of guests, and the company then devises a project for the wedding, including cost projections and referrals of three suppliers in each area, ranging from the best-suited catering company to the party on demand and even sweets and souvenirs.
In the case of an Arab wedding, Mariée recommends several rituals. One is for the bride and groom to enter the party hall following belly dancers sporting candlesticks with lit candles on their heads. At the end of the dance, the soon-to-be-weds put off the candles and then they dance to an Arab tune. Other options include the sword dance, performed by a group of male dancers, and a performance of dabke, a very uptempo group dance from Lebanon. Also, the women can have their hands painted with henna before the ceremony begins.
Food is a key element and the catering can be fully Arabic. The sweets table may contain Arab sweets or a combination of Arab and fine candy from Brazil, which is a request from some clients, says Melchior. “Usually, at the Arab wedding, they will serve a cocktail first and dinner afterwards. They enjoy food in abundance,” she explains. Some Arab-descendent couples hire two music groups, one Arab and the other Brazilian, such as a samba school. So far, all Arab weddings on which the company advised were for Christian, not Muslim couples.
Melchior says the demand for Arab weddings is on the rise, and that she can also do Muslim weddings. “There are no dedicated advisories in this area, and many descendants want to include their culture in the wedding,” she explains. She says the celebration is necessarily held at an Arab club, it can take place anywhere, depending on the number of guests and family members.
Mariée, however, does not help prepare only Arab weddings. The company provides advisory for any type of wedding, based on the bride and groom’s request. Right now it is working on a wedding between a Brazilian bride and a Mexican groom. The party will include mariachis. No matter what the culture or profile at hand, even if the company has no past experience, it does research and does the party. Currently, weddings in Paris are on fashion, says Melchior. They are usually just for the couple, during honeymoon, after they have celebrated with their families in Brazil.
Joyce Melchior graduated in public relations from Cásper Líbero School in 2005 and is 28 years old. She started her career working at medical events, in São Paulo’s Syrian-Lebanese Hospital and at the São Paulo Medical Association. Later on, while seeking to work in a different field, she became involved with Marketing at a photography studio. There she came into contact with brides and realized they needed help in order to set up their weddings, so she decided to establish Mariée Produção de Eventos.
Contact:
Mariée Produção de Eventos
Telephone: +55 11 29012405
Email: contato@assessoriadiadocasamento.com.br
Website: www.assessoriadiadocasamento.com.br
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
