Algeria is very culturally diverse therefore each region has its own traditions when it comes to marriage. Even within regions, there are differences between states and even villages. When it comes to marriage a lot is changing in Algeria. Arranged marriages are on the decline, as more and more women are studying and joining the workforce. It used to be that the average marriage age for a woman in Algeria was 27 in 1987, now the average marriage age is 32.  Also, it was customary that a married couple lived with husband’s parents in their house with extended family; now couples are choosing to live alone, in cities generally, and creating nuclear families. Now, when it comes to the marriage itself, tradition is still alive and well and there are several general common steps to performing a marriage rite in Algeria of course depending on the region.

1)  A man who wishes to marry a woman must ask her parents for her hand in marriage. This consists of taking his parents and several relatives to the woman’s house with flowers and pastries and to ask officially for their daughter’s hand in marriage. The bride’s family can then choose to respond right away after consulting with the daughter or take some time to ask around about the man’s reputation and his family and then respond.

2)  If the answer is positive, then the groom comes over with his family bearing gifts for the bride to her house where her family holds a small ceremony with singing and dancing during which the groom and the bride are declared to be married.

3)  Whenever the couple is ready, they go to the local civil council (La mairie) to start the paperwork to get their marriage certificate.

4)  When the bride is ready, she is ready to perform her own marriage ceremony. During this celebration, the groom’s family is invited to share a meal with the bride’s family and guests, and this is when the couple exchange rings and cut the wedding cake. The couple is also put henna on their hands by an elderly woman, usually the grandmother. The groom brings the bride many gifts, including a lot of gold. The bride can choose to wear a traditional dress or a modern gown, and she can change several times to display all of her different outfits if she likes. This is also when the Imam is brought in to read Quran (Surat al Fa’tiha) with other elderly men on the couple and declare them married before God. It is noteworthy that a new law has been promulgated that no Imam can read Quran on the couples unless the marriage certificate has been already delivered. This was done to dissuade purely religious marriages during which many women lost their rights before the law in terms of divorce for example. So this was done to protect women’s rights.

5)  The final step is the official wedding, which is usually organized by the groom and his family. The groom’s family, depending on the region can precede the official wedding day with up to seven days, but usually 3 of celebrations. The groom goes through a henna ceremony where there is usually much dancing and this is when the groom collects a lot of money given to him by attending guests. On wedding day, the groom’s family goes to bring the bride in a procession of many cars (in some places on horses or camels) which go around blasting music and honking their horns. Wedding season is very noisy in Algeria! When they get the bride and her family, more cars join the group and they go back to the party venue, which can be the groom’s house or a party room or hotel. The bride, usually dressed in a white wedding dress then proceeds to show off her other outfits while guests have coffee and drinks and also traditional pastries. In some regions, the bride assists to the groom’s henna ceremony. Usually the day after the wedding the bride’s family is invited to the groom’s house for lunch, and a week later there can also be a brief ceremony called Sboue to celebrate the passing of a week after the wedding.

As you can see wedding in Algeria are lavish and intricate affairs and are certainly very expensive, especially with all the gold that needs to be bought for the bride and the high number of guests, but they are full of excitement and are a lot of fun to attend.