Today is the eve of the wedding, and  if I know the girls around here they will be flitting back and forth to the beauticians, eyebrows plucked, hair cut, coloured and curled, manicures and pedicures galore. Dresses checked, make-up at the ready.

Relatives will be arriving from all over Iran, our house will be full of visitors recovering from their journeys and preparing for tomorrow’s big event.

I will be helping out wherever I can, and observing these traditions as they unfold. It will be an exciting time and it should result a lovely wedding ceremony tomorrow for a couple who are well-suited, clearly devoted to each other and two of the loveliest people I have had the pleasure to meet.

This Marriage

May these vows and this marriage be blessed.
May it be sweet milk,
this marriage, like wine and halvah.
May this marriage offer fruit and shade
like the date palm.
May this marriage be full of laughter,
our every day a day in paradise.
May this marriage be a sign of compassion,
a seal of happiness here and hereafter.
May this marriage have a fair face and a good name,
an omen as welcome
as the moon in a clear blue sky.
I am out of words to describe
how spirit mingles in this marriage.

Rumi