Everywhere a marriage is performed with different stages of celebrations. That stages took their place in the rituals of marriage. I am belonging to Bannu, KPK(Pakistan), and let me discuss the rituals of our area. 

  Searching a Bride:-

In our area, usually, the bride is searched by the mother of the groom. She searches her and discusses all her quality with her son and decide on the agreement of all the family members. There are very rare cases where the groom selects a bride for himself. 

So once She(The Bride) is accepted by all the family members they fix a date for engagement.

        Engagement:- 

Engagement is the stage that is fixed and executed only by the males from both sides. The male from the Groom side takes some sweets and a group of people(seniors & juniors) to the Bride's home. They do a gathering and decide about all the requirements like Gold, money, etc... 

        Date fixing:-

Now, this is the stage of women's enjoyment. They buy some clothes, shoes, and other fashion and beauty stuffs for the bride and visits her house. There they also fix the date after convincing with the Bride Family.  

   Mehendi Night:-

This night is only celebrated by the Groom's family. All his relatives(females) are invited and a night before the marriage and they make dirty their hands by Henna(Mehendi)😜😜😅 This night is also celebrated by the females by cultural dances💃

          Rukhsati:-

Before marriage, the Guardians of Bride bought all the necessary items for their daughter to take it to her new home.

Right on the day of marriage a huge number of people called as Bharat from the Groom side go to the Bride house to her new home. Which is called Rukhsati, which means leaving your home for another. 

They pay a little to take the Bride with themselves. (Optional part 😅)

 Walima:-

Right on the next day, there is a food program organized by the Groom's Family. Where both the families, their relatives, and neighbors are invited for food(my favorite part)🤗😇😜. 

        Attan Party:-

Right on the same day a Cultural Dance(Attan) party is arranged usually both for men and women but in separate places. The Attan party is a part of all the marriages but is performed in the majority of weddings. 

    Bride returning back to her home:-

Right the next morning after Walima the Bride is brought back to her home for a few days(not fix number of days usually 2 or 3)

3rdth of the marriage:-

Lol... I didn't find any better word for it. But it's usually the 3rd day after marriage where the Bride is brought back to her new home(Groom's home). This is again only the day celebrated by women only. They visit the Bride's house, where the bride's family have arranged a lunch for them. They do their lunch there and then bring the Bride back home with themselves. 

     Nikah:-

It's the last, most important, and must stage of the marriage in every Muslim society. It is performed by signing the Marriage Contract and oath under the supervision of a Religious Scholar(usually Imam of Masjid). Nikah is the face of acceptance of all the rights and responsibilities of each other by both the Groom and Bride. It also allows the sexual relationship between them.

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