Naz and Daniel’s wedding was my first Persian wedding, and it taught me a couple of things about Persians that Reuters never has: these people are unfairly handsome and stylish, and these people can dance! But more on that a little later. Naz and Daniel chose to do their portrait session earlier in the day, before the ceremony. We hopped in the limo in North Van and headed over to Vancouver for some dodgy alleys. They had wanted something edgy, something with graffiti perhaps, and I had found the perfect alley… before the garbage collectors went on strike that is. Despite the debris, it was still wonderfully decrepit yet garishly dolled up in shades of pink and purple–pastels basically. I tried to emphasize that in some of my post-production and to minimize some of the less desirable aspects of the place. From there we went for a walk and the couple were invited onto a trolley by the driver much to the delight of the passengers. Naz and Daniel spotted a carpet shop in Gastown and got permission (in Farsi!) from the kind owners of the Mohammed Eill Collection, who not only let us shoot in their main show room but even took us into a back room with some gorgeous hanging pieces and a mysterious red phone… On the way back to the Wall Centre we stopped in front of the big cathedral on Burrard Street for photos– not what I expected for a Persian wedding, but it was their idea! Now to tell you a little about the ceremony I have shamelessly cut and pasted from an email that Naz sent me, which I suspect she cut and pasted from the internet, so my apologies for no proper citations, but check it out! The Persian wedding ceremony:
The ceremony takes place in a specially decorated room with flowers and a beautiful and elaborately decorated spread on the floor called “Sofreh-ye Aghd”. The spread contains many items, all to symbolize different qualities that the couple would hope to bring into their new life together. Some of the items are:
– mirror (means light & brightness)
– Two candles, one on each side of the mirror (fire and energy)
– Decorated Eggs, Walnuts, Almonds, and hazelnuts (symbolizes fertility)
– Pomegranates and apples (pomegranates are fruits of the heaven and apples symbolize the divine creation of mankind)
– Crystallized sugar (To sweeten life for the newly wed)
– 2 Large Sugar Cones (To shower the couple with sugar symbolizing sweetness and happiness)
There are many more items such as honey, Sweets & Pastries, and a scarf or shawl known as Ghand Cloth made out of silk or any other fine fabric.
Bride and groom sit at the head of the sofreh. During the service and the readings, female relative or friends of the couple hold over the couple’s head a white silky Ghand cloth. Two pieces of crystallized sugar called Kalleh Ghand shaped like cones are rubbed together, showering the couple with white powder. This symbolic act is meant to sweeten the couple’s life.
After the rubbing of the sugar cones and the signing and the ring exchange Naz and Daniel each dipped their pinkies into a glass of honey and offered it to one another. Very sweet! ( ;
The reception began with Naz and Daniel entering the ballroom to a round of applause and they navigated quickly between tables through a flury of hugs and congratulations– then the dancing began! They had a Western style first dance to Leonard Cohen’s “Dance me to the end of Love” which they shared with their parents eventually, due to the length of the song. But Leonard got everyone quite emotional and as soon as he was done Naz and Daniel gave their heads a shake and called everyone out to the dance floor, and they came! This was my first time seeing Persian dance, and I was deeply impressed. Here’s another stolen description of classical Persian dance on which the contemporary style is based: “Delicate hand movements, gentle upper body undulations, and facial expressions were the essential elements of this dance. Unlike Arabic dance, which emphasizes movements of the hips, or western ballet, where the legs are lifted and feet moved in intricate patterns, the movements of Persian classical dance mostly involve the upper body: the face, head, torso, and hands.” http://home.earthlink.net/~rcfriend/exquis.htm So basically people do some wickedly sexy and amazing moves with their upper body, yet they also manage to get down really low to the ground as you’ll see in one of the last pictures of Daniel, and still do really cool stuff. (If anyone knows of anywhere they teach this kind of dance in Vancouver, please let me know!) There was a brief interlude in the dancing for some dinner and a couple of speeches, but then the dancing resumed. Women danced with men, women danced with women, men danced with men, with garters, with money and with knives. I’ll explain: The cake cutting constituted a dance performance of its own! Female friends of the bride initially had possession of the knife and danced about with it–teasing Daniel who danced with a wad of bills to entice them into a trade. Several women passed the knife along until one finally accepted the money in exchange, and Daniel did a little victory dance before the cutting. The garter toss was a charming dance as well! Once he had secured the garter, Daniel danced it in front of the men, making them jockey for it all the more. All in all it was a brilliant day. Congratulations Nazgol and Daniel, and thank you for so many wonderful cultural introductions!
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