UAE Day 605: a glimpse into the life of a princess

I was invited to attend the wedding party of the daughter of the local Sheik.
Feeling like a princess in my Pakistani outfit called Shalwar Khamis (heavily laden with crystals- 4 parts- pants, inner dress, outter dress, shawl) I'm wearing 12 dollar flats from payless, Indian bangles, and crazy tear-shapes hoops from aldo with crystals that match the bangles. My hair and makeup were done by Indian ladies.  

At the wedding hall entrance

Mountains of these flowers are heaped all over the stage and along the runway (theres a rectangular runway that goes through the length and width of the wedding hall with banks of flowers on both sides- literally millions of fresh roses and orchids everywhere you look).  

The lights with the stage in the background- I'm not allowed to take photos so I'm doing my very best to show you as much as possible without getting caught.  :D

lights

I went to the bathroom and the lights there caught every crystal in my clothes and I was sparkling all over it was just incredible.  It didn't show up on camera, I really tried.  It was amazing.

indian bangles are worn on both wrists, particularly mandatory for married women as a sign of the long life of the husband, but also now just standard decoration for women dressing for formal events (and even daily life)

a traditional mashed juice

Bedouin traditional "gemat"

tissues and perfume party favors with the logo of the bride and groom's name intertwined on them- Latifa and Saif

I was drinking something and thought "wow, they managed to make this taste exactly like oud" but then the oud appeared (wood incense which is considered to be very precious and is used to perfume hair and clothes- covers sweaty smells in the desert).

Perfumed oils are brought around and everyone picks one to put on their wrists.  

Another style of gemat.  Gemat are like donut holes sort of and they get dipped or drizzled in different sauces (honey, date, pomegranate) and served hot.

The staff- there are so many different crews here- one for each type of beverage, another for salads, another crew just for chocolates.  One for oud, one for oil perfumes, one for water, one for meats, one for appetizers...it is just incredible.  As soon as I finish one fresh strawberry juice another appears.  

When I escaped to the bathroom, I was able to get a few shots of the entrance since for a quick moment there was a clear shot (It's not allowed to take photos of local national people and they tend to be all over the place because its a large wedding with at least a thousand guests of relatives).