Palestinian Weddings: Henna Night, Zaffe and Dabke Explained

If you are ever invited to a Palestinian wedding in London, Manchester or Birmingham, clear your diary for more than one day. Palestinian weddings are loud, warm and full of traditions that families have carried with them across borders.

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The henna night

Before the wedding day comes laylat al-henna, the henna night. Women from both families gather around the bride, sing traditional songs and decorate her hands with henna. Guests often wear embroidered dresses, and the bride may change outfits several times during the evening.

Embroidered dresses

The traditional thobe is covered in tatreez, cross-stitch embroidery whose patterns once showed which town or village a woman came from. Many brides today wear a white dress for the ceremony and an embroidered thobe for the henna night, joining past and present.

The zaffe and the dabke

The zaffe is a lively procession that leads the couple into the celebration with drums, singing and clapping. Then the dabke begins: guests link arms in a long line and stamp out the rhythm together, led by someone at the front waving a handkerchief. You will also hear zaghareet, the high, rolling ululation that marks moments of joy.

Food, family and song

Large shared meals, sweets and coffee keep everyone going late into the night. For British Palestinians, weddings are often one of the few times the whole extended family, from different countries, is in one room.

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