Bridal showers are a strange concept in the Persian culture. Many mothers, grand mothers, aunts, sisters, and cousins are still trying to wrap their head around it. A party, just for the bride, bring gifts, some games, bring a recipe, write down a memory, WHAT?!
Traditionally, the Iranian wedding tasks are divided as such:
The bride's family will provide all the necessities of life for the newly weds. Her mother will start knitting, sewing, buying, and collecting, all that the young couple may need from bedding to clothes to appliances. If you travel far enough backwards into history, you'll find that the bride's parents might even give the bride and the groom a room in their own home to live in. So the kids get married, they have kids, and the grandparents are right there to help.
The groom's family in turn pays for the wedding. That is of course after he has brought with him money, property, and goods to exchange for her hand in marriage. There is also a dower set up, just in case he leaves her or dies.
There are no showers, no gathering of the women who would like to present the bride with gifts in addition to their love, no day of games and trying to figure out who knows her the best and who has a better memory, and certainly no party favors.
But the days of traditional marriages and family roles are long gone. Today, my sister pays for her own wedding and my very persian cousin has a very non-persian bridal shower.
There is no doubt that the lines that separate cultures, traditions, and histories are becoming blurred. As I listen to a room of many different accents speaking one unifying language, I am glad to be here, in America, at this time in our global history where I can learn and participate in a completely new tradition. One as simple and as strange as a bridal shower.
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