The first ceremonies are over!
A true wedding marathon is currently underway in Brunei: Prince Abdul Mateen and his great love, Anisha Rosnah binti Adam, are tying the knot in a ten-day ceremony. A number of beautiful photos of the blushing bride and her suave husband have now appeared on Instagram.
Ten days of celebration
Most people think planning a one-day wedding is enough work. Many royals then turn it into a two-day party, with a civil ceremony and a church ceremony. At the court of the Sultan of Brunei, however, they go even further: lavish splendor is combined with local traditions and religious ceremonies for a series of festivities that last a week and a half.
The big party started on January 7, and the final touches will be made on January 16. The culmination of the festivities is a grand celebration on January 14 at the Istana Nurul Iman, the sultan’s official residence. The royal palace contains kilometers of marble, tons of gold leaf, hundreds of chandeliers, 1,788 rooms and a banquet hall for 5,000 people. In short: enough space for a nice party, nun?
Splendor and splendor
The first step to a long and happy marriage? That, of course, is the proposal. Although the engagement had been a fact for a while, a special ceremony took place on January 7 (at which neither the bride nor groom were present) to finalize the official proposal. This was accompanied by a lot of ceremonies, traditions, and glittering gifts.
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The couple has also now completed the royal powder ceremony (in full the Majlis Istiadat Berbedak Pengantin Diraja). Here we finally caught a glimpse of the beautiful bridal couple, who appeared in luscious red and gold tones. During this ceremony they were blessed by members of the royal family with a colored paste and fragrant oil. This is an age-old Brunei and Malaysian tradition, according to the local magazine The Scoop.
And it looked quite impressive, as can be seen from the snapshots that some of the photographers present shared on Instagram.
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Today there was a royal wedding ceremony on the program, which was a bit more sober than the powder ceremony…
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…And now the busy bridal couple has a few days of rest.
Further festivities
Or well…rest? So next Sunday the grand wedding ceremony will take place at the Istana Nurul Iman, the next day a large banquet will follow, and on Monday the ten-day event will end with a prayer and drumming ceremony.
Hopefully the bridal couple can recover a little in between!
Source: The Scoop, Borneo Bulletin, Glamial archive | Image: NL Image
