The Bride Show-Abu Dhabi

This month, UAE will witness a big event for wedding-related apparel, gem & jewellery, and even honeymoon plans. The Bride show, Abu Dhabi, is a showcase for all the bride's needs, and it will take place for almost four days at Abu Dhabi Exhibition centre.

The event will have various activities and live entertainment, including an Arabic fashion show and the latest bridal trends. In addition, visitors will get the opportunity to meet creative people and designers to design specialised gowns, dresses, and jewellery.

In the Arab culture, wedding jewellery has always been essential to the bride. In the old times, most Arabic countries' wedding jewellery is the traditional jewellery in the region. Some areas, especially the Arabian Gulf countries, still have great affection for their traditional jewellery, and they have been the wedding jewellery till the 70s of the twentieth century.

Some cultures believed that the bride should wear them to protect her from the evil eye and spirit, whereas others believed the wedding jewellery is a way to show the bride's father's wealth or her husband's to be wealth.

Let us have a deeper look into some old Arabic cultures;

The Yemeni bride has a unique set of beliefs when it comes to wedding jewellery. The traditional Yemeni jewellery for brides is silver, not gold. Silver is believed to have a more sacred value, and thus wearing silver will protect the marriage life. Also, just like most traditional jewellery, the jewellery adorns the bride from the head to the toes. These jewellery are layered necklaces in different lengths studded with silver coins, large bangle bracelets that may cover the whole arm, rings at least on each finger, and the hair will be covered with jewellery that comes down to cover the forehead. This jewellery will usually have beads and chains of the different types of layered silver jewellery where their sound is believed to send the evil spirits away.

Palestinian bride and the North African bride have a traditional headdress of jewellery containing coins, gems, beads, etc.… These items are to protect the bride from the evil eye, and they have some differences. For example, the Palestinian "Miqlab" is sewed by her women relatives on a piece of cloth, so when she leaves her house, she will feel safe with a piece of her family with her. As for the "Tasfift" in North Africa consists of silver or nickel coins with a rooster or a chicken on its tip, and it is believed a sign of fertility.

In UAE, the bride is also supposed to adorn herself from the head to the toes, but with gold and pearls. Probably, Al Burqa is one of the most exciting items in the Emirati old-traditional jewellery, as it was also worn for everyday wear alongside special occasions such as weddings. It is a face ornament where only the eyes and the chin are shown. It is made of different materials where some may be precious metals. The pearl was very popular for the bride's jewellery before the discovery of oil. AL Hyar, a hair/head jewellery, al Jirdala similar to modern neckalces but larger and wider that it covers the whole chest area, are few of significant Emirati bride jewellery

The Saudi bride is no different from the Emirati bride, but we can confidently say that the diversity and variety of the traditional Saudi bride jewellery are much more. That is due to the vast area that Saudi Arabia occupies which resulted in differences between the kingdom's northern provinces and the southern, eastern and western provinces.

However, both cultures considered the bride's jewellery a means to show off the wealth of the bride's family or husband's family.