Wedding traditions of Marrakech
The red city where the bride is carried aloft in the amariya and dressed by a negafa.
Moroccan weddings are among the longest in the Arab world. The bride is attended by a negafa, a professional bridal dresser, and in many parties she is carried in the amariya, a decorated platform. She changes dress several times during the night, including the caftan and the takchita.
A wedding here
The night before the wedding is the henna night, with women dancing and songs. On the wedding day the bride arrives in a cream gown and then appears in a series of costumes. Guests eat pastilla, lamb tagine and sweets and sip mint tea.
Law and change
The 2004 Family Code set the minimum age at 18 with judicial exceptions, which remain widely used and criticised. Polygamy needs a judge's authorisation. A new reform of the code has been discussed since 2024; check current texts.
Wedding customs of Marrakech
Also part of it, and being written: Caftan (The traditional garment.), Pastilla (The festive dish.).
A wedding trail idea for Marrakech
- Jemaa el-Fnaa The great square.
- Souk Semmarine A souk with textiles and jewellery.
- Bahia Palace A palace used for photographs.
- Majorelle Garden A garden used for photographs.
Written by the EveryShaadi desk with AI assistance. Opening hours, venues and wedding-season dates change; check locally before travelling. Customs differ from place to place and family to family. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.
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Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Negafa: Amine.elbahij, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Henna night: Izzah Zainab, CC BY 2.0, source