Wedding traditions of Mashhad
A pilgrim city whose shrine of Imam Reza receives couples who come to pray after the wedding.
Mashhad holds the shrine of the eighth Shia imam, Imam Reza, and receives millions of visitors. Newly married couples often visit as part of the honeymoon. The city is also the centre of Iranian saffron trade, and saffron sweets are a common wedding gift.
A wedding here
Families hold the aghd at home or in a hall, with the Quran on the spread. Gifts of saffron, sugar and nuts are given to relatives. A pilgrimage to the shrine after the wedding is a custom for many couples.
The season and the calendar
Weddings are avoided in the mourning months of Muharram and Safar by many families and are common in spring and autumn.
Wedding customs of Mashhad
Also part of it, and being written: Imam Reza shrine (The pilgrimage site.), Saffron (The spice of Khorasan.), Mahr (The bridal gift.).
A wedding trail idea for Mashhad
- Imam Reza Shrine A major shrine complex.
- Saffron bazaar around Shohada Square Where saffron and sweets are sold.
- Ferdowsi Tomb The tomb of the epic poet in nearby Tus.
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.
- Iranian wedding: Flickr.com user "avlxyz", CC BY-SA 2.0, source