After finally finding the wedding hall (after many mixed up directions), our mixed boy/girl group got separated into two different spaces. The girls went up stairs to where the bride was and the guys got put in another room. After the wedding, it was reported to me that the guys' half of the party was not very fun. They expected dancing and celebration but instead sat around eating cake with the Arab men and repeatedly saying their "mabruuks" to the bride's father. The ladies' half of the party, however, was fairly entertaining. Although it was a lot more conservative than I had expected, us American girls were encouraged, by the sister of the bride, to dance if only because it's not against our religion/customs. The older women dancing were surprisingly pleased to have us there, as were the women with children who sent their toddlers to dance with us.
All of the women in the wedding hall did not at all remove their hijabs, only the bride was "exposed" in her white wedding dress. This is because the husband was often present in the females-only hall so he could tend to his new bride and the others had to maintain their modesty. They also did not dance, only the family members and the bride danced, and of course the token Western girls at the party. After the event, I had one girl come up to me and effusively praise my dancing. I thanked her and told her she should have come and joined us. She just laughed and shook her head "no, I am not allowed to do that!"
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