A traditional wedding in Isfahan begins with a classic proposal.
Women of the boy’s family choose a girl for him and then go to her family’s house in order to meet the girl and become more familiar with each other.
If she is accepted, the groom’s mother will talk to his father on the subject.
If the father also agrees to it, they will then go to the girl’s house with flowers and sweets, which is regarded as a formal proposal this time.
From then on, the girl is called bride, and her family gives a sugarloaf to the groom’s family as a sign of approval.
The ceremony of khāncheh-barān is an integral part of the wedding traditions in Isfahan.
In this gift-giving ceremony, the groom delivers a number of gifts including the Holy Quran, mirror and candlesticks, sweets, flowers, sharbat (a sweet Iranian drink made from fruits, herbs, or flower petals), henna, cinnamon, salt, boswellia, eggs, comb, wild rue, seven-coloured silk thread, chādor (a full-body-length garment worn by Muslim women), etc., to the bride’s house.
During this ceremony, the fathers of the bride and groom discuss and make agreements about such crucial matters as the dates of engagement and wedding ceremonies, and the mahr (money or possessions that the groom is obliged to pay the bride, according to the rules of Islamic marriage).
The engagement ceremony is usually held at the house of the bride’s parents, and her family has to pay the costs of it as well.
In the engagement ceremony, the families sprinkle candies over the heads of the bride and groom.
Moreover, a reputable woman of the family sews the seven-coloured silk thread onto the bride’s head covering as an emblem of strengthening and eternalizing the couple’s union.
