Indonesia is predominantly Muslim. A man declares his intentions to marry by sending gifts to a woman's father with the message that he would like "a sarong to wrap around his body." If the offer is accepted, there is an engagement meeting, or kawissoro, where the sarong is presented and attendants chew betel nut to celebrate. On the wedding day, a groom dresses in silk trousers, the new sarong and a white shirt, plus a traditional dagger, or kris, to ward off evil spirits. The bride also wears silk pants and a sarong. A penghulu (imam) presides over the ceremony, reciting the Islamic creed and verses from the Koran while sprinkling the couple with henna and water to purify them. At the pesta, or feast, the couple sits atop a wedding dais and is served a traditional meal of rice and palm sugar. With a red scarf wound around their necks, they playact cooking rice in a pot to symbolize their sharing of a domestic life. In Java, the bride is secluded for some time after the ceremony to protect her from evil spirits. In Bali, the couple lies on a table face down with their faces over the edge and their incisors are filed (a traditional Balinese rite of passage).
Since 95% of Iranians are Muslim, weddings center around the marriage contract and marh (bride price). The bride sits before a mirror so that a groom's first view of her is a reflection. A sofreh-ye aqd, or wedding cloth, is spread before the mirror and laden with many symbolic foods and items, including: seven herbs to drive away evil spirits; pastries; flatbread with sayings written in saffron ink; eggs and cheese (fertility symbols); rose water (to perfume the air); and the Koran. After the contract is signed, two happily married women hold a white square silk over the couple while a third scrapes a kallehquand (sugar loaf), causing sweetness to "rain down" on them. Another woman sews a piece of cloth with seven threads to "sew up the mother-in-law's tongue" while the imam reads the contract and prays aloud. He asks the bride three times if she agrees to marry, then declares them husband and wife. At the arusi (feast), a whole roast lamb and sweet rice are served, followed by singing and dancing. The couple moistens their fingers with honey and places them in each other's mouths, or feeds each other sugar-coated almonds. Bride and groom rush to their new home, kick over a bowl of water in the doorway for good luck, and engage in a mock struggle to enter first since legend has it that that person will govern the household.
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