Mass weddings in UAE offer a perfect start for marriages away from debt

Abu Dhabi - The latest such wedding is due next Saturday in Al Ain City where 160 couples will tie the knot in Al Khabisi Hall.

Mass weddings in the UAE provide the youth planning to tie the knot an ideal solution to start their married life away from getting into debt and loans trying to organise big ceremonies and at the same time celebrate the happy occasion in style away from lavish wedding parties and the hefty costs of just one night.
Most importantly, group weddings, which help couples to be joined in wedlock but without being locked into heavy debt, contribute towards strengthening social solidarity.
Established as a unique Emirati tradition, group weddings are being promoted by the Marriage Fund which, thanks to full backing from the country's leaders and sheikhs, has been offering the effective solution to keep women away from falling into spinsterhood and men from running away from marriage.
The latest such wedding is due next Saturday in Al Ain City where 160 couples will tie the knot in Al Khabisi Hall.
Along with other national institutions, the Marriage Fund, established in 1992, also helped spread the tradition of group weddings to other countries enabling couples to make their dream of a big night come true with a white wedding dress and a bisht, a men's long dark cloak that goes over the traditional white robe.
While traditions and social values continue to be upheld, the culture of group weddings is getting a hold in the UAE due to the fact that debt-free weddings spare newlyweds from hassling over financial problems during their early years, which often end in divorce.
One of the participants in mass weddings says issue over debts usually break out between newlyweds only one day after their big night for which the bridegroom borrows the money.
He further says that mass weddings also encourage Emirati men to marry Emirati women.
Another young man who was involved in a mass wedding says he was spared from financial and psychological burden. He even calls for "changing the culture of society to curb what he calls "a blind imitation of others."

• UAE