100 couples blessed at ‘wedding of weddings’

The expenses of the ceremony titled ‘The Wedding of the Weddings’ were borne by Shaikh Mansour. The expenses for the mass wedding amounted to Dh9 million, covering the grants distributed among the grooms, giving them Dh70, 000 each, in addition to the ceremony expenses.

In a statement on the occasion, Shaikh Mansour said: “What can I say on an occasion like this and what do I feel at these moments looking at this batch of the country's youth getting ready to start their families, while we are trying hard to maintain their stability and solidarity.”

“My feelings at these moments are a mixture of sadness and joy. Joy resulting from this wedding ceremony and sadness because of the bitter absence of my father late Shaikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the builder of this nation and the founder of its modern development. His absence is strongly felt at these moments when we remember his fatherly picture and his good deeds, his wisdom and far-sightedness... and we all remember his ability to innovate and offer humanitarian projects, including the founding of the Marriage Fund which was one of his dreams,” Shaikh Mansour said.

“Today, the march continues, with the President, His Highness Shaikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, in whom the late Shaikh Zayed has put all his hopes, dreams and aspirations believing that he will continue the march of progress and building. The Wedding of Weddings announces at these moments the formation of 100 new natioanl families that will add to tens of thousands of other families belonging to this beautiful country. The Marriage Fund has accomplished several achievements that helped fortify the family structure in our society. I congratulate the grooms and the fund for its achievements and for organising this wedding.”

Dr Ali bin Abdullah Al Kaabi, Minister of Labour and Social Affairs, Chairman of the Board of Directors, Marriage Fund, said: “The initiative by Shaikh Mansour has given us a big boost and it will have its positive impact. The wedding today is a ceremony for all young men in the UAE who have the right to be proud of such a civilised event in their country, because it reflects the type of relation between the leaders of the UAE and the citizens. The Shaikh Mansour Initiative is a natural continuation of that of late Shaikh Zayed who supported social welfare.”

Dr Kaabi also called upon businessmen and merchants to support the Marriage Fund and fulfil their duties towards their fellow citizens. “The Marriage Fund would like to thank those who responded to the call, donated money for the fund, and helped it enlarge its budget to support young UAE national young men set up a family.

Said Al Sawafi, one of the grooms, said in a speech: “We are very happy with Shaikh Mansour’s initiative. The initiative was not a surprise because we are used to the kindness and support of late Shaikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan. We were very happy with the type of support we got and the grooms were relieved of the expenses of marriage, which allows us to have a stable and happy atmosphere. I would like to call upon businessmen and merchants to abide by the initiative of Shaikh Mansour and support the Marriage Fund in order to help young UAE nationals in setting up a family.”

As response to the call from Shaikh Mansoor to the business community, the UAE Marriage Fund received a donation of Dh1 million from prominent UAE businessman Mohammed A. R. Galadari, Chairman of Galadari Group of Companies, on May 1, 2005. The cheque was presented to Mr Al Bah by Mr Galadari at his office in Dubai in the presence of Nabeel Ahmed Abdalla Eisa Al Mazroue, Editor, Khaleej Times, and others.