The Full Algerian Wedding

In Algeria the families design the marriage instead of the bride and groom. The mothers of both families meet, then the boy's family asks the girl's family for her hand in marriage, if both families accept the couple is considered engaged. The female members of the boys family will show up to the brides house dressed in costumes decorated in silk carrying traditional gifts of almond and honey cakes. The female relatives of the boys family come and formally meet the girls female relatives as well as to get a close look at the bride. When the bride enters the room, she is greeted by high pitched ululations, the future mother-in-law will then present a ring to the bride to be. The mother-in-law will also present ancient jewelry, embroidery, and traditional costuming that represent the influence of the Spanish region of Andalusia on the culture of Algerian city of Clemson. The brides family serves the guests delicacies made with almonds and other nuts flavored with rose water and citrus. Milk is a symbol of purity and good luck is also served. With both families blessing the prophet Muhammad the engagement is officially committed.
The groom provides the dowry and the house to live in. The brides and her family have to furnish the house. The marketplace has a selection set up for brides to pick for their new home such as uttaman style curtains, cushions, covers, sheets, and blankets. The bride will take particular attention to furnishing the bedroom for both tradition and practicality. Many outfits are bought for the day of the wedding to make the wedding costume. The bride will prepare her trousseaux, from the tiniest item to the biggest, and her wedding costume will be design so she looks like a queen on her wedding day. The groom gives the dowry to the bride which can be a piece of gold jewelry, a set of 7 gold brackets, the Meskiyaa or the Khamsa which is a hand-shaped pendent which has symbolic meaning. The price of gold increases all the time which makes getting gold objects difficult for the groom in this symbolic process. 
There is then a Henna party, where the female relatives bring expensive gifts and perfumes and Hannah and Rosewater are crushed and mixed together to give the bride happiness and good luck, the freshly crushed Hannah mixture is put in the brides palm and witnessed by all the female relatives. After the Henna party, more food is given out.
In the Tlemcen wedding ceremonies the bride wears the Kaftan and the Chedda. the bride leaves her parents house covered by a Hayek. This is where the ceremony starts and music is always played. The bride will then be taken on a car parade through the city. Fantasia follow the bride and attract crowds to promote the celebration. The bride is fed milk and dates to promote a good future with her new family. The mother-in-law gives the bride a key so that Allah may open every door for her. The groom dressed in a white silk bullnose mounts a horse and goes to see his new wife being accompanied by fantasia horsemen. The mother of the groom places a Fatima necklace to protect the groom from the evil eye. The groom then goes to his wife, and kisses her in front of all her family. The family then takes a photo for the photo album. The Pischedda that is worn has been listed as highly prized that UNESCO has put it on their list of intangible cultural heritage. It used to be worn by princesses and notables of the viennese kingdom is made of several layers of silk and accessories of velvet caftan embroidered with both threads plus the pointed cap and long earrings. The Tessdira is a kind of fashion parade where each half an hour the bride appears with a new costume. Friends and relatives take pictures with her. The friends and family will dance and sing with her to express their joy and happiness. Eventually the bride will change into a Carriacou which is the traditional wedding outfit for Algiers, thought there is variation depending on wealth, region, and social status.