She's in her wedding gown and he's wearing a black suit. Their car, decorated with flowers and ribbons, moves off with the cars of both their families in a noisy zaffa (wedding procession). As they drive to the wedding party, most often held in a hotel, the din from the car horns is deafening. When the bride and groom reach the hotel, they are welcomed by another zaffa, this time a procession of bellydancers, drummers, horn players and pipers, who circle round the bride and groom, singing and dancing happily. The bride and groom occasionally join in the dancing, but the main aim is to walk as slowly as possible to the wedding hall. The zaffa can last for up to an hour. The wedding party is about to begin. "Egyptian zaffas are unique," says Ahmed Othman, a drummer. "They have a special flavour." You can tell when there's a zaffa in a hotel, simply by all the noise. The guests clap along and sing to the sound of popular music, accompanied by the zaghareet (ululations) of the women. There are different sorts of Egyptian zaffas, with the difference lying in the number of drummers and the kinds of songs. The most popular these of zaffas are the Domiati (Damiettan), Areb, Askandrani (Alexandrian), sha'abi (folklore) and masha'ael (torch). "Most brides choose the Areb zaffa," Othman told the Egyptian Mail. "In this kind of zaffa, there are between 10 and 15 drummers." There is also an interesting dance associated with zaffas, the tanoura. The tanoura dancer whirls round and round and does some tricks with his skirts. While he's still turning, he undoes his turban and rolls it up in the shape of a baby and puts it in the arms of the bride at the end of his show. "Many brides want the tanoura dance in their zaffa," says Mohamed Moustafa (28), a tanoura dancer. "It's a very Egyptian dance; you can't find it in any other country." There is another Egyptian zaffa, the shamadan (candle), with female dancers holding a shamadan, which gives light, on their heads and dancing with it. "The shamadan zaffa is very Egyptian. You used to find it at every wedding, but these days it's very rare, because only a few female dancers know how to dance well with a candle," adds Moustafa. "Foreigners like watching wedding processions. They're often privileged to witness one when they're staying in a hotel."
