CAIRO - Before her wedding, a bride is always very busy getting everything ready for her big day, down to the finest detail; from her makeup, hair and dress to the decorative elements of the place where the wedding party will be held. The bride has to make sure that everything looks just right. In Egypt, the day before the wedding is ‘henna day' when the bride invites her female relatives and friends to sing and dance to make her wedding day extra special. The henna day differ from one governorate to another, and even from one district to another. In Upper Egypt, the henna day starts in the morning, when the bride's mother prepares a big pot of henna and another lady paints beautiful flowers in henna on the bride's hands and feet. All the girls and women gather around the lady in excitement; after she has finished painting the bride, she starts painting the guests, who then dance and sing the night away in the home of the bride's family. There is a popular scene in a comic film called Saaedy fel Gamaa el-Amricaya (An Upper Egyptian at the American University), produced in 1998, and starring the comedian Mohamed Henady and Mona Zaki, when a Sudanese woman called ‘Satona' starts dancing and painting henna on the bride's body. After the film screening Satona became very famous and she earned a reputation as the top henna painter for brides. Since then, 'henna shows' have become all the rage. The trend is proving popular with most brides, especially in Cairo. The success of henna shows has encouraged many girls to start similar businesses. For example, Samar Momtaz, has started her business as a henna painter a year ago. "When will your henna day be? Will you be holding it in an apartment? A villa? A club? A hotel?" This is the first question Samar asks brides who call her, wanting to book her for their henna day. "Knowing the time and place is very important as I have to arrange things with the DJ and the hannana [the woman who paints the henna on the bride]. I also have to ask the bride to think about decorating the place," she explains. Samar and the bride then begin to organise the kind of henna day the bride wants. In Cairo, it is different from the other governorates, which concentrate more on the show than the henna painting. At the shows outside of the capital, the women wear the traditional folkloric costumes of their governorates and even other countries. These could be Indian, Spanish or traditional Alexandrian costumes or even the kind of garb worn by pop stars Haifaa Wahby and Nancy Ajram in their video clips. "The songs and lyrics must also suit the costumes worn by the bride and the other women," Samar, 28, told The Egyptian Gazette. "Sometimes the bride has special requests for the music and of course I accede to their requests." Samar said that the clothes worn by a servant or maid are the latest fashion for henna day, while the DJ plays a satirical song about the many responsibilities of marriage and the bride acts as if she were serving the guests. The most popular garb is the Alexandrian traditional costume – the guests love to see the bride wearing it. "To make sure the bride is ideal on her henna day, she should book me at least a fortnight ahead of time, as we need time to organise the costumes and songs, and pinpoint precisely what the bride wants. I also need to know the number of guests," she added. Samar, whose clients are from the middle and upper classes, has a package consisting of the hannana, DJ and eight different costumes and shows costing LE850. "Sometimes the bride wants to make changes to this package. For example, she might want other shows or for her mother and sister to be dressed up like her. She'll pay more for this. She might also want three or four girls to dance along with her. "The items of clothing vary in price between LE20 and LE100," Samar explained. "If the bride wants us to hire a place and organise a buffet, we are also happy to oblige." She never has any reservations about the place, but she does have two conditions. Firstly, there must never be any photos of herself or the guests, as they are all skimpily dressed. Only the bride can be photographed, when she is alone. Secondly, there must be a special room where the bride can get changed and be photographed, if she so desires. "Henna day is the last day before the bride's wedding, separating her life as a single girl from her new life as a married woman," Samar said. "So I want to make it a bright and beautiful day for her and her guests."
