Summer is a popular season for tying the knot in Saudi Arabia, however weddings celebrations often become costly. Recent estimations reveal that by the end of the season Saudi brides will have spent some 400 million Saudi riyals ($110 million) on wedding accessories, including dresses, cosmetics, jewelry and hair styling, reported Al-Sharq Al-Awsat.
As Saudi custom has it, brides change their dress up to three times in a single wedding ceremony. Financial consultant Layla Ghamdy asserted that brides lavishly spend nearly 50 percent of their wedding budgets on dresses alone.
A significant portion of the wedding’s bill goes to dowry jewelry, and an average Saudi bride may spend up to $32 000 in a gold shops. Many Saudi women tend to go over board when it comes to weddings, some even undergo a cosmetic surgery as part of their wedding preparations, running a collective bill of SR 50 million. — (Mena Report)
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
