What is a Henna Party?

I’m sure many of you have been wondering what a henna party is and why we are having one… especially considering the complexions of the bride and groom.

The Henna wedding party is celebrated by many different peoples (Jews, Muslims, Sikhs, Hindus, Zoroastrians and more) wherever the Henna tree grew naturally (across the middle East and North Africa).

In Rachel’s family tradition, a Henna party is a pre-wedding celebration held for the bride and groom (mainly the bride). Rachel’s father’s family all came from Iraq, and so the ceremony is conducted in the Iraqi convention. In Iraq, henna was regarded as having Barakah ("blessings") and was applied for luck as well as for joy and beauty.

Back in the day, henna was applied to the both the bride and groom’s hands and feet which were hennaed solidly. This has since changed to being only the bride and grooms’ fingertips.

For many Iraqi jews, the henna ceremony is done in lieu of the bedeken. The Ashkenazi tradition of bedeken is the ritual of veiling the bride. It symbolizes the story of Jacob and his confusion between Leah and Rachel. The bedeken reassures the groom that he is indeed marrying the right woman. The presence of henna on the bride’s fingertips helps the groom to identify the bride at the wedding ceremony a few days later. Rachel’s family have ways to ensure that the henna doesn’t stain their fingertips so we have to hope Josh will be able to recognise Rachel on his own.

The henna ceremony itself will be short. After that there will be lots of food (go for the orange chicken), lots to drink and a lot of dancing. Be sure to grab a fez hat and a dangly skirt and enjoy the show.