Guides to Planning a Muslim Wedding

Beginning to envision a Muslim wedding can be complicated and daunting—more so  if you are a non-Muslim events planner. One can only imagine how difficult it can be knowing that you don’t know  most of the ways, beliefs, practices,  rites  and rituals of people of this world-known religion. It is frightening too that there is a risk of offending the Islam religion if you do not become careful and cautious of the job you do—even when you mean well and you only want what’s best for your clients who are about to be bonded by the holy matrimony. Fret not. Here are guides for wedding planners like you who take on the job regardless of people’s religious background.

•  Date and Time Preferences: Muslims often favor weddings that are held during Shawwal and would tend to avoid months where Ramadan and Muharram fall. You’d notice that they are often done on a Sunday too as this is the start of the week. One thing you have to be aware of is that Muslims follows the lunar calendar. Advise the soon-to-weds to consult the local mosque with you to make sure when these important Islam events will fall.
• Wedding style: Just like  any other weddings, Muslim marriages may be formal or informal, fancy or elegant, dinner or lunch—it still boils down to the groom and the bride’s preferences. They may choose to wear Islam’s traditional clothes and still have decors that are fashioned in a modern manner. But often, Islam weddings are very sacred and conservative.
• The Food: As you are dealing with guests, families, relatives, and friends who are presumably Muslims too, it is likely that groom and bride will find it ideal to consider some food catering services who can cook according to Islamic dietary requirements. So goodbye red meat on the menu for sure. Muslim’s wedding feast often follow halal  which are food that the Muslim law deemed fit to eat. Rochel Santel, who handles a wedding catering business in Singapore shared how challenging it was to do halal catering for the first time, “I had to take note of everything that the soon-to-wed asked me to. I was fortunate that they were very cooperative and very thorough with their instruction so it was really a team effort. That is one of the most beautiful ceremonies I catered for, and I have found a new sense of respect for Muslims. 
•  The Program: You’ll surely need to book an Imam who shall   officiate the wedding (and make sure you have a substitute just in case). Make a checklist too of other program-related concerns like who shall host in the reception, who will be the wedding singer, what equipment need to be transported to the hall for the wedding. Print out the program details to be guided. Since you are supervising everything, you will surely need one assistant or two to help out.

Side bar:

Since Islam is a patrilineal religion, which just means that it is passed down through the father,  a Muslim man is allowed to marry a non-Muslim woman who come from a monotheistic faith like Christians or Jews. But if it is the woman who is Muslim, she is not allowed to marry a non-Muslim man—unless the groom is willing to convert to Islam faith.