Apparently, every country has its own wedding traditions and ceremonies with Morocco as no exception. The traditional Moroccan wedding is full of interesting customs and elaborate processes, from the henna party to the wedding food. Certainly, the most enchanting element is the dress style a Moroccan bride chooses.
Everyone tends to get dressed to the nines for Moroccan weddings. Female guests wear all sorts of beautiful caftans and takchitas (Moroccan dresses) of various colors, textures, shapes, and ornamentations. The male guests are fond of wearing suits. The groom do starts with a suit and often changes it for a “jabador,” and later for a Moroccan male djellaba.
Just like the beauty of the day is in any other country, the Moroccan bride is treated like a queen, and always steal the show with her beautiful dressing style. From the beginning of the wedding till the end of the night, the bride dons several different traditional Moroccan wedding dresses that represent different regions and culture. The wardrobe choice tends to give special attention to the bride and the groom’s regions of origin. Intriguing in different colors, patterns, designs, and jewelry, there are seven traditional wedding dresses that a bride in Morocco wears on her wedding day.
The Green and Golden Caftan
The bride usually wears the green and golden caftan on the henna day. This is a significant Moroccan pre-wedding traditional attire one or two days before the big day.
The green satin and silk caftan is usually hand-made with bright beads and stones. It has long sleeves, rich golden embroidery, and is worn with a golden belt (mdama). Sometimes, it comes in varying shapes and designs, depending on the bride’s personal taste.
The White Takchita
The white Takchita is a recreated Moroccan caftan that is made up of two pieces minimum, and sometimes up to five pieces. The first part is the “tahtiya,” which is a long silky caftan. The second piece is the “fouqia” or “dfina,” which is an open satin dress that is always transparent and tightly held in place with a wide golden belt.
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The bride’s first, white wedding dress represents the purity of the future wife. The seamstress makes it with different white fabrics such as silk, tulle, satin, and other luxury materials. Also, the dress is embroidered with different golden designs and patterns, either traditional or modern, depending on the bride’s taste.
Lebsa Ifasiya of Fez
Lebsa lfasiya is the traditional attire from the Fez region, also called “ebsa lekbira” (the great outfit). Its large size and shape and accompanying elaborate jewelry characterize this type of wedding dress. Its color can be white, red, or green.
Meanwhile, the traditional dress can be difficult for the bride to wear due to its weight and large number of components. Despite its challenges, Moroccan brides insist on wearing the dress for its beauty and history, while entering in the amariya.
Lebsa lfasiya is an outfit composed of several pieces. The Moroccan caftan pairs with some bib around the neck. Several pieces of jewelry, such as a necklace of white and green pearls, always sit atop the bib. Also, the bride wears a white veil and attaches various decorations with pins. Above the bride’s head is a large golden crown. Heavy green and gold fabric makes the skirt. The bride places this on her head, attaching it with pins to the white white veil.
Lebsa r’batia of Rabat
Lebsa r’batia is one of the most adorable styles of caftans. It is characterized by the golden rabati embroidery style, in connection to the city of Rabat. For a long time, Moroccan women have practiced this embroidery style and its forms vary across Moroccan cities.
It is the bride’s decision to make a choice of wearing the elegant caftan in either blue or red color. Sometimes, she may wear it in two pieces; a caftan and an open dress on top, held together by a golden belt (mdama).
The Mdama for this dress is usually made of silk or precious metals, such as gold, silver, or scarce copper. Precious stones, like rubies, emeralds, and pearls sometimes decorate it.
The Sahraouia of Moroccan Sahara
The Sahraouia is similar to the wedding dress worn by Mauritanian women.
The dress is composed of a “Mlehfa,” which is four meters wide and about 61 centimeters in length. Like many other wedding dresses in Morocco, it comes in different colors and designs. The dress is pitched with splendor with traditional accessories and jewelry.
The bride wears a tiara created of amber and seashells. She is also donned with a necklace of long pearls like a rosary and silver bracelets. Ornaments made of wood and animal horn, and metal fibulae linked by several chains, also goes with attire.
The Soussia of Amazigh
The Soussia attire comes from the region of Souss and other Amazigh (Berber) regions, with varying colors and traditional patterns. The dress can be different from one Amazigh tribe to another.
In the Souss region, women and girls wear clothes representative of each tribe and village. This way, people of the region can easily distinguish the woman’s tribe by her clothing. This however, applies both to daily clothing or special occasion attire.
The wedding dress is chiefly characterized by different matching hairstyles. Also, the wealth and elegance that radiate across the jewelry used make the entire attire a special feature. The pieces are often made of stovepipe silver with enamel, amber, pearls, or shells.
The bride looks spectacular wearing a special caftan style and a white and silver crown called “Tawnza” on her head. She is also beautified with silver bracelets called “Tanbalat” and “Tanzite,” and Amazigh earrings called and “Takhersin.” She then puts on a silver belt, and the Amazigh “Cherbil” (shoes) called “Edokan.”
The Chamalia from the North
This Chamalia wedding dress has its root from the North and is mainly composed of the Chedda, a traditional outfit from Tangier. It is a traditional costume historically worn by female nobles in the northern coastal city.
The bride traditionally wears Chedda on her wedding day to represent purity and beauty and it do come in different styles, according to cities and families.
The dress consists of two superimposed majestic caftans that have colorful floral embroidery which is fastened by an Mdama. A conical headdress made of scarves and jewelry embellish the attire.
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