Well i now have a husband! We had the wedding celebration last night at a resturaunt in the city centre. We got married officially last Wednesday in the office of the mullah (priest) at the mosque when I took the declaration of faith to change to Islam. Ebi's mum and a close family friend acted as witnesses to the marriage and his English teacher translated. I had said to Ebi that, as well as the marriage at the mosque, I had wanted to have the traditional Persian wedding ceremony, known as Sofreh Aghd. You can read about it here:
http://www.cultureofiran.com/iranian_marriage_ceremony.html.

Unfortunately we couldn't do this because only Iranian nationals can take part in it and I am not a national, because Ebi and I have not yet registered our marriage. I was disappointed but perhaps when we have a celebration in Edinburgh with my friends and family, we can combine the Scottish and Persian traditions then. Last night's party was still great fun with lots of music and dancing. Lots of professional photos were taken and the evening was also filmed :-). Everyone was amazed by my dress and lots of the guests took many photos of me and Ebi. At the end of the night we drove around the city for a while, before coming to a hotel to spend the night. Some of the close family members accompanied us in their cars, windows down with music blaring and indicators flashing in celebration. It was really crazy!

The night before last, the family had a Hanabandan party for me and Ebi at his house. This seems to be more a tradition in Abadan and I guess is similar to an engagement party but is done the night before the wedding. Again, there is lots of music and dancing and people give the bride and groom money. I think we got enough money at least for our taxi to the airport to go to turkey ;-)