take part and send us your story we are trying in all ways to understand this new culture. another visitor the guests you want to become citizens. in for migrants your platform. information. men sorrow region is situated in galveston province in the north east of iran it is home to a formerly nomadic group of peoples with a long tradition and history the turkmen. hot dry summers and bitter cold winters to take their lives for only a few weeks a year they hells come to life with the pale green of spring it's said to be the

most beautiful time of the year. traditionally it's also the festive season. near the border of turkmenistan is a ten hour drive from tehran over the last century a town of five thousand inhabitants has grown around what was once a line stop watering sight. memorials to the tuchman poet marked can be found everywhere in the region. more than twelve million turkmen live in central asia half of them in the young republic of turkmenistan. these nomads who were famous for their love of horses only began settling in fixed locations joe nine hundred twenty s.

. today their daily lives that the nearly two million iranian differs little from those of their fellow citizens but the turkmen still trying to preserve many of their control traditions. even the youngest practiced the customs of their ancestors dressed in their traditional costumes their helping hand out invitations in the town to this day when wedding is a grand event for the entire community. i must say i met with they say it's going to be a totally traditional wedding it said the family is financially very well off. that's when a wedding like this is best of course otherwise they wouldn't be able to afford to make so much effort in the past turkmen wedding would be celebrated for months today it's just a week. or so i've heard that the family wants to uphold the old traditions for example that

the bride will be brought on a camel and there'll be old turkmen games and wrestling. with so many of. the wonderful traditional was back then these customs are all very old. here on the outskirts of modern very top pair lies the family business belonging to uncle gauguin little. the track to dealership panda joining repair shop has allowed gold come to devalue to achieve wealth and social standing. of the many rainy and turkmen still earn a living from agriculture and livestock farming. or responsibility for their family owned business will soon change hands to those some . planters the families only he must marry first but the.

what a line it. is the words i've been telling carvin for years good marriott. after his military service i tried time and time again telling him come on get married. but can't i'm cutting i have other plans i want to study and work. and so we first completed his degree. he only wanted to get married when he felt the right time income. but having said that when i went on and on like this. you know. you know there's my biggest wish is that my son marries a girl from a good family as one of the presenting but now his wish is about to come true at twenty nine cut him has kept his family waiting long enough five

months ago he met him his bride to be. so sello darling how are you. what are you doing. now no news here. i'm looking forward to later have fun at your family's place. by us. when then michelle. in the very first time i saw her photo on the internet i knew once that this was the woman i wanted to marry. well maybe that felt drawn to her at first sight and i hoped it would work out without. me going through. the exit

door felt straight away that god found my better half. it's an ongoing is the one that's how much i felt drawn to her. for this just a few days till the wedding gone bad is among the most important turkmen cities and this is where column and mar him have arranged to meet and go shopping together a decade ago such a meeting between an unmarried couple would still have been unthinkable today it is considered acceptable when chaperoned by their family. just like car him my him ms ali comes from a tradition bound family modesty and decorum are a top priority only are after the wedding will the couple be permitted to spend time with each other alone. i'm on the here don't know much. as i received his proposal via the internet. that he was determined to meet me in person at the heart of us and i mean the man i'm trying since i didn't even know

him i ignored it at first. first the proposal and then the couple gets to know one another this is not unusual in turkmen culture. intentions must be honorable. even a low key meeting can be deemed indecent. so cut him quickly let it be known that his intentions were to marry. him warmly. on the other but i told my family that he's called curran he comes from more of a topic and wants to marry me. which as a staff. is clear that i would only marry him if all the requirements were met. perhaps i. the drug problem card doesn't have a good job is this family financially well off when after. decent

boy my family found out all that for me i was worried because i hardly knew him and knew so little about him and. that's how i made my serious intentions clear from the start. insisted that we should speak for a few days and slowly get to know each other. along to one of three large tribes i feel a whole lot the job for the tech her family belongs to the jam or does does mine that makes things easier because we understand one another better. i insisted that i meet her in person of course i wanted someone from the family to chaperone her

heaven forbid i didn't want her to think badly of me so finally we sat together and talked one day. after a while i realized we had a lot in common and i felt more and more of a bond with him that a we started. our best for them all. soon thereafter karriem told his family that they wanted to get married and his family had already turned down three previous candidates but he was able to win them over to my hand. with this purchase of expensive jewelry condoms family is confirming their approval . of the wedding plans.

various this yeah. now we will just have to set a date for the wedding of course our families will have to agree. tavish but we're not the. only family lives in a collage about two hundred kilometers south of mount of a topic according to tradition it is the elders the cow who must approve of the marriage condoms grandmother bibi and the eldest aren't other first to arrive at the house of my family. the local clerics are also members of the access for centuries they decided on all tribal affairs and they still play an important role in the turkmen community the negotiations are led by caroms uncle bakhtiar the sort of guy. who. are gathered

here today to ask for the bride's hand in marriage so today we will tell the bride's father but our son loves his daughter we want to inquire if they find as worthy that's why we the council of elders are convening to discuss it. my older sisters are working in the kitchen. turkmen households are in the women's hands men do none of the cooking. simple but nutritious dishes are typical fare such as check derma the turkmen national dish. but it is this is. actually sauteed the chicken we add water and let it simmer for two hours. let it be thin lamb for three hours. and right at the end we

had rice that we've soaked in water. terms little has changed from when attachment still lived as no man but the world beyond the kitchen hands kept moving forward. to in the old days a wedding couldn't take place without the consent of the. that's how much elders were respected up the bride and groom had no say in it palatable to today the young people are included in the cards decision you have to ask. but anyone who thinks the men decide while the women cook is mistaken the women also have a say the most important question is decided by condoms grandmother b.b.

and my hymns mother. this year the men didn't make that we've traveled far to enter into a union of families with you we ask you from our hearts to grant this god has granted this. one of them little toys now ancient wedding traditions handed down to us by our forefathers comprise our turkmen identity our originality and difference to other ethnic groups to try unfortunately that we keep moving further away from our old traditions never that should be outlawed that. the families of mar him and cart him these traditions are a matter of honor. good after the elders have given their approval we bread and salt after about the hopi

is tired and from then on my i am using gages and everyone can now see that she's engaged. to a colored braided band symbolizes the bridal couple who according to the elders wishes are now intertwined with each other for ever. i'm very happy with my choice and i'm looking forward to our wedding. after the engagement ceremony martin will remain with her family friend the other week but on the day of the wedding she leaves the home where she was born to start a new life in matter of a topic. but there is still a lot to do before the wedding. in a color my him goes through her dowry one last time together with her family. and an entire household has been amassed over the years they don't want their.

asked why daughter to lack anything in her new house. also dropped out. on the internment culture the mother starts assembling the diaries of her daughters when they're still young girls how many that what exactly each daughter receives depends on the family's financial means or not it was what's important is that the number of items must always be divisible by two that he just does the bridal couple consists of two people so there must be two of everything i'm someone to this tradition applies not only to us but to all turkmen. who the last met told him and i thought one quite a name one whether rich or poor or a qur'an is always part of the dowry. men are muslims part unlike the majority of iranians they don't follow the shiites but the sunni branch of faith.

had been. several days before the wedding they come and fetch my dowry and take it to my new home so that everything's in place after our wedding to one of the top holes that i mentioned that a few days later that moment has come by him sisters and aunts make sure the down is carefully loaded onto the truck. the other eight daughters of the family are already married so the ms alice are used to goodbyes though it doesn't make it any easier. i thought i mean. it's strange to see that everything's gone now but of course i'm looking forward to the wedding but at the same time i also feel sad.

just like my mother who can hardly hold back her tears nobody can i'm not i to doubt. that i'm care hand there was sam air force words that i hope everyone has a nice time at my wedding and that they'll remember it for a long time especially the girls i hope they like my wedding and want to get married like this to. the trunk and soft amount of a topic it's the first of many goodbyes from him. in a matter of a top am carrying his grandmother b.b.

supervises the construction of the movie the traditional tuckman tent. today they are just an old custom but for centuries these mobile units provided shelter for entire extended families against the harsh weather on the plains even though they are built of lightweight wood that the family burns dried frankincense to ward off bad luck after on a wedding well take place in this year and. are now. eighty one year old go half a distant great-aunt was born in a. little older look the only at the i've been putting up your it since i was ten i got married when i was ten. people my age still know how to do it but the youth of today don't any more. nor a divider from here to the middle the adults slept on one side and the children on

the. here at the front is where my four daughters in law slept. through to the one seven relatives came we kill a sheep we came the liver and heart here and grill the meat outside for the guests at times were good back then. the next day marks the start of the three day waiting celebration current will go and collect his bride tomorrow today everything revolves around him it's his bachelor party. like god i've hardly got any stress as far as my wedding is concerned my family my friends and neighbors are taking care of everything i just hope now that everything is to the guest satisfaction and that the wedding is

a feast of joy and of all things good and beautiful here that's what matters most to me and. canada doesn't need to lift a finger of course he wants to look good too in a tight fitting suit out of a hollywood film. the cars are waiting for him and his friends. in honor of the groom the plane outside the city gates has been turned into a wrestling arena this afternoon. his family has invited everyone to the go. a form

of traditional wrestling. the wedding is the most festive moment in a turkmen man's life alongside his circumcision. family have spared neither efforts nor expense to celebrate their son's marriage in a fitting manner even the mourners have come and not just as spectators. where. i'm the only sorrow in the family. and you know it was image so we have only this one wedding to center break ins and the area so we've decided to celebrate this wedding with all the frills it will lack for nothing. after all everyone will be there the old the young the divide which. i mentioned has about four thousand guests coming and they are coming to just have an evening meal and then go home again. and then came in from we want

these to be celebrations that will overwhelm everyone. as well and that. cornish is an expression of the turkmen national identity as a warrior people and a traditional part of the wedding celebrations but it's an event for men only. to contest the opponents time men in class around each other's bodies which they are allowed to hold onto. not must be tight. or some of.

the rules are simple you score points by forcing your opponent to touch the ground with any part of their body. in it. whoever lands on his back first as last. the clerics also engage in a contest of strength before all the crowd. wrestling

in mom's that custom exists only among the tuchman. is the afternoon progresses more and more visitors come to watch the garnish whether with or without an invitation nobody wants to miss the event. the wrestling matches continue until the sun goes down. in a matter of a topic and that evening the guests are served check damn our volunteers help to

make sure that all the hungry guests a fat. cat was. caught him sparrows will be spending an equivalent of thirty thousand euros on their son's wedding. my custom many guests give small wedding gifts of money which are all the recorded. go to our dear friends and guests welcome. well. come in and take a seat. after the meal there is entertainment like most everywhere this includes music and dancing. the family has opted for a modern selection. am

. that i thought it was. i don't. think of it at all we took one display our customs at weddings especially the clothes the music. we get together tall can live traditions. getting married here is not a private matter the upholding of tradition as a matter of cultural politics and primed. to. bear the torch of man and we modeled our wedding on ceremonies from the past. and of course we hope that others will model their wedding on ours. because our most important custom is still a traditional wedding. than. it

is the nights before the actual wedding ceremony. last minute preparations are underway. traditional garments such as the colorful headscarves a brought out and gift bans are being braided. in every day life and culture is usually handed down from generation to generation by the women of the family mastering a traditional art is still seen as a virtue among men women and increases the chances of a young woman finding a good match. the first written records that describe these nomadic people date back to the tenth century the turkmen were feared as proud and daring warriors from the backs of their horses they conquered large territories. and independent state turkmenistan

did not come about until the fall of the soviet union in the early one nine hundred ninety s. . to this day when rarely marry outside their own culture. in matter of a top pair the second day of wedding festivities is getting underway it's the day of the caregiver and bridal procession inside the yurt the presents for the bridal family are being blessed with singing and offerings. the groom and his entourage are dressed in turkmen costumes including the tel pack the traditional sheepskin had. in the past the camels and horses were decorated today it's the cars. as soon as the gifts have been blessed a convoy will head to act to collect minor. shortly before they leave gifts are brought out of the yard intended for the family of the bride in

exchange for their daughter. karriem joins the wedding convoy. sausage thank you i miss her very much and i'm very happy that soon she will be mine for. mourning and. meanwhile in. him as the center of attention. friends and family have come to address her for the farewell. wedding jory of intricately work gold and silver weighs just over ten kilos and no effort suspended to impress the groom to be. what i want most is for car him to be proud of me we're going to spend the rest of our lives together i'll do everything i can to be the best bride. motorcade has finally reached. carmel have to be patient

a little longer he is not allowed to see mom him right away he must first pay his respects to her family. and then the time has come to fetch his bride from the house of her parents. we've brought you this church oh from our of a topping the cloth was made in mecca medina and in our holy places it's been handed down by the elders for many years and will now make you a bride yes yes yes yes yes.

outside anticipation is rising my hymns nephew and he's also had to say goodbye. forever. there. was. a minute north london on my own my human is just a few months older than me. there which is another reason why we're closer than is usually the case with aunts and nephews with them. she's like a sister and best friend to me we grew up to go one hundred hours with a letter. for

us to get out i'm going to tell you the truth i'm very sad she's leaving. us. for that at the same time i think i'm glad she'll be happy. i'm happy for. it and is not the only one who's struggling to maintain his composure. right. there. on. the right.

course for the not. here and not out of course i'm very sad that i have to leave my family and move to an unfamiliar place. the muscle. loss will be it will take me a long time to get used to it i didn't have time for shalamar so but i'm also very much looking forward to my new life. so i am and i'm very happy to have found such a wonderful husband and i'm leaving with mixed feelings here. yukio. after a two hour drive the wedding convoy reaches the outskirts of a topic. here my hymns last test awaits our. highlight that is celebrated by the wedding guests with exuberance.

in the past it was constantly for the bride to travel the entire distance on a camel today most weddings do without this tradition as it's too expensive and complicated and especially for the bride rather uncomfortable. i. on the back of a camel mar him has to prove that she's a true tuchman in the turn tradition camels have long played an important role as a pack animal that enjoys even the most strenuous of loads it in part is a masculine ideal but usually the camel is regarded as the symbol of the modest girl of a good family and her hard working mother even in the twenty first century these role models still hold sway. anyone who defies them risks losing the support not

only of their own family but the entire community. today mar him has demonstrated that she is willing to accept the role that has been assigned to her. inside the wedding unit the bridal couple is welcomed with traditional singing. meanwhile more and more guests are gathering outside and. get set handed over inside the unit and immediately unpacked and sauntered quite a task considering there are about a thousand guests. the bridal couple spends the afternoon with close family. only in the evening when all the guests have arrived and the gifts have been unwrapped bill mahr him become

a married woman. for the turkmen it is not just the ring on her finger but more importantly the ring on her head clearly visible for everyone to see the so-called unargued that makes him a wife. caught him and now lead his bride out of the york. they are married. the ring still takes a bit of getting used to for the young bride from now on she must wear it every day . and uncle's garden the bridal couple presents

themselves to their guests. at least for tonight the traditional part of the wedding is over him and caught him can now enjoy the celebration. just to go. to. come on everyone applause applause. i can hear you. come on every one of. us i'm very pleased that everything i had hoped for has finally come true all that's missing now is grandchildren. and the. current wedding is also an emotional moment for his uncle. to michelle bought

it being able to share and express my nephew's joy with friends and the family is really indescribable. if i'm not a loss for words to describe this truth. but you know why are so many people from the heart of model of a top a all these kind. they are my treasure. they are my light that i missed out of my iman you know i was just one of. the local politician bakhtiari so to garner knows how to win over the community. now the more relaxed part of the celebrations can begin. despite iran's strict morality laws the celebrating and dancing goes on until night into the night but not before the eyes of the public only close family will be that.

in the early hours of the morning quiet has finally returned to modify a topic. but there's one last ritual to come. on their first shared day of marriage my him and can him celebrate the. for ceremony that translates as hand to hand it's a ritual intended to remind the young couple of the duties of match. i hereby give kyron to. you my own i give to current. i wish you both much happiness and your mutual path through life. may god well that. after. it's over.

with a piece of sugar my human can make a valid marital happiness may their future be equally sweet. knew that. by marrying my him and cut him have now attained the status of full adult hood. they are now deemed to be in charge of their own families fortune and destiny. separation and divorce is frowned upon in turkey and culture told death do us part a commandment that carries weight to this very day. in the co-pay down mountains lies the grave of khalid purportedly a christian missionary who converted to islam. here

the couple is alone for the first time in days. of the life of. the world. yes it feels like the first day of my life it feels so good so new. i'm here to pray that my life will always stay the way it is now. and that i'll stay together with cut him until the day i die. for the. owner of the little. bit so big it's an amazing feeling that i'm beginning a new life with my wife. a good life. and i've never felt anything like it before it was in.

the celebration has come to a happy end the many days of festivities and rituals what makes a tuchman wedding ceremony a special advantage. it is a moment of lived tradition and a celebration of cultural identity within the multi-ethnic state of iran.

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