A mass wedding ceremony was held on Monday in central Bamiyan province which saw 37 couples getting married.

The wedding was organized by the Ministry of Culture and Information in Bamiyan and was aimed at cutting back on lavish affairs.  

The couples were from all walks of life and included school pupils; some university students, laborers and others.  

“In Afghanistan expensive wedding ceremonies take place due to inappropriate traditions. So often youths are forced to go abroad and work illegally to make money for their weddings. This results in them being away from their families,” Mohammad Tahir Zuhair said. 

Information and culture ministry’s deputy head for youth affairs Sayed Kamal Sadat said at the ceremony that members of the public must start cutting back on such extravagant ceremonies.  

“Afghanistan is one of the countries that still practices inappropriate traditions. (Expensive) weddings are against Islamic law and together we should all remove these inappropriate customs,” said Sadat. 

Guests at the mass wedding called on the nation to support poor people in order to help them marry. According to them, the best way is to hold mass weddings so people are spared of having to spend a lot of money.  

Lavish wedding ceremonies have become commonplace in many Afghan cities in recent years – a trend that often sees couples taking out huge loans so as to pay for these affairs that can cost tens of thousands of dollars.