A Tunisian wedding programme: from the henna to the party

A Tunisian wedding is not one evening: it is a week, sometimes more, made of moments that each have their own name, venue and guests. Before writing the invitation, you need to know which ones you announce, and to whom. Here are the moments as most families live them — every region and every household has its own order and variations.

Before the wedding week

• The khotba (الخطبة) — the proposal, between the two families. Intimate, rarely on an invitation.
• The melk (الملاك) — the official engagement, often with a small party. Some families already send an invitation.
• The sdaq and the contract (الصداق · عقد القران) — the contract ceremony, at the adel’s or the town hall, followed by a reception. It is the first moment many couples announce.

The wedding week

• The hammam (الحمّام) — the bride’s ritual bath, among friends and close family, with songs and ululations.
• The henna (الحنّة) — the evening when henna is applied to the bride, and often to the groom on his side. It is the moment guests look forward to most: music, traditional dress, harqous.
• The outia (الوطية) — the traditional evening at the bride’s family home, where she wears the kesswa and relatives come to see her. In many regions it is the eve of the big day.
• The jelwa (الجلوة) — in the Sahel and Sfax, the unveiling of the bride, outfit after outfit, in successive moments.
• The evening party (السهرية · ليلة الدخول) — the big day: the wedding hall, the band, the bride’s tasdira, the dinner. This is the moment of the general invitation.
• The sbahiya (الصباحية) — the morning after, when family visits the newlyweds, often with breakfast and gifts.

How to write it on the invitation

1. One moment, one line — its name (in Arabic if it is Arabic: الحنّة, not “henna night”), its date, its time and its venue. If two moments share a venue, just say so: “same address as the day before”.
2. The venue opens directions — on a digital invitation, each venue carries a link to the phone’s maps app. Write the hall’s name as people know it, not only the address.
3. The running order, if you wish — “8 pm: contract · 8.30 pm: party begins · midnight: party ends”. One line under the moment, optional, but precious for guests coming from far away.
4. Two versions if two sides — the groom’s family does not necessarily invite to the same moments as the bride’s. A digital invitation allows one link per side, each with its own programme.

On invi.tn, each moment is entered with its date, time and venue, and its name is typed in whichever language you like — the invitations in the catalogue show the programme exactly as you wrote it. For the text around the programme, see the invitation wording.