At his family's insistence, Sanaa resident Haroun Omar decided months back to celebrate his wedding around Eid al-Fitr in order for everyone to be "twice as happy".

"Our family members are spread apart," said Omar, who is in his early twenties. "Some live in Sanaa while others live in Aden, and it would be difficult for everyone to break away from work and attend the wedding ceremony on a day other than during Eid."

"Since we wanted our entire families to attend, we decided to schedule both my cousin's and my wedding [for August 22nd,] right after Eid al-Fitr", he said.

According to experts and workers in the wedding industry, such scheduling practices are not uncommon in Yemen.

Ali al-Ansi, a businessman who owns several wedding venues, told Al-Shorfa that reservations for all his wedding halls during Eid al-Fitr were made more than three months in advance.

Some families even asked him to cancel other families' reservations so that their children could get married, offering to pay a higher rental rate, but al-Ansi said he had to decline.

Sanaa university sociologist Tariq al-Zouraiqi told Al-Shorfa, "The joy of Eid al-Fitr coupled with lengthy holidays give people more free time, enticing a lot of families to time their children's weddings during this period."

Families do this primarily so they can invite as many guests as possible while leaving them no room to give excuses as to why they cannot attend, he said.

According to al-Zouraiqi, the low cost of qat during Eid also pushes families to choose this time to schedule their weddings.

Hospitality requires that guests at a Yemeni wedding be treated to a luncheon followed by qat, and some families splurge in hosting massive and extravagant banquets for such an occasion.

Increased business for wedding industry

With the abundance of Eid nuptials also comes increased business for those in the wedding industry, including people who rent or sell wedding halls, wedding dresses and sound systems, as well as munshids and those who play the traditional mizmar (a wind instrument made out of reed).

"The high demand for weddings during Eid al-Fitr raises prices considerably for related services," al-Zouraiqi said.

Munshid Murtadha Zubeid also confirmed that business increases during Eid.

"I will perform at three weddings during Eid al-Fitr," he said, telling Al-Shorfa that "high demand raises the price of services required."

Yet, some businesses take advantage of "people's craziness to hold their weddings at a specific time by monopolising their services and increasing prices", said Khaled al-Ajil, who owns a wedding photography studio.

Al-Ajil said he decided to buy extra cameras for his studio this year so he can fulfil all his bookings. He said his staff are working at full capacity, with several reservations scheduled for Thursday (August 23rd), including on-site photography services in cities and rural areas.

All in all, experts agree that the flurry of activity surrounding Eid weddings stems from social factors aimed at bringing friends and family members together.

Abdul Hakim al-Sharjabi, professor of sociology at Sanaa University, told Al-Shorfa that family and friends, especially those who work in cities year-round, sometimes only visit their hometown during Eid.

"By nature, Yemeni society is hospitable and wants the largest number of guests to attend their [happy] occasions, especially weddings," al-Sharjabi said.