Increased Wedding Costs in UAE

Student’s Name

Institutional Affiliation

Course

Instructor’s Name

Date
 Increased Wedding Costs in UAE

Introduction

Marriage has become the most expensive phase of someone's life in the UAE. The

growth of these costs is attributed to the lavish and expensive wedding cultures that the people

have adopted. The marriage costs have become so high that some Emirati men are using this to

justify marrying women outside the Emirates society. This study will analyze the causes of high

marriage costs and their impacts on the people living in the UAE.

Article 1 Review

Bristol-Rhy's main objective is to examine the changes that have taken part in Emirati

weddings over the past 30 years. He posits that marriage has changed to be an expensive affair in

UAE. From the article, it is clear that Emirati weddings have significantly transformed over the

past three decades. Through a systematic and analytical discussion, the author outlines the

culture behind Emirati marriages. The fact that Emirati men are no longer interested in marrying

women from their tribe shows why the topic has gained heated debates among scholars. The

findings outlined various factors to be blamed for the increasing marriage costs. Some of these

factors include public pronouncements, lack of sincerity in the weddings carried out in Emirati

society, escalating dowry payments, and globalization that has weakened the local cultures

(Bristol-Rhys, 2007). However, the author states that all the changing marriage trends cannot all

be blamed on the expensive marriage costs as the media has also played a significant role in

circumventing the issue.

Article 2 Review
 In his article, Noora Lari's main motive is to examine the effects of delayed marriages in

UAE. Through the use of semi-structured interviews, the study examined factors such as

education, occupation, religion, culture, and norms (Lari, 2022). Additionally, the article

examined the core factors like type of marriage, spouse selection and marriage expenses on how

they influence marriage timing. However, the findings showed that high living costs are

associated with increased marriage costs. Regardless of the economic situation, customary

marriage costs will remain high due to the increased wealth from the gas and oil resources in

UAE. The high marriage costs contribute to delayed marriages for the grooms who receive social

pressure of getting ready for the expensive dowry costs(Lari, 2022). Also, the high expenses of

hiring a wedding hall and catering for the bride's needs have led to some men delaying marriages

in search of non-Qatari women who demand lower dowry prices.

Article 3 Review

This article aims to give an empirical analysis of the level of families' overspending on

marriages and how the governments have reacted to that issue. The study uses regression

analysis of secondary data sources from the mass media. The findings showed that in a

communist sociocultural setting, the increased risk of middle-class individuals in a combination

of the declined traditional hierarchies and limited chances for economic sustainability had

motivated households to engage in wedding overspending (Sadigov, 2020). Mostly, in Arab

countries, the bride prices are very high. This has led to most men choosing to cohabit without

spouses or finding women away from Emirates society. Additionally, the findings showed that

increasing the disposable funds available for conspicuous marriage costs or exposing the locals

to the "white gown wedding" standards has led to globalization and labor migration pushing
families into marriage overspending. However, the UAE government has reacted to this issue by

offering marriage subsidies to men planning to marry.

Conclusion

The three articles highlighted similar factors contributing to the high cost of marriages in

the UAE. These factors include high dowry prices, increased middle-class status driven by oil

and gas production, and the decline of traditional hierarchies that have led to people setting the

"white gown wedding" standards. These factors have led to delayed marriages, and Emirati men

are no longer interested in marrying women from their tribe. This topic was worth exploring as it

leads to an increased understanding of the causes fueling the high costs of marriages and their

impacts. Therefore, the increased cost of marriages in the UAE results from increased dowry

prices and middle-class individuals with high living standards.

 References

Bristol-Rhys, J. (2007). Weddings, marriage, and money in the United Arab Emirates.

Anthropology of the Middle East, 2(1), 20-36.

file:///C:/Users/user/Downloads/WeddingsMarriageandMoney.pdf

Lari, N. (2022). Toward marriage sustainability: Impacts of delayed marriages in Qatar. Cogent

Social Sciences, 8(1), 2083480. file:///C:/Users/user/Downloads/Toward%20marriage

%20sustainability%20Impacts%20of%20delayed%20marriages%20in%20Qatar.pdf

Sadigov, T. (2020). Household overspending on marriage: the scale of the problem and

government reactions worldwide. International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy.

https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSSP-03-2020-0075