What is the henna night before a Moroccan wedding?

The henna night, Laylat al-Henna, is one of my favourite Moroccan traditions to explain, because it is so intimate and joyful. Held a day or two before the wedding, it is traditionally a women's gathering hosted at the bride's family home — mothers, sisters, aunts, friends and neighbours filling a room with music, laughter and the heady scent of henna paste. In many ways it is the emotional heart of the whole wedding, more tender than the grand public night that follows.

The centrepiece is the application of henna by a skilled artist called a neqacha. She paints the bride's hands and feet with astonishingly intricate patterns — interlacing florals, geometric lattices and protective motifs — that can take hours and must dry while the bride sits, attended and celebrated. The designs are far from mere decoration: they are believed to bring baraka, good luck, fertility, and protection from the evil eye as the bride enters a new chapter of life. Other women often have henna applied too, sharing in the blessing.

Around the henna itself, the night is full of ritual and pleasure. The bride may wear a green or richly coloured ceremonial outfit, sometimes a Fassi takchita, and be presented to the gathering. There is singing and ululation, a percussion troupe or a band, trays of pastries and mint tea, and the giving of gifts. Older women may offer advice and blessings to the bride, weaving wisdom into the celebration. It is a passing-down of womanhood as much as a party.

For a visitor, you would only attend if you are genuinely close to the family, and it remains a fairly private, female-centred event — though some modern couples now host mixed henna nights. If you ever are invited, dress beautifully and modestly, accept henna if it is offered (it is a gesture of inclusion), and bring a thoughtful gift. To sit in that warm, henna-scented room and watch a community ready a young woman for marriage is, to me, one of the loveliest things a guest can experience in Morocco.