بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
🌻 May Allah the Almighty always bless the marriage of dear Norjana Disalongan Sarip Lomala Sansarona with her husband captain Candidato Sharief Paduman, protect them and all their Muslim loved ones always and increase the barakah blessings in their lives and grant them only what is good for them in both worlds. Ameen.
JazakAllahu Khair to dear atti Hamida (Umm Hanan) and her loving husband for inviting us to attend the wedding of one of their daughters which was held yesterday at Sunny Point Hotel here in Davao city from around 1 PM to about 5 PM.
Now I understand better why some people can't always be invited to attend some weddings due to limited seats. The hosts usually prioritize inviting immediate relatives and those whom they believe are most closest to them if the wedding is held at a hotel.
Weddings held outdoors, say in open spaces or fields, or in a basketball court or at someone's residence, can generally accommodate a lot more guests than weddings which take place at luxury hotels.
✅ Some lessons learned to share:
1💎 If some Muslim families or friends did not invite you to a wedding, be contented. Patiently accept Allah's Qadr/Destiny and confidently respect those Muslims' decision. Maybe they had limited seats available or they genuinely forgot to include you in their long list of invitees as they were extremely busy with numerous tasks and responsibilities.
2💎 If somebody directly invited you to their wedding or wedding of one of their loved ones, do not feel tempted to invite several other human beings just because you were invited, because too many guests can lead to some inconvenience for other visitors who were invited to attend the same social event, unless you asked the hosts first if they're absolutely okay with you adding two or three more individuals to accompany you. Yesterday I noticed that several chairs were being used by children while a number of elderly guests were searching for seats. I believe that the hosts specified the right number of guests they can invite so the lack of seats probably meant that some extras (likely from the groom's side?) weren't supposed to be at the event if there's a limited number of seats. It is from good manners and basic etiquettes
Inn-sha-Allah to not bring along those whose names were not recorded in the hosts' list of limited invitees. More seats means extra charges and we should be considerate enough to not want the hosts to spend more than what is reasonable for them.
3💎 Attend a wedding sincerely for Allah's sake and be kind enough to bring a wedding gift instead of showing up empty-handed. If you couldn't purchase some items to give the bride and groom something useful and meaningful, you can
Inn-sha-Allah send them your wedding gift some time after their wedding.
Giving gifts for Allah's sake is another way to strengthen connections. And if you can't give any present due to temporary financial restraints, then you could at least send the bride and groom or their parents/guardians some messages to sincerely congratulate them.
Don't simply attend a gathering without even thanking the hosts for inviting you.
Being wholeheartedly grateful to others is one of the positive characteristics of Allah's pious Muslim servants.
