Arranging a marriage:
Marriage is recognized by a contract between the husband-to-be and the mahram of the intended bride. The marriage contract provides room for the amount of the mahr (money or other valuables gifted to the bride-to-be by the prospective husband, which she is legally entitled to retain) and allows for the insertion of marriage stipulations. An example of these stipulations could involve the husband-to-be’s pledge that should he choose to take a second wife, the bride would be entitled to an automatic divorce. Stipulations that run counter to the Saudis’ version of Shari’a, however, may be disallowed in a Saudi court. The marriage contract requires the bride to specify whether she is a virgin, widow, or divorcee, but does not require the husband to do the same. While the formal contract seems rigid and excludes the bride, the contract itself is merely the legal confirmation of decisions taken jointly by two families, and most often today, jointly by the husband-to-be and his prospective bride. The degree to which a woman participates in decisions surrounding her own marriage depends entirely on her family and her own personal situation.

Mostly weddings are taking place in wedding halls and mass weddings are not seldom:
When the couples reach the stage, they will be seated, drinking a juice (not champagne) pictures are taken, then they might dance together (Arabic dancing, although some like to slow dance). Then the cake either brought to them to be cut, or they walk again to the cake in order to cut it. After that the ladies are invited to the buffet. The groom and bride have their own table to eat (they need all the energy) LOL. After the buffet most of the people leave, but the close friends and relatives stay to dance with the bride (the groom leaves after the meal so he gives a chance for his bride to enjoy her friends). At around 4-5am the groom comes back, takes his bride and off they go to their first night together.

After being married:
While most laws discriminate against women, the principle of equivalence is believed to sometimes work in women’s favor. For example, while daughters inherit half of what sons inherit, by law women retain ownership of their own property after marriage and have no obligation to spend their wealth on behalf of their husbands or children. Married men, on the other hand, are obligated to provide the full maintenance of their families. Similarly, the principle that men are responsible for the protection of women means that in practice, men may be obligated to stand in for women when it comes to dealing with government bureaucracies or the courts. For instance, in Saudi Arabia, the head-to-toe dress code (niqab and abaya) is imposed on all women with the idea that it is a woman’s obligation to ensure the moral behavior of men and protect the “honor” of her family. Should a woman be admonished by the mutawwa’in (foot-soldiers of the Saudi government’s Society for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice) for not appearing sufficiently modest, or apprehended for immoral behavior such as eating in a restaurant with an unrelated male, it is usually the woman’s male guardian or her mahram (her husband or closest male family relative) and not the woman herself, who is likely to be punished by the court with either fines or imprisonment.