Like dozens of other couples who got married this summer in the isolated Gaza Strip, for Saed and Falasteen Abu Aser, their wedding was an elaborately planned celebration, complete with a procession through the streets of their neighborhood.
In a time with little to be joyous about in Gaza, weddings have emerged as welcome festivities that offer a break from the often morose mood in the strip. The coastal territory has faced three wars with Israel over the last decade and a stifling blockade imposed by both Israel and Egypt after the Islamic militant Hamas group violently overran the territory in 2007.
But for the happy couple and their families, a wedding is both a respite from daily hardships and a focal point in the lives of both the well-off and the poor.
“My joy is great among my family and my friends and my neighbors and I thank them because they helped and supported me,” said the 22-year-old groom Saed Abu Aser.
His bride, Falasteen, is 17. The Abu Asers are first cousins who come from a poor family. It is not uncommon for cousins to marry in Palestinian society.
Their festivities began days before the wedding ceremony, with a boisterous stag party in which the groom’s friends set the dance floor on fire to the tune of a local band while glitter twinkled from their sweaty faces.
On the day of the wedding, the families gathered for a cheerful lunch before the bride and groom got all spruced up for the big night — he in a black suit and she in a white gown and matching cape, her face daubed in white powder.
They held a lavish wedding party at a hall, where they were driven to in a convoy of decorated, honking cars.
All those expenses can add up, but Abu Aser’s family took out a loan to pay for what has become an increasingly important milestone for people in Gaza. Other impoverished Gazans ask for donations to pay for their rites of marriage.
Associated Press photographer Khalil Hamra joined the celebrations, and here is a series of his photographs.
In this Thursday, July 28, 2016 photo, relatives of Palestinian groom Saed Abu Aser dance in a party celebrating his wedding in Gaza City. Weddings have emerged as a welcome celebration that slices through the often morose mood in the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian coastal territory run by the militant group Hamas. For both poor and well-off Gazans, weddings are a days-long, lavish affair of parties and dancing. (AP Photo/ Khalil Hamra)
In this Thursday, July 28, 2016 photo, relatives of Palestinian groom Saed Abu Aser dance in a party celebrating his wedding in Gaza City. Weddings in Gaza have emerged as a welcome celebration that slices through the often morose existence in the Gaza Strip. The coastal territory has been beaten down by three wars with Israel over the last decade and a stifling blockade imposed by Israel and Egypt. (AP Photo/ Khalil Hamra)
In this Saturday, July 30, 2016 photo, Palestinian groom Saed Abu Aser has a haircut while preparing himself for his wedding party in Gaza City. (AP Photo/ Khalil Hamra)
In this Saturday, July 30, 2016 photo, friends of Palestinian groom Saed Abu Aser give him a bath in the family house as a tradition preparing him for his wedding in Gaza City. (AP Photo/ Khalil Hamra)
In this Saturday, July 30, 2016 photo, friends of Palestinian groom Saed Abu Aser help him wear a tuxedo in the family house as a tradition preparing him for his wedding in Gaza City. (AP Photo/ Khalil Hamra)
In this Saturday, July 30, 2016 photo, friends of Palestinian groom Saed Abu Aser help him wear a tuxedo in the family house as a tradition preparing him for his wedding in Gaza City. (AP Photo/ Khalil Hamra)
In this Saturday, July 30, 2016 photo, friends and relatives of Palestinian groom Saed Abu Aser carry him on shoulders while dancing around the neighborhood before his wedding party in Gaza City. (AP Photo/ Khalil Hamra)
In this Saturday, July 30, 2016 photo, a woman throws candy as friends of Palestinian groom Saed Abu Aser carry him on their shoulders while dancing around the neighborhood before his wedding party in Gaza City. (AP Photo/ Khalil Hamra)
In this Saturday, July 30, 2016 photo, members of a drums band play music in the family house of Palestinian groom Saed Abu Aser as part of the preparations for his wedding party in Gaza have emerged as a welcome celebration that slices through the often morose existence in the Gaza Strip. (AP Photo/ Khalil Hamra)
In this Saturday, July 30, 2016 photo, Palestinian groom Saed Abu Aser, right, dance with relatives holding guns in the family house during his wedding party in Gaza City. (AP Photo/ Khalil Hamra)
In this Saturday, July 30, 2016 photo, Palestinian groom Saed Abu Aser, second left, dances with his relatives in the family house during his wedding party, in Gaza City. (AP Photo/ Khalil Hamra)
In this Saturday, July 30, 2016 photo, Palestinian groom Saed Abu Aser and relatives dance in front of his bride, Falasteen, in her family house during his wedding party in Gaza City. (AP Photo/ Khalil Hamra)
In this Saturday, July 30, 2016 photo, Palestinian groom Saed Abu Asers dances in the street on his way to the wedding hall in Gaza City. (AP Photo/ Khalil Hamra)
In this Saturday, July 30, 2016 photo, Palestinian groom Saed Abu Aser and his bride, Falasteen, walk into the wedding hall in Gaza City. (AP Photo/ Khalil Hamra)
In this Saturday, July 30, 2016 photo, Palestinian groom Saed Abu Aser and his bride, Falasteen, walk into the wedding hall, in Gaza City. (AP Photo/ Khalil Hamra)
In this Saturday, July 30, 2016 photo, Palestinian groom Saed Abu Aser and his bride, Falasteen, take the stairs down to the wedding hall in Gaza City. (AP Photo/ Khalil Hamra)
In this Saturday, July 30, 2016 photo, Palestinian groom Saed Abu Aser, 22, walks with his bride Falasteen, out of her family house to the wedding hall celebrating their wedding in Gaza City. Weddings in Gaza have emerged as a welcome celebration that slices through the often morose existence in the Gaza Strip. The coastal territory has been beaten down by three wars with Israel over the last decade and a stifling blockade imposed by Israel and Egypt. (AP Photo/ Khalil Hamra)
In this Saturday, July 30, 2016 photo, two dressed up girls pose for a picture as they sit in front of the family house during the wedding party of Palestinian groom Saed Abu Aser in Gaza City. (AP Photo/ Khalil Hamra)
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