DOHA: Five super luxury marriage halls located in a single complex and built at the government’s expense are ready to be allotted for use free of cost to Qataris marrying for the first time.
The other condition for free use of the hall or the entire complex, if the need be, is that both the bride and the groom must be Qatari.
The complex that is being awaited with a lot of excitement by the Qatari youth and the community at large, is to be inaugurated today, local Arabic daily Al Arab reported yesterday. “For many a Qatari youth who are short of funds and want to marry, the long wait is coming to an end,” the daily said quoting people who expressed the hope the halls would promote marriages in the Qatari community.
Wedding is quite an expensive affair in the largely consumerist Qatari society and nearly all the financial burden falls on the groom or his family. Expenses on wedding venues in hotels work out to between a staggering QR300,000 ($82,384) and QR500,000 ($137,306), the daily said. The marriage hall complex is located in Al Rafa area on Celebration Street on the outskirts of Doha.
“No doubt the halls will come in handy as many Qatari youth have been delaying their marriage plans due to high expenses,” said Khamees Al Miraikhi. Rising demand for marriage venues has prompted star hotels to up their rates to exorbitant levels, he said.
“Those of us who marry get trapped in vicious debt cycles as a result of high expenses and bank loans,” he added.
Al Miraikhi said it was an additional joy that the wedding halls were being inaugurated on the occasion of National Day.
Saeed Abdullah Al Biraidi and Salem Hamad Al Qamra, two other Qatari youth, said they were excited by reports of free marriage halls
being made available to their ilk. “It’s great news,” they said.
According to Al Arab, the complex is spread over an area of over 100,000sqm and the buildings of the complex cover some 17,600sqm.
The remaining are open and green areas. The five halls can each accommodate 500 people. They are interconnected, separated by makeshift walls that can be removed to make way for a supersize hall that can accommodate up to 2,500 people.
Centrally air-conditioned, the halls complex has all modern facilities one can imagine in a building, including modern kitchens, the daily said.
THE PENINSULA
