Moroccan wedding blankets

A Handira (or Tamizart) is a throw used for special events. The white/cream coloured Handira is woven for weddings, often decorated with countless metal sequins (mouzouns in Arabic). A mother begins to weave a wedding blanket when her daughter is still very young. The girl grows up getting familiar with her wedding blanket as part of her dowry and her duties as a married woman. 

Moroccan wedding blankets are woven in natural undyed wool and cotton, often decorated with woven pattern bands of very pretty and colourful talismanic symbols. The numerous sequins give the Handira the finishing touch but are not solemnly esthetical. They are considered to ward of the evil eye and to protect. They also reflect the sun light during the day and the glow of fire at night.

A bride wears her Tamizart as part of her dowry when she is carried to the house of the groom. According to old tradition it is highly unusual that the bride walks, she is carried on the back of a mule to her new home. During this journey a small procession of family and friends of the bride sing about her dowry and the gifts that she brings for her new family...

text by beyondmarrakeshblog.com