This is the year of Dubai royal weddings with the emirate's ruling family celebrating not one, not two but four unions in the past few months.
Last week, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum's daughter, Sheikha Maryam, officially tied the knot with Abu Dhabi royal Sheikh Khaled bin Mohammed bin Hamdan Al Nahyan. Over the weekend, Emirati rulers got together to celebrate the occasion in a men's reception held at Dubai World Trade Centre.
The festivities featured traditional Al Ayala (stick dance) performances on the backdrop of Emirati music. It remains unclear when and where the women's reception was held, but it took place recently.
Though no official wedding pictures of the newlyweds were released to the press, Sheikha Maryam shared an image of her husband on Instagram, captioning it with a heart and the date of their wedding.
The couple's engagement was announced in August 2018. At the time of the engagement, it was revealed that the groom is an Abu Dhabi royal who's a graduate of the United Kingdom's prestigious Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.
Earlier this year, three of Al Maktoum's sons married in one huge ceremony
In mid-May, during the holy month of Ramadan, three sons of Dubai's ruler officially signed their marriage certificates to their now-wives.
Sheikh Hamdan (Dubai's Crown Prince) got married to Sheikha Sheikha bint Saeed bin Thani Al Maktoum, Sheikh Maktoum (Deputy Ruler of Dubai) to Sheikha Mariam bint Butti Al Maktoum, and Sheikh Ahmad (Chairman of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Knowledge Foundation) to Sheikha Midya bint Damlouj Al Maktoum.
After weeks of preparations, the brothers' royal wedding celebrations were held on June 6 - which marked the third day of Eid - at the Dubai World Trade Centre.
In accordance with Islamic traditions that encourage gender segregation, the event was exclusive to men, with reports of a separate reception for women being held at a later date.
UAE royal weddings are known for being grandiose
Another one of the Dubai's ruler's daughters - a royal also named Maryam - celebrated her marriage to Sheikh Suhail bin Ahmad bin Juma Al Maktoum in 2018. Months after tying the knot, the princess took to Instagram to share a sneak peek of her wedding reception and it was pretty luxurious, to say the least.
The video she posted showed a ballroom incredibly transformed with light displays along with snippets of the dance performances that took place at the occasion.
