About 1,000 grooms are scheduled to complete wedding formalities in a mass marriage ceremony here next month. This year's mass marriage, organized by the Jeddah charity organization for marriage, will be the tenth annual event in its efforts to provide all the young men and women in the Kingdom with a chance to get married. The mass marriage on Saturday, July 4, will take place at Jeddah exhibition center under the patronage of Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, Emir of Makkah Region, Hussain Al-Harith, head of the charity organization's public relations department, said. The event has great social acceptance and the tenth annual event is proof enough of it, said Al-Harith. ”During the past years we used to encourage youths and their families to be a part of this ceremony,” he said. “But this year,” he added, “there was so much enthusiasm that the organization completed the formalities just a month after last year's event.” The charity organization will provide newlywed couples with gifts, such as, TVs, air-conditioners, ovens and furniture in order to help them start their new life. “We have received all the electronic equipment from businessmen and women who aim to encourage and support the newly-married couples financially. Also the organization will provide the brides with special discounts on wedding halls and airline tickets for their honeymoon,” he explained. The charity organization has spent around SR2.5 million on electronic equipment for this year's wedding ceremony preparations. According to Sheikh Abdulmuhsin Al-Khayal, the head of the charity organization, the organization has already helped 42,150 couples to get married during the past ten years. “Around SR2 million is going to be given to the grooms as easy loans divided into SR200 monthly installments,” said Al Harith.
