Fifty Syrian couples tied the knot Friday in a multi-denominational mass wedding ceremony sponsored by leading Syrian companies. Even the wedding singers donated their services for free at the celebration, which was held on the outskirts of Damascus. Event organizers said the idea was to give poor couples a helping hand into married life. All wedding attire was paid for by the businesses involved, many of which also offered three-day honeymoons to lucky couples. The ceremony is estimated to have cost around 40,000 U.S. dollars. The 50 lucky couples from all over Syria were selected from more than 750 who had originally applied, said George Shahin, head of the charity behind the event. Bridegroom Mansour Shamas, 26, was delighted to have been picked. "The wedding is an opportunity to get married faster after a year of being engaged," he said, while his 21-year-old bride Amina Zaghtiti remarked on the gorgeous weather. Many young Syrians are put off marrying because of the prohibitive cost of the nuptials and of setting up home. Some families spend up to 20,000 dollars on a wedding in a country where the average monthly salary is around 150 dollars. Despite this, army officer Mahran Fedha had a hard time convincing his fiance and her family to take part in Friday's event. "Her parents were against it," said Fedha, 27. "But I convinced them as this wedding saves a lot of money." "And of course, it is a beautiful social activity," he added.
