Ask any married woman around the world, and she is likely to say that her wedding day was one of the happiest in her life.
But despite being the leading lady of what has been branded ‘Tajikistan’s wedding of the year’, this young bride looks like she would rather be anywhere else.
However, looks can be deceiving, and it is in fact frowned upon in Tajik culture for a bride to smile, or even make eye-contact with her husband-to-be.
It’s not always what it seems: Saidsho Asrorov, 23, and Marjona Hudoidodova, 22, wed following a unique match brokered by the country’s all-powerful dictator Emomali Rahmon
The wedding of Marjona Hudoidodova, 22, and Saidsho Asrorov, 23, was a unique event, as the arranged marriage had been ordered by the country’s all-powerful dictator Emomali Rahmon.
Mr Asrorov, a passionate Rahmon supporter, had read a poem dictated to the 64-year-old Tajik dictator after which he was approached by his idol.
When Rahmon found out Asrorov was unmarried, he ordered the local Muslim ‘matchmaking committee’ to find him a wife.
And while Ms Hudoidodova might look absolutely miserable, it is all according to local traditions.
Tajik brides are told not to smile or look at her husband as it could indicate that the pair know each other in a more intimate way than is appropriate for an unmarried couple.
Don’t be fooled! Ms Hudoidodova – as local tradition demands – looks downcast and does not make eyecontact with her husband during their wedding ceremony
Head cupid: Their wedding was ordered by the President after he met supporter Asrorov at a political event and found out that he was unmarried
True love? The young couple’s marriage was arranged by a local Muslim ‘matchmaking committee’ after President Rahmon ordered that Asrorov should be found a wife
If a Tajik bride is too happy, it could also make it seem like she is not sad to leave her family for her husband’s.
And despite the marriage being arranged, Ms Hudoidodova told local news she had not come under any kind of pressure to marry Mr Asrorov, and was pleased she had found a man who would let her continue to work.
In strict-Muslim Tajikistan it is considered a woman’s duty to stop working once she marries.
‘The matchmakers communicated with my parents,’ she told a local TV channel.
‘My parents agreed to allow me to marry the man on the condition that I am allowed to continue to work. I want to continue working as a nurse in a hospital.’
Her mother said that Mr Asrorov was the first suitor who agreed to allow her to continue working.
Just married: The couple wear traditional dress, the bride still looking down in all the photos, after the ceremony has been carried out
Preparations: Ms Hudoidodova, seen making her own wedding dress, said she and her parents had been pleased to find a suitor who would allow her to continue to work as a nurse
Theatre: Mr Asrorov smiles as the pair exchange rings while Ms Hudoidodova looks like she is going to burst into tears at any given moment
Ms Hudoidodova was asked if any kind of pressure had been put on her, to which she replied: ‘Not so far.’
Arranged marriages are common in Muslim Tajikistan, although it is a rare event for the president to play cupid.
It took ten days from the president’s decree to find a bride for the Mr Asrorov, a history teacher, to the arranged wedding ceremony.
Anxious to appease Rahmon, who has led the country since 1992, a solution was swiftly found, with Ms Hudoidodova rapidly nominated as his bride.
It turned out that the groom had admired the young nurse from afar, however, the pair had never officially met.
The matchmakers approved her as ‘a trained, educated, and worthy girl from the village of Gulzor’.
Quick work: It took just ten days from the moment the President ordered that Mr Asrorov should be married to their actual wedding day
Support: Local authorities paid for the wedding – some £1,400 – as Mr Asrorov, a history teacher, comes from a poor family
Dictatorship: President Rahmon has ruled Tajikistan with an iron fist since 1992
Dilafruz Mahmadalieva, deputy chairwoman of Bohtar District’s Department of Ideology, explained the groom was poor and could not afford the ‘bride price’ that is common in Tajikistan.
Due to the president’s intervention, the state is paying the costs of £1,400, with the bride making her own traditional Tajik dress for the wedding.
‘[Asrorov] is from a low-income family and his parents are retired,’ said Mahmadalieva.
‘We organised the traditional matchmaking for him and we bought gifts for the bride and her family.
‘We are covering all the expenses for the wedding celebration, and we will help the girl’s family.’