Nothing, not even the closure of all wedding halls in the Gaza Strip would deprive Mohammad al-Qan of the large wedding he wanted to offer his bride, Basma. Brushing aside an Interior Ministry warning on March 21 that all gatherings in mosques, bazaars and wedding halls are banned until further notice, Qan simply went on with his plans to have a large wedding at home.

Qan told Al-Monitor that the Interrior Ministry's decision to close down wedding halls and hotel meeting rooms came on the eve of his wedding, to which the couple had invited 150 people.

“My wife-to-be and I were very upset because we had been preparing for this day for months. We wanted it to be the most beautiful day of our life,” he said. They first decided to wait for a few days, hoping the reopening would come after a week or so. Realizing it would not, they simply decided to hold the party at the groom’s family home on March 28. In Gaza, many weddings take place in spring, and particularly this year many couples reserved halls and hotels so they can get married before the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, during which most Muslims fast until sunset.

Qan explained that he set up a mini-hall in his house, with chairs carefully placed apart, music and catering in place.