Here's how Fredericton's 1st Syrian newcomer to marry celebrated during the storm
Maria Jose Burgos | CBC News | Posted: January 6, 2018 1:00 PM | Last Updated: January 6, 2018
Fawaz Al Hishan and Manar Amer were determined to have their wedding party, despite the weather
The wedding celebration of Fredericton's first Syrian newcomer to marry took place during the "weather bomb" that brought 25 centimetres of snow to the city.
Fawaz Al Hishan and Manar Amer married in a private ceremony with an imam in Saint John on Dec. 15. But they decided to celebrate their marriage in Fredericton with friends.
After rescheduling the party because of weather more than once, Fawaz Al Hishan and Manar Amer were determined they would celebrate their union on Jan. 4, despite the storm.
Amer, who is 20 years old and a Grade 11 student at Fredericton High School, moved from Iraq to Jordan with her family when she was a teenager. Her parents, five brothers and four sisters moved again, this time to Canada, when she was 19 years old.
"We wanted to feel safe," Amer said.
They arrived in Fredericton on June 13, 2017, and started English classes at the Multicultural Association of Fredericton, located in the Fredericton Intercultural Centre.
Every day, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. she would go with her family to learn the new language. It was there she met Fawaz Al Hishan, who works at the front desk of the Fredericton Intercultural Centre.
"The first time I saw him it was normal, but after we saw him a lot, I felt different. I felt… happy," said Amer.
Fawaz Al Hishan, 23 years old, left Syria with his parents and his two brothers and came to Fredericton on Jan. 14, 2016.
"We moved to Canada because of the war, because Canada is a safe place and for a good future," he said.
After he met Amer and her family, he kept thinking about her.
"I thought she was very kind and very nice," he said. "I wanted her to be my partner my whole life."
A week after meeting Amer, Al Hishan told his parents he wanted to marry her. He also talked to her about it.
"I told him he had to talk to my parents. 'If they say OK, I will say OK,'" said Amer.
Al Hishan confesses he was afraid at first of approaching Amer's parents, but because his family and Amer's were friends, the marriage sounded like a good idea to all.
"My parents said to him, 'You are a good boy and you will marry [our] daughter.'"
Preparations for the celebration began two months ago.
"When we learned he was going to get married, we told him we were thrilled and we would like to help," said Lisa Bamford De Gante, executive director of the Multicultural Association of Fredericton.
The association provided decorations for the wedding as well as refreshments, chairs and tables.
The Fredericton Intercultural Centre rented the first-floor Wellness Centre as well as the second-floor gym to the couple for free.
About 40 women celebrated the wedding at the gym upstairs, while about 50 men danced and celebrated on the first floor.
"That is our tradition," said Amer. "All weddings back home are like that because if men are there, we have to wear the hijab and we don't dance. We do not feel comfortable."
Only the groom was allowed to go upstairs where the women were, to spend some time with his wife.
The couple will now live together in an apartment furnished with donations given to the Multicultural Association.
"Of course I feel happy," said Amer. "He is a good man."
All photos taken by Maria Jose Burgos.