Welcome to the wedding of Aida and Don.

The ceremony today will follow Persian traditions dating back thousands of years. The ceremony was developed under the Zoroastrian religion. The Zoroastrians believed in a single God, and dedicated to a three-fold path, shown by their motto, ``Good thoughts, Good words, Good deeds.'' One of the first monotheistic religions, Zoroastrianism had a profound influence on Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

The Persian marriage ceremony is used by members of most religions in Persia, as they value it as a symbol of their rich and ancient culture.

The ceremony proceeds as follows. The bride and groom are seated in front of a decorated cloth, called the sofreh-ye aghd.

The decorations symbolise various values and good wishes for the bride and groom. These include:

• A mirror, representing the purity of marriage. Once the bride sits beside the groom and removes her veil, the first thing the groom sees in the mirror is the reflection of his wife-to-be.

• Candles either side of the mirror, representing light and fire. (Light and fire were important elements in ancient Persian rituals.)

• Live fish in a bowl, symbolising life.

• A specially baked and decorated flatbread. This symbolises prosperity for the feasts and for the couple's life thereafter. A blessing is written on the bread with cinnamon.

• A tray of multi-coloured spices to guard against the evil eye and drive away evil spirits.

• Baskets of decorated almonds, walnuts and hazelnuts, symbolizing fertility.

• A basket of pomegranates or apples for a joyous future. Pomegranates are considered heavenly fruits, and apples symbolise the divine creation of mankind.

• Red roses, with thorns, symbolising a beautiful but at times painful union.

• A cup of honey to sweeten life.

• A cup of rose water extracted from special Persian roses, called gol-e Mohammadi, to perfume the air.

• A bowl of crystallised sugar, or nabaat, to sweeten life for the newly wed.

• Bowls of coins, representing wealth and prosperity.

• A platter of bread, feta cheese and fresh herbs to bring the new couple happiness and friendship.

• Bowls of Persian walnut and coconut sweets, and baskets of small Persian almond sweets, or noghl, wrapped in fine gauze to sweeten life.

Once the bride and groom are seated, two female guests hold a piece of fine fabric over the heads of the bride and groom, into which others grind cones of hardened sugar. This symbolises the guests' wishes for all the good and sweet things in their life together.

The celebrant asks the groom, and then the bride if they take the other to be their wife and husband. Twice, the bride will be asked and she will remain silent. Guests may make comments like, ``the bride is thinking,'' or, ``she has gone to pick flowers''. Only on being asked a third time will she answer affirmatively. This indicates that it is the groom who seeks the bride, and that the bride is entering into the marriage wisely.

At this point the bride and groom complete their vows and exchange rings.

The bride and groom then feed each other honey to bring sweetness to their marriage.

Small gifts may be presented to conclude the ceremony. The couple then proceed to sign the marriage register, after which guests are received and photographs taken of the couple and guests around the sofreh.

Before removing the sofreh, the sweets, bread, cheese and herbs are offered to guests.