...[T]he day before the wedding we had a henna party, for women only. The women in Noureddine's family danced to traditional Moroccan music...and dressed me up in a big green velvet caftan. I sat in the central of it all....In front of me on a table was a big cone of sugar wrapped in green velvet, a kleenex box also covered with green velvet, and some perfume. The sugar cone was for good luck....On my balcony the women prepared a kind of incense in a little charcoal grill, I was told they burn it to ward off the evil eye.... The henna comes from a plant, comes in a powder and they mixed it up on my stove with water and perhaps some oil....It is symbolic of fertility and good luck....