The Ruling on Holding wedding Parties in Hotels

Question :

What is your Eminence's opinion regarding the parties which are held in hotels?

Answer:

There are wrongdoings in the parties which are held in hotels, and there are many objections to them, Including:

1. In most cases, there is waste and extravagance in them for which there is no need.

2. And that leads to overspending in holding celebrations in hotels, and excess, and the attendance of those for whom there is no need.

3. And that it could lead to mixing between men and women from the hotel or otherwise, and this mixing is disgraceful and detestable. For this reason, the Board of Senior Scholars has issued a resolution which has been submitted to His Majesty the King, advising him that wedding celebrations and parties in hotels should be prohibited, and that the people should hold their celebrations and parties in their houses, and not to pay the expenses of holding them in hotels, due to the evils which result from such celebrations.

Likewise, the banquet halls which are rented for great sums of money. All of this was contained in the advice: That as a kindness and courtesy to the people and in order to save money, and prevent waste and squandering, they should be prohibited, so that average people can enter into marriage without being put to great expenses. Because if someone saw his cousin or one of his relatives spending in the hotels and in the large celebrations, he will either emulate and follow him, and incur debts and burdensome expenses, or he will delay marriage or refrain from it, fearful of such expenses.

So my advice to all of the Muslims is not to hold wedding parties in hotels and not to hold them in expensive banqueting halls, only in halls where the expenses are low. Or to hold them at home or in relatives houses, if possible.

Source:
Ibn Baz
Fatawa Islamiyah, Vol. 5 Pages 309-310