Kazakh customs: Betashar (”revealing a face”)/ Salem salu (”curtsey”/”greeting”)
Betashar is an important part of Kazakh wedding ceremony. It is a custom where the bride’s face is revealed to the members of groom’s family. Once the guests are gathered, the bride is led into a wedding hall, her face is hidden by a veil. An invited akyn (poet/singer) sings/improvises a song about her beauty, tempting the relatives to give him a tip so that he would reveal the bride’s face. He calls the realtive up calling them by their names and their relation to the groom, while the bride makes a curtsey to greet them. Once the Betashar song is over, akyn lifts her veil and leads the bride to her mother-in-law. She ties a headscarf aroundherhead as a symbol of her new marital status and gives her a kiss on a forehead, welcoming her into their family.