Eighteen-year-old Zebo will wear several dresses during her wedding day It has been raining all morning - not the weather the owners of a small household in Davlat-abad village in southern Tajikistan were hoping for.
This is the wedding day of their daughter Zebo.
The rain has turned the ground into mud. But it does not stop guests, neighbours and kids sliding into the courtyard where the party is being held.
Since early morning preparations for the big day have been in full swing. People are bustling around, some carrying teapots, others hanging up decorations - suzana - traditional hand-embroidered cloths in bright colours.
Tajik music is booming from a row of loudspeakers hired for the day and powered by a rented generator.
Life without gas or electricity in this impoverished nation is an everyday reality.
Life is hard in rural Tajikistan. Weddings are a source of entertainment - a rare opportunity for many to indulge in a moment of joy.
The wedding food - rice, carrots and beef - alone poses a substantial cost to the host The cooking area is in the far corner. A huge pot of rice, carrots and meat is ready to be served.
"Osh or pilaw is the main dish that we prepare at weddings," says the cook Rajabali, scooping the rice with a special ladle with a long wooden handle.
"Because of the wedding law only 150 guests are allowed to be fed so we had to buy 30 kilos of rice and about 10 kilos of meat. Carrots are very expensive now. Altogether the host spent 700 somoni, which is about $150 (£92) for this dish."
The wedding meal alone has cost the equivalent of three months' wages.
Traditionally, Tajik weddings lasted for days, with hundreds of guests all of whom needed feeding. The hosts were often forced into debt to pay for the festivities.
In 2007 the government introduced a new law to limit not only the number of wedding guests but also the quantity of food served.
"Weddings cannot last for more than three hours and only one dish is allowed to be served," says Mahmadrasul Sharipov, a local official in charge of making sure the wedding law is observed.
The family of the bride must save up to invest in a dowry for their daughter Massive penalties apply for those who break it.
These new regulations helped people like Murod, the bride's father who is currently unemployed, to keep the wedding costs down.
"I had to save up around $1,000. My friends and neighbours helped me with the wedding. One of my sons also works in Russia and helps me out," he says.
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