(A collaboration with David Charles London)

Growing up in Doha, one of the best parts about celebrating Eid and Ramadan was experiencing the entire country being illuminated and the spirit of the festival being publicly celebrated. We did not have to make it look like Eid at home because “Eid” was just everywhere – banners, lights and decorations, Eid sale, Eid entertainment for the kids in mall and park, fireworks etc.

But we had these simple traditions at home which made it more exciting and helped me learn the spirit of the festival as a child. I want to continue the same with my children too.  Some of the Eid traditions I want to celebrate are :

Looking for the new moon

With the advent of TV and social media, this tradition is often lost. But looking for the crescent – which signifies the start of a new month in the Arabic calendar – can end up being quite an exciting event for little kids and toddlers.

 Henna 

Applying henna on the hands is a tradition associated with Eid since time immemorial.  For little girls, there is nothing more exciting than having intricate patterns applied to their hand and to see the bright red colour once the henna is removed. During childhood, we used to compare with our friends, who had the most beautiful pattern with the brightest red colour. My little girl is excited to apply “mayanchi”

New dress 

One of the traditions of Eid is to wear a neat and clean dress – which is often read as “new dress” by the kids.  Eid shopping is exciting and tiring combined together. It’s best to do our Eid shopping before Ramadan so as to not waste time during Ramadan but ha it never happens in our household. There is always last minute shopping!

This time around, Eid-dress-decision was made easy for us as we were gifted with a beautiful luxury Eid dress by David Charles London. A beautiful pink dress for my pink lover girl. 

DAVID CHARLES LONDON

David Charles is an iconic British brand that makes luxury designer dresses for girls aged 2-16. The brand is well established and supplies some of the finest stores in the world, including Harrods London, Saks 5th Ave NYC, and Harvey Nichols Riyadh. Founded in 1970 by husband and wife team David and Susan Graff, David Charles has grown to become one of the most coveted names in British party wear and special occasion dresses, admired and worn by royalty, celebrities, and fashionistas all over the world.

We chose the beautiful Tea Rose Pink Beautiful gown from their Eid collection. This dress is made of 100% polyester and is lined by 100% acetate and has a slightly cushioned fabric which gives the beautiful flared stiff look. The sleeves have tiny floral patterns with a cute bow tie which gives it an aesthetic appeal. I love dresses which are unique, beautiful and not overtly shining/glittering and this dress crossed all my boxes for an Eid dress. It makes for an exciting Eid gift for the little girls in your family. It is well made and all the details are done with fine attention. 

This dress is an excellent luxury wear dress for little girls – perfect for occasions such as Eid, wedding etc. It is a delicate dress and has to be used carefully or the fabric can get damaged easily. Priced at 305$ this is a little beyond my usual budget. However, David Charles has free worldwide shipping with next day delivery.

Now to the most exciting part. Do you want to win a beautiful Eid dress for your little girl? If yes, scroll below for the giveaway.

Zakathul Fitr 

Though kids are not the one who pay, they should be made aware of the act of charity to the poor given before the Eid prayer. This amount should be paid by everybody including a newborn baby and should go to the poorer sections of the society so that on the Day of Eid, nobody goes hungry. Teaching children about this beautiful tradition helps them to learn about sharing and empathising with other sections of society.

Eid prayers 

 Wearing our new dress with our henna-stained hands, running to the Eid Gaah is my favourite memory of childhood Eid. I hope to make it as exciting for my kids or more. Eid prayers are held in open grounds where everybody joins in the for the prayers – the young, old, men, women everybody! 

Food, Family and Fun

If there is one common aspect about Eid amongst all the cultures and the traditions across the globe, it is this – There is a huge lunch enjoyed by the entire family.  Everybody comes together to enjoy this day of celebration and food is an important part of this. And then – Desserts. Desserts Desserts.

Eid decoration 

Eidi

Token money or gifts are given by elders to the kids in the family. Shh… my kids are still too young to even know about this tradition! 😀

EID GIVEAWAY WITH DAVID CHARLES LONDON

Now to the exciting part – EID giveaway hosted by David Charles London. Hopefully this will reach your little girl in time for Eid-AL-Adha

The terms and conditions for the giveaway:

1. You must be 18 or over to enter this competition
2. Giveaway is open internationally – the prize can be shipped worldwide
3. Prize consists of 1 x dress of the winner’s choice from the Eid 2019 collection
4. Competition closes at 12 AM on 13 July 2019
5. Winner will be chosen at random and announced on 15 July 2019
6. Winner will also be notified directly via Instagram within 24 hours of the closing date. If the winner cannot be contacted or does not claim the prize within 5 days of notification, we reserve the right to withdraw the prize from the winner and pick a replacement winner
7. Prize will be shipped to the winner by David Charles London via courier service or Royal Mail Air Parcel Post Service. Where possible a courier tracking number will be provided once the prize has been dispatched
8. Prize will be dispatched within 2-3 business days of receiving confirmation of the winner’s dress choice and shipping details
9. Prize cannot be redeemed for cash

Please click on the below link and finish all the steps to enter the giveaway. Giveaway is open until 13th July 2019. Best wishes!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

(PS: This Eid brought to us lessons of loss – a loss so sudden and so difficult to be comprehended by the family –  and that precisely is what I will teach my children every day – Time is short. Tomorrow is not promised. Live. Laugh. Pray. Peace )

(The dress was sent by David Charles London. All views and opinion are my own)